I’m new to the forums here and I hope I’m posting this question in the right spot. I’m using Beaglebone Black (wireless version) and I’m in the middle of designing a biped. I want to run both stepper motors and servos simultaneously. I was wondering if it was possible to connect both a Linux motion servo controller (SSC-32U) and a stepper controller into the BBBW and with some programming allow the two to communicate simultaneously.
For example, if the shoulder of the arm has an mg996r servo to move back and forth and the bicep has a stepper to twist the arm could the BBBW tell the two controllers to perform the action simultaneously?
Also considering that the SSC-32U is capable of having a Bluetooth cape, is it possible that connecting the servo controller to the BBBW I could use the Bluetooth from the beaglebone to control the SSC-32U?
I know that using a breadboard is an option and it may be simpler but since I’m unfamiliar with how many servos BBBW can handle I’m trying to experiment with different approaches to see what would be best. In case you are wondering, I want to incorporate the BBBW into my design because I want this biped to have other features such as camera for vision, mic and speakers, etc.
There is useful information about the serial ports of the BeagleBone in this link.
You can interface an SSC32 with the BeagleBone through UART serial communication as explained in this article.
However, you will need a level converter 5V/3.3V between the two since the SSC32 digital pins operates at 5V and it is recommended not to use anything over 3.3V on the BeagleBone.
You can also interface a stepper controller to another UART port on the BeagleBone (after enabling it) and control steppers simultaneously with servos.
Like in this video, BeagleBone is interfaced with EasyDriver Stepper Motor Controller to drive a NEMA 17 Stepper. The source code is available here.
The BeagleBone Black Wireless is Bluetooth 4.1 compatible which is normally compatible with Bluetooth 4.0. Therefore, you should be able to use this 4.0 Bluetooth BLE Link Bee with the SSC32.
Thanks for the quick response!
You given me a lot of good info to work with there. I guess the only part I’m confused about is the Bluetooth. I’ll look into it more but I can link the BBB and the SSC32U via the ports or Bluetooth but say controlling it wirelessly would mean syncing up the Bluetooth from the SSC32U to BBB then syncing my remote control to BBB?
You can connect your remote control to the Beaglebone and having the Beaglebone and SSC32U communicate together via Bluetooth to control the servos.
You can probably use a Lynxmotion PS2 Controller V4.
