Will start this out with the fact that i am new to the robotic’s scene and am still figuring things out. I have years of experience coding web pages, writing web applications, and assembling computers, but the electronics component has been an area that i have little experience. I’ve spent hours on the forum looking for some answers to some questions and reading manuals, but i haven’t confidently connected the dots; i’m hoping all of you can help.
I have purchased and built the Johnny 5 kit only adding the PING))) sensor ‘eyes’ and BlueSMiRF (without the antenna). As you know the kit comes with the Sabertooth and SSC-32 boards. After the initial assembly i noticed some things not hooked up and have read the forums and manuals for help. I have discovered that I am missing parts to actually see Johnny 5 move. I don’t have a serial to USB dongle, while i have the bluetooth Smirf it didn’t come with the 90 degree header pins so i cannot plug it in, i don’t have a power cable for the SMiRF, and i don’t have any wires that connect the Ping))) board to anything on the robot.
I’m hoping to just make one last order to get the rest of the parts, but i have some questions:
I see some people talking about using a wireless PS2 controller to control Johnny5, but it seems like they all talk about using BotBoard2 with the PS2 controller. Can the wireless PS2 controller work with the SSC-32 and Sabertooth boards? If not is the BotBoard2 an add-on or does it replace one of the existing boards?
2.Where do you plug in the PING))) sensor on the SSC-32 board so it works? Do i just use a Servo extender cable to do that?
When this is completely hooked up, will i just be writing programs that Johnny5 executes (like dance moves to Low Rider)? Or can i just control Johnny5 similar to an RC car where i decide where he moves and does on the fly (For example could my 5 year old son drive it around the house or is it more complex)?
Also i am running a Windows 7 64-bit system, is that going to cause any problems with the Sequencer software or getting this robot running?
Let’s go in reverse here…
The Ping sensor does not include a cable and is, in fact, not required for the Johnny 5 robot. It is in the pictures as a decoration, which is why it is labeled as “eyes” instead of an actual part number.
I can’t help you with the 90° pins, but you could solder wires directly to the board. Alternately, this cable could be used for power once you get the pins installed.
By “serial to USB dongle”, do you mean something like this or the reverse of that?
The SSC-32 is a servo controller and is incapable of acting on its own. It needs a PC or a microcontroller, such as the BASIC Atom Pro 28 on a Bot Board II, to tell it what to do. So in this case, the PS2 controller is plugged into the Bot Board II, which interprets the controller data and forwards relevant signals to the SSC-32 so that the robot will move. In this configuration, the BluSMiRF would not be used at all.
You would use a servo extender cable, yes. However, the PING))) sensor will not work with the SSC-32. You would need to plug it into the Bot Board II if you wanted to use it.
That all depends on you. If you’re writing the programs, you decide that.
There are currently no Lynxmotion provided/supported Atom Pro programs for Johnny 5. It’s sold as a bot to be controlled from the Sequencer program. There is a thread from a guy who made a relatively simple program for the Atom Pro and PS2 that you may be able to use as is, or as a starting place. viewtopic.php?f=20&t=6805
So it looks like i will then be placing a lynxmotion order for the Serial-USB Dongle and that power cord. That will allow me to use the Sequencer and actually program Johnny 5 to do something other than looking totally sweet sitting on my desk. =] I can get that 90 degree header from sparkfun (too bad they didn’t mention i needed that in the first order). Then i’ll see how good my soldering skills are to get that header attached.
I guess for now i’ll leave the PS2 controller and PING sensor for a different phase when i am more familiar with how Johnny 5 works.
