|
Heath
Company began the HERO 1 project in October 1979. The
first units were available in 1982 and sales continued
throughout most of the eighties.
"An ideal teaching tool,
HERO 1 is a completely self-contained robot that
interacts with you and its environment. It's excellent
for learning the components and circuitry of robots, as
well as artificial intelligence.
The Heath "HERO" is a unique and outstanding educational
robot "laboratory" and lends itself, as well, to use as
a prototyper and experimenter. Its wide range of I/Os,
including light and sound sensors, motion and range
detectors, limit switches, interrupt port, speech
synthesizer, steppers, real time clock, teach pendant,
and input-outport experimental board, give it a wide
educational scope: it deals not only with microcomputer
control of robots, but with I/Os in general. The 6808
microprocessor controller on board allows HERO to become
intelligent, versatile, and flexible - powerful
attributes of the modern robot. HERO's monitor allows
programming in machine language and/or its higher robot
command language, thereby extending the power and ease
of the user's control programming task.
HERO 1 has incredible
sensing capabilities. It detects sound, light, motion,
and obstacles and travels over a course that you
predetermine. The robot can see and hear through onboard
light, sound, and motion detectors, plus a sonar ranging
system. The sound detector hears over a 200 to 5000 Hz
frequency range while the light detector sees over the
entire visible spectrum and into the infrared range.
HERO 1's motion detector senses movement up to a
distance of 15 feet while a sonar system determines
direction and ranges between objects and the robot from
4" to 8 feet away. An optical encoder provides precise
measurements of distance traveled.
To make HERO 1 even more life-like, the head rotates 350
degrees to position sensors and arm. Seven stepper
motors control all movements. Plus powerful front wheel
DC motors drive and steer HERO 1 with exceptional
maneuverability.
|
On-board HERO 1
is an 8-bit 6808 microprocessor that can guide the robot
through complex maneuvers, activate and monitor sensors,
and modify actions as a result of sensor or real-time
clock inputs. HERO 1 also has 8K of ROM as well as 4K of
RAM. A top-mounted breadboard lets you conduct
experiments and interface circuits of your own design to
the on-board microprocessor. Plus HERO 1 comes with a
six 7-segment LED display for viewing memory addresses,
data and program steps.
Commanding HERO 1 is easy
with four different methods available to you. A
top-mounted 17-key hexadecimal keyboard lets you easily
enter, verify and modify programs, and select operating
modes. An attachable Teaching Pendant lets you manually
control all motor and arm movements, or store them for
later duplication. Or you can control HERO 1 with an
optional remote, radio frequency controlled transmitter
available in two models, each operating at a different
frequency. You can also guide HERO 1 by directly linking
a host computer with the help of the optional Memory
Expansion Board and RS-232 Interface that plugs into the
top experimental HERO 1 breadboard.
HERO 1 is powered by four 6-volt gel cell rechargeable
batteries. A 120/240 VAC, 50/60 Hz charger is included.
HERO 1 is 20" high, 18" in diameter and weights 39 lbs.
with accessories.
6808 CPU (8-bit), 4K of RAM (2 6116 static RAM chips),
8K of ROM (With Robot monitor), Experimenter Board on
the head, Sonar ranging on head, Ultrasonic motion
detector on head, light sensor on head, sound sensor on
head, Cassette I/O for program storage, head rotates 350
degrees, 2 fixed wheels, 1 steerable drive wheel (it's
in front), 6 Seven segment LED displays, 17 digit Hex
keypad (with Real keys) on head, Teaching pendant,
Charger." - Heath Co.
 |
