What's in the AIRLab
This page is used to keep track of the hardware that you can find in the various AIRLab sites (a list of which is given in The Labs). The gear is divided into categories, and you must go to the relevant one to know what is available, its main characteristics, and where it is now. The way this page is used (and the way you must use it) is described below, in this HOWTO.
As we are on the topic of "where things are", please keep in mind that other people want to find things as much as you want that, so if you are moving some piece of hardware away from its storage location, or taking it from someone who has finished using it, please update the AIRWiki *now*.
If something you need is missing, ask your advisor or Giulio Fontana. In case, after being instructed about what to do to be reimbursed, and authorized, you may go in a shop and get what you need. Here is a list of dealers that we used in the past.
Remember that there are risks associated to the use of some kind of hardware. They are described, along with the instructions to avoid them, in the Safety norms. You are required to know these norms (actually, to access the AIRLab you have to sign a document stating that you know them: see Bureaucracy), and you have full responsibility for anything you do in the AIRLab.
Contents
HOWTO use this page (read this first!)
This is the page where every piece of hardware available to AIRLab's users must be listed. To see some examples, go to the categories below. This page is used to document what is available, and (crucially) to find things.
As a general rule: if a piece of equipment is somewhere in the AIRLab (see The Labs), it must also be possible to find it by going to the right one of the categories listed in the following part of this page. If the right category doesn't exist, and you are currently using the equipment, you must create a new category. If the category exists but the piece of equipment you are using is not listed in it, you must add it to the category. This is also needed if you bought something new.
Each category is a collection of links. Each link points to a page of the AIRWiki dedicated to a specific class of hardware. Such "class page" must at least contain a table where - for every piece of hardware included into the class - the following data are specified:
- make and model;
- where it is located when not in use;
- who is using it currently (put here a link to one of the user pages in Special:Listusers).
These are the data necessary to find a piece of hardware; in addition to those, it's very nice if you add to the table:
- the main specifications;
- a link to the datasheet and/or the user's manual (in the maker's website).
If you really want to go over the top, and be kindly remembered forever by AIRLab users, you can complete the "class page" with a short introduction about the kind of hardware it is dedicated to. It's also very good if you put here a description of the key points and the pitfalls in the choice and use of such hardware, so that your experience (and misfortunes) are not wasted. If you want an example of such an introduction, look at the Cameras, lenses and mirrors page (a less verbose version is good too!).
Robots
- LURCH - The autonomous wheelchair
- Robocom
- MRT, the Milan Robocup Team
- The MO.RO. family
- Tilty
- Spykee
- Lego Mindstorms NXT
- Manipulators
- Humanoid and bio-inspired robots
Sensors
- Cameras, lenses and mirrors
- Laser Range Finders
- Sonars
- Inertial Measurement Units
- Absolute position sensors (e.g. GPS)
Human/machine interfaces
Instruments
Power
Control and actuation
Mechanics
Computers
- User-accessible PCs
- PCBricks
- Number crunching (or: how you can do experiments in hours instead of days)
- Internet access for laptops: see Bureaucracy#HOW TO connect your laptop to the Internet
Other (Camcorder, Dymo, ...)
- Camcorder
- contact printer (also called bromograph)
