Lets say I purchase a MINI-ABB along with a 24PIN BASIC ATOM chip (which is a Microcontroller right?)…would it be all I need to put a program in, unhook from the computer and make my robot play what I programmed?
In Short yes! However, its probably a lot easier to connect the ABB and atom to an SSC-32 and let it do all the servo processing so that the ABB can hold sensors and the SSC-32 can hold the servos. Depends on how big your project is, but IMO I’d stick with just the ABB and Atom if your abit of a newbie 
Lets say I purchase the following:
- MINI-ABB
- SSC-32
- BASIC ATOM PRO 28 pin
How do I connect these 3 together into 1 unit? Do I solder #3 onto the blank gap of #1? How would I connect that to the SSC-32 afterwards…?
My project will have 24 final servos, so it’s pretty big.
Connecting the baords are in each ABB and SSC-32 manual which is included with both in solid form and can be looked up on the LM website. It comes with all the wires and jumpers needed. just leave it to LM to have quality service
Oh man that is good!
The total will be about $125, half the price of the MCU that comes with ROBONOVA and more capable…no?
I dont see any ports to connect sensors into however…I only see male heads sticking out of these boards, I thought sensors were all male heads and required female heads to stick into (perverts)?
These 2 boards together are 1 brain right? They can be unplugged from the computer and will play multiple programming scenarios…yes?
And last, assuming I joined the boards, how many batteries will I need?
- WAY BETTER!
- Sensors have servo like female headers and the boards have servo like male headers.
- Both connect to a PC via DB9 Cable or wireless device and can be programmed.
Ah man you’re amazing at this stuff!
Im new to electronics so I’m looking for a unit thingy to control 24 servos and maybe a few sensors. I know C/C++ so I dont know if it helps or not. These 2 boards, will they need separate batteries? Do they contain regulators so they dont fry themselves?
they can use seperate batteries or one single battery, and they have 5v regulators onboard.
Im just an amaeture lol 
Is there any difference in using single or a separate battery? What would you recommend?
Oh and is there any way to program this unit without buying SEQ?
I dont think there is a difference besides powering each one on seperately.
From what I know you can program it without the SEQ, but I dont know how… 
Hmm…I always thought BASIC atom used VISUAL BASIC language? From what I understand, SEQ is a visual programmer, without the typing shtuff. I dont mind hard-coding. I’ll have to ask around to see if its possible w.o SEQ.
It is always a good idea to download the user guides for the components you considering before plunking down the $$$. It is also a good idea to explain the intended use, as someone may have prior experience that can possibly save you time and $$$.
Awesome suggestion, Ill download those things immediately and give it a look first thing tomorrow morning.
My intentions? To build a biped equipped with 24 servos (12 lower body, 12 upper) and a IR sensor, Gyro and possible other sensors. Its always been a dream of mine, I need you folks to help me achieve it.
Other guys at a forum called SOCIETY OF ROBOTS turned me down immediately and said to stick to “easier” and “$50” dollar projects even after I told them I have some experience, the motivation, the time and the money to do this.
I even purchased a ROBONOVA-1, sitting ready to be built before I make my own scratch BIPED. I dont mind failing, so long as I can learn from it. Also, because you guys are helping me, I’ve chosen to document EVERYTHING, using pictures, computer stored data and video’s of my progress. I have 2 months to do this project with 300-500 bucks, and I promise you, I will make it happen. Regardless of what other forums think.
yea, as italian guy said, its really easy to connect them, its a simple cable going from the ABB Tx to the SSC-32 Rx (im pretty sure) which is included with the SSC-32 i might add
you control the SSC-32 via serout commands from the ABB, its easy and u just tell the ABB which pin to tell the SSC-32 is on
you dont need seperate batteries, u could use 1 and splice the batteries. for this application though i would recommend 1 battery(most commonly a 9 volt) spliced between the SSC-32 logic and the ABB logic power, then u have a 2nd battery (most of the time 6 or 7.2 volts) connected to the power thats goes to the SSC-32 pins, this will allow for the logic to have its own power with no votage drop from the servcos and also the servos will have a longer run time because the logic isn’t pulling voltage from them
as to the taking its off the serial cable, u can, but ur ABB must be preprogrammed to run a sequence or as italianguy said, a wireless device can also be used
the Basic Atom is a micro that uses MBasic language, pretty simple
as to the programming of the SSC-32 and teh seq., i know the SSC-32 can be programmed to run sequences on its own, but im not sure if it will hold the sequences in its memory as the Basic Atom would do, the sequencer is an incredible help though, u can adjust the servos in real time if u see a flaw in the movment of the biped/hex/insane killing machine…
saweet! when it comes time to purchase batteries, ill ask specifically to you guys and then post pics so you can shot me how to connect the wires cause i dont want to fry anything lol.
anyways, if i join these 2 boards…which one am i programming? especially if i want servos to react to sensors?
and i dont want to buy SEQ, isnt there any ways to program the code by hand?
oh and guys, whats your take on camera capability of the SSC32+MINIAAB? I have these 2 sweet cameras with a whole bunch of pins sticking out of them as well as extensions for them. (botballstore.org/catalog/images/Camera.JPG)
It would be cool to attach this or two of them to my boards and hook up a bluetooth dongle (what about bluetooth capability?) and control through my computer and possibly get video feedback…
I don’t think that is a very realistic expectation for a novice. If you already have a Robonova-1 kit, then you need to put it together and get it working first before designing your own. Experiment with the robonova and do some mods to it before trying to make your own. Might save some time, money, and heart burn in the end when you start to make a DIY bot.
only unrealistic to someone who doesnt believe it. and what makes you think im a novice ? theres things you dont know heh
and the whole robonova suggestion you suggested is redundant to what i said in reply 12
I’ll be waiting to see your finished product on Aug. 25.
Good luck with your project!
Connecting a camera, gyro and other sensors to the basic atom is probably too much for it to handle. I am almost certain you can’t connect your camera to the basic atom. You could try and use some sort of co-controler(like a Parallax SX chip) that would send serial signals to the basic atom. The basic atom is programmed in something somewhat close to visual basic and almost identical to Pbasic. Also, because you hyave experiance in C, the basic atom pro can be programmed in C.
What you would basicly do is supply logic power, like a small li-ion battery, to both the bot boards, and the SSC-32 logic power. Than you would connect your bigger servo battery to the other power input on the SSC-32. The micro on the bot board would take the inputs from your sensors and send serial signals to the SSC-32 that would tell it what to do.
Zoomkat is right, this is a very ambitious project, but I’m sure with a little time and many more posts you could pull it off.
Ive built bipeds before, I just wasn’t the leader of the electric team so thats why you notice me asking about electronics only rather than mechanics. Thanks for your support spacejunk .
Okay so we’ll scratch the camera concept, even though a camera is like a whole bunch of sensors in 1 package if you think about it, it can detect distance, color, position, light and everything. If I had a camera I wouldnt need much more. However, I’ll ask about expanding camera capabilities after the project is complete, I’ll come to you specifically since you know how its set up 
.
You said it’s too much for the BAtom to handle right? However, connecting sensors like a gyro and other needed sensors shouldnt be much of a problem should it? IR sensors are very tiny and well…its one of those fundamental sensors most dumb robots have/need.
When the package arrives and its ready to be coded, I’ll also ask you guys how to set it up so I can program it in C.
Im not working or anything this summer so I literally have 2 full months to work on this (it’s a lot of hours if you count it up, assume I research / work on this 12 hours a day).
Thanks for the help.