The LTU Aibo Book

An introductory text to learn Aibo programming.

The Aibo is a great platform for teaching and practicing ideas in computer science, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Today a strong research effort exists around the Aibo, especially in the Robocup soccer community. Because the Aibo is a niche market, beginners wanting to learn more about how to program the Aibo have often faced a steep learning curve. In our own work with Aibo we have experienced the difficulty in locating good documentation, tutorials, or just helpful hints and tips.

The LTU AiboBook is an effort to bring Aibo programming to beginners, people that do not necessarily have high level experience in robotics or artificial intelligence.

The book is now successfully in use at LTU to introduce new team members to Aibo programming. We have also successfully used the book in teaching middle and high school students to program the Aibo using Python and C++. Their programs are even included as examples in the book!

If you are interested in receiving a copy please send an email to a team member.

Chapters

• Chapter 1: Python Setup
• Chapter 2: Python Tutorial
• Chapter 3: Exploring the Python Environment
• Chapter 4: Setting up the Aibo Programming Environment
• Chapter 5: C++ Tutorial
• Chapter 6: Exploring the C++ Environment
• Chapter 7: Primitive and Basic Behaviors in C++
• Chapter 8: Advanced Behaviors in C++

PyTekkotsu

Developed in conjunction with the book, PyTekkotsu is a tool which allows developers to use Python to interface with Aibo (running Tekkotsu) over a wireless network. To use PyTekkotsu download ez_setup.py and run these two commands:

python ez_setup.py
easy_install -f http://ltu164.ltu.edu/aibo/book pytekkotsu

The PyTekkotsu package will download and install automatically. To double-check the installation you can open an interpreter and test the following lines:

>>> import Aibo
>>> Aibo.__version__
'0.6'
>>> help(Aibo)
Help on module Aibo:

NAME
    Aibo - Aibo client code to interface with Tekkotsu using only Python builtins.

FILE
    c:\python24\lib\site-packages\pytekkotsu-0.6-py2.4.egg\aibo.py
...

Before you can use PyTekkotsu you must have Tekkotsu already installed on a memory stick. We have a precompiled memory stick image available to use (currently the Tekkotsu demo stick). Download, extract, and copy the config, data, and open-r folders over your memory stick.

PyTekkotsu is based in part on the Pyro project, but follows the conventions of Tekkotsu more closely. Also included are tools to create motions and postures, update files over FTP, speed up the color training process, and more.

Please note that PyTekkotsu is still a work in progress and still needs work to come closer to the power of coding in C++ with Tekkotsu. Despite this it is still useful for exploring introductory Aibo programming.