Just installed FlowBotics Studio (v2.0.3) but it doesn’t find my AL5D on COM4. Lynxmotion RIOS SSC-32 has no problem controlling the arm, but FlowBotics doesn’t seem to find the COM port. BTW, nothing else is trying to use the COM port. My computer is a fairly standard Windows box running 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium.
TIA for any/all help guys.
Hi Greg,
This sounds like a baud rate problem. Are you using the SSC-32 with Bluetooth, with a USB-to-serial converter, or directly connected to your computer’s COM port?
If you’re using Bluetooth, the SSC-32 needs to be configured at a baud rate of 9600 kbps, otherwise it should be configured for 115,200 kbps. These baud rates are built-in to FlowBotics and will be automatically chosen if you select the Bluetooth button to the left of the port button.
You can see how to configure the baud rate of the SSC-32 by looking at item 9 on this diagram:
If this does not fix the problem, please let us know.
Thank you for choosing RobotShop,
Thanks–the 115200 baud rate did the trick… or at least mostly. I can now control all joints on the AL5D except the wrist and gripper. They work fine using the Lynxmotion RIOS SSC-32I software, so I know they’re functional. I have the heavy-duty wrist upgrade, and I suspect that the FlowBotics Studio AL5D demo needs to be told that somehow. Assuming that’s correct, how do I do that?
Also, can the baud rate be changed by editing the AL5D model as well, or is 115200 baud fixed for all FlowBotics studio models that use the RS232 serial link? TIA for your help.
UPDATE: Answered my own questions. The wrist and gripper were working all along, I just wasn’t commanding them correctly from the front panel. Also, I found the COM module config blocks (modules? still new to the terminology) in the AL5D model and was able to change the baud rate as well.
Hi Greg,
Do you have your gripper servo plugged into SSC-32 output 4 and your wrist servo plugged into output 5? If so they should work automatically… Please let us know if that’s not the case.
For the baud rate, there are a few things you can do. If you use the Bluetooth mode, the baud will be adjusted to 9600 (that’s the only thing that Bluetooth mode does for now).
If you want a rate besides 9600 and 115,200 kbps, then you’ll have to edit the project to set your custom rate. You can go into Edit Mode by either using the Edit Selected button on the home projects screen, or you can do Shift+Escape from within a project.
To customize the baud rate, you can double-click on the “Arm Control” object to edit it, then double-click on the main object there, and then find the “LM SC-32 + Comport” component (in the bottom-right quadrant of the schematic) to edit it. In this screen, you will find the “Comport” component in the right-half that you can double-click, and finally you’ll find the “Baud” component just to the left of the dark gray “COM Port” primitive. When you open the “Baud” component, you’ll see the two preset baud rates on the left side: 115200 is the default, and 9600 for the Bluetooth mode. You can change either or both to suit your needs.
Being able to edit projects like this is what makes FlowBotics Studio so powerful and expandable. For now the baud rate is buried a bit deep in the projects, but future versions of the projects will be restructured and have consolidated schematics based on the feedback and needs of customers; feedback such as this, thanks!
Hope this helps,
Jeffrey
I am having the same issue and I changed the settings but still I am getting nothing. Is there something I am doing wrong?
We were able to fix Darrel’s problem by adding the missing TX and RX jumpers. The are identified as item 14 in the image:
