Artificial LIfe BEing a.k.a ALIBE in my hope would be a fully autonomous robot. The term "autonomous" is used very loosely nowadays in a variety of spaces. So, before I describe how I see it in this particular project, let me first put forward the goals of this project:

ALIBE Should be able to:

  • steer itself around to navigate
  • avoid obstacles and pitfalls on its way
  • sense the surrounding ("niche") factors such as light, temperature, humidity, windspeed
  • reach its destination using GPS guidance along with the parameters above
  • report its GPS NMEA lat/long/alt data religiously to the base station 
  • take photographs and upload as needed
  • handle bluetooth devices (GPS being one of them)
  • handle network connectivity to report data via it to the control base (or via DUN)
  • handle placing cell voice calls, in case need to TX public distress
  • place DUN calls to upload data (if in case n/w is unavailable)
  • know to avoid being run over by other vehicles that share the same roads. At least by following the curb as it navigates.
  • integrate with driving directions to leave the "start" and reach the "end" points

The goal is to use Microsoft-Windows operating system (probably PocketPC Windows Mobile) to help drive this project. Microsoft-.Net 2.0 Framework with C# as a programming language will be used. A "slave" controller device "Acroname Brainstem 1.0" will be used to control sensory and motor devices. Code will use and share Acroname's Brainstem 1.0 GP module's shared C library. More pictures will be posted at http://fstop.crosscity.com/

ciao
Nagi