I have a question regarding control software available. I am using an SSC-32U controller board with a Logitech 3D joystick to control my servos; right now only three, but I want to add up to six to eight servos/ linear actuators and control them from the same joystick and buttons. I started using the Life Ape Track Skull, but it can not control all the servos from the logitech. Also I want the linear actuators and one rotating servo to operate only while button is pressed, then stop in mid position and another button to move them in the opposite direction. My idea is to have an forearm raise with one button and lower with another, or a shoulder joint rotate one direction and back with another without going to the full extent of their range.
I assume you mean this software?
I never heard of it until now… Then again that is not too surprising since I code my own stuff…
Since you’ll be adding many servos it may be worth it to separate them on the two different sides and use two power supplies. If you do, make sure to remove the VS1=VS2 jumpers (two of those) and to plus in two compatible power supplies; one on VS1 and one on VS2. Do not connect anything to VL (the middle screw terminal pair).
I’m not sure what that means. You’ll have to be more clear about what you tried to do and what doesn’t work.
This sounds like a good question for the people who made the animation software you are using. If it is the one linked above you should contact them through their support page here.
You may also be interested in looking at these.
You can compare the features of the three licences for that software here (PDF).
Thanks for you reply. I have already connected with life ape and they told me the software would not do what I am wanting. I forgot to mention that I want to control all this in real time not recorded.
I do not know coding or even where/ how to start.
That can be fixed with trying it out and learning!
Luckily for you, there’s a large community about this now and in the last few years the costs have dropped to a few dollars for a microcontroller board (Arduino compatible), so it is not much of an issue anymore!
Well, I guess I can help point you in the right direction on that one…
First off, you have to decide on what kind of animations you’ll want your servomotors / linear actuators to perform.
You mentioned you want to control it live. Typically, the easiest/simplest way to do this is either direct control of the motors/etc. 1-to-1 with controls you have access (i.e.: buttons, joysticks, etc.). This is especially viable for simple assemblies, like a head with 4 motors or a pan&tilt type of system.
From what you described above, it seems like you’ll have too many servomotors to do that reasonably well (i.e.: too many things to control). In this case what you could do is tie multiple servomotor operations to one control. This can be direct control over a set path and series of positions or playing back pre-recorded bits of animation.
There are many ways forward and none of them are necessarily better unless you tell us more about how you want to control the setup you are preparing.
It might also help if you could provide more details of that setup with (annotated) pictures and such. That would help get a visual of what you are trying to do.
Thank you for you for your reply. What I am doing is kind of silly, I’m making an animated skeleton for halloween. I want to control the head movements with the joystick x, y axis and the arms to lift up with one button and down with another, also I want to open and close a box lid with another button all from the joystick controls. So I would need to assign motors to the buttons for each function. I really do not know where or how to begin.
Hehe, nothing silly about making animated skeletons! Especially if you start this early instead of posting this in like late September expecting a miracle!
Very similar to a pan & tilt and should be fine with a direct control 2 axis > 2 servo motors.
Lift/drop fully to max/min position or just partially (like, incrementing/decrementing position as long as the button is held?)
Seems quite reasonable.
If your controller has enough axis/buttons, sounds pretty doable.
Most certainly a good idea!
Well, considering the total complexity, I’d say a simple solution would be something like a classic BotBoarduino & SSC-32U combo from Lynxmotion.
Since this is probably your first time doing something like this, using equipment that has been used in countless animatronics projects for more than a decade is probably a good start. Plus, there are plenty of code example to help you get started and support here on the forum about it.
The code required to map some inputs from a joystick connected to a BotBoarduino to some outputs on a SSC-32U is quite straight forward and there are complete (and fully working) examples on the Lynxmotion GitHub.
If that interests you as a potential solution let me know and I can provide more details as required (from what hardware & electronics you’d need to what code to use and anything in between).
Okay, here is what I have so far. I modeled my build after the one featured on Cat’s Menagerie You Tube videos. I have two servos mounted on the skeleton’s back to puppet the head movement and one to move the jaw. Using the Trackskull software, a Logitech 3D Extreme joystick and all connected by a Lynxmotion SSC-32U controller board it works fairly well. The movement is not bad. If I wanted to stop there it all would be acceptable. I have placed a spy camera in one eye socket so I can ‘see’ the trick-or-treaters and interact with them from a distance. I do not wish to stop there, I would like to to have one shoulder and arm raise and lower, (not to move in a full movement but only when button is pressed and reversed with another button is pressed).The arm would be one servo at the shoulder and one linear actuator for the forearm. I have determined what servos and actuators I need to use to handle the weight. My issue is as stated before is that Trackskull will not handle the number of servos/actuators I want and I want to use the Logitech joystick and its buttons as an all-in-one controller. To make life more interesting I want to have another actuator to open and close a box lid, this would be a full movement of the actuator.
Hopefully that all made some since. now for coding. The last time I worked program code for a computer was early 80’s. (don’t we all miss punch cards?) I am trying to wrap my head around python. Also I looked at the BotBoardino that you mentioned, I suppose that it takes the place of the Trackskull software to communicate with the Lynxmotion?
I guess that is about it for now, a bit to digest.
Then again that is not too surprising since I code my own stuff… 
