I’m trying to connect up my Tri-Track Bot Board II directly to a BlueSMiRF module, but am having real difficulty working out where the TX and RX ports from the module are supposed to be wired to on the board.
Basically, I’m hoping to end up with a system where pressing buttons on my computer keyboard results in the tri-track moving.
I have tried using the SSC-32 connected to the Bot Board, and then to the bluetooth module, but that didn’t give me any success either.
I have tried going through the tutorials on the lynxmotion website and those referenced in other forum posts, but they haven’t yielded any positive results either.
If anyone is able to give me some pointers in the right direction, I’d be hugely grateful!
You should be able to connect the Bluetooth module directly to the SSC-32 (Tx, Rx, V and GND) and send the commands via BT. If you wanted to use the BotBoard, you’d need to create the intermediate code.
Thanks for replying CBenson. Unfortunately I’m having issues with the SSC-32 board in terms of connecting it up to a PC (I was originally trying to use a USB to Serial cable, so thought a normal serial cable would solve the issue, but when I tried one, I couldn’t detect the SSC-32) so that’s why I was hoping there was a way to connect the bluetooth module direct to the Bot Board.
I’m guessing all the info that I need to write the code is in the Basic Atom Pro syntax manual?
If you’re having problems connecting with RS-232 or a USB-RS232 cable, then things won’t get any better trying to connect with Bluetooth!
Get the 232 running, find a good USB-232 cable such as Cables to go" or some of the ones recommended on this forum. Then go for Bluetooth if you desire.
As Alan indicated, not all USB to serial cables are created equally, and we see many customers here and in the support center whose cables don’t work or work intermittently. Jim went through quite a few cables before he found one which is reliable and although you need to unscrew the hex spacers in order to connect it to the SSC-32, it has proven to be very reliable. Did you check that the SSC-32 reacts correctly when receiving commands sent to it from the Bot Board?
Apologies for the delay in getting back. I carried out loads of tests, but I think the SSC-32 board that I have is dead, it wasn’t responding properly at all.
Basically I’ve gone back to connecting the BlueSMiRF up directly to the BB2, and am currently using the following connections:
BlueSMiRF : BB2
VCC : Pin 15 supply voltage
GND : Pin 15 ground
TX-O : Pin 14 data
RX-I : Pin 15 data
The CTS-I and RTS-O are also connected to each other on the bluesmirf.
I’ve tested the code supplied in the syntax manual for the command ‘serin’ (which I got working correctly), and have now made slight alterations to use the pin terminals instead of the serial port.
The code compiles correctly and loads to the Tri-Track via the usb-serial port correctly, but then when I try to connect to the com port, I get the message ‘Serial Port is invalid. Please check serial port connections’. As far as I can tell I’ve set all the settings correctly in Basic Micro Studio and in the Device Manager, so am at a bit of a loss!
If you are unable to get the SSC-32 working correctly with Lynxterm and the product is under warranty, we will do our best to help. What errors do you get? Can you ensure you have the board powered correctly, the jumpers set correctly and only one servo connected to pin 0? Note that the standard configuration requires both a 9V battery and a 6V battery.
