The GeckoSPIO is portable!
From their website:
GeckoSPIO™ (Sensor/Power Input/Output) is the "robot controller" board, similar to the motherboard in a PC. This proprietary circuit board contains both passive and active components that enable analog and digital signals to be analyzed and/or communicated to the high level GeckoSavants™;.
The "SPIO" contains the CPU used to run GeckoMotorController and the MCU's used to turn various subsystems and systems on and off as directed by the BIOS on the SPIO. Just like a PC, SPIO controlled robots can boot up the LAN from a single on/off switch.
GeckoSPIO™ can electrically and/or electronically interface with anything from an on/off light switch to an analog voltage output proximity detector. It has analog voltage inputs with analog to digital (A to D) processing available for conversion to digital communication outputs. It can communicate with low level TTL digital communication protocols and RS232, RS485, and other serial digital communication protocols. (Higher level digital communication interfaces and protocols such as USB, LPT, etc. are accessed through one of four on board computers used by GeckoImager™, GeckoNav™, or GeckoSuper™.)
GeckoSystems hardware and software architecture (here specifically the GeckoSPIO™) may be readily extended to interface with virtually any embedded system presently known. This is known as "machine to machine" interfacing or M2M. The GeckoSPIO™ has been developed for over 10 years for easy M2M communication. In this age of smart phones, tablets, netbooks, and PCs, communication between these devices and an elder care system is critical. The CareBot™ of today will not be obsolete in two to three years since it can always be readily upgraded with lower cost and more robust electronics and software as technology advances.
GeckoSpio™ is so feature and benefit rich that it allows easy integration with other systems such as security systems, smart homes, and other consumer and commercial applications. GeckoSpio™ is responsible for the ease of migration of GeckoSystems robotic software to other platforms enabling rapid development of control systems that interface with traditional systems. For example, the migration of GeckoNav™ to the SafePath™ wheelchair was accomplished in only a few man weeks.
That last sentence confirms the portability of the SPIO, and its extensibility. You see, most power wheelchairs have electric braking that engages when the chair is unpowered. This is for safety such that the chair does not move around when powered down. GOSY therefore had to put the wheelchair brakes under software control! This was readily accomplished, I am confident, by extending the SPIO to being able to manage a subsystem, not specifically foreseen at the time of the SPIO's design.
Great work by the many talented engineers and programmers at GOSY!
mo
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