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Real-time Java takes the stage

Introducing the JavaNator

By Tim Rohaly, JavaWorld.com, 03/26/02

Page 2 of 3

Robot sumo follows rules resembling sumo wrestling. Two robots face each other in a circular arena, each attempting to force the other out of the ring. Unlike Battlebots and other popular television shows, robot sumo competitions are not violent -- intentionally trying to damage your opponent is expressly forbidden. Likewise, people don't control sumo robots. Instead, they rely on preprogrammed behaviors; software is just as important as hardware.

Robots in the Japan class have both a size and a weight restriction. They must fit in a box with a width and length of 20 centimeters (there is no height restriction), and must weigh no more than 3 kilograms.

JavaNator's opponent, termed JamesNator since James Gosling would drive it in the demo, is an identical robot without the autonomous behaviors -- Gosling would control it with a radio signal.

The audience could configure the JavaNator through Java-powered wireless phones, using Sun ONE (One Network Environment) Web services and wireless Ethernet. The audience could choose to emphasize speed or agility in a manner familiar to role-playing game enthusiasts by dividing 100 points between the two categories.

The robots can also broadcast video from on-board cameras -- although the video wasn't working in the keynote -- transmitted over wireless Ethernet for display to the audience. Since JavaNator is autonomous, all strategy and actions must be preprogrammed.

The technology underlying the demonstration is a mixture of the purely conventional and the Java-specific. On the conventional side, two direct current (DC) motors power JavaNator; each motor drives both wheels on one side of the four-wheeled vehicle in a differential steering configuration. JavaNator uses ultrasonic ranging detectors to discover opponents, and, to remain inside the sumo ring, two infrared photo reflectors under the front shovel detect the ring's white edge. The driving platform is custom-made.

The robots also prominently feature Java software and hardware. The CPU was Systronix's JStamp, powered by aJile's aJ-80 chip. The JStamp hardware was programmed to drive the robots' motors based on the sensors' input. An on-board Ethernet linked the JStamp with a video camera and was bridged to an iPlanet application server using an 802.11b wireless Ethernet over a Ubicom wireless bridge. The application server provided a Web-based interface for configuring the JavaNator and managed the real-time video output from the robots. The configuration interface is accessible via a MIDlet running on a J2ME-enabled cell phone.

The JavaNator and JamesNator

JavaNator faced JamesNator for two bouts on the stage -- Gosling drove his robot to victory in the first match, quickly pushing JavaNator out of the ring. However, JavaNator won the second match, leaving the contest a draw at one win each.

End to end

Perhaps the only unifying message to come out of the keynote was that Java can be applied end to end, from the database, through an application server, Web services, wireless connectivity, and down to J2ME/real-time Java interfacing to the real world, accommodating diverse clients, often with limited capabilities. A far cry from years past, when Java reached only the desktop, Java's end-to-end capabilities are due largely to Sun's efforts to incorporate the unifying technologies, such as XML, SOAP, J2ME, and wireless technologies. JavaNator demonstrates Java's end-to-end capabilities.

 

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