January 13, 2005
Survey of Physical Interaction Hardware Toolkits
This list is an (incomplete) overview of currently available commercial tangible user interface (TUI) hardware toolkits. While one can distinguish these products along many dimensions, I have chosen the locus of runtime control as my primary differentiating characteristic. A complete spreadsheet for feature-comparison is in the works. I see three different main categories: 1) tethered PC-only control where the user cannot or should not reprogram the microcontroller; 2) Hybrid PC+microcontroller systems where user code can run on both the PC and the microchip; 3) standalond microcontrollers that are initially programmed through a PC but then run autonomously. The categories often don’t have hard boundaries – I have grouped products below by their path-of-least-resistance – the mode of operation that the system designers facilitate most.
Group 1 - control code runs on PC:
Phidgets - http://www.phidgets.com/
Teleo by MakingThings - http://makingthings.com/
iCube - http://infusionsystems.com/
NIQ EZIO - http://www.ezio.com/
ActiveWire - http://www.activewireinc.com/
Group 2 - hybrids:
BasicStamp - http://parallax.com/
Handyboard (and 6.270) - http://www.handyboard.com
BrainStem by Acroname - http://www.acroname.com/brainstem/brainstem.html
OOPic - http://www.oopic.com/
Group 3: autonomous microcontrollers:
Lego Mindstorms: http://mindstorms.lego.com/
MIT Programmable Bricks / Crickets - http://llk.media.mit.edu/projects/cricket/software/index.shtml
Related - mobile mini-computers:
http://www.acroname.com/robotics/parts/R231-SP-KIT400.html