robomofo

Robocop mobile computing fortissimo!

Introduction

This article presents an innovative mobile computing platform, the Robocop mobile computing fortissimo, aka robomofo. The robomofo is paramount in mobility, computing horsepower, and usability, and it is an ideal platform for hacking, gaming, presentations, or multimedia.

The dawn of the netbook and popularity of smartphones has presented new opportunities to take computing on the road. However, experience with these devices reveals serious shortcomings. First and foremost, while the screens have fantastic resolution, colors, and brightness, they are placed at arms length and are invariably too small to read. Battery life is usually shorter than a full days usage. Keyboards on netbooks are smaller than desirable. Touchscreens are fun and make good of small UI real estate, but they lack haptic feedback and are not an efficient input method. Finally, their computing power, while impressive given their size, is meager compared to desktop systems.

The robomofo project aims to maintain portability while improve on the shortcomings of laptops, netbooks, or smartphones. At the center of the platform is the replacement of a large LCD with video glasses. Video glasses present a display that you can see, is small and lightweight, has stereo 3D capabilities, has low power consumption, and as the reviewer at Ars Technica remarks, are an effective means of birth control. As an input device, we have the choice of a full size wireless, ergonomic keyboard or mini-foldable keyboard and mouse. You can place the keyboard on your lap while sitting without overheating and swishing your balls while you squeeze your legs together. Processing is performed with a dual-core Intel Atom and a NVidia GPU that performs at the level of a low-end desktop but in a small package with good battery life. Overall, the design contrasts with most mobile devices that try to consolidate everything into a single, inseparable unit. This results in more things to keep track of, but each unit performs its function better.

An audio discussion for this project can be found at hpr.

Features

Mobility

Size: Fits inside a larger backpack with room to spare.
Battery life:
- Power consumption was measured to range from 17 to 24 Watts, averaging 19.X Watts at moderate use.
- The battery has a capacity of 100 Watt-hours.
- The theoretical capacity is then 5 hours, which was found to be true in tests.

Computing horsepower

Dual-core Atom N330 capable of 4 threads @ 1.6 GHz
NVidia 9400M GPU capable of CUDA
2GB of 800MHz DDR2 RAM
High performance, low power SSD storage

Usability

Immersive, readable display
Full size ergonomic wireless keyboard or ultra-mobile mini bluetooth keyboard
Wireless mouse

Components

Carrying Case with Vuzix Logo

Way overpriced, but necessary for a taking the glasses on the road without breaking them.
$37.45.

Corsair XMS2 RAM

2GB (2 X 1 GB)
PC2 - 6400 800 MHz DDR2
Motherboard can take 4 GB, but 2 GB chosen for power consumption.
Note that the graphics chip uses RAM -- I set to 256 MB.
$65.98.

M350 Mini-ITX Fanless Enclosure

Supposedly one of the only ones that with the high heat sink on the motherboard.
Black -- looks good.
Great ventilation.
Hidden USB ports under front panel to hold bluetooth, USB drive, etc.
Very robust but a little heavy.
Pricey.
$49.97.

Microsoft Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 Keyboard and Mouse Set

Full size, wireless.
Ergonomic with good tactile response.
Nice wrist wrest.
Looks good (apart from the MS logo :P ).
Thin, low profile.
Mouse tracks well on all surfaces, but not very ergonomic shape.
Esc key weak for vim users.
$71.74.

OCZ Agility Series Solid State Drive

30 GB
SATA II
2.5"
Low power consumption.
Shock resistant.
High performance.
Case is heavy duty, but adds more weight than other SSDs.
$104.

Sandisk Cruzer Micro USB Flash Drive

16 GB.
Extra storage.
Stays conceiled in the case.
$35.00

Tekkeon MP3450 myPower Rechargeable Battery

50 Watt-hours.
Easy to use and can power many different portable devices.
Configurable voltage out.
Can also power USB device.
Looks sharp.
Weight: 1 lb.
$111.98.

Tekkeon MP3450-10 myPower Extended Battery

Extended the capacity of the MP3450.
50 Watt-hours.
Pieces so connects to and holds MP3450 so the result is one unit.
$82.84.

Vusix iWear VR920 Video Glasses

Two 640x480 LCD displays.
Equivalent to 62" screen viewed at 9 feet.
24 bit color.
3.2 oz.
60 Hz refresh.
Built-in ear buds and microphone.
3 DOF accelerometers.
Analog VGA input.
Can downscale from 1024x768 well.
$297.91

Vusix Light Shield, MP0001010-02

Blocks ambient light.
Overpriced, but recommended.
$17.90.

Zotac Ion Mini-ITX Motherboard

Intel Atom N330 dual-core CPU..
NVIDIA ION GPU (GeForce 9400M).
Cuda, OpenCL capabilities.
DVI-D, VGA, HDMI with audio.
SATA II, eSATA.
Integrated Wifi 802.11 b/g/n.
Intel High Definition Audio, SPDIF-out.
6 USB ports.
Gigabit LAN.
Onboard DC-DC power supply.
Included 90 Watt external power adapter.
Has a large, nice heatsink, but it still needs a small fan -- it appears the fan was an afterthought that they did not think would be needed.
$184.99.

An good review including, CPU and power usage profiles can be found at mini-itx.com.

Operating Systems

Arch Linux

Custom kernel .config for linux 2.6.32.8.

A fellow has written a stereoscopic driver for it along with a head tracking driver, but they did not work for me. He also has a patch for mplayer to do stereoscopic video, but I have get to try it.

Windows 7

Got for getting stereoscopic 3D and head tracking in some games.
Installation from USB was a PITA, and Windows is incapable of running off USB as I would have liked.
Fresh install took up 10.5 GB. Paired down to a still bloaty 8.15 GB by
1. Turning off hibernation.
2. Removing unused features.
3. Turning off page file.
4. Turning off System Restore.
Windows is so bloated it will sometimes run out of memory with only one application (that I'm interested in) running. Keep in mind the video chip also uses system RAM. With most of the extras turned off and no applications open, it uses over 1 GB of RAM. Compare to linux that uses less that 100 MB. So, 4 GB RAM would have been a more appropriate choice for Windows 7.

Alternatives

WXHMD

This project is absolutely awesome. Talk about mobile: same Vuzix glasses with some tiny components on top and you have extreme mobile computing. Wifi to connect to the interwebs and bluetooth so you can use a keyboard.

Pandora + video glasses

Another option I almost went with was a Pandora with video glasses. You can find 640x480 video glasses with Composite input for around $200.00 at AliExpress.

The CD Case Wearable Computer

Another interesting project uses a modified Myvu display. Impressive aspects of this project are the cheap, long last power supply and being able to pack the results into a CD case. Thanks to fiftyonefifty for the link.