MyPSP Robotics 4.3.0 – turning Sony’s handheld to a semi-autonomous robot

Ambition begins with a little inspiration, and MyPSP Robotics may be one such project with high expectations. Sony‘s PlayStation Portable is known for its processing power, and its compact profile allows it to have more uses than a simple all-in-one entertainment device.

And being a GPS device, portable TV, and movie player is nothing next to being a plausible platform for, say, a semi-autonomous robot.

Download: MyPSP Robotics v4.3.0 package

Engineers define their work as an art and a science, using both imagination and practicality to create the stuff of dreams. Italian developer ccpspita, who’s more than just a PSP homebrew developer, started MyPSP Robotics with a simple vision in mind: build a semi-autonomous robot using Sony‘s PlayStation Portable.

But now that it has reached version 4.3.0, MyPSP Robotics is more than just a step closer to realization – it’s brimming with features otherwise absent in this blogger’s robotics prototype back in the day. In fact, the author is confident that version 4.3.0 is the final step for the software side of the project.

Piqued your interest, did we? Well then prepare for a delightful surprise, because here’s a summarized run-down of the software side’s features in MyPSP Robotics v4.3.0:

• Speech synthesis and speech recognition backed up by two-way VVoIP (voice and video over IP) – simultaneous video and audio streaming;
• Support for both networking over wireless access points (WAP) and Adhoc connection for PSP to PSP CC&C (communication, command and control), in line with ccpspita’s implementation of MyPSP VVoIP Walkie Talkie;
• A knowledge database for storing an established artificial intelligence (dubbed OpenMind Knowledge Base) and expandable through the prototype’s learning process or assisted coding, implemented over SQLite 3; and,
• Support for 3.XX-kernel custom firmwares without the need for 1.50 kernel integration.

The package holds a number of plugins that should not be traded off to flash0, but you’re better off checking the installation information provided through the bundled documentation to see where to store them. Remember that this software set is the hammer to the proof of concept anvil, which has yet materialize as the prototype itself.

Download: MyPSP Robotics v4.3.0 package