What is DSL?Here is an extract from their website: DSL was originally developed as an experiment to see how many usable desktop applications can fit inside a 50MB live CD. It was at first just a personal tool/toy. But over time Damn Small Linux grew into a community project with hundreds of development hours put into refinements including a fully automated remote and local application installation system and a very versatile backup and restore system which may be used with any writable media including a hard drive, a floppy drive, or a USB device. DSL has a nearly complete desktop, and many command line tools. All applications are chosen with the best balance of functionality, size and speed. Damn Small also has the ability to act as an SSH/FTP/HTTPD server right off of a live CD. In our quest to save space and have a fully functional desktop we've made many GUI administration tools which are fast yet still easy to use.We will be (for now) testing the Damn small Linux as an OS for the CE Bot. Here is an introduction video on DSL (7 minutes) : We 'can' add this as an OS with the addition of a Real Time Operating System as an add-on to the linux system. RTOS videos coming soon. RTOS can run programs at the highest of priorities to control the hardware connected to the Motherboard so there are no lags in communication. FreeRTOS: Free Real Time Operating SystemFrom their website:
FreeRTOS.orgTM is a portable, open source, mini Real Time Kernel - a free to download and royalty free RTOS
that can be used in commercial applications.
Ports exist for many different processor architectures and development tools. Each official port includes a pre-configured example application demonstrating the kernel features, expediting learning, and permitting 'out of the box' development. Free support is provided by an active user community. Commercial support along with a full development service is also provided. SafeRTOSTM is a version that has been certified for use in safety critical applications. It is a functionally similar product for which complete IEC 61508 compliant development/safety lifecyle documentation is available (conformance certified by TÜV SÜD, including compiler verification evidence). While FreeRTOS.org does not contain the same safety features as SafeRTOS there is still commonality - allowing FreeRTOS.org to benefit directly from the very rigorous SafeRTOS testing and validation activities. Here is a very important link on how it has been already tested on a laptop and how to test it on a windows machine: http://www.freertos.org/a00100.html *Excellent TutorialHere is an amazing tutorial on RTOS: http://www.freertos.org/tutorial/index.html. A thing to remember is that real time operating systems are not at all easy to implement. We are trying our best to learn it and apply it. Python as Communication and Module LanguageAccording to Wiki: " Python is a general-purpose, very high-level programming language. Its design philosophy emphasizes programmer productivity and code readability. Python's core syntax and semantics are minimalist, while the standard library is large and comprehensive. " Thats all I need to get started. And trust me I have used it for about 30 minutes and didn't feel dizzy after making some UI's. Py is syntax based (like MATLAB) and no compiler is necessary. A few points from www.python.org :
Pyro (http://pyrorobotics.org/?page=PyroModulePythonIntro) is an introduction to python language which will help in understanding and implementation of Python for use in Robotics. And Another interesting learning source (direct link to screenshots) : http://gvr.sourceforge.net/screen_shots/ This can be used on a RTOS base running in Linux. We might not need to program in C, if this proves to be faster and "modular". C is also modular but lets see how Python turns out to be. Here are some more links: http://www.python.org/ (You can download for windows here, and the documentations too) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(programming_language) (History and Info) http://python.about.com/od/gettingstarted/Getting_started_With_Python.htm (Some basic tutorials) http://colinm.org/blog/creating-robot-behaviors-with-python-generators : Excellent example on how Python is used in Goalkeeper bots in Soccer bots! http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/cache/papers/cs/27039/http:zSzzSzdangermouse.brynmawr.eduzSzpaperszSzsigcse-03.pdf/blank03python.pdf ( A paper describing Pyro, for Robotics!!!) |
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Thats pretty cool!