[Rack] static IP request

Jonathan Lassoff jof at thejof.com
Tue Nov 23 10:20:19 UTC 2010


On Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 12:45 AM, Jake <jake at spaz.org> wrote:
> We are trying to get mchawking the wheelchair robot to have a static IP on
> the wireless network.  This is because we want to be able to log into the
> thing and drive it around the space, and also just to work on its brains
> without actually being at the space.
>
> The hardware is a PC running ubuntu, with a USB wireless device, and since
> it's a mobile robot, wired ethernet is not an option.
>
> I don't know a thing about networking, but my friend Mike is making all
> that stuff work and I am writing this email on behalf of both of us.
>
> Right now the machine is at 172.30.1.115 but since it's getting DHCP that
> is subject to change.  The machine is powered down when i'm not here,
> although that is something that will eventually change as the robot grows.
>
> Its MAC address is as follows: 00:E0:4C:00:22:F9
>
> I would like to have a public IP on The Internet, but if this is not
> possible, then I would like to set up port forwarding for port 22 for now,
> and other ports later.  I am being told that it is difficult to have a
> public IP through the wireless network, but I believe there is a solution.
>
> If I am able to get a static IP I would also like to have a DNS entry such
> as mchawking.noisebridge.net although i am open to other suggestions.
>
> I am willing to learn if I must to get this to work, but my friend Mike
> who I am cc'ing on this email is the pro.  If anyone who is familiar with
> the noisebridge network setup is willing to get involved with helping this
> robot to live an unsheltered life, I encourange them to step forward.  The
> robot is not my personal project, it's something that I hope will be a
> platform for many people to participate and experiment and do fun stuff.

I'm very familiar with the Noisebridge network setup.

This wheelchair project is awesome. I can't wait to see how it evolves.

What are you trying to accomplish exactly? Is the static address to
facilitate connecting to it to control it from another remote computer
(local to the space or otherwise).
What protocol will it speak?

Basically, everything that you've mentioned is *possible*, but I'd
like to help you find a solution that will be portable and reusable.
 * It's possible to assign a static address for use on the wireless
network. The DHCP server hands out addresses from 172.30.0.200 through
172.30.3.250, so stuff from 172.30.0.0 -> 172.30.0.199 is available
for static assignments. We've been coordinating on the wiki at
https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Resources/Network#172.30.0.0.2F25_.28.1_-_.127.29_Statically-addressed_things
 * A static IP on the wireless network is harder, but possible. It
could be accomplished by setting up a 1-to-1 NAT mapping on the
router, or plumbing another VLAN to another WiFi SSID.

Things I would recommend to start:
 * Pick a static IP that doesn't seem to be in use (172.30.0.50/22
seems to be available). Setup this assignment on your host.
 * Configure mDNS / Avahi so that local computers can easily find out this IP.
 * Perhaps setup a service on pony (the main server in the closet)
that can forward requests to the wheelchair. HTTP would be awesome for
this -- not sure what you're envisioning.

It doesn't seem like the wheelchair is online with that IP right now,
and I'm not seeing traffic from that MAC address. What's the setup
like now? How do you connect to the wheelchair to control it?

Cheers,
jof



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