I am a student currently working on a robot that uses the SSC-32 servo board to control its manipulator arms. The robot is connected to a WiFi network where I know the IP/port of the WiFi module connected to the SSC-32 board.
I would like to send some very simple commands to the servo board over this network (e.g. #5 P1600 S750 ), however I don’t know how to send these commands through the WiFi module to the servo board. Is there anyone who can help me with this or show me where I can learn more? I am new to hardware programming like this and appreciate any help I can get.
Hmmm, I don’t know if I need the WiFi kit and here is my reasoning. But again, I don’t know if I am being naive
The other student is working on the navigation of this particular robot (Dr Robot Hawk) and he accesses a different WiFi module on the robot, some IP/port. For his module the robot supplier provided a sample C++ code that opened the network, connected to the port and sent some simple velocity commands to the motor in linux. However the code is for different board types, none of which are the SSC-32 (or so I think). The boardtypes in the code are {I90_Motion,I90_Power,Sentinel3_Motion, Sentinel3_Power,Hawk_H20_Motion,Hawk_H20_Power,Jaguar,X80SV}.
I contacted the supplier with my problem but they were unable to provide similar sample code for the arm controller and told me that they use a SSC-32 servo control board. This brought me here.
All I know right now is that the WiFi module which I know the IP/port to is connected what appears to be the TX/RX pins on the board. This is the only wire connected to the board other then the ones to the servos themselves.
I solved my problem.
To communicate with the WiFi module I used telnet and the IP/Port.
Then I was able to send the commands directly to the servos via the terminal.
Hello there everyone can someone help me on tip of how to go about using a wifi module like the nrf24l01 with the SSC-32 ? i want this SSC to be a Slave while the Arduino wud be the Master, i have found blog on daisy chaining the two together but thats not what im looking todo i am doing a robot and this SSC has its servos while i will on the arduino sending commands rather than using a pc serial window from the Arduino ide terminal,
so how do i go about hooking up the wifi to the ssc? it looks straightforward but i rather know ahead of time before i go plugging things in without a clue u kno? i
i was thinking using the Rx pin but the NRF has more than one plug so this is where all the confusion comes in and i never used any BT or WiFi before on any MCU, many thanks in advance
The nrf24l01+ (the regular nrf24l01 is not recommended for new designs) uses a SPI serial interface and therefore cannot be interfaced with the SSC-32/SSC-32U directly, which uses a UART serial interface. Other issues which would prevent such a direct connection is the fact that the nrf24l01+ probably expect some kind of protocol to be used on it’s SPI interface to initialize it and setup the network connection / handle packets. The SSC-32/SSC-32U cannot do that since it is only programmed to handle serial commands from its UART interface to control servo motors.
One possible solution would be to connect the nrf24l01+ to your Arduino board by its SPI interface to handle the nrf24l01+ module and the packets. Then, connect the SSC-32/SSC-32U to the Arduino by UART (either hardware serial or soft serial, both would work) and sends commands to the SSC-32/SSC-32U that way.
If you have a SSC-32U (and not the older model, the SSC-32), you can attach to it a “Bee” type module for wireless communications. You can use many Bees, including Bluetooth Bees, ZigBees, WifiBees, etc.
RobotShop also offer a SSC-32U with a Bluetooth Bee bundled. This is what we use for testing internally to reduce the amount of wires. Please note that this would mean your wireless connection when using a Bee would go directly to the SSC-32U and skip the Arduino completely. The Arduino would not have access to this wireless link. Also please note that you should only ever use one UART connection to the SSC-32/SCC-32U at any time (either the USB/RS-232, the exposed TX/RX pins or the Bee (SSC-32U only) but not two or more at the same time ).
thanks but this is not of use to me because i already mentioned that i do not want to to the daisy chain or arduino to ssc “older one” and if im going to go with a wifi bee option that you speak of again its useless as i already mentioned that i will be using the arduino primarily as the master, so tell me scharette what is my best option ? i guess if i have to use the arduino as a slave to my other master arduino then im gonna have to but then this means that the slave is really a master as it will be telling the ssc what todo correct? and if so that mean i would have to use like a map feature in my if el statements because the ssc does not uses the same lingo that arduino does so im kinda finding this to be a rather long workaround?
The SSC-32 & SSC-32U are servo motor controllers. They cannot use their UART interfaces to control something else with the default firmware installed. They can only receives commands as outline in their manual.
Therefore, to add any new form of communication (wireless or otherwise) with the SSC-32(U) this new form of communication must speak in UART using commands from the SSC-32(U) manual.
For devices like the nrf24l01+ which cannot speak UART / SSC-32(U) commands, the easiest way to achieve this is to use a microcontroller to perform the translation from the nrf24l01+ packets to the SSC-32(U) language. This is a very standard way of interfacing motor controllers (and other controllers / sensors) with external communication.
So, following this idea, here is what you would expect: (wireless communication) < — > Arduino —> SSC-32(U). Notice the SSC-32(U) can receive commands but it not sending any back.
Please give us more details on your project design so we can offer better support or recommendations. Up to now you have mentioned the SSC-32, the nrf24l01+ (or other wifi modules) and two different Arduinos all interacting together. It would be of great help if you could provide a drawing or schematic of the design.
im understanding fine is just the code aspect of this i find troublesome as im not so efficient in writing my codes im using things like lynxmotion programs for the ssc and arduino ide for the arduino and in that aspect im using “relying” on example code to merge as i see fit,
and as for my electronics im using alot but dont really have a problem with those just this aspect we in the topic about “communication” but i am using a multi mesh topology network in wifi nodes with like 5-6 arduinos “slaves” and one master Arduino and all the arduino slaves have their own wifi module
Then we recommend that you add code in your “slave” Arduino sketches to relay commands to the SSC-32(U) through a UART interface. You can either use a hardware of software serial interface.
Check here for more details:
