Noob spending money

Lynxmotion Legged Robots
1

This is my first post
Yes, there will always be a first post, even if I understand it was some time ago for most of you

I most certainly have been one of your most frequent visitor this and last week, reading almost everything here, trying to decide what to buy for my new toy. My idea is quite simple: I want to build a robot Ii can give a general direction, and the robot will go in that direction, going over or around obstacles on the way there. I will need sensors later on, but the first issue is to make him walk!

First decision:
Number of legs !
I think ill choose a Hexapod. I think this is the most stable, and i like the “great ant movement”

Second decision:
Logic !
Programming in Basic seems as a step back, the last time i used basic was … let see now … 25 years ago. I switshed to Pascal and am now only using Delphi (i.e. Pascal for Windows) … but the reason i hold on to Delphi is I am too old to learn C… and this makes Basic my only ”easy” choice. Soo…my choice, after long consideration, for a basic-enabled processor board, is ARC32.

Third decision:
Platform !
The first idea was of course the magic and extremely beautiful Phoenix… but really, here i have to let reason decide, the Phoenix is quite small … and the legs isn’t suitable for TA-sensors … and it feels like a later expirience, … and the xH3-R seems so large and the legs movement is not liner … I decided to choose a 3DOF inline walker: The BH3. I looked at the 3DOFB legs first, they where light and cheap, but i didnt like the idea of gluing things to the servo, so i decided on the 3DOFA, Ill just change one of the brackets to the offset-type, to have a more useful ”knee”.

The last projects i have done have been with R/C, so I have a lot of LiPo batteries here, so no need to buy batteries o charger, Ill just use a 5A LiPo-to-6V-converter. Ill be using the HS-5645 servos as I like the digital type, and if 180 degree rotation necessary I’ll buy a HPP-21 to fix it … if someone here doesn’t react negatively to my choice of servos

Things to buy:
BR3 Body HBK-03, 1
3DOF Alum. Leg Pair 3DOFA, 3
Offset Servo Bracket ASB-11, 3
Hexapod Foot Sensor HFS-01, 3
Pan and Tilt Kit BPT-NS, 1
Sidepanels ACB-01, 3

And now a few questions from an (relatively) old man :
1: Are there any reason NOT to choose the ARC32 ?. As it is cheaper (ehrr… allmost) than the combo SSC32 and BotBoardII, as it has more of ”everything”, and it’s faster…
2: But i can’t find anything about the ARC32 in the Electronics Guides… how come this ? Not even at BasicMicro there are any info, the chip isn’t even mentioned in the “Basic Micro Studio Syntax Manual” in the list over “Module Hardware Comparison” … and this makes me nervous! (is it a Pro40 ??).
3: The ARC32 is connected to the computer via USB, and the connection is somehow transformed to at serial port using some magic in the ARC32-board, right ?
4: If i change in the .cfg-file for phoenix (v21) so the dimensions is right, and disable everything regarding the XBEE, is it possible to run the BR3 on that code ? I only have Swedish gymnasie (collage) degree in math (and it was a long time ago) and even if i tryed to read ”Theory of Applied Robotics” i didnt understand anything of the formulas and so on, so I feel the need to start with someone else’s code first… and while we talk about it, I can’t use Powerpod with ARC32, right ?
5: The slaveboard for ARC32 with buttons, LEDs and a display mentioned last summer, anybody know when it is due ?
6: I don’t understand the difference of FootSensor and FootSwitch … except the first uses a switch and the second a sensor, any considerations?

Best Regards
Niklas Christiansson

PS
As i am both dyslectic AND Swedish, you may laugh at my spelling and grammar, but please please don’t comment it if you understand what i mean
DS

2

Hi, I’m an old guy and no expert by a long shot but from my experience I may give a bit of advice…

A hexapod is a good choice for the number of legs ( more money for hardware but less" brain wear " making it balance real good )

You may need a better lipo to 6v converter 5 amps is not enough when running all servo’s under load

The ARC32 is relatively new so little info so far…as for the ABB and SSC there is TONS of helpful info on this site

Yes it works great and again TONS of info on this site.

Dave

3

You might have noticed I chopped the hell out of your post with quotes of quotes but hey…I’m a " quote" noobie

4

I agree with the leg selection choice for the sensors, but I wanted to clarify there is no gluing anything to a servo. Not sure where the idea came from. Changing the bracket to the offset one will provide more range of motion, but if you also change the other bracket from a short to a long and turn the hip vertical servo over it will provide even more range. The servos you have chosen will be able to handle easily.

You can see the changes I’m recommending here.

viewtopic.php?p=60335#p60335

5

point one
Ive orderd two Turningy from HobbyKing and dropped the idea to use only one 5A BEC. Ill feed each row of servos with a BEC, and supply the ARC32 itself directly from the LiPo, this way i have a steady powersupply for the walkingpart, and the ARC32 can guard my LiPo from being compleately drained

Point two
Hrmm … gluing was a translationerror :blush: , sorry, i got the idea from “Step 8” here
lynxmotion.com/images/html/build114.htm
This is NOT gluing, but still it is not usingt screw an nut

Point tree
Yes, Ill allso use a long bracket, this will be better, Ill updated my list

Servos ar now orderd from TowerHobbies, last order took 6 weeks so i dont have any high hopes of getting it in any near future

Not anyone having any comments on my other questions ?

EDIT:
added the updated supplylist:

Servo Controller ARC-32 1
PS2 Controller Cable PS2C-01 1
PS2 Robot Controller RC-01 1
BR3 Body HBK-03 1
Multi-Purpose Servo Bracket Two Pack ASB-04 9
Aluminum Tubing - 3.0" AT-02 6
Tubing Connector Hub (pair) HUB-08 3
“L” Connector Bracket Two Pack ASB-06 3
Long “C” Servo Bracket Two Pack ASB-05 3
Offset Servo Bracket ASB-11 3
Hexapod Foot Sensor HFS-01 3
Pan and Tilt Kit BPT-NS 1
Sidepanels ACB-01 3

6

Ahh, ok, no problem. :wink:

There were a lot of questions. lol

The choice ARC-32 or Bot Board II / Atom Pro / SSC-32… The ARC-32 is new and therefore not as much sample code or documentation exists. The biggest advantage to the ARC-32 is less space is used. The drawbacks are less I/O and programming can be more difficult as it uses a servo control routine that runs in the background. Either solution will make a hexapod rock and roll! 8)

I have no information on the daughter board for the Arc-32.

The difference between the leg sensor and the leg switch is the sensor measures the pressure, and the switch only detects touching or not touching the ground. While I have had great success aligning and using the two assemblies, a few others have found them difficult to get to work properly. You must review the assembly guides and determine if you feel you have the construction / tinkering skills to utilize these effectively.

7

I am not worthy
… but even so, i will try to use The Phoenix-code on my project, and when i am at it,
clear out all noob-questions hindering other noobs from spending monay

Now I am going to try to figure out where to connect things … and then try to compile the project … exiting !

8

These might be worth checking out

GT Power 5V 6V / 8A Max 15A Low Noise UBEC BEC AC890, there on Ebay $13.00 free shipping, very similar to the Turningy

9

Had some small problem compiling v21, took it up here
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6042&p=68664#p68664

first things first
Power is no problem, very well documented
As stated in previous post, ill go for a dual Turningy UBEC, one on each serverpower (two 8A fuses),
and a direct LiPo-connection to the logic-power (1A fuse). And a big main switch.

Servos is the next thing, but this raises a little confucion
In the manual i read HSERVOSTATE can be used on servos connected to 8-15 and 24-31,
this means 16 servos can be checked this way
The two last is a bit mysterious:
cRFTibiaPin con P23 ;Front Right leg Knee Right next to the other group, this is ok
cLFTibiaPin con P4 ;Front Left leg Knee the obvious place for cLFTibiaPin is P7 to get it
symetrical, or P22 if you whant to keep the servos thogether for the VS/VCC-powersupply grouping
Are there some deeper idea behind this ?

10

ok, if not anybody had anything to add to this ill get on to the next step

The next problem is the missing sound, as a number of people here has sed the Phonex do nice sounds,
and i need to know what they are talking about … and sound IS a good feedback
if you do something wrong. The speaker are to be connected to P19 …

And now it gets real confusing … there are something called Eyes … but in the code i find:
;[BB2 PIN NUMBERS]
cEyesPin con P0
And this sort on implies i have forgot to buy a BB2-board … but i dont find any more references
to the BB2, and this hopfully means that this is “old stuff”
So i whynder if this P0 is used on the ARC32, or if it is unused ?

I cant find any references to the maxcurrent that can be drawn from the ARC32, for example by a LED. In the “Basic Micro Studio Syntax Manual” in the quickstart they ar placing a resistor of 390 Ohm in line whith the LED
Anyone has any idea ?

11

I’m trying to follow along and answer your questions, but you’re pretty verbose, I can’t remember every choice you have made, and I read slowly. lol

I think you are using ARC-32 and Phoenix code? Although there is a speaker on the Bot Board II, there is not one on the ARC-32. The BB2 has the speaker on pin 9.

Some pins on the ARC-32 come from the micro, and some come from multiplexer chips. I don’t have the schematic. For example… The outputs on the SSC-32 come from four 74HC595 8 bit shift register chips. There are four banks of 8 bit outputs as shown 0-7, 8-15, 16-23 and 24-32. The outputs can sink or source up to 25mA per pin, but a max of 70mA per bank must be observed.

12

perfect, thanks !

Yes, i will be using ARC-32 and Phoenixcode, havnt got the ARC32 just yet thou…

13

As for sound, yes, the Arc32 does not have any sound on it. On mine I simply plug in a cheap Radio shack speaker 273-092. In my ports of the code I changed the code from a hard coded P9 to a define. Note: I simply plug the speaker into an IO pin and ground. There are issues doing this, as it is safer with a capacitor, but I have only fried one of these and they are pretty cheap. Note:they are probably not as loud as the one on the BB2, but then again I usually tape over the top of the ones on the BB2 to quite them down anyway :laughing:

Kurt

14

I think I could use that little speaker on my MicroMoose!

http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pRS1C-2160315w345.jpg

Although I’ll be driving it from a little LM386 amp and a SpeakJet/SoundGin board.

Alan KM6VV

15

There are some more LED-code, but it is commented out, but there are one intresting thing:
; IF ledA = 1 THEN
; low p4
This means the P4 used above for the cLFTibiaPin had before been used for LED

The serial debugterminal connected to AUX1 seems to be a briliant idea …
but o dont really get how to connect the AUX1 to a db9-cable, is this the right way :
AUX1-Pin3 (P36(TXD2)) to DB9-2(receive data)
AUX1-Pin5 (P38(RXD2)) to DB9-3(transmit data)
AUX1-Pin7 (GND) to DB9-5(signal ground)
lammertbies.nl/picture/db9_pin_name.png
Do i need to connect anything more, no need for DTR or RTS ?

Next thing is this PS2 (type LynxMotion), and Ill connect it to AUX2
PS2DAT con P40 ;PS2 Controller DAT (Brown)
PS2CMD con P41 ;PS2 controller CMD (Orange)
PS2SEL con P42 ;PS2 Controller SEL (Blue)
PS2CLK con P43 ;PS2 Controller CLK (White)
5V (Yellow)
GND (Red)
But i count to 8 cabels … where do the other two go ?

16

Ooh, I can answer this one. The Violet cable is Acknowledge, and Green is +7.5vdc. Acknowledge isn’t used, and +7.5vdc is required to enable vibrating motors inside the Sony brand tethered controller, or for some wireless units.

This information is from the table here: lynxmotion.com/images/html/b … tm#aglance

17

I can answer this one. The other two are, green for 7.5vdc. It was used for the vibrating motors on the wired controller, and the violet is an acknowledge.

Edit: Holy crap we almost used the exact same words! We been doing this too long eh Beth?

18

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQNprfPigk5Z5scyWXT4ss1O0rQ0Wu-5ew47Yx-5FVESn-7fL8c-A

Out of my head, you!

19

lol !!!
:laughing: :laughing:

EDIT
My parts is in Denmark now … cant be much longer… to bad there are a weekend soon
(didnt think i ever would say THAT!!)

20

Weeee \o/

i have a working “Hello World” !!!