Magabot went crazy and started shooting ping pong balls at an innocent Farrusco and, as if it was not enough, traveled all the way to Berlin in order to shoot people who where passing by the Let’s Make Robots table at Campus Party Europe:

Shame on you Magabot!

PS: If you liked the ping pong balls launcher, we invite you to make your own
Have a look here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:29670

brain → EPOC → EPOC Control Panel → Mind Your OSCs → Processing (w/ oscP5) → Magabot (Arduino)

Here is the Processing sketch:

/**
 * NeuroMagabot
 * by Joshua Madara, hyperritual.com
 *
 * Transforms data from the Emotiv EPOC neuroheadset
 * to control data for the Magabot, via OSC.
 */

import processing.serial.*;
import oscP5.*;
import netP5.*;

Serial port;
OscP5 oscP5;

float thresh = 0.25; // one threshold for all Cognitiv values

void setup() {
  size(200, 200);
  println(Serial.list());
  port = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[0], 9600);
  
  //start oscP5, listening for incoming messages at port 7400
  //make sure this matches the port in Mind Your OSCs
  oscP5 = new OscP5(this, 7400);
  
  // plug the messages for the Cognitiv values
  oscP5.plug(this,"sendW","/COG/PUSH");
  oscP5.plug(this,"sendS","/COG/PULL");
  oscP5.plug(this,"sendA","/COG/LEFT");
  oscP5.plug(this,"sendD","/COG/RIGHT");
}

void draw() {
  // here you could graph the EPOC data, draw an animated face on the laptop screen, etc.
}

public void sendW(float val) {
  if (val >= thresh) {
    port.write('w'); // send move-forward command to Arduino
  } else {
    port.write('p'); // send stop command
  }
}

public void sendS(float val) {
  if (val >= thresh) {
    port.write('s'); // send move-reverse command to Arduino
  } else {
    port.write('p');
  }
}

public void sendA(float val) {
  if (val >= thresh) {
    port.write('a'); // send turn-left command to Arduino
  } else {
    port.write('p');
  }
}

public void sendD(float val) {
  if (val >= thresh) {
    port.write('d'); // send turn-right command to Arduino
  } else {
    port.write('p');
  }
}

Now different people can control a robot directly from there and visit a different place together!

Bellow are the description of the event, a video and some photos. Hope you enjoy it!

The drive to enhance human potential is as ancient as our history itself. Some see this quest to surpass our limitations as fundamental, others regard it as dangerous arrogance. The history of human enhancements has seen dark turns, but also great insights and we now stand with many accomplishments behind us. We have catalogued the human genome, developed medical technologies that fight deadly disease and extend human lives. We are at the dawn of regenerative medicine and the first bionic prostheses are being engineered. Humanity has intertwined the development of our bodies and minds with emerging technologies for thousands of years, but never to the extent and speed that we experience now.

Here are some photos taken by the Ar team:

We used Google Chat on Gmail not only to trasmit the video and sound between the computers but also to send the control messages.

The experiment was amazing! While they were kind of reluctant and confused at first,  once they started exploring the remote museum their faces were filled with wonder and joy. All of them, without exception, had a lot of fun and we could see how much more relieved they were than before they tried it.

On the other hand, the kids that were on the museum appeared to be intrigued by the robots at first, but when saw that there was a kid on the other side, they flocked around it, and started to talk to them.

Watch the video

Bellow are two videos that show some tests I made with my robot earlier this year:

List of functions and variables:

Magabot();

void actuateMotors(int vel1, int vel2);
void actuateLEDs(int Red, int Green, int Blue);
void readBattery();
void readSonars();
void changeSonarAddress(char oldAddress, char newAddress);
void readIR();
void readBumpers();
void readClicks();
void update();

int irMaxValue;

bool irState[3];
int irRead[3];
bool bumperRead[2];
int sonarRead[6];
int batteryRead;

This application creates an interface between Google Chat and the robot, working as a Google Chat client on your computer.

When you choose to give control of the robot to someone who is chatting with you, that person can start to control the robot by sending messages with a single character which the application sends by serial to the robot.

This application creates an interface between skype and the robot, working with the skype client installed on your computer.

When you choose to give control of the robot to someone who is chatting with you, that person can start to control the robot by sending messages with a single character which the application sends by serial to the robot.

To test it , you need to have the Skype4COM lib installed.

1. If you don’t have it, download it here (http://developer.skype.com/accessories) and install as it says here (http://donchevp.blogspot.com/2008/08/skype4com-lib-how-to-register-skype.html):
2. Find the Skype4COM.dll file on your computer (typically it is in : C:\Program Files\Common Files\Skype)
3. Go to your Start Menu -> Run …
4. Type cmdIn the command prompt type : regsvr32 Skype4COM.dll or “regsvr32 C:\Program Files\Common Files\Skype\Skype4COM.dll” depending on in which