Is the RS232 protocol spec available online somewhere for this arm?
I’m looking to program the arm using C++ in both Windows and Linux. Are there any libraries/reference implementations available?
Does the vacuum gripper work with the rotating wrist?
If not, any ideas how to make it rotate?
Oops, sorry to answer some of my own questions - I just realized I can buy the arm on this very site straight from the manufacturer!
Also found the vacuum grabber with built-in rotation: lynxmotion.com/p-825-vacuum- … otate.aspx
That answers that question!
Still curious about how to program in C++ from Linux + Windows.
Thanks!
There are some C++ gurus here that may be able to help you. You may want to search the forum for C++ in the SSC-32 section for some ideas. There are a lot of code examples here.
Thanks, that helps! Commands look very easy - good.
One programming related question for the arm:
Is there a way to determine that a servo is stalled?
For the gripper for example, if the robot doesn’t know the width of an object to be picked up, if I give it a specific pulse width, will the servo give up at one point if it can’t reach that value?
On previous robots I’ve programmed, I could instruct the robot to start moving an arm and then poll it’s position and notice when it has slowed down/is stuck and then stop the motion.
For the AL5D, could I send a move command and then use #QP to repeatedly query if the servo is making progress?
The hobby servos used for these types of arms generally do not have actual position feedback. The #QP command will give only the status of the commands being sent to the servo, not what is actually going on with the servo.
Asking the position of a servo that has been told to clamp down on an object is generally a bad idea and is not the desired method. The proper way to close a gripper is to use a pressure sensor, and make sure the servo does not clamp down too tightly… The “give up” scenario can easily be heat and smoke related.
