As we gear up for the IIT Techfest 2010, lets have a look at what powers those wondrous robots that we see at the TechFest every year. Saptarshi Chatterjee from Robosoft Systems (the official component suppliers for Techfest) explains the RF PRO that powers the communication amongst the smart bots.
RF PRO by Robosoft Systems is a plug and play Trans-receiver (transmitter and receiver) module which is built using Texas CC2500 RF IC. Its operating frequency is 2.4Ghz and hence no interference. It can be directly connected to your PC/Laptop via USB and to the robot via serial port. This beauty has 256 channels and each channel has 256 device IDs. Thus, theoretically, one can control (256 * 256 =) 66536 RF PRO modules using only one module. Herein lies its magic application not only in robotics but creating a powerful wide area sensor network.
One abstract application we have thought of but yet to implement is this—take the huge sandalwood forests in the south of India. Interface the RF PRO module with a sound/vibration sensor and couple it with a AA battery. At ranges of 50 meters, attach these modules to the sandalwood trees. Cover the forest and ultimately have the master module at the receiving centre. As soon as a tree makes sufficient sound/vibration when being chopped down—these sensors will start sending data, hopping from one module to the other and finally to the Forest Ranger office. Voila!! Simpler applications abound but the forest one should give you the basic idea. Interface any sensor with this module and you have a sensor network ready.
For the less technically inclined—this baby simply receives data from devices such as sensors and transmits these packets of data. There is a user friendly GUI to tinker around with the settings. One last tweet—it is one of the cheapest RF modules available globally. Ideal for a robot to robot interaction!! Robots can now talk….
