Activ
Media Robotics
1
Chapter 1
Introduction
Introduction
Introduction
Introduction
Congratulations on your purchase of
Activ
Media Robotics’ multi-jointed Arm for the
Pioneer 2 family of mobile robots.
This manual provides both the general and technical details you need to operate your
Pioneer 2 Arm and to begin developing your own control software integrated with other
mobile robot activities.
The Pioneer 2 Platform
Pioneers are small, intelligent mobile
robots originally designed by Kurt
Konolige, PhD, of SRI International, Inc.,
and available exclusively through
Activ
Media Robotics, LLC. The basic
Pioneer 2 platform contains all of the
components of an intelligent mobile
robot for sensing and navigation in a
real-world environment, including battery
power, drive motors and wheels, position
encoders, and range-finding ultrasonic
sonar transducers—all managed via an
onboard Siemens C166-based micro-
controller board.
The Pioneer 2-DX, DXE, PeopleBot, and CE models are two-wheel, differential-drive
mobile robots intended for indoor, albeit less-than-ideal surface operation (wheel-chair
accessible areas, for example). The Pioneer 2-AT is a four-wheel drive, differential skid-
steering version intended for outdoor, all-terrain (AT) operation. Otherwise, the platforms
are nearly identical and share accessories, including the Pioneer 2 Arm.
All Pioneers come with onboard robotics server software (Pioneer 2 Operating System)
and an open API for client software control of the robot’s systems and accessories. Users
access the onboard servers through an RS-232 serial communication port from their client
workstation connected wirelessly, or via a piggyback laptop or integrated onboard PC.
The Pioneer 2 Arm
The Pioneer 2 Arm is an accessory for Pioneer 2-DX/DXE and AT robots. It is relatively low-
cost for use in research and in the classroom. Driven by six open-loop servo motors, the
five degrees-of-freedom (5-DOF) Pioneer 2 Arm’s end-effector is a gripper whose foam-
lined fingers allow for firm grasp and manipulation of objects as large as a soda can and
as heavy as 150 grams throughout the arm’s envelope of operation.
Joints include:
!
rotating base
!
pivoting shoulder
!
pivoting elbow
!
rotating wrist
!
pivoting gripper mount
!
gripper fingers
All servo-driven joints, except for the gripper fingers, pivot or rotate at least 180 degrees.
Mounted to the front of the robot’s top plate, the Pioneer 2 Arm has a very wide
envelope of operation, reaching 50 centimeters from the center of its rotating base to
Figure 1. The Pioneer 2 Arm
