B4 is an ambitious project of a small Robot based on ROS, designed primarily for home use, whose purpose is to interact with people and things that manage or monitor the domestic environment, but it could be used in any environment that needs to be controlled. Its name reads "Before", as well as being the quote of the name of a character in a TV series, indicates that it is a "First" version.
Play list of Video tutorial of the realization of B4 YouTube - Playlist video
B4 will be present at Maker Faire Rome from 12 to 14 October 2018, see you there in the Padiglione 7 Stand 4 with Officine Robotiche!
The hardware of the B4 project is based on a PINE 64 board, that running Ubuntu Linux, ROS and all the software needed for operation, a Microsoft Kinect is used as a depth camera. Other hardware devices are Arduino used for various tasks and a uNav plus uBridge, two Officine Robotiche projects, used to control and drive the Robot's DC Motors.
B4 can create a 2D map of the environment, typically an apartment, and navigate independently. Among its capabilities there are those of interacting with other specific devices, such as alarm sensors, environment monitoring, etc.
More information on how to build B4 and all the experiments and tests carried out, are available at Wiki pages.
