Several including the Miniboard, F1 board and Bot board are listed here. Many small micro-controller boards are available from different companies. A small micro-processor, some memory and I/O can all be had for $40-$100 dollars (US).
Application programming is done in C or with a "non-programmers language" automated programming environment called CIMBuilder. They are on the verge of releasing a WindowsNT product that will allow programming in Visual C++ too. Their client/server architecture allows the application program to be run on either a control server or simulation server. So you can develop your code offline with a graphical simulation concurrent to your workcell hardware development. This can save weeks in project timelines.
They currently have a turn-key hardware solution for many commercial robots including the PUMA 762.
ModCon Microcontrollers
Zorin's HC11 board products give you everything you need to start programming and using the HC11. The Buffalo monitor has built in features for assembling, listing, setting break points and single stepping your HC11 program. They include an edited version of the Buffalo Manual on the diskette included with our kits.
The ModCon includes 32K RAM, HC11E9 with Buffalo monitor & RS-232 and is also available in minimal versions and as kits with a variety of accessories available.
The Zorin kits make it easy to create many types of computer controlled applications. You can get optional servo motors to create walking machines, robotic arms, animated art and more! Program the on-chip memory from any computer or terminal using the Buffalo monitor, or use the PC software included with the kit. The assembly manuals includes example code to operate the servo motors.
The Mini Board 2.1 Extended is the latest version of the Mini Board. It is based on the Mini Board 2.0 Extended (see file pub/projects/miniboard/docs/mbextend.txt ), and includes the following new features:
The MINI BOARD 2.1 is a complete embedded computer board for robotic applications. It can directly power four DC motors and receive inputs from numerous sensors. Its miniature size (smaller than a business card) makes it suited well for mobile applications as well as other embedded control.
It can be programmed in 6811 assembler code or C for stand-alone operation, or it can serve as a serial-line based controller operated by a desktop computer.
People who don't have access to anonymous FTP can do FTP-by-mail, provided as a public service by DEC. Send a message containing the single word "help" to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com for instructions.
Hard copies of the Mini Board manual may be ordered by sending a check payable for U.S. $5 to "MIT Epistemology and Learning" at:
There is now a mailing list for discussing the board. The purpose of the mailing list is to discuss robot controller boards, and robot control in general. In particular, the list will be used to support the Mini Board 2.0 and 6.270 board design by Fred Martin and Randy Sargent of MIT. However, any and all traffic related to robot controllers is welcome.
Administrative address: listserv@oberon.com
Please DO NOT send administrative things to the main mailing list address, as then everyone will get annoyed.
Pricing for the new mini-board is as follows:
Three individuals are independent suppliers of the Mini Board:
Make checks out to The Progressive Solution and mail them to him at 1763 Hess Boulevard, Columbus, Ohio 43212; call him at (614) 487-0695 for more information.
$66.00 Parts kit of all parts that mount on the PCB, less PCB (see above). Assembled boards will also continue to be available....
$82.00 Assembled and Tested with DLM 2.0 downloaded (we need that in to test...of course you could overwrite the dlm)
$2.00 Fred's 45 page document set...only with board order.
Shipping in the USA: $3.00 per order... regardless of quantity. Delivery is based upon demand.
Shipping - all orders will be shipped ASAP, we do not need to wait for a certain number of orders (although there may be delays while certain parts are gotten). If a delay happens you will be notified by email or postcard. No check or MO will be cashed until the order is ready to ship.
Prices (subject to change without notice) All kits include a PCB, a kit without a PCB will be $5.00 less. A kit without the 1 RJ11 adpt will be $2.50 less, a kit without the 3 RJ11 adpt will be $5.00 less.
K0 - a super basic kit, does not include any RS232 stuff, or motor drive items, inductors, or most of the other discrete components, it does have a PCB, CPU, socket, one 36 pin header, and a few other items. Good for TTL level RS232, via some other chip, for the person wants to use the board for expansion purposes, or whatever. Contact us for price.
Assembled Kits
Add $25 to any kit to get it built, add an B to the kit number,
i.e. K4-B or K4-B-A for the 68hc11A1 version of the kit. All
assembled boards will have all parts soldered on them, but to meet FCC
requirements there will be minor work to be done ( you have to install
on chip)
NOTE: the basic kits do NOT include the motor controller chips or the motor LED's, they do have the RS232 parts, they are for people who want to use the board for things other than robotics. No speaker or sensors are included. All motor controller chips are the TI version, 1A drive current. All prices are subject to change without notice; please e-mail to check if prices have gone up or down since this posting.
Mark is a supplier of the recent board revision called the "Mini Board 2.0 Extended." This version of the Mini Board includes a power switch and DC power jack for ease of use. Please see the file pub/miniboard/mbextend.txt for more information.
Send orders to: CW Technology, 7328 Timbercreek Court, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068-1181. COD orders can be sent via e-mail or by calling 800-547-7479.
Well, my first shipment of these PCB's to Daniel lasted about a week, I didn't realise they were going to be so popular! He has now received the second shipment from me, so if anyone is interested in these boards please Email Daniel at dmauch@seanews.akita.com
Special BOTBoard Features:
The Handy Board is the latest in a series of boards released under MIT's free licensing policy, in which the printed circuit board artwork, schematics, and driver software may be freely licensed for personal, educational, and commercial use. Past designs disseminated under this policy include the 6.270 Robot Controller System and the Mini Board.
Handy Board kits and assembled systems are distributed by Gleason Research (gleason@tiac.net, 617-641-2551), CW Technology (cwtech@infinet.com, 800-547-7479), and Digital Micro Systems (dutta.4@osu.edu, 614-299-2566). Blank printed circuit boards are sold by Douglas Electronics (info@douglas.com, 510-483-8770).
Fred Martin, a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Media Laboratory, is the creator of the Handy Board. Dr. Martin is presently writing a textbook for an undergraduate engineering course based on mobile robotics project work. The text (working title, The Art of Engineering by Robotics) will make extensive use of the Handy Board, and is scheduled for publication in late 1996 by Addison-Wesley.
For more information, contact one of the distributors, or see the Handy
Board home page on the World-Wide Web:
http://el.www.media.mit.edu/groups/el/projects/handy-board
The unique feature of this system is the addition of an 8 bit memory mapped
bi-directional port This allows you to talk directly to any one of 16 slaves
and send/receive data from them. The data is latched into the slaves which
allows the slaves to operate autonomously without further main board
intervention. Each slave has jumpers to set the board type to 0-15 and the
slave channel address 0-15.
[17.5] Other Robot Controllers
Jerry Burton
Jerry Burton offers a number of boards including
controller boards, controllers boards, and I/O boards:
Last-Modified: Wed Oct 23 13:22:08 1996
Kevin Dowling <nivek@cmu.edu>