Colony » Colony Scout

After months of reworking our electronics to a Gumstix (gumstix.com) system based on the Overo Earth COM, we've ordered another round of boards from Gold Phoenix. The mechanical team is tidying up the details on the chassis and drivetrain for bulk manufacturing. System features are 90% locked down to reduce effects of changes on other systems.

We're very excited to build our first fully integrated prototype with both boards, Scoutfly and Breakfly, our Gumstix running Linux, on a fast, robust platform. See recent videos at www.colonyscout.com

We just launched www.ColonyScout.com as the front page to our project. Read up on the Scout features and progress.

Now on twitter! Follow ColonyScout on Twitter at www.twitter.com/colonyscout.

We are actively seeking sponsorship for our project. Interested individuals can email contact@colonyscout.com.

The Scout development team has been busy researching and planning the next-gen Colony platform. We've chosen to run an ARM9 in parallel with an AVR to handle the I/O. A Linux RTOS running on the ARM will do all the heavy lifting and open the Colony group to a new realm of possibilities (and potential headaches =P).

Mechanical design is in its third major revision, and now incorporates RGB "headlights" and the oft-discussed rBOM. Board size has been finalized and we're hoping to have a rough dev (ARM+AVR) board out by December.

Just for fun (Scout as Colony Carrier/Mothership) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGIORkElV2A

• Linux RTOS
• 266MHz ARM9
• 16MHz Atmega128L
• 256/512MB DDR SDRAM
• MicroSD Interface

The Scout has undergone testing for over a month now with great success. Watch a demo video of the Scout in action at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9njJrqgnuU

We are coming up on the 1st major overhaul of the design based on results from testing and assembly. The design refresh will incorporate all 3 cliff sensors and offer better placement of components and allow for more streamlined cable routing through the two baseplate sections.

For a detailed look at the Scout, read http://www.danshope.com/blog/2009/06/detailed-scoop-on-workings-of-colony.html

It was an exciting week as the materials and components arrived for the first Scout. Testing commenced May 28th, 2009 with some slip and incline tests. So far the platform is performing up to expectations and can cross terrain Colony III would balk at. See it for yourself at the links below.

Day 1 Testing Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyRmg570KJw&feature=channel_page

For full version of Day 1 testing see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYIJIanEWNk&feature=channel_page