The Fallentine Quadruped Project. Stage: Wiring & programmin

Lynxmotion Legged Robots
21

Ya i got my hex walking, my servos are stronger than i thought, but still weak.

Hey Robot Dude, i’m making another board, but this time for the BAPro, you care what i name this one? I was thinking F-Botboard-Mini series.
First woulod be the botboard mini pro-28, though it’ll work with any BA/BAPro 24/28.
I’m still going to have the Botboard-nano 18 too.

Also going to make one for the atmega 328p, and later the atmega 1284p 40-pin.
Was going to name them A-Botboard-328, and A-Botboard-1284.
I wanted to stick with the botboard naming, because it not only advertises for lynxmotion, but anyone that’s used, or seen the lynxmotion board, will automatically know what my boards do.

They are simple boards, nothing fancy, just boards with servo headers, maybe 1 or 2 LED’s a Reset button, and some regulators.
I actually have half a dozen boards planned.

Not then, back on topic of my hexapod, i got it walking forward and back, it’s not very fast due to using short legs. a little wobbly still, due to craft stick construction.

As for photos or videos, those will have to wait, i want to complete my Botboard Mini pro 28. I’ve made up a few designs, but i haven’t decided which one i want to go with. Waiting for some IC sockets and capacitors, and more headers in the mail before i commit to a design.
want to lay the parts out, see how they fit before i start soldering.

So Robot Dude, you care if i use the BotBoard name at all?
Half Finished Botboard Nano 18
img337.imageshack.us/img337/3844/dscf0109u.th.jpg
I have everything i need to finish it, except the time.

22

As long as you aren’t making them for sale you can call them whatever you want. :wink:

23

Well if it was to sale, i’d do it through you guys probably, give you the basic design, let you guys improve upon it without increasing it’s size, then have you send me 1-2 finished products.
Theres no way i’d personally go into production with them, unless they were an absolute masterpiece.
But if that was the case, i think we could work something out.

Though right now, i have a big idea for making an Arduino Atmega 328p to botboard2 adapter.
Plug it into the BB2’s BAtom socket, then pop your atmega 328p into the adapter.
By the way, feel free to run with any of these idea, just if you produce them, send me a sample so i can test it. :slight_smile:

Going to make an Atom Nano to BB2 adapter too, 18/28 pin.

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Hobbypartz currently has free shipping if you need to save some $$$ on small orders.

hobbypartz.com/freeshipping1.html

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That’s awesome, i might just take advantage of that, especially if the deal doesn’t expire any time soon.

26

http://a.imageshack.us/img202/5713/123or.jpg

Regarding these capacitors, do i still use 0.1uf if i want to use 1 capacitor per every 8 pins instead of every 4?
It’ll mostly be for servos…
I want to reduce the size of my upcoming bot board mini for the atom pro 28.

27

Forgive me for stepping on any toes, but I think Jim is way to busy to take on something like this especially since there is already a bot board with documentation, tutorials, and program examples. The Arc32 was recently released and support for this new board is currently evolving. What you have is a great little project, but in my opinion, It seems a little on redundant side. The smaller size is a great idea, don’t get me wrong, but all the LM products are designed to use the standard botboard form factor, so the smaller board would have to be made to fit using some kind of adaptor bracket which kind of kills the smaller size idea.

28

It’s cool, i like any feedback.

The smaller board opens doors for smaller projects. My botboard 2, is actually a little to large for my new hexapod, which has it’s design finished already, just working on my mini botboard pro 28.
LM parts seem aimed at the enthusiast. Not really the beginners. My boards, when printed onto PCBs, could be made on a much lower cost. Perfect for people wanting to start in microcontroller projects, including projects. Because right now, price wise, the Arduino has everyone else beat. Which is probably why it’s so popular.

I’ll upload a picture later of my upcoming Bot Board Mini 28, which uses the atom pro 28, next to the Bot Board 2, so you can compare the size.
As soon as i’m done with it.

I’m done with the bot board nano 18. Though i’m going to add a power LED and onboard power switch before i seal up the back side.

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I wouldn’t be so sure. Do you know about the Picaxe system ?
They are the cheaper/easier µcontroller for the very beginner. You can do a lot of smalls robotics projects with them.
Of course, when you want something that can be pushed further, it’s better to go for LM products.

30

Forgot about those.
Well for cheap fully functional boards with or without an MCU, arduino is pretty high up there.
You can get arduino clones on ebay for ~$10 to $15.
Even an ardruino mega clone for ~$30.
Though don’t get me wrong, i prefer basic micro chips, it’s all i use right now, and i’m quite happy with them.

I’m just trying to offer ways to reduce the prices. Gotta think about the little man.
That’s my job, trying to get more people interested, without emptying their pockets.
It’s better to have 10 people spend $20, than 1 person spend $200. As those 10, if really get into it, will spend more money later on.