Project Would anyone be interested in an XMOS challenge?

[XMOS]

UPDATE:

The 9.9 version of the XMOS Development Tools is now available:


http://www.xmos.com/technology/design-tools


It is VITAL that XK-1 users use this release or above as the XK1 is not supported in previous versions.
As for anyone else - you will probably appreciate some of the cool new features:


http://www.xmos.com/system/files/releaseNotes9.9.0.txt




Hi everyone!


I was curious to know if anyone would be interested in participating in a challenge to make something AWESOME with a new breed of processor which is particularly great for DSP/networking/USB/motor control type applications or more basic things if that is overkill for what you want.



XMOS event driven processors allow you to execute code in parallel which could open up a number of possibilities to evolve your robots "mind" to the next level!



I have some development kits to give away potentially, but before I give away all the details, I just wanted to see if there was any interest.

People have made some cool stuff with our tech before (See videos).

Some details of the processor itself which will be on the dev kit (to be released soon):

- Single core device (Although we do have quad core versions - ask me)
- 400 MIPS per core.
- 8 Threads per core.
- 64Kb RAM
- 8KBytes OTP memory for applications, boot code or security keys, with security mode
- 64 user I/O pins
- Support for high performance DSP (32 x 32 → 64bit MAC) and cryptographic functions
- Time aware ports provide up to 10ns timing resolution
- Designs implemented using a software-based design flow (can program in C or XC - very similar to C but with support for extras such as parallel execution), with XMOS hardware = software!
- Scalable - can connect many kits together for crazy amounts of processing power using Xlinks.

For detailed spec see: http://www.xmos.com/products/xs1-l-family/l1lq128

EDIT: As there has been some interest shown and to save time later - please post below with the following info if you would like to be considered:
1) Project Title
2) Project Description
3) How many Dev Kits you think it may require (eg you may need 2 if you are demonstrating the ability of one robot using image recognition to track another for example)
4) Are you willing to keep a video/photo diary of your progress if we choose you? Please state which/both.
5) Your experience level

If anyone is interested please feel free to post below with your project ideas or ask any questions you may have (and subscribe to this forum topic for updates so I can contact you nearer the release date).




VIDEOS:











Moderator's edit: Preapproved for posting by Andrew & Alex - Well, heck, then Adrenalynn approves it to. Now our A's are in order.

[nagmier]

1) Project Title: Protos
2) Project Description: Tread Based ROV, currently using Phidgets+Arduino+PicoITX for control over several hardware and software architechtures, I would like to unify that across one platform.
3) How many Dev Kits you think it may require: 95% sure 1 would be sufficient however I'll throw this out there. I would like to process video via a webcam(such as the logitech orbit I have now) or possibly even an IR CMOS camera which MAY require a second kit though I highly doubt it I would think I could do fine otherwise I had planned on replacing the cam with a WiFi one anyways so thats not a terrible issue for me.
4) Are you willing to keep a video/photo diary of your progress if we choose you? Yes, Both, If requested I would video though not a strong suit I can accommodate, Photos are not a problem as well
5) Your experience level: Low, I have some programming experience and have started with Protos above and some other rudimentary projects


EDIT: Below is a link to my projects thread here. I have a new custom laser cut chassis on that will be here this week but thats a good idea of the project
http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/showthread.php?t=3210

And to the Doc below! Cool project I'm glad to see more and more places teaching these types of courses not just the big unis! I'd really like to see high school level expand for my kids sake!

[drripark]

1.) Project Title: Robotics at SMCM

2.) Project Description: We've started to have significant interest in robotics at St. Mary's College of Maryland. The tech provided would assist our students in their individual senior-level projects. Robotics projects that we have on deck include a small tour-guide robot with plenty of fun interactivity, robots to model predator/prey dynamics with community building and robots that make some mundane tasks a bit more interesting (a stapler robot with "emotions" for instance).

3.) We don't anticipate having more than three ongoing projects at a time, so three or four kits should be great. We should produce 3 different entries to the challenge. Of course, if more kits were available, we could use them in all sorts of fun pedagogical ways.

4.) Absolutely on both counts. We have some digital production resources on campus and could use those for video diaries.

5.) My experience level with this specific platform is low, and it would be new to my students as well. I have significant programming experience and the students would be in their fourth year of a computer science program.

Thanks for your consideration,
Alan C. Jamieson, PhD
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
St. Mary's College of Maryland

[XMOS]

Originally Posted by nagmier

1) Project Title: Protos...

Awesome! Great project. I shall just check if our new kit is suitable for video processing - I know we have done this before but will check for good measure. Either way I will try and pair you up with a kit that is suited for this type of project. And yes its great to see XMOS in education - which we would love to get more involved with, we have some great links with universities.

[XMOS]

Originally Posted by drripark

1.) Project Title: Robotics at SMCM...

As the other user said - it is great to hear from Universities/Colleges who are keen to try out XMOS technology. We have strong links with various Universities, so this indeed is a great opportunity for us both, and could lead to some very exciting research projects!

Being a Computer Scientist myself, I can safely say they should be able to pick up XMOS technology very easily as you can program in C or our own language named XC (which is just like C but supports parallel execution and such).

In fact most of the videos posted above were made by students in a few weeks, with very limited prior exposure to XMOS technology (if any), which really shows how easy it is to get something up and running.

I would be most interested in finding out more, could you send me your email address in a personal message?

[edburdo]

1) Project Title:

Unknown at this time, willing to take on ideas and challenges.

2) Project Description:

Expanding the NXT MINDSTORMS kits from LEGO. I'm thinking of a game of tag, or follow the leader. I'll accept ideas for projects too!

3) How many Dev Kits you think it may require (eg you may need 2 if you are demonstrating the ability of one robot using image recognition to track another for example)

One would be sufficient. Two would allow me to expand multiple LEGO kits and do remote communication (tag, follow the leader, etc). I have 3 NXT kits available to work with. And I recently bought one of the experimenters kits from Hi Technic ( https://www.hitechnic.com/cgi-bin/co...on&key=NPA1058 )

4) Are you willing to keep a video/photo diary of your progress if we choose you? Please state which/both.

Yes, photo is preferred. I can also publish my findings on my blog (hobby robotics, LEGO MINDSTORMS related)

5) Your experience level

LEGO - Advanced
other controllers - entry level
programming - advanced

[XMOS]

Cool, it is def possible to mash up XMOS with Lego Mindstorms stuff as demonstrated in one of the videos, so this could be quite cool!

[XMOS]

UPDATE: If you have a YouTube account or use YouTube, add/view our "MyXMOS" channel for latest videos and XMOS news!

[XMOS]

Just a quick update: Estimated release of kits for chosen projects is September.

Thank you for everyone who has submitted an idea and has been waiting. If you have not yet submitted an idea and interested in taking part, there is still time to submit an idea!

[XMOS]

10 days remain before we stop taking entries for the XMOS challenge! People who we have selected to be given kits will be announced at the beginning of September!