I received quite a few parts for Christmas and I’ve had so much fun learning how to do this. My electrical engineering knowledge is non-existent (I’ve read a lot into this) and I’ve spent dozens of hours figuring out the final steps to completing my first robot. What I don’t know is if I have all of the required parts or not. I would like to know what else I would potentially need to finish building my robot. First, the components:
A4WD1 (No Electronics)
-This is where I’m getting thrown off the most. I’ll explain more in a bit
I have fully built the A4WD1 (rover), but I haven’t put the top on. I’m using the top to mount the Servo controller and the AL5D arm. I’ve fully installed the arm to the SSC-32U controller.
I have no idea where the wires of the gear head motors go onto the SSC-32U or if this is even possible. I also have a couple of 6V batteries, and I don’t know if I need more of those.
My question is… Do I need to get a motor controller and a botboard to connect to the SSC-32U servo controller, or is the SSC-32U capable of handling this whole robot?
-If the SSC-32U is capable of handling all of the wiring, are there any other recommendations (batteries, relays, etc). I’m a freakin’ noob here trying to do this!
Yes - you are entirely correct. Note that the SSC-32U is not programmable, so you need to send it commands from somewhere else (PC or smart phone for example).
A few items which you don’t have in your list include:
Once that works, you can mount the arm to the A4WD1 (having followed that assembly guide) and plug the two Sabertooth connectors into the SSC-32U (you choose which pins, but ensure you get the orientation correct).
Since we do not have a setup guide to use the SSC-32U on its own with the Sabertooth, follow the R/C setup: lynxmotion.com/images/html/build123.htm
Note that you WILL need to remove the wires as described in step 2. The only chance will be that you choose which pins on the SSC-32U to plug these into, instead of an R/C receiver.
Once again, since you’re new to robotics, and Lynxmotion electronics are much more complex and involved than something like LEGO, read through the guides to ensure you understand what’s going on, what jumpers to keep in place and which to remove etc. When in doubt, ask questions here and we’ll be happy to help. Be sure to include clear photos if you want us to verify connections before you power anything up.
One more detail you may be interested in; if you decide you want to make an autonomous robot that is Arduino based (such as with the [RB-Lyn-363]), you may want to have a look at the code available here (source here) as an example/starting point. This example uses the [RB-Lyn-899].
Other than that, as my CBenson mentioned, you will need the typical stuff for driving the robot, such as the DC motor controller (dual channel [recommended] or two single channel) and a 12 V DC power source (typically a battery pack).
