About AIBO Programming

The Aibo platform provides a significant amount of hardware:

ERS-210A Model: (pictured at right)

• 384 MHz MIPS processor (Supercore) or 192 MHz MIPS (non-supercore)
  
• 32 MB RAM
• 802.11b wireless ethernet (add-on)
  
• MemoryStick reader/writer
• 18 PID joints, each with force sensing
  
• 4 legs
• 3 joints each (elevate, rotate, knee)
• 1 paw button
• 3 joints on neck (tilt, pan, roll)
• 2 joints on tail (tilt, pan)
• 1 joint on mouth
• 2 ears, 1 boolean joint each (flick up or down)
• 9 LEDs
  
• 7 on faceplate
• 2 on tail
  
• Video camera
• Field of view 57.6° wide and 47.8° high
• Resolutions: 352x288, 176x144, 88x72, 44x36 pixels.
• Up to 25 frames per second
• Stereo microphones
  
• IR distance measure, aligned with center of camera
• X, Y, and Z accelerometers
• 2 pressure sensitive buttons on head
• 1 boolean button under mouth
• 1 boolean button on back
• Sensor updates are sent every 32ms, with 4 samples per update.

ERS-7 Model:

• 576MHz MIPS R7000
• 64 MB RAM
• 802.11b wireless ethernet (standard)
• MemoryStick reader/writer
• 18 PID joints, each with force sensing
  
• 4 legs
• 3 joints each (elevate, rotate, knee)
• 1 paw button each
  
• 3 joints on neck (tilt, pan, nod)
• 2 joints on tail (tilt, pan)
• 1 joint on mouth
• 2 ears, 1 boolean joint each (flick up or down)
• 26 independent LEDs
• Video camera
• 56.9° wide and 45.2° high
• Resolutions: 208x160, 104x80, 52x40
• 30 frames per second
• Stereo microphones
  
• 3 IR distance sensors
• X, Y, and Z accelerometers
• 4 pressure sensitive buttons (one on head, three on back)
• 1 boolean button under mouth
• Sensor updates every 32 ms, with 4 samples per update.
  

The ERS-220 model is very similar to the ERS-210, but has 20 LEDs, and no tail or ears.

The Aibos run a special operating system developed by Sony, called Aperios.  Sony has released a software development kit, the OPEN-R SDK (written in C++).  Programming for the Aibo is for the most part very similar to a UNIX environment, except for process control and inter-process communication.

The development environment uses a slightly patched version of the 3.3 GCC compiler, and can be run on almost any UNIX based platform, including Mac OS X and cygwin under Windows.

We have found the hardware to be extremely reliable and powerful.  We highly recommend it for both hobbyists and researchers as one of the premier robotics platforms.  The mechanics are quite precise, reliable, and durable.  The sensors are high quality and provide a wealth of information.

For development, you will need either an ERS-210, ERS-220, or ERS-7 model.  You will need the wireless card accessory for the 210 or 220 models to get data in and out of the robot. (Integrated standard on the ERS-7.)

The down side is that Sony no longer produces the Aibo (and has disbanded their entire robotics R&D effort), so you will have to acquire an Aibo from a second-hand source.