Cloud Computing, Internet of Things (IoT)

6 Mins Read

MITCSY: Our Endeavor in Cloud Robotics

CloudThat has always been a major proponent of emerging technologies such as the Cloud, Big Data and AI. Although technologies and concepts such as Big Data and Machine Learning are considered new, IoT is a concept that is newer still.

Numerous Cloud service providers such as AWS and Azure have stood up and taken notice of this emerging field. This is evident in the plethora of new services launched specifically targeted towards the requirements of IoT based solutions. Apart from major tech players of the world, small to large scale IoT conventions and events are being held that act as a platform for IoT enthusiasts to showcase what they have to offer in the field of IoT. One such event was the IoT Show 2017 where CloudThat showcased its telepresence robot prototype: MITCSY.

Figure 1: Basic architecture of MITCSY

 

While the MITCSY prototype was designed to be a telepresence robot, it offered additional functionalities that allowed one to use it as a general office assistant and administrator.

Although this article details the software aspect of MITCSY’s architecture, its hardware aspect will also be touched upon. By utilizing the power of Microsoft’s Azure Cloud platform, we were able to construct a robot endowed with cognitive and operational intelligence.

Figure 2: An early version of MITCSY

 

Hardware

The main purpose of MITCSY was to serve as a low-cost, viable alternative to existing telepresence robots for the Indian market. To achieve this goal, MITCSY was primarily built atop open source technologies. The hardware components consisted of the following:

  1. Arduino Mega
  2. Arduino Nano
  3. Microphone
  4. Raspberry Pi
  5. Raspberry Pi Camera Module
  6. Servo Motors
  7. LCD Display
  8. Bluetooth Module
  9. NRF24L01+

Figure 3: Despite its small form-factor, the Raspberry Pi held its own against what we through at it

 

Software

 

Overall, the development of MITCSY was a challenging and enriching experience. Despite the short development time (2 months) and many hurdles along the way, the time spent on this project enabled us to grow as individuals and IoT enthusiasts. With version 2.0 coming soon, we hope to up the ante once more and offer MITCSY as a full-fledged product very soon.

Figure 9: The team at the IoT Show 2017

 

Although the services covered here may seem vast and varied, our IoT course covers every base to create a full-fledged IoT / Robotics solution such as the one you read about here. Our course ensures that one need not have a programming background to fully appreciate IoT and its implications. Do take a look at our offerings in IoT to learn more.

  1. Fundamentals of IoT – Level 1
  2. Working with Electronics in IoT – Level 2
  3. Cloud Robotics and Advanced IoT Architecture – Level 3
  4. Designing and Implementing IoT Solutions – Level 4

Are you excited about MITCSY 2.0? Do you have any suggestions about the architecture that we used? Let us know in the comments!

WRITTEN BY CloudThat

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