Hi,
I have a robot… an SSC32… some servos…some 16C74A PIC chips… and a prom blower.
Anyone able to help me connect them together? I have a few minor problems… I want to connect the pic to a battery and a 232 plug, put it into the ssc32 and watch the robot dance.
Has anyone used the 16c74a for 232 transmission? preferably in C.
The other issue is how to arrange the internal clock wiring…
Any help would be great…
Thanks.
Using a 16C74A is a rough way to go. Not even sure a PROM programmer would work. You need a PIC programmer. Does the 16C74A even have a USART? Yes, you can bit-bang, but you shouldn’t have to.
Move up to one of the PIC16F877 family (at least). You’ll thank me later. There is a FREE Hitech compiler available for this chip.
Can you write a “Hello World” program? Then That’s a good place to start. Get that done, and get back to us! Other threads have defined some strings to send to the SSC32 to get it moving servos.
You can program some sequences into the PIC, and start there.
It’s not all that hard! But you’ll have to define what you want to do before we can help you further. What kind of 'bot do you want to build?
Alan KM6VV
I’ve nearly finished a biped, and I have the pic suite with programmer and some UV chips so I tought I could use available materials. I think there is a 232 port or way of using the chip but I’m not sure. My idea was just to have the chip on a connector fixed to the ssc32 for pre-programmed sequences and then unplug and attach a PC for dev work…
UV chips would certainly work, if you like WORK. You have a compiler suite? Good.
I like using the ICD2, and I have an RJ11 programming connector right on my 'bots. Makes download an execution of the C code quite fast and easy. Compared to removing, erasing, programming, and re-installing the PIC, it’s much faster. Robot code tends to be quite incremental, and FLASH chips are a nice fit.
You can certainly do that. With the proper EEPROM chip added to the SSC32, you can also store sequences in the SSC32.
I like having my PIC control the SSC32 on my hexapod. But on my servo biped Loki, the PIC is sufficient to control the 'bot.
Alan KM6VV
i have a problem with my ssc-32 since i cannot control it using my PIC18F4550. is that my ssc32 problem or what? trying to borrow my friend’s ssc32 and try with it…if it is really my ssc32, will lynxmotion willing to change away my ssc32 
I’d think it is probably something to do with the PIC18F4550 and/or its connection to the ssc-32. A simple thing to do would be connect the ssc-32 to a computer and see if the ssc-32 will respond to commands from the computer.
There is no reason why a PIC18F4550 can’t control an SSC32. I’ve done it. I currently use the 18F4620 as noted.
Can you write a “hello world” program that sends this message to the RS232 interface? You don’t say what board you have it on. Demonstrate that you can do that first.
LM is good on support. However you need to develop your program first. We need more information.
Alan KM6VV
i c…i will try it out…
by the way, thanks alot for replying me…
