Here is the tutorial for using the Sparkfun Bluetooth equipment with the SSC-32 servo controller. Enjoy…
lynxmotion.com/images/html/build117.htm
Edit, new updated version.
Edit, now includes Vista support.
lynxmotion.com/images/html/build125.htm
Fantastic tutorial! This is my favorite by far. 
Jim, Honestly, what a master of robotics you are! 
This is a much better wireless solution than that wiport… and cheaper too! 
This has got to be the easiest way to get wireless serial that I’ve tried…just follow the tutorial and hook it up , works fantastic on my 18 servo “GIMPY”
If anyone is interested, there is a problem with sparkfun bluetooth drivers under vista.
There is a solution to it which I am testing at the moment.
So far results look good
hello all,
i’m actually trying to use a bluesmirf module just received from sparkfun with SSC32. i am pairing with it successfully but with a belkin dongle (i was able to paire using pass 1234, couldn’t find any info on the pass to use), now i have 2 new COM PORT, COM3 & COM4…
Here is my problem, lynxterm 1.06 is not showing this port (instead 2 port labelled COM and not working). With lynxterm 1.05, it is working properly. When i connect at 9600 bauds, the led on bluesmirf board stop flashing green and a continuous red led appear, from what i read, it seems ok, but when i write “VER” in lynxterm, nothing happen, i can see SSC32 led flashing one time while pressing enter.
Can someone help me workaround this problem ?
Thanks,
Cedric
I have started a thread under the SEQ forum about exactly the same issue with Vista. Perhaps laureatus can come up with something.
ok now lynxterm is working …
but the communication between my SSC32 & my bluesmirf module is not …
I get support from sparkfun to be sure my module is working. They told me to shortcut TX & RX to see if there is an echo when i am sending command. And it works …
so now I am wondering why the SCC32 is not responding …
Any help will be very appreciated.
Regards,
Cédric
It seems that the bluesmirf module is now provided configured at 115.2 kb … it takes me 2 weeks to find out … i thought you should add this to your tutorial, the support is poor with sparkfun !
The bluesmirf tutorial will be updated soon. I’m waiting on the new modules from sparkfun, then I’ll get right to work on the update!
Update finished!
lynxmotion.com/images/html/build125.htm
We just updated the latest tutorial to include Vista support.
Thanks for the new tutorial! I was going nuts trying to get my bluesmirf to connect.
I do have an issue with it tho, I am able to communicate with the robot thru the bluetooth, but only on the 1.5 ms test. I can get the robot to do that, but then when I try to send other commands to the robot, there’s no response. Any idea on what’s up with that?
Thanks!
What program? RIOS, SEQ, LynxTerm?
What are you sending to the SSC-32 exactly?
RIOS
RIOS has to talk to the SSC-32 bidirectionally and Bluetooth may not be able to keep up with the demand. First I would recommend getting it working with the serial port or USB to serial cable. After you have it working properly then you can experiment with getting it to work under bluetooth. Try looking here and see if it helps:
so, now I can get the arm moving but it won’t do the programmed move sequences in RIOS. I’ve tried experimenting with timeout but it doesn’t seem to change anything. When I try to start the move, it just freezes. Is it just too much information to handle? Will messing with the baud rate do anything to help?
I am not sure if you can effectively use bluetooth for RIOS. I know Laurent made some extensive modifications to RIOS to ease the serial communications bandwidth. But bluetooth has proven to be very slow. I strongly urge you to test RIOS with a serial port and DB9 cable or a USB to serial cable before you attempt to get it to work through bluetooth.
It works perfectly fine with the serial cable. And I can move the arm around in RIOS perfectly fine over Bluetooth. Its only when I try to get it to perform programmed sequences that it freezes up. Is there a way to monitor the data flow/speed between the laptop and ssc-32 thru the bluetooth? It seems like there must be a way to get it going since Bluetooth is used to move voice data on cell phones, whereas the programmed sequence commands don’t seem like they would take up as much bandwith.
Also, what wireless methods are other people using to communicate with the SSC-32? It seemed like Bluetooth was the most popular, but it also seems like other people before me would have the same desire to do programmed moves using RIOS.
Ok I was trying to help out Laurent but I’ve gone as far as I can. Laurent is sick so it will be tomorrow evening before I expect to hear from him. I will email him this post. He will help.