Page 241 - Hacking Roomba

222 Part III — More Complex Interfacing

Lantronix XPort

Lantronix was one of the first companies to produce an embedded device server for serial
devices, thus enabling those devices to be on the Internet. Their Cobox Micro was a module
very similar in look to the SitePlayer, but included an Ethernet jack. The XPort is a miniatur-
ization of the Micro. The entire device server fits inside of a slightly elongated Ethernet jack.
Figure 11-14 shows what an XPort looks like not connected to anything. It is tiny. It’s hard to
believe there’s really a computer in there.

FIGURE 11-14: Lantronix XPort

While the SitePlayer is very much aimed toward the hobbyist and includes such hacker-friendly
things as standard breadboard pin spacing and 5V tolerant inputs, the XPort is aimed at the
professional device integrator. It has 3.3V inputs and a high-density spacing. These two factors
make it a little harder for the typical hacker to use. The XPort evaluation board, shown in
Figure 11-15, converts it to a more hacker-friendly format. It still requires 5VDC power, so a
small power supply to use the Roomba’s battery is needed. Notice how much more complex it
seems compared to the SitePlayer Telnet System box. This is partially because it is an evalua-
tion board and so has extra parts to let engineers properly evaluate the device, but also because
integrating the XPort just takes more infrastructure when dealing with the 5 VDC and RS-232
world of most hackers.