Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The Propeller™ QuadRover™ robot

Parallax Prototype:
Gas-Powered Robot

This giant gas-powered robot, dubbed the Propeller™ QuadRover™, sports a 4-stroke engine and hydraulic powertrain. It is controlled by a Propeller chip for the ultimate in customizable robots; eight 32-bit cogs at 20 MIPS each create endless programming possibilities.

A 64KB EEPROM leaves 32KB for nonvolatile data storage, and ample expansion ports provide plenty of flexibility for added sensors.

Four solenoid valves allow for the hydraulic power to be independently enabled, disabled, or reversed for either side of its skid steer system.

The robot can rotate in place or make traditional turns while traveling up to 10 miles per hour.

Servo controlled throttle and disk brakes make for precise acceleration and deceleration even with a powerful 2.5 horsepower 49cc engine.