The CBC: A LINUX-based low-cost mobile robot controller

Over the last five years, a number of powerful robotics controllers have become available. Only a small percentage of these are suitable for general use in robotics. In particular, they trivially interface with a large variety of sensors and effectors, have a well constructed software IDE that works with a standard programming language, are self contained and are easy to use. The CBC2 is a new robot controller that meets these conditions. The CBC2 includes an ARM 7 based DAQ/Motor control system, an ARM 9-based CPU/Vision processor running LINUX, an integrated color display and touch screen. The CBC2 is both a USB host (allowing the use of standard cameras, mass storage and network interfaces) and a USB device for software downloads. This paper describes the CBC2, its capabilities and the KISS-C IDE and associated libraries which include functionality ranging from color tracking to PID motor control. The CBC/KISS-C system was adopted by the Botball Robotics Education program in 2009, and was used in about three hundred schools. Based on feedback from that experience, design improvements were made and the CBC2 is being used in the 2010 Botball program and is also being made available for other uses.