So here’s the deal. Last year I took a class named “Machine Learning”, in which we learned some of the basic uses and algorithms that comprise machine learning. One of the projects we attempted was to use a couple of very outdated Evolution Robotics ER1 robots to implement a machine learning task. The problem was the robot hardware and software were both so out of use and in bad repair that they were very difficult to use for the task at all. After the class concluded I came back to see what could be done to make the robots somewhat functional. What I decided to do was use Processing and it’s free extension libraries to connect with and control the ER1 through the provided telnet API and the ER1 Robot Control Center (RCC). I successfully started that project last year, and attempt now to describe what was done and how it works.

First: The RCC and Processing must be installed on the laptop that is gong to control the robot. RCC should come on a CD or download with the ER1 and Processing is freely available from their website.

Second: The RCC must be configured to all API control. This is done by clicking the “Settings” button in the upper left corner, followed by opening the “Remote Control” tab. Then the radio button “Allow API control of this instance” must be selected. The Port defaults to 9000, and leaving is as such worked just fine. Then clicking “OK” should make the RCC ready for API control. If you did this step correctly, upon opening the RCC the message box should say something like “Listening for incoming API requests on port 9000”. In order to control the ER1 through Processing the RCC must be left open, but it can be minimized.

Third: Open Processing and run a sketch that uses the network library to connect to the RCC telnet API. Here is one such example program that I use to verify that the ER1 is connected and functional

import processing.net.*;

Client myClient;

void setup() {
  myClient = new Client(this, "localhost", 9000);
  myClient.write("play phrase \"Hello World!\"\n");
}

void draw() {
  delay(3000)
  myClient.write("play phrase \"I am an E R 1 Robot, who is Here to Help!\"\n");
}

At this point just about anything that can be done in Processing can now be translated over to the ER1 itself. Other telnet API commands can be used aside from “play phrase”. The API is documented in the RCC and this documentation can be found by opening the RCC, clicking on the “Help” button in the upper left corner, then by opening the section titled “ER1 Command Line Interface”.

If instead of using processing you wish to directly enter the command line control commands, open a windows command line, then type “telnet localhost 9000” without the quotation marks and press enter. If a blank black command line opens then you can control the robot from the command line. Have fun!