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ActivMedia Robotics
Quick Start
Chapter 4
This chapter describes how to quickly set up and operate your new ActivMedia robot
with the ARIA demonstration software. For more details about programming and
operating your ActivMedia mobile robot with ARIA, Saphira, or other client software, see
their respective programming manuals.
PREPARATIVE ASSEMBLY
Your ActivMedia robot comes fully assembled and ready for out-of-the-box operation.
However, you may need to attach some accessories that were shipped separately for
safety. The procedures we describe herein are for control of the basic robot.
If you have the onboard PC option, we recommend that you leave it off and perform
the following tests first with a laptop or desktop computer tethered to the robot’s serial
port on the User Control Panel, then attack the many networking issues before you
establish a remote-control connection with the onboard PC.
Install ARIA
The ARIA client software-development environment, including the ARIA demonstration
program and robot simulator, come on CD-ROM with your new robot. They also come
installed in your robot’s onboard PC, if you purchased this option.
ActivMedia Robotics customers also may obtain ARIA and related software and updates
from our support website:
http://robots.activmedia.com
When installed, ARIA typically requires ten or more megabytes of hard-disk space.
The Windows version of ARIA is a self-extracting InstallShield® archive. Simply double-
click its .exe icon and follow the extraction program’s instructions. Normally, ARIA is put
into a directory named C:\Program Files\ActivMedia Robotics\ARIA. The
demonstration program and simulator get put into the bin\ subdirectory. For
convenience, you may access all these from the Start Menu’s Programs option. The
demonstration program’s source code and MSVC++ project and workspace files are in
the examples\ subdirectory.
Linux users must have superuser (root) permissions in order to install ARIA. It comes as
an RPM installation archive:
rpm -ihv aria...
and gets installed in /usr/local/Aria. The ARIA demonstration program and simulator
get put into the bin/ subdirectory. The demonstration sources and makefile are in the
examples/ subdirectory.
Linux users should also be sure they have permission to read/write through their PC’s serial
port that connects with the robot. The default is /dev/ttyS0. ARIA is a terminal
application that does not include a GUI, so its programs do not require X-Windows.
CAREFUL
Slide the batteries into the robot TERMINALS LAST.
Otherwise, you will damage the robot.
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