Why Use SSC-32 and Bot Board...Dumb Newbie Question

Lynxmotion Electronics & Software
1

I can understand that the SSC-32 doesnt have a memory and all but why not use just the Basic Atom/Stamp Bot board? What is the advantage to using both together?

thanks

2

The BotBoard with an Atom microcontroller in it can generate the pulse trains that control servos in the background (while the microprocessor is performing other actions), but only for a few at a time. If you use the BotBoard with a Stamp processor in it, it canā€™t do any background pulse generation at all - the program has to either stop what itā€™s doing to generate the pulses, or you have to write code very carefully in order to generate the proper timings. Further, with analog servos, when you remove the pulse train that tells the servos where to go, they go limp, and stop holding position.

With an SSC-32, all of that ā€œheavy liftingā€ is taken care of, for up to 32 servos at once. You send a command from the micro, and the servo or servos move to the new position, and stay there, since the SSC-32 continues to generate those pulses indefinitely, until commanded otherwise. Think of it as a servo subprocessor that greatly simplifies the task of controlling your servos.

Of course, thereā€™s also the fact that a single SSC-32 can control twice as many servos as you have individual output pins on the BotBoard and any processor that you may have plugged into it.

3

Now it makes sense. I have 2 BRATā€™s. One with a SSC-32 to understand how things work and another with a Bot Board.

Thanks

4

Now, if you add a bot board with an atom microcontroller to the BRAT that has the SSC-32, you will be able to do some very cool things. :smiley: I am building a BRAT, and just need to get servos, a battery, and a microcontroller for it. I already have an SSC-32 for it.

8-Dale

5

Yeh: I am hoping to do just that; eg, canabalize: assimilate. Now, one of myconcerns is I have a bunch of 422 servos and keep hearing that other guys are using much more powerfull servos for what I would assume are the big muscles of the robot. I need to step back and look where I am going for a while. thanks for the help.