Freescale unveiled the FSLBOT prototype last year (and I missed it!), and today, the company has announced further improvements to the Freescale Tower System mechatronics robot and board, a bipedal robot and development board that allows designers to write software for a variety of sensor applications while making a robot walk and respond to touch, motion, vibration, tilt and other external stimuli.

The new version of the robot uses a new programming language based on StickOS, has wireless capabilities and adds an Xtrinsic MAG3110 magnetometer.

This robot has been designed with the collaboration of StickOS and CPUStick.com with the goal “to create a tool that would enable casual users and consumers of technology to become creators and innovators”.

The Freescale FSLBOT Robot Kit comes with the following:

Freescale Tower System mechatronics board powered by a 32-bit ColdFire MCU with 64K of RAM and 512K of flash.

Leg mechanics and associated hardware.

Expressive “face” with 12 touch pads and 7 LED’s for user interaction.

4 PWM-controlled RC servos.

A three-axis accelerometer.

A 12-channel touch sensor .

Freescale MC13201 transceiver for RF communication.

Xtrinsic MAG3110 magnetometer for more accurate compass heading information. (Optional device adapter)

The Freescale Tower System mechatronics board can be used standalone with its 3-axis accelerometer and 12-channel touch sensor and with sensor adapter boards. The robot can be programmed using real-time BASIC language in StickOS or C/C++ using the CodeWarrior IDE. If you are interested you can have a look at StickOS BASIC samples for FSLBOT.

Freescale has not released a video of the new version of the robot in action yet, but only an unboxing video:

The Tower System mechatronics robot, Tower System mechatronics board and sensor adapter boards are available now and can be ordered directly online.

In their press release, Freescale announced the following items are available for purchase:

FSLBOT (199 USD) – includes the Tower System mechatronics board, four PWM-controlled RC servos, leg mechanics and associated hardware, assembly instructions, a Tower System mechatronics board user guide and a quick start guide

TWR-MECH (99 USD) – includes an MCF52259 32-bit ColdFire MCU and MPR121 touch sensor, Tower System mechatronics board user guide and quick start guide

LFDA8451 (25 USD) provides a device adapter for the Freescale Xtrinsic MMA8451Q 14-bit 3-axis accelerometer

LFDA3110 (25 USD) provides a device adapter for the Freescale Xtrinsic MAG3110 3-axis magnetometer

The TWR-MECH (The mechatronics board) appears to be already included in FSLBOT, so you should be able to get a working kit for just 199 USD, and you don’t need to purchase the TWR-MECH separatly. I also understand that the 3-axis accelerometer is part of the mechatronics board, and it’s only the magnetometer adapter that needs to be purchased separately.

You can get more information on Freescale FSLBOT page and the Mechatronics Board page.

In the (unlikely) case you are at Design West, you can also attended a workshop entitled “Experiment with Freescale Sensors and Mechatronics Robot” on Thursday March 29th, 12:30-14:00. For further details check out Freescale at DESIGN West.