Vcar (telepresence robot)

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Vcar is a telepresence robot created by David Mc Anulty. It is a modified Tyco Super Rebound remote control car that is capable of responding to movement commands issued from a javascript web interface. The interface includes commands for moving forward, left, right, and backward, as well as zoom controls for the camera and a display of the car's battery power. Commands from the web interface are processed and relayed to the car via a linux server.

[edit] History

While the Vcar website states that Vcar has been around for eight years, there have actually been three incarnations of Vcar. The original Vcar was a Tyco Rebound, which was replaced by a Tyco Super Rebound two years later. However, in 2004,a power brownout caused a malfunction in Vcar's control system, causing it to overheat and melt the voltage regulator, one motor, and part of the chasis. This version was then replaced the next day with a new version which had heatsinks on its motors and and a sensor to detect overheating. It also incorporated a larger battery.