I finally got around to putting together my CH3 but I think I must have missed a step somewhere.
Used PowerPod to adjust my servos and saved the config file
Switched the jumpers, etc, on the SSC-32 to communicate with Basic Atom 28
Followed the directions that came with my Bot Board II for PS2 style controller set up (note: The Complete H3/H3-R Tutorial does not match Bot Board II directions for connecting PS2).
Opened up pdf containing “PS2 Robot Control: Establishing Communications” directions.
Per directions, I copied and pasted the program at the end of the file into 5.3 editor.
Clicked program.
Opened terminal1 tab and changed communication settings.
Clicked connect.
Nothing happens except one LED on the PS2 receiver blinks and then goes steady. Other than that nada - no numbers, no beeps, no leg movements, nothing I do with the controller has any effect.
Doesn’t even stand and cycle through it’s leg lift sequence when powered up like I’ve read that it is suppose to do.
I found the image on the tutorial to be in error and we are fixing it.
Oh you lost me there. Where in the tutorials does it say to open a PDF? There are instructions for putting in the servo offsets, but I’m not sure what you are talking about here. Powerpod creates the walking code and it does not require cutting and pasting from a PDF. Where are you seeing these instructions.
The best way to communicate problems here is to strictly follow the tutorial, and if you have a problem post the tutorial name, step and or image you you have a problem with.
If the SSC-32 is not getting it’s commands from the Atom there are a couple things that can cause this. If the wrong Bot Board was selected in PowerPod then you may have to regenerate your program. You already mentioned the baud rate change. The PS2 controller sounds like it’s working correctly though.
Sorry, not a pdf. I had saved the html page for PS2 Robot Control: Establishing Communication on my computer as I only have dial up at home. Anyway the directions said:
Step 2. Copy & paste the program from the bottom of the page into the editor. There are two sections that need to be tailored to your setup.
I didn’t have to make any changes for my setup.
Now that I have reviewed the The Complete H3/H3-R Tutorial for the hundreth time. I think I found my problem.
After I save my PowerPod config file the directions state:
“Then click on “Build Basic Program” to create your custom program.” D’ooh!
I think that is the step I missed.
Is that all I have to do is just click there and it will send the program to the SSC-32? Or does it save the program on my computer and then I load it to the Basic Atom 28?
Okay, I’ll try it but is still seems like something might be missing. I will:
Disconnect the Bot Board II from SSC-32
Change SSC-32 jumpers back, connect to PC and reopen PowerPod.
Power up SSC-32
Load saved config file and click on “Build a Basic Program?”
Power down SSC-32
Change SSC-32 jumpers to communicate with BOT Board II.
Connect Bot-Board II
Turn on power to Bot Board II and SSC-32
Load Basic progam from PowerPod to Atom
If I load the PowerPod program and then load the program from the
PS2 Robot Control: Establishing Communication instructions, won’t that overwrite my PowerPod program? Sorry for my lack of familiarity with this system.
Your list of things is incorrect. Please follow the process. Go back to the tutorial and follow it step by step. When you have a question tell me which step. I am not going to try and rewrite the tutorial in the forum.
Sorry for annoying you. I didn’t know I was asking your to re-write “the” tutorial.
I assume when you write that I should to go back to “the” tutorial you are referring to the The Complete H3/H3-R Tutorial and not the PS2 Robot Control: Establishing Communication tutorial. If that is so, I still think that something appears to be left out between Steps 5 and 6.
Step 5 ends with the instructions “Then click on “Build Basic Program” to create your custom program.”
Step 6 starts, “We’re now done communicating with the SSC-32 from a PC, so we need to change the settings to communicate with a Basic Atom 28…”
Nothing more is said about the custom PowerPod program until
Step 11.
In Step 5, all you’re doing is creating your customized hexapod program via PowerPod. You should have the computer hooked up to the SSC-32 at this point. After the program is generated, you no longer need to have the computer hooked up to the SSC-32, as you’ll have to hook up the computer to the Bot Board to program the Atom chip.
In Step 10, you download and install the BASIC Atom IDE. Step 11 instructs you to program the BASIC Atom chip with the custom program you created with PowerPod, using the BASIC Atom IDE.
You’re not annoying me, but if we are all looking at the same set of instructions it can sure make this a lot easier.
I don’t know where you got the idea that the PS2 Robot Control: Establishing Communication Tutorial has anything to do with the Hexapod you are building.
When we hook up the computer to the SSC-32 in the earlier steps of the Complete H3/H3-R tutorial, we’re using it to basically be able to poke and prod the servos into proper alignment. Once the servos are aligned properly, we can generate a custom PowerPod program. This program will include the servo offsets that were calculated by aligning the servos.
The program, with the offsets, is put to use when the BASIC Atom chip is programmed a bit later.
Beth - I’ll let you know tomorrow. I’ve had some experience writing procedure manuals and sometimes I get blinders on. Sorry!
Jim - because (1) I am using the PS2 style controller I purchased from your site, (2) it showed the correct connections unlike the Complete H3/HR Tutorial (now updated), (3) I originally thought my problem was the connection between the PS2 style controller and my BOT Board II, and (4) I really was trying to research your site for answers to my problems before posting on the forum.
Based on the first sentence in the PS2 tutorial (“Establishing a fast and reliable connection between a PS2 style controller and a Basic Atom 28 or BASIC Atom Pro 28 processor with a Mini Atom Bot Board or Bot Board II.”) I assumed the directions would be applicable to any of your robots.
My error, I guess.
I appreciate the effort, and I apologize for the way it came out. But it’s so much easier to help people with the tutorials if they tell me which step is throwing them off. In this case it would have eliminated the “PS2 establishing communication” questions, as they are not part of the Complete Hexapod 3 tutorial. I hope there are no hard feelings.
No; no complaints either. Part of the limitations of trying to communicate without facial expressions and body language. I know you are both over worked and I really do appreciate you taking the time to respond to the forum postings. I’m sure it is something simple that just hasn’t connected with the right neural synapse in my old noggin yet.
It is still my first year with robots. Most of my completed bots are either LEGO or Parallax. I just started playing with SSC-32 Seq with my polypod before I ran into the servo problem. I thought I’d take a break from that frustration and finally tackle the CH3.
Woohoo! It is alive!
It was definitely my failure to click on “Build Basic Program” that was the problem. That missing step between 5 and 6 that I thought was there? Of course, after I build the program I have to save it (d’ooh!). This is why Step 11 referred to opening a file. Sorry for not trusting the tutorial (slap head in contrition, repeat)
Just goes to show that you can’t make anything foolproof - fools are just too ingenious.
