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We typically provide the maintenance utilities and ARCOS upgrades free for download from our
website, so be sure to sign up for the
pioneer-users email newslist. That's where we notify our
customers of the upgrades, as well as where we provide access to robot users worldwide.
Joydrive Mode
Finally, we provide onboard software and microcontroller hardware that let you drive the robot from a
tethered joystick when not otherwise connected with a controlling client. See Chapter 4 for more
details.
Figure 7. The Pioneer 1 appeared in 1995.
THE PIONEER LEGACY
Commercially introduced in the summer of
1995, Pioneer 1 was the original
MobileRobotsplatform. Intended mostly for
indoor use on hard, flat surfaces, the robot
had solid rubber tires and a two-wheel
differential, reversible drive system with a
rear caster for balance. It came with a single-
board 68HC11-based robot microcontroller and the Pioneer Server Operating System (PSOS) software.
The Pioneer 1 also came standard with seven sonar range finders (two side-facing and five forward-
facing) and integrated wheel encoders. Its low-cost and high-performance caused an explosion in the
number of researchers and developers who now have access to a real, intelligent mobile robotic
platform.
Software-wise, the Pioneer 1 initially served as a platform for SRI International's AI/fuzzy logic-based
Saphira robotics applications development. But it wasn't long before Pioneer’s open architecture
became the popular platform for the development of a variety of alternative robotics software
environments.
Pioneer AT
Functionally and programmatically iden-tical to the Pioneer 1, the four-wheel drive, skid-steer Pioneer
AT was introduced in the summer of 1997 for operation in uneven indoor and outdoor environments,
including loose, rough terrain.
Except for the drive system, there were no operational differences between the Pioneer AT and the
Pioneer 1: The integrated sonar arrays and microcontrollers were the same; they shared accessories;
and applications developed for the Pioneer 1 worked with little or no porting on the AT.
Pioneer 2 and PeopleBot™
The next generation of Pioneer, including the Pioneer 2-DX, -CE, and –AT that were introduced in fall of
1998 through summer of 1999, improved upon the Pioneer 1 legacy while retaining its many
important advantages.
2
Indeed, in most respects particularly with applications software, Pioneer 2
worked identically to Pioneer 1 models, but offered many more expansion options, including a client
PC onboard the robot.
The Pioneer 2 models -DX, -DE, -DXe, -DXf, and -AT, and the V1 and Performance PeopleBot robots
used a 20-MHz Siemens 88C166-based microcontroller, with independent motor-power and sonar
microcontroller boards for a versatile operating environment. Sporting a more holonomic body, larger
wheels and stronger motors for better indoor performance, Pioneer 2-DX, -DXe, -DXf and -CE models
were two-wheel, differential-drive mobile robots like Pioneer 1.
The four-wheel drive Pioneer 2-AT had independent motors and drivers. Unlike its Pioneer AT
predecessor, the Pioneer 2-AT came with a stall-detection system and inflatable pneumatic tires with
metal wheels for much more robust operation in rough terrain, as well as the ability to carry nearly 30
kilograms (66 lbs) of payload and climb a 60-percent grade.
7
2
Price/performance ratio included! The much more capable and expandable Pioneer 2 was introduced four years later for just
a few hundred dollars (US) more than the original Pioneer 1.