2008/10/17 Ben Goertzel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > Including a brief article by me about open-source robotics, that I wrote > back in April...
Open source robotics may eventually occur, but I think it will require some common and relatively affordable platforms. It becomes much easier to usefully share code when you're dealing with the same hardware (or at least compatible hardware). The hardware requirements are not spectacular. Really all that's needed is a PC on wheels with some minimal motion control electronics, but unfortunately no such system is available today at a reasonable cost (say, less than $1500) which can be bought off the shelf by an interested amateur (as per the home computers of the 1980s). I am hopeful though that such a common platform will eventually emerge, but for people like me it has been a long wait with a few false dawns. As for the iCub, although this is open source this is also a complicated and expensive system. Only a few priviliged individuals will ever get to work with this machinery, and so the economies of scale which characterise the open source movement probably won't apply here unless a hardware abstraction layer is ruthlessly enforced. ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=117534816-b15a34 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
