VIDEO: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3r1oy48q8lt9xwv/AACcR3JKoDo3P1rBVOask5xRa/2014-10-18%2018.23.26.mp4?dl=0

The Tank Robot is a robot that can be controlled from any location in the world. I can be in a remote village in China while this robot roams the HUB. How? We send simple data packets over the internet in order to achieve seamless communication over the cloud with nearly INSTANT response, even with the crowded Wi-Fi.

How do we control the robot over the internet? We use Oculus Rift, which gets a direct video feed from the phone camera on the robot. The user is fully immersed in a 3D projection of the skype call, and can look around in the robot's using the Oculus Rift.

What do we use to control the robot? We can control it using Android, Android Wear, Myo, and any other device that has internet connectivity. How did we achieve this? We used firebase to update a child node on the cloud every 50ms with the left and right values for the tank drive. We only send a value if it is different from the previous value sent, to save on bandwidth. Simple, fast, & efficient.

In addition to all this, the robot sends its location to the controller, and the controller app plots the trail the robot took on a Google Maps window. Furthermore, perhaps the coolest feature of all is that the Android app has a button to POP OUT into a floating window, so that the user can still control the app while Skyping via the phone. The controller app on Android and Android Wear feature arrows for direction, as well as a joystick with smooth animations!

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