Tri-Track Battle Mech

HI everyone, here is something I have been working on for some time. I eventually plan on using it in some form of combat eventually. I still have alot of work left to do on it but I finally got some life into it. I have modified the PS2ROV4.BAS code on the lynxmotion site to suite my needs. Everything seems to be working pretty well, I have tried adding the same functionality to the right side but Im getting erratic results. Im hoping one of you guys can help me figure out what I am doing wrong. Im also getting jerky movement from the working arm but at least it runs. This is certainly not easy stuff. The photos are a bit older, the video is the latest configuration in action. Im still a bit rough with the controls because Im so new to them and there are some balance issues to work out. I also eventually plan on building a nice mech like shell for it and replacing some of the servos with more powerful ones. The Right arm will eventually be replaced with an airsoft cannon soon as my robotics department gets its bail out money :stuck_out_tongue:

This is the code Im using, if one of you could look at it and point out what Im missing it would be very helpful. Thanks!

http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l456/Vsions/DSC01899.jpg

http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l456/Vsions/DSC01902.jpg


robotv4_1.bas (11.7 KB)

Woot ! :open_mouth: Very nice skin :smiley:

Maybe the track must be longer, because your bot seems to fall in front when its arms try to cache something in front ^^

Good job ! Can’t wait to see the gun shooting something :wink:

That’s awesome! :smiley: Wouldn’t it have better balance if you moved the battery down inside the chassis?

I looked over the code. I see you are generating servo pulses on the Atom Pro, and then you are sending the pulses to the SSC-32. I suspect you are using the SSC-32 because it includes the claw channels and the pulsout section does not. So you should be able to strip that code out. If you are not using any servos on the bot board you can remove all of the pulsouts, and the pause 20 which is probably slowing things down for no reason. I didn’t see any software reason the right arm would not be working, so I suspect hardware or power…

Very cool robot!!!

Well, just glancing over your code, there are a few things that pop out at me:

First, on your left and right arm control bits of code, you have all right arm values multiplied by 25 whereas on the left, you have a few different numbers.

'LEFT ARM CONTROL LeftShoulderVertical = (LeftShoulderVertical - Dpad_DOWN*60 + Dpad_UP*60) MAX 2200 MIN 750 'Move Left Shoulder Vertically. LeftArmVertical = (LeftArmVertical - Dpad_DOWN*50 + Dpad_UP*50) MAX 2100 MIN 1000 'Move Left Shoulder Vertically. LeftArmTwist = (LeftArmTwist - Dpad_RIGHT*50 + Dpad_LEFT*50) MAX 2250 MIN 750 'Rotate ForeArm. LeftClawPosition = (LeftClawPosition - Button_L1*100 + Button_L2*100) MAX 2200 MIN 1900 'Claw Gripper.

'RIGHT ARM CONTROL RightShoulderVertical = (RightShoulderVertical - Button_A*25 + Button_X*25) MAX 2250 MIN 750 'Move Left Shoulder Vertically. RightArmVertical = (RightArmVertical - Button_A*25 + Button_X*25) MAX 2250 MIN 750 'Move Left Shoulder Vertically. RightArmTwist = (RightArmTwist - Button_O*25 + Button_S*25) MAX 2250 MIN 750 'Rotate ForeArm. RightClawPosition = (RightClawPosition - Button_R2*25 + Button_R1*25) MAX 2250 MIN 750 'Claw Gripper.

Next, there’s this bit, where you have pulsouts to your servos on the bot board… and then again on the SSC-32! Comment out the pulsouts and your program may be a bit more responsive. That’s where I found your problem though, although you may kick yourself once I tell ya. :stuck_out_tongue:

' Send out the servo pulses	
	pulsout 0,(ldrive*2)					' Left Scorpion channel.
	pulsout 1,(rdrive*2)					' Right Scorpion channel.
	pulsout 2,(WaistRotate*2)				' Torso Pan servo.
	pulsout 3,(TorsoVertical*2)				' Torso Tilt servo.
	pulsout LEFTGRIP_UD,(LeftShoulderVertical*2)		' LeftShoulder up/down servo.
	pulsout LEFTGRIP_Rot,(LeftArmTwist*2)	' Left Arm Twist servo.
	pulsout LEFTGRIP_OC,(LeftClawPosition*2)		' Left Gripper open/close servo.
	
	pulsout RIGHTGRIP_UD,(RightShoulderVertical*2)		' RightShoulder up/down servo.
	pulsout RIGHTGRIP_Rot,(RightArmTwist*2)	' Right Arm Twist servo.
	pulsout RIGHTGRIP_OC,(RightClawPosition*2)		' Right Gripper open/close servo.
	
'	pulsout 15,servo5
	pause 20
	
	serout SSC_OUT,i38400,"#0P", DEC WaistRotate, "#1P", DEC TorsoVertical, "#2P", DEC LeftShoulderVertical, "#3P", DEC LeftArmVertical, "#4P", DEC LeftArmTwist, "#5P", DEC LeftClawPosition, "#6P", RightShoulderVertical, "#7P",RightArmVertical, "#8P",RightArmTwist, "#9P",RightClawPosition, "#30P", DEC ldrive, "#31P", DEC rdrive, 13]

Here’s your problem line. You just left out a few DECs for the right arm. Here is the code as it should be written:

	serout SSC_OUT,i38400,"#0P", DEC WaistRotate, "#1P", DEC TorsoVertical, "#2P", DEC LeftShoulderVertical, "#3P", DEC LeftArmVertical, "#4P", DEC LeftArmTwist, "#5P", DEC LeftClawPosition, "#6P", DEC RightShoulderVertical, "#7P", DEC RightArmVertical, "#8P", DEC RightArmTwist, "#9P", DEC RightClawPosition, "#30P", DEC ldrive, "#31P", DEC rdrive, 13]

Thanks guys, I am very grateful for your feedback. I currently have a BAT-01 in the base that kinda helps with some balance, but I was looking to purchase a BAT-06 which I assume would be a little heavier and therfore stabilize it better. The reason I have that one battery pack on his back is to counter balance the load on the waist rotator. Even still though it has a really hard time supporting the upper body and rotating properly. I have been thinking of adding this instead to rotate the torso.

servocity.com/html/spg785a-bm_bottom_mount.html

Once I get that though I plan on moving all the packs to the base. Also, I currently have the standard motors in the base and was wondering if there was something I could upgrade to that had more torque, I am using the Sabertooth 2X10 Regenerative Dual Channel Motor Controller to drive the motors. Currently he gets stuck when turning on carpets.

Thank you James and Jim (Are you guys the same person? wasnt sure) for looking over that code, as Im sure you can already tell, Im very new to this and pretty bad at it. I still have a very hard time understanding it although I am starting to understand things a little bit better than before. Innerbreed has been hugely helpfull. I will make al the changes you listed and let you guys know how it goes, I knew I was probably missing something minor, I cant believe I forgot to add the DEC :frowning: Thanks for catching that, that was incredibly helpful :slight_smile: Hopefully one day I will get better at this stuff.

Definitely not the same person. Jim’s my father. :laughing:

I’m sure you will. Just keep at it. You’ve actually done quite a good job so far, just a couple mistakes to clean up. :smiley:

Hi Vsions, welcome back. Its been a while. Good to see you are making progress and those few complications are out the way. Its looking great. I see you have build more since i last saw it. Very menacing! Its always the little things that make the most problem.
Good to see the progress. Well done.

Don’t forget to post your code after you fix it. :smiley: I wanna try it! lol

Hi guys, great news. After making the corrections James and Jim specified, I got both arms fully functional. Also you guys where totally right about commenting out the pulseouts the responsiveness improved quite a bit. I also shifted the battery on his back to the tritrack and got much improved balance. Jim, I am currently using the Sabertooth 2X10 Regenerative Dual Channel Motor Controller, is the BAT-06 compatible with that controller without causing it damage? Also could you please recommend new motors with more torque for the tritrack that is also compatible with that sabertooth? Im trying to get better turning even on carpet if possible.

Thanks alot guys
Dennis

ps. I attached the latest code for anyone to try out or look at
tritrackmechps2_v1.bas (11.9 KB)

Hi Dennis!

The BAT-06 is perfect for the 2x10.

The more powerful motors we have that will fit the chassis is the GHM-13. It should provide almost twice the torque. 8)

Any chance you could take some more pictures? 8)

Hi Jim, thanks for the info. Here are the images you requested

http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l456/Vsions/DSC02606.jpg

http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l456/Vsions/DSC02605.jpg

http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l456/Vsions/DSC02604.jpg

http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l456/Vsions/DSC02603.jpg

http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l456/Vsions/DSC02602.jpg

Hope that is helpful

Thanks! :smiley:

Good job. Clever claw design too!

Thanks Mike, I finally go some more funding to continue this one. I will be making some big improvements to it within the next couple of weeks :slight_smile: I will also attemt to mount an airsoft gun to it.

yeah! 8)
hope ya well. been a while.

Hi guys, I havent posted in a while but I have a couple of questions. I completely redesigned my and attached some pics. Unfortunately ive burned out two expensive servos so far. One of them is a 5999tg. I was under the impression that they are supposed to shut down rather than burn out when under heavy load. It burned out and only works in one direction now. Is there a way to fix it? Also is there a way to make the left and right controls for the right analog have a larger dead zone? Im also having an issue with the servo rotating the waist that makes it slowly start turning to the left even with no input from the controller(ps2 controller). I have attached the latest code.

Also has anyone had any experienced with these ?

trossenrobotics.com/p/figell … uator.aspx

and how powerful are they compared to the 5990?

Thanks in advance.

New Pics:

http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l456/Vsions/IMAG0240.jpg
http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l456/Vsions/IMAG0239.jpg
http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l456/Vsions/IMAG0237.jpg
http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l456/Vsions/IMAG0233.jpg

Fore those interested in the gripper, which is quite strong:
http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l456/Vsions/IMAG0234.jpg

I will be posting videos soon.
tritrackmechps2_v3.bas (12.3 KB)

That’s really GREAT LOOKING! NASTY!

Sounds like the H-bridge is fried. Wouldn’t be easy to repair. If I had a pair of 5999’s with fried electronics, I’d strip out the electronics and just use the DC motor. Also make them continuous turn. Run t them from an external H-bridge.

Don’t ask me how I know! (7.2 V on a cheap GWS servo, that’s how).

How did you do those great claws? Can we get a good close-up (more light)?

Alan KM6VV

Nice job!