I am interested in getting a RoboNova (after i make $1000 =/) and I was wondering about something. Can it do more than just move and look cool? When looking at source files, all I saw are basically commands to make the servos move. Can it use sensors? IR, camera (i saw the cam thing at BauerMech’s page but i mean use camera for tracking objects, .etc), and other sensors. If so, is there any setting or type of cable or something like that that needs to be in a sensor for it to work with the RN-1? Also, does the RH have to use that controller? Could it use other ones such as brainstem for example or OOPIC? And also, last but not least, can it use another language? RoboBasic seems well… Basic…Maybe like C/C++ or other look-alikes.
You are only limited by the capabilities of the microcontroller that you use, and your ability to use them.
It is my understanding that you can program the microcontroller that comes with the RoboNova with any language you want, but you have to provide the compiler/assembler for it.
There are a lot of additional I/O pin on the controller for reading sensors and controlling other things.
As more and more people begin to post their code and applications on the net, you will be able to see all the neat things it can do.
Thanks for the fast reply! When I was online here before it looked like a total ghost town.
Is there any special thing I need in the sensor for it to work with RN? Do I need a special cable/connector? How would I be able to access the info from the sensor?
First, the SMiRF, which I’m quite familiar with.
Here’s how the connections go:
SMiRF…Nova
GND…GND
PWR…VDD
RX-I…TX
TX-O…RX
I’m not familiar with the Nova’s board, so the actual pins that you’re hooking up to are probably going to be named a bit differently.
Someone on these forums just got his radio hooked up to his RN-1, so he’ll be able to point out where these pins are for ya.
Well, the SMiFF has standard .1" spaced male pins sticking out of it, just like the Robonova’s board has.
But, because their both male, you’ll need a female connector on each end of a jumper wire to attach them (at least, that’s one way to do it).
I’m familiar with www.jameco.com, so I’ll tell you the part numbers from there that I’m familiar with.
Once you go there and see what it is, you shouldn’t have problems finding them on a site that you prefer.
First, you get a wire (I’d recommend 24AWG or thicker wire, for sensors).
Then you crimp one of these buggers (100765) onto each end (this crimper works with those crimps: 99443) .
Repeat that process for every pin that you have to hook together.
Once completed, cut of a section of these female housings (103157) and stick the crimped ends into them.
Now you’re ready to plug and play.
Hmm… that’s an interesting screen there.
Well, a brief look shows that it’s made to interface with an ARM (a relatively new, very high-end set of microcontrollers).
I’m afraid that I don’t know how those buggers work.
Off the top of my head, I sort of doubt that the RN-1’s micro can handle that kind of processing.
If you’re willing to invest in a seperate microcontroller, then the screen is a possibility.
By the way, the connector for that screen is linked to on the page (it’s a digikey.com part).
Ahh…
The range sensor is definitely within the RN-1’s capabilities.
I’m not familiar with that exact model, but it says to just take off the back casing and solder wires directly to it.
The reason for this is that it has an odd Japanese coupling that would be hard for you to find.
If you hunt around the forums, I’m sure someone’s already implemented a rangefinder on their RN-1 and can walk you through it.
By the way, www.robosavvy.com has a really great RN-1 following in their forums.
If you can’t what you need here or there, it probably doesn’t exist yet.
Thanks! So im other words, I need to make my own cables? That LCD was just an example… It looked sexy and had touch screen lol and it was one of the only ones i seen that had some sort of connector things sticking out of it. the others i think you had to solder wires to. I am familiar with jameco too. I have a few of their catalogs.
It can get slow at times on these forums, but we have a great bunch of guys, and it’s not always slow.
As for making your own cables, it’s really not bad. You just need to be patient and work slowly. I have made my own cables for my bot head project using just plain ole needle nose pliers! It’s recommended to get the crimp tool and read the tutorial available online. After some practice crimps you can make any cable configuration your mind can think up.
As for the diagram Nick provided, these are connections from one device to another. For example You don’t want to hook up a receiving line to a receiving line, That like two people listening but no one talking! One example is the RX, TX. RX means receive, TX means Transmit. When hooking devices you need to hook the device that is talking (TX) to the device that is listening (RX).
Before taking a nose dive I would recomend taking baby steps.
So, these TX/RX are pins located on the board or the sensor? I think that when I get the robonova and sensors and I see the controller cant take it, I may get a different one. After all, it only has 32kb of memory Is the RoboNova sold with all the parts but without the controller? Also, does anyone know if you can buy spair front/back plates? As I intend to cut lots of holes in mine when I get it
If anyone wants to donate 1,000-2,000 (USD or GBP )(Don’t worry, il cover shipping costs ) to my paypal please feel free to msg me and ask for it It will go into the cause of getting me a RoboNova-1 and some cool neat sensors and stuff(such as those lovely grippers) !
Well, the TX and RX pins are located on both the Bluetooth device (what you called the sensor) and the RN-1’s electronics board.
TX and RX are communication pins.
They allow different devices to “talk” to each other at extremely fast rates.
The TX (transfer) pin turns “on and off” (a.k.a. “high and low” or “1 and 0”) rapidly on one device and the other device’s RX (recieve) pin listens to and translates that data into something that device can understand.
All this is called TTL logic.
The PWR and GND (a.k.a. + and -) provide a steady DC current that powers the Bluetooth off of the RN-1’s batteries.
It’s enough to remember that when coupling TTL devices, RX and TX get crossed and + and - get hooked up directly.
Usually, you’ll hook a sensor up to a free I/O pin of the controller and a + and - pin to give it power (just like you would a servo).
Yea, I got it now. I poked around at RoboSavvy Forums while waiting for a reply here and I found this topic: robosavvy.com/modules.php?name=F … opic&t=220 it has a very nice picture of the board and different wiring for things BlueTooth, gyro and some other stuff. If anyone would care to reply to my last post there to make sure I understand it or not.
NOTE: The ERX and ETX pins on the RN-1 are backwards from the standard. Someone screwed up or something (when printing the board maybe?). You can follow the traces on the MR-C3024 and see where they end up on the Atmega 128L chip. You’ll notice when connecting the SMiRF, it should look like this…
SMiRF…Nova
GND…GND
PWR…VDD
RX-I…ERX
TX-O…ETX
…and if your SMiRF has the RTS and CTS pins, you’ll want to jump them together.
Thanks. Yup, im on my way there. Now have $700/$1000 Should have enough sometime in the first week of July. After then, I will be asking A LOT more questions so be ready (Dear god that thing is scary!!!)
Hmm, just out of wondering. How hard do you guys (and/or gals) think it would be to get the RN running with the OOPIC-R? I asked at RoboSavvy and they say its not gunna be easy to get it with another board.
The OOPic-R will never be able to control a 16 or more servo robot. It’s processor is way underpowered for that. It also won’t be able to use the other features of the 8498 servo. Just my opinion…
Hmm, well what about the Mini Atom Bot Board? Maybe connected to a SSC-32 as Lynxmotion likes to do. Or the mini atom bot board with any other servo controller it supports. Which would be
MiniSSC-II Serial Servo Controller (SSC-01)
SSC-12 Serial Servo Controller (SSC-12)
Servio Serial Servo Controller (PICO-01)
as far as I see.
Really what I am trying to do is get away from RoboBasic as I hate basic and vb styled languages. I like c++ styled languages which have structure and require { }
I certainly understand the robobasic concerns. Besides the structure issues, it has other problems like not being able to use variables in important commands. Sorry, going from memory here.
The MiniSSC-II, don’t waste your time. It is the most featurless servo controller available. No speed control, no coordinated movements, etc. The SSC-12 is discontinued. It had speed control, but it wasn’t a very effective method of speed control. Servio is ok, but expensive. The SSC-32 is really the most cost effective controller, and it has the coordinated move feature that makes biped robotics so easy.
Now for the bad part. None of the servo controllers have the abilioty to take advantage of the 8498’s feedback feature. So there will be no “catch and play” using them. Them’s the facts as I know them…
But what your saying is that with the Mini Atom Bot Board and SSC-32 you can replace the MR C-3024 board on the RoboNova? Maybe I can live without catch and play. Who knows. I guess first thing I need to do is get a RoboNova and see how its like with the MR C-3024 and how well sensors work with it. If I dislike it then I will keep looking for a different controller that works for me better.
As said in the second post
the MR C-3024 can use C or Java instead of RoboBasic. How would this be done?
Sorry for the double post. The Mini Atom Bot Board can control upto 20 servos as it says on the website (lynxmotion.com/Product.aspx? … egoryID=66) Why is a servo controller such as the SSC-32 needed?
Also, does it matter which programming chip thing the Mini Atom Bot Board uses?
BASIC Atom 24M (BA-01)
BASIC Atom 28M
BASIC Atom Pro 24M (BAP-01)
BASIC Atom Pro 28M
BASIC Stamp 2 (BS2-01)
BASIC Stamp 2-E (BS2E-01)
or does it not even need one?
Oh also, can someone answer the questions in my previous post?
The answer used to be that the Atom would be tied up with servo movement and not be able to do much other processing (sensors, etc.).
Soon, though, that won’t be the case for the Atom.
However, there still stands two perfectly good reasons to use the SSC-32.
(1) Easy.
The SSC-32 is able to do group moves.
It can have 32 servos start and stop at the same time, even if they have to move vastly different distances.
Such things are done onboard, with no need for the user to worry about it.
Because of that serial interface, servo movement becomes “set it and forget it”.
(2) Only uses one microcontroller pin.
Would you really want 18+ of your free I/O pins used to control servos?
“programming chip thing” = microcontroller
Well, it does matter, but it can indeed work with all of those listed.
Which you chose would be based upon that micro’s specifications and online support.
The Atom seems to be the most popular on these forums.
The Stamps also have a big following because of their company’s user-friendliness.
It needs one.
I’ve got an empty one sitting on the counter, next to me.
I haven’t been watching it too closely, but I don’t remember it doing backflips or making odd noises without a micro plugged in.
Right right, silly of me asking if it needs a “programming chip thing” I sort of figured it was a microcontroller but i wasnt too sure since it didnt come sold with it.
I guess I will go with the BASIC Atom Pro 28 since its “pro” and costs same as the non-pro. Get more for same price
About the servo controller. Can the mini atom bot board and ssc-32 “talk” to each other? (I am guessing they can, but just asking incase.) For example. All the servos are connected to the ssc-32 and you have an lcd, 3x ir sensors, accelerometer connected to the mini atom bot board. can you have in the program for the sensors to cause the servos to move. And also, you would only need to load the program onto the mini atom bot board? not the ssc-32?
Would the RoboNova’s 6 Volt / 1000 mAh NiMH battery be enough to power both of these bad boys + 16 servos and sensors/stuff said about (lcd, 3x ir, accelerometer) or would 2x 6 Volt / 1000 mAh NiMH batteries be enough? Think the 7.2 one talked about on the site is a bit big to fit into the robonova…
EDIT:
My guess is no. The SSC-32 can use 6v but thats for “microservos” and normal servos is 7.2v and as for the mini atom bot board… it too needs 7.2v to run.
The 12 Servo Hexapod (Autonomous) in the Mini Atom Bot Board manual (closes bot they had there to what i want to do) uses a 9v for logic and 7.2v for servo power. That is a lot of weight. The robonova battery is about 4oz while the 7.2v battery is either 5oz or 11oz (depending on the mAh)… Wait a second. is the 9v it uses for logic like a normal 9v battery?
Yep, you’d hook one of the general-purpose I/O pins to the SSC-32’s RX (recieve) pin.
Then, in your program, you’d use a function like “SEROUT” (sorry, I’m not sure if the Atom Pro calls it “SEROUT”) on that pin to send the instruction characters to the SSC-32.
You can’t have the sensors directly move the servos unless the sensors output the desired PWM (which they most-definitely won’t).
However, as you said, you can have the micro read the sensors and then send a change in servo positions to the SSC-32.
With the exception of updating the SSC-32’s firmware (no programming knowledge required), you’ll only program your microcontroller.
It’s best to think of the SSC-32 as yet another passive component in your robot.
Like a sensor, it’ll sit there and do nothing until your microcontroller/PC acts upon it.
This is where my knowledge deserts me.
I haven’t used an LCD, an IR sensor, or an accelerometer (yet).
I have heard that both the LCD and the IR sensor are pretty power hungry, if you have them on full-time.
However, you can minimize this with the IR sensor by turning it on briefly every so often to check the distances.
Power issues are the first problem that most new roboteers deal with.
Without enough mAh, the servos won’t be able to draw the current they need to keep the bot moving.
If I were you, I’d try to use the pack you’ve got, but minimize the sensors that you use.
If you do indeed chose to go with the whole shebang, I’d definitely go with a higher mAh battery, or put a couple of them in parallel.
Well… methinks you’re getting a bit confused.
On both boards, there’s a regulated logic portion and an unregulated “drive” portion.
On both boards, the onboard 5V regulator is of the low dropout variety.
What does that mean?
Well, it means that it can supply a steady 5V when it is given 6V or more.
I’d draw the line at 9V, though, since the regulator must burn the excess volts as heat.
I’d suggest using a seperate 9V battery for each of your electronic boards.
The “drive” section of both boards (which directly power the servos, in your case) can be any voltage that your servos can handle.
Your 6V 1000mAh battery will do nicely there.
You’re falling into the trouble that all bipeds eventually get into.
There’s just not enough room/weight capacity onboard to do all the fun stuff we want with it.
You’ll find that’s even moreso the case with relatively inexpensive/lighter biped kits.
Bipeds like the KHR-1 and the Nova work well only because they’re light.
Their servos are relatively weak, but that doesn’t matter because they are small.
I’ve built/rebuilt three different Lynxmotion bipeds, now.
Each time, I used 5645 servos, which are about twice as powerful as the Nova’s.
Because of that, I haven’t yet had to work around the constraints of a smaller biped.
So, I’m not the best guy to ask about ergonomic conservation of weight.
Hopefully, someone with said experience can chime in, here.
lol and it was one of the only ones i seen that had some sort of connector things sticking out of it. the others i think you had to solder wires to. I am familiar with jameco too. I have a few of their catalogs.
Thanks for your help 
Is the RoboNova sold with all the parts but without the controller? Also, does anyone know if you can buy spair front/back plates? As I intend to cut lots of holes in mine when I get it 
!