Stumbled upon this, not as fancy looking and capable as the RM S1, but nonetheless similar idea. Though it uses omni-wheels, not meccanum.

https://www.amazon.com/GJS-Robot-App-Enabled-Augmented-Multi-Player/dp/B07JGNCN1M/ref=sr_1_12_sspa?gclid=CjwKCAjw8ZHsBRA6EiwA7hw_sf5Djwe71rzh3curIOlHiwsLn9FlUMujdyIJyFD9_0dsDxRU9CY3dhoC7-4QAvD_BwE&hvadid=352703662740&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9021672&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t2&hvqmt=b&hvrand=16788884195306294821&hvtargid=aud-647006051489%3Akwd-436411256546&hydadcr=18444_9825425&keywords=dji+robomaster&qid=1569010582&s=gateway&sr=8-12-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzNjhUNUJGS1dWVEpFJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwODk1MDUwWEE4MVlMUjJERTNMJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA2NTc1MDIyQU05UjFLSjFXUE81JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfbXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

I still prefer my RM S1, as it's in a league of its own.

Tom's Review was not overly impressed with the robot. From a coding point of view, the author stated: "... its coding app is rather basic and doesn’t align with any actual programming languages, so it’s more of an introduction to thinking in code. And the AR mode, while fun when it works, is buggy with janky DIY execution that almost makes us wish the company held off on introducing it."On the videos I watched, reviewing the robot's features, its has a clanky, very "plastic" sound to it. Oh well1 I reminded myself this is a $200 robot, after all...
https://www.tomshardware.com/rev ... botics-toy-games-ar,6063.html

I have a pair of the GJS GEIO and a pair of the Reach Robotics Mekamon (now defunct). I'd happily trade them for another Robomaster S1 or two.

Both of them follow a similar playbook, a battle mode based on IR sensors, some programmability so you can sell it as "educational" and an AR mode so you can play by yourself.

The GEIO is fun, but a bit rough around the edges. I was never able to get the battle mode to fully function - it uses Bluetooth to connect player devices, and WiFi to connect to the robot. It has an FPV camera, but it is low quality. Something that has always bothered me is that it has a full holonomic drivetrain (it can go in any direction) but they didn't do the math to get it working properly, so it just goes forward/backward/left/right. Not like the Robomaster. The programming environment feels unfinished. It is scratch-like, but programs are all attached to UI elements that you put on a dashboard. (This is actually an interesting idea). The AR mode requires you to cover the robot with stickers, and to print out an AR play mat.

The Mekamon was much more polished. The app had a complicated comic book backstory. There are a bunch of programming options: the first allows you to manipulate the robot directly, record positions and save them. The second is a Scratch-based environment. Finally, it works with Apple's Swift Playgrounds. The robot itself had some sophisticated engineering, with 3 servos in each leg and the ability to move with various gaits. The AR mode worked fine out of the box.
In general, neither of these is anywhere near as fun, or has the potential, of the DJI machine. I think the real competitor is all the various kits you see popping up on Amazon that are based on Arduino or Raspberry Pi.

Hello and good day JB63. Thank you for sharing this link and information with us. Have a fun driving and a a happy programming always.

gpvillamil Posted at 9-21 07:02
I have a pair of the GJS GEIO and a pair of the Reach Robotics Mekamon (now defunct). I'd happily trade them for another Robomaster S1 or two.

Both of them follow a similar playbook, a battle mode based on IR sensors, some programmability so you can sell it as "educational" and an AR mode so you can play by yourself.

Great many thanks for the analysis and the photos. That was very enlightening.

gpvillamil Posted at 9-21 07:02
I have a pair of the GJS GEIO and a pair of the Reach Robotics Mekamon (now defunct). I'd happily trade them for another Robomaster S1 or two.

Both of them follow a similar playbook, a battle mode based on IR sensors, some programmability so you can sell it as "educational" and an AR mode so you can play by yourself.

Cool robots.

Do you know what sort of control mechanisms are used with the GEIO robots?

I'm made both omni wheeled robots in the past and the GEIO robots you show look like good starting points for trying our various control algorithms.

Here's one of my past omni bots.



One of the interesting things about those type of omni wheels is they can cause a robot to move faster than it would be possible using normal wheels of the same size.

If the GEIO robots can crab their wheels, the robots should be able to move at higher speed than having their wheels aligned with the direction of travel.

I've wanted to make a robot where I could change the orientation of the wheels with respect to the direction of travel. If I can directly control the angle and speed of the GEIO robot's omni wheels, it would save me from having to build my own robot base.

Duane Degn Posted at 9-21 08:54
Cool robots.

Do you know what sort of control mechanisms are used with the GEIO robots?

The GEIO robots are controlled via a mobile app, over WiFi broadcast from the robot. There is no mechanism for connecting via a router.

The control protocol is proprietary. Someone was poking around and found an SSH port on the robot, but login credentials are unknown.

In general the build quality is decent. The four arms are actually a single aluminum casting, so it feels pretty sturdy. However, they are using geared DC motors for driving the wheels, so I suspect that they can’t control speeds very accurately. There are two speed settings (fast/slow) but there is no sense of gradual control. For example, when you press forward on the direction control, the robot takes off at full speed in that direction. You can’t move diagonally - just forward/back/left/right. Even the programming interface enforces this. You can’t indvidually control each motor, as on the Robomaster. This seems a terrible limitation - it would be so easy to at least support diagonal motion.

At this point, it is so buttoned up and so restricted that it doesn’t seem like a good platform for exploring drivetrains.

I’ve built a few different holonomic drivetrains (like your 3 omniwheel Kiwi drive) using the Vex IQ system. That’s a good system for messing around, you have complete control over the motors and a decent controller. The brain has 12 ports that you can use for sensing or motors.

However, you’re locked into their system of sensors and effectors.

I’m thinking the most promising platform for real experimentation is those cheap kits you see on Amazon, that use Arduino or Raspberry Pi as a processor. The latter especially would let you play around with AI and computer vision with few restrictions. I’ve had some good results using the Sparkfun Qwiic system to quickly make robots using micro:bit, Arduino and Pi. I have a Sphero RVR on order, that’s basically a smart drivetrain. However, Sparkfun is selling an Advanced Autonomy kit for the RVR that includes a RPi, GPS, pan/tilt camera, etc. That looks like it would match the capabilities of the Robomaster S1, except all open source. The main point of connection is basically a UART, they make a bit deal of it.
Here's a link to the Sphero RVR: https://www.sphero.com/rvr

Here's the autonomy kit from Sparkfun: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/15303

For a combined total of $415, you have a fully open programmable robot, with more capabilities than the S1 in some areas (GPS, total access to anything on Raspberry Pi eg OpenCV) but obviously less in other areas (gun, Meccanum drive).

Hi, does somebody knows is there is a way to do a factor y reset or hard reset on the GEIO? I lost the password and cannot connect