Hagisonic StarGazer serial to USB converter

Help & Support Robots & Kits
1

The Hagisonic StarGazer that I just bought from Robotshop comes with a connection cable–one end male and one end female. I see that the male end plugs into the StarGazer. Would I plug the female into this converter:
robotshop.com/robotis-usb-to-dynamixel-adapter-3.html ??? This would allow me to plug the USB end of the converter into my computer? The converter above says “Dynamixel.” Is that the same as VGA?

2

Coleman,

 Thanks for clarifying that...I'll just get a serial to USB adapter.

 --Dexter
3

Hi Jeffrey,

 I went back to just using the cable to connect the StarGazer to my computer, but nothing changed from 4 months ago, when I used a cable.

 I emailed to Hagisonic back then and they suggested that I use Hyper Terminal to verify that I was getting data from the StarGazer.  I did use Hyper Terminal back then, and I did get data coming from the StarGazer back into the port on my computer.  I told this to Hagisonic back then and they said that means that the StarGazer is working properly and there is not a problem with my StarGazer.

 So, there must be a problem in my computer.  I bought a new laptop computer in the last month, but I am experiencing the same problem that I had with my old computer.  I am getting data from the StarGazer into my computer, as verified by Hyper Terminal, which I just used again on the new computer.   For some reason the StarGazer monitor program is not picking up the data coming in through the port on my computer.

 Any suggestions as to how I can fix  this?

 Thanks,

 Dexter
4

Hi Jeffrey,

 The version of StarGazer Monitor which I am using is: StarGazer Monitor 1.0904.16-08

 I sent the commands you suggested, but the computer said it didn't recognize them. I sent the commands from the command prompt of my computer, with the StarGazer plugged into a COM port.  Should I send them from another location?  The command prompt says C:\Users\John>         Do I need to change the location of that command prompt from C:\Users\John>   to something else?

 Maybe I should send it from within X-CTU?

 Thanks,

 John
5

The StarGazer is connected to the computer and is giving data back to the X-CTU. The problem is that the StarGazer Monitor software is not receiving any data. Jeffrey gave me commands to send to the StarGazer to determine which version of firmware is on the StarGazer. I just don’t know how to issue these commands…should I issue them from within the X-CTU? If from within the X-CTU, from which window within X-CTU?
Thanks,
Dexter

6

Hi Jeffrey,

 I studied that transceiver manual and have a few questions:

 Where does that command "BD" go?  I entered it into the Command Character (CC) box under the "PC Settings" tab in X-CTU.  Is that the proper place for it?

 Also, how do I change the baud rate for the transceiver on the Droid?  Do I need to get a Serial (9-pin) cable to hook the Droid and its transceiver up to the USB port on my computer?  Or can I take the transceiver off the UartSBee, replace it with the transceiver from the Droid, and change the baud rate that way?

 Thanks,

 Dexter
7

I hooked up the XBee Transceiver to the UartSBee and Droid as you instructed, plugged the UartSBee into COM3 on my computer and plugged the Droid into the StarGazer. However the StarGazer Monitor program does not show that it is receiving any data into the “Received Data” boxes. I have COM3 checked in the StarGazer program, as well as a baudrate of 115,200. I have a Landmark positioned on the ceiling directly over the StarGazer. Is there something I’m overlooking or doing wrong?

8

I have a question about the orientation of the XBee Transceiver (RB-Spa-112) when it is placed on the UartSBee V3.1 USB to Serial (RB-See-105): does the “arrowhead” end of the Transceiver belong on the “arrowhead” end of the UartSbee, or the other way around?
I have the same question about the placement of the XBee Transceiver on the Droids SAS XBee (RB-Dro-03). Does the arrowhead end of the Transceiver go on the end where the Serial port on the Droid is, or the other way around?
Thanks, Dexter

9

Hi Jeffrey,

 Thanks for that information.  I tried to send those commands from within Hyper Terminal, but I couldn't figure out how to do it.  Do I send each command as a file, i.e., the file would contain just one line:  ~aVersion'  ?  If so, should it be a file in Microsoft Word format, or Word Pad, or some other format?  When I connected Hyper Terminal up to the StarGazer, all the navigation data streamed onto the screen--how do I tell Hyper Terminal to stop the flow of data coming in from the StarGazer, and to send out a command to StarGazer?
 
 Thanks for your help,
 
 Dexter
10

Hi Jeffrey,

 I corresponded with Sean Kim a couple of months ago and explained my problem.  He told me that the StarGazer box/module is working correctly, since I am getting navigation data coming through the port on my computer.  So I think the problem may be, as you suggested earlier, that I don't have the correct version of software loaded on my computer.

 I will try again to send those 3 commands to the StarGazer, using the advice you gave.

 Thanks,

 Dexter
11

Jeffrey,

 Yes, I did use the same COM port and baud rate for the StarGazer as I did for the Hyper Terminal.  There still is no data going into the "Received Data" box of the Monitor program.

 Regarding the possible mismatch of the firmware on the StarGazer with the Monitor software...how many versions of Monitor software are there?  Could you just send me the other versions of Monitor software and I'll try them out?  Send them either electronically or send the disks through United Parcel Service?

 Thanks,

 Dexter
12

I looked at your website for this product: Seeedstudio UartSBee V4 USB to Serial Product code :RB-See-105, but it said the product is no longer available, or has been moved to another location. I have this part on backorder with you…will I get this part, or will you substitute something else?
Thanks,
Dexter

13

A generic question: When I am plugging a cable into my desktop computer for the first time, should I have the other end of the cable hooked up to the part it is connecting (StarGazer, Arduino, etc), or should the other end be unconnected? Or doesn’t it matter one way or the other?

14

I hope this isn’t too stupid of a question, but I just want to be super-careful so as not to fry my StarGazer. You recommended this serial to USB converter: robotshop.com/productinfo.aspx?pc=RB-Sha-14&lang=en-US My question is: Can I use this serial to USB Converter, which I bought last week:
amazon.com/TRENDnet-RS-232-Serial-Converter-TU-S9/dp/B0007T27H8 ??? Is there anything special about the one you recommended, or will the one I bought do the job correctly?

15

We received new information from the manufacturer:

So, once you got the StarGazer working with HyperTerminal with a particular COM port and baud rate, were you able to user the StarGazer Monitor with the same settings?

16

Hi Dexter,

Do you know what version of the firmware on your StarGazer? There are different versions of the monitor software, and Hagisonic says that they are not all compatible with all version of the firmware…

To get the firmware version, you need to send this command:

~@Version`

At the same time, can you also check the IDNum and RefID:

~@IDNum`
~@RefID`

Can you also tell us what version of the StarGazer Monitor you currently have installed?

Once we have this information, we will be able to check for known incompatibilities and see how to proceed.

17

Hi Dexter,

Page 26 of the manual should explain how to use the Terminal to send the BD command: it should be something like “+++ ATBD7 ATCN”.

And, yes, your suggested method for programming the Droid should work fine.

Sincerely,

18

Hi Dexter,

To be able to use use the XBee transceivers with the StarGazer, you will need to adjust the baud rates of the transceivers to use 115,200 kbps instead of the 9,600 kbps factory defaults.

You can make the changes to be baud rate, you will need to use the “BD” command found at the top of page 32 of the transceiver manual.

If you have other questions, please let us know.

19

There are 4 versions of the Monitor program and they are all available in the Download Center on the Hagisonic website:

We hope this helps

20

@Dexter, I forgot to specify, please send those commands using the Hyper Terminal that is connected to your StarGazer with the right COM port and speed:

~@Version`
~@IDNum`
~@RefID`