Have you ever wished you could control your obot with a full sized high speed computer instead of a small microcontroller? Imagine having the memory and power to implement voice recognition and computer vision. Consider
the computational advantages of floating-point math and
multidimensional arrays. Imagine how human interaction
might be improved if your robot had all the capabilities
of a PC.
Most hobby robots are not large enough to house a
desktop machine or even a powerful laptop, but the size
and weight of the machine itself is not the only
consideration. A large computer will require a larger
battery, and that extra weight means larger motors. That,
in turn, requires an even larger battery. Such considerations
have limited the computing power available for small
robots, but the new Windows 8 tablets now offer a
potential solution.
Many computer manufacturers offer these tablets with
the power of a desktop in a form only slightly larger than
some Android tablets. Figure 1 shows a Samsung Ativ 700t
tablet mounted on an RB- 9 robot (available from
Most hobby robots are powered by a
small microcontroller with limited
capabilities. The new Windows 8
tablets provide far more power with
an impressive array of internal
sensors, text-to-speech, and voice
recognition — all contained in a
relatively small lightweight form that
makes them a real contender for your
next robotic project. Are these tablets
the ultimate robot controller? This
series of articles hopes to convince
you they are.
Windows 8 Tablets
By John Blankenship and Samuel Mishal
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58 SERVO 12.2013
Figure 1.
