Does anyone know if there is any documentation on connecting the sabertooth motor controller to the SSC-32? I looked through all the tutorials and I couldn’t seem to find any instructions on plugging in the flip/fwd/turn cables or how to use RIOS to send commands.
Thanks!
You need to configure the Sabertooth for R/C servo type control. You need two of these servo cables with connector at just one end. Use these cables to connect from two of the SSC-32 servo channels to the signal connectors on the Sabertooth.
Do NOT connect the power wire! The ONLY connections you want between the SSC-32 and the Sabertooth are signal and ground.
All you connect is the ground wires to ground and the signal wires to the signal connections for each of the Sabertooth channels. The Sabertooth manual shows how to make these connections to it.
This will allow you to control the Sabertooth using standard R/C servo control from the SSC-32. In fact, this is exactly how I have my Sabertooth 2x5 connected now. 
If you need clarification, just ask. 
8-Dale
So I have the sabertooth for the robot, but I am still not sure how to get it to interface properly with the SSC-32 and RIOS…I am guessing on which servo controller ports to plug in the motor terminals but it doesn’t look like RIOS can handle motor control is there a way to program something that will let me use the motors with RIOS or do I need my own software to control the motors from my computer?
When you configure the Sabertooth for PWM (standard R/C) control, you can connect it to two of the SSC-32 servo channels. Then when you send servo commands to those channels, it controls the Saberooth.
RIOS can handle servos. If the Sabertooth is setup for R/C control and plugged into the SSC-32, RIOS can also control it. However, I’m not sure why you would want RIOS to control the Sabertooth. I have a Sabertooth 2x5 on W.A.L.T.E.R. and it is controlled through an SSC-32 at present. The Sabertooth manual is very well done, so be sure to follow it exactly and you shouldn’t have any problems.
8-Dale
But how else would I control the sabertooth through my computer? There is no software and I am looking to have the robot do programmable moves with the arm and track simultaneously.
You can send servo commands to the channels of the SSC-32 the Sabertooth is plugged into, which would control the motors. I am not familiar with RIOS, so have no idea how (or if) this would work.
8-Dale
yeah, that’s the part i’m trying to figure out.
Why not get it working first with lynxterm, then move to RIOS?
RIOS has two spare servo outputs that are not part of the arm IK program and are free to be used to control a Sabertooth.
If your Sabertooth has RC on the end of the part number it will plug into the SSC-32, but you do need to pull the red wire fromm the two cables.
Now the Sabertooth can control the speed and direction of the differentially steerred robot base. Keep the pulses at 1500 or centered 0°. This will prevent the motors from turning. You then have to trick the program into controlling motors buy changing the position of the centered (stopped) position to either one direction or the other as a timed move, then move it back to center to stop the motor again. This will allow you to move the motor in a somewhat controllable manor. I.e. the time it takes to move the servo channel from point A to point B and back is how long the motor will rotate. It also provides the additional benefit of accelerating and decellerating the Sabertooth motor control behaviour. Hope this helps.
So I can only go a certain length in either direction with the motor? Probably a couple feet or less?
If so, is there software available to control just the motors through SSC-32?
No, you can commend the two channels going to the motor controller to cause forward motion and let it go till the cows come home. I was mearly telling you if you want to move the bot a specific distance you need to change the values sent to the motors controller once to initiate movement, then move them back to stop the motion.
So when I am connecting, the channels which way do they go onto the SSC-32? Does the brown go on the same pin as the black would go and the orange with the yellow? Also, does the flip cable have no function?
yes.
oh, and I forgot what FLIP does 
As I recall, flip, acting either as a servo channel or a logic input (depending on configuration), swaps the controls so that, in case you are using it to control a chassis that can be run in an inverted state, the controls respond normally when it is upside-down.
when i pull the middle wire off of the cables and connect them to the ssc-32 i dont get any response from the sabertooth (no led indicator), but when I put it back I do get the indicator light. The motors don’t move either way.
What is the easiest way to test the sabertooth indepedently of the ssc-32? It looks like I can do it with a potentiometer, but what is that? It looks like a knob.
