(Click here for larger image)Aspsoft, a Florida-based consulting company, created Finalizer from a basic bot built by
The Machine Lab. The bot's weapons include a steel ax, an arm that can lift 40 pounds, and a retractable arm with a rotary saw on the end that reaches 8,000 rpm.
Finalizer's intelligence derives from an HP iPAQ
hx4705 Pocket PC running Windows Mobile 2003 along with a pre-release version of
.NET Compact Framework 2.0 (specifically, version 2.0 beta 2). The Pocket PC communicates over Wi-Fi with a Smart Client application running on a PC. Appsoft says the .NET CF's Serial Port class allows the PC application to talk natively to the Pocket PC's serial port, which sends commands to the robot's servos. A modified Xbox game controller provides control inputs.
Finalizer gave two demos during its keynote appearance. In the first, it delivered prizes to five randomly selected attendees wearing RFID tags. In the second, it smashed a server network switch using its steel ax -- a demonstration meant to illustrate server scalability and availability, by having one server take over -- with high-speed failover -- another server's load in the event of server failure. (Just what you'd expect in the keynote talk by the VP of Microsoft's Windows Server System Division, right?)
Having successfully demonstrated the value of .NET CF for controlling machines, Finalizer is now preparing for serious BattleBot competition. Weighing in at 120 lbs (with batteries), it qualifies for the heavyweight division, where the reigning champion is a bot called BioHazard.
"I think can take him," Finalizer proudly boasts.
Learn more about Finalizer,
here.
Related stories:
