Johnny 5 with Arduino

Lynxmotion Rovers, Sumo, and Tracked
1

Hi,

I am very interested in purchasing a Johnny 5 kit and I’m particularly interested in developing a custom sequencer program for it. Has anyone interfaced the Johnny 5 with an Arduino? I’m aware that there’s threads regarding the SSC-32 with an arduino but I’m wondering if anyone has actually added an arduino microcontroller to a Johnny 5. In case you’re wondering, I have two reasons why the Arduino interface will be ideal for me. First, I am a Mac guy at heart and would like to control the Johnny 5 from a Mac. Second, I am also a Flash developer which I think would be a great platform for creating a sequencer/controller program. The Arduino supports both Macs and many programming language wrappers including one for Actionscript 3 (Flash). Any past experiences, tips, etc. are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

2

First of all, as long as you use the SSC-32 for servo control, you can send the exact same commands from the Arduino out its serial port. With this in mind, it should not be difficult to convert the logic from the standard code to the Arduino. In fact, after conversion, there are probably some optimizations that can be made.

As far as adding an Arduino to a Johnny 5, it should just be a matter of substituting controllers. You should consider the RoboDuino instead of a standard Arduino - it has all 3 pin headers made for robotics.

8-Dale