RoboSavvy Forum

need help with ESD200

2009-03-24T19:12:29+01:00

SUCESS

My Robobuilder works like a charm over bluetooth using my COM library.
I just tested it using the little script I made available here:
http://robosavvy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3269#19287

The robot is currently assembled as Doggy and I had my share of excitement!

The current version of my library relies on MSCOMM32.OCX to handle the COM port. It has a hard coded limit of 16 com ports (you can only open up to port 16). There is a hack to increase this limit that is available here: http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm? ... 924&page=1

Statistics: Posted by PedroR — Tue Mar 24, 2009 7:12 pm

need help with ESD200

2009-03-24T18:39:09+01:00

Just FYI these are the instructions I received from the Robobuilder guys with regards to configuring the Parani ESD200.

They are for the graphical config tool but I'm sure you will be able tos ort out the equivalent AT commands.

To iBot: with regards to the use of a cross overcable, I don't really think you need this.
The PC RX -> RBC TX
PC TX -> RBC RX

Since the BT module is ORed with the RBC RX and TX I believe that, by default, (using the normal cable) you can talk to the BT module.
Am I correct?

Statistics: Posted by PedroR — Tue Mar 24, 2009 6:39 pm

need help with ESD200

2009-03-24T18:05:07+01:00

What about "+++" does it respond to that ?

I am wondering if S11 needs to be set to 0.

Statistics: Posted by i-Bot — Tue Mar 24, 2009 6:05 pm

need help with ESD200

2009-03-24T16:55:45+01:00

i-Bot wrote:
Are you sure you are in mode 3 ? It looks like the BT is responding to AT commands, which should only be in mode 0.

Absolutely sure — I wouldn't be able to connect to it in mode 0 (it's only discoverable in mode 3). And I certainly am able to connect.

Also, I tried saying "AT" to it, and it did not respond (I had the same thought as you). But I agree that it does seem to be responding to some inputs, and its responses are being seen as additional inputs.

Best,
— Joe

Statistics: Posted by Joe — Tue Mar 24, 2009 4:55 pm

need help with ESD200

2009-03-24T10:47:35+01:00

Hi Joe,

Are you sure you are in mode 3 ? It looks like the BT is responding to AT commands, which should only be in mode 0.

On the idea of Pedro. Because the serial cable and BT and connected in parallel, then for the serial to talk direct to the BT module, then a cross over would be required on tx and rx. You could download special code to the RBC, run it to talk to configure the BT, then reload normal RBC code. It would not have the PC connection while configuring, so have to rely on buttons and LED.

Statistics: Posted by i-Bot — Tue Mar 24, 2009 10:47 am

need help with ESD200

2009-03-24T04:47:14+01:00

I've found something very odd today.

When I have both the serial cable plugged in, and the ESD200 installed, and try to communicate with my robot over the serial cable, Strange Things happen. It appears that, under some circumstances (which I haven't fully pinned down), data sent out the serial port is being somehow looped back and seen by the RBC as input.

This quickly causes things to go haywire, and the message ERROR appears over and over again (probably reacting to the appearance of the word ERROR), even though no such string is found anywhere in my source code or the terminal app on my Mac.

If I disconnect the serial cable and communicate over BlueTooth instead, then this does not happen. So it's some weird interaction of the two.

EDIT: Yes, actually, sometimes it does. I just connected again, over BT with the serial disconnected, with the bot already in a mode that reports what inputs it sees. And I got "CONNECT 001F5BE0C349" surrounded by CRLF's.

It's late, and I'm tired and confused, but thought I'd mention it anyway — if anyone has any insight, please share. At the moment my hypothesis is that I failed to configure something properly on the ESD200, and I'll be opening my RBC up again (unless Pedro's idea of configuring it onboard works out!).

Best,
— Joe

Statistics: Posted by Joe — Tue Mar 24, 2009 4:47 am

need help with ESD200

2009-03-24T01:50:56+01:00

Today was my turn to receive my Robobuilder bluetooth module

I already soldered it in place. I'm definetelly not a guy that's into soldering but the whole process went much smoothly than I anticipated. Just inserted the headers, soldered (which went very well to my surprise!) and plugged the module in.

I am now in the process of running some tests and will post the process on the forum (with pictures!)
Needless to say the first test will be controlling the Robobuilder using the PS2 controller/software I wrote

In the process I took some pictures of the RBC board for all those who are curious

Statistics: Posted by PedroR — Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:50 am

need help with ESD200

2009-03-23T01:18:32+01:00

Replying to Joe, indeed if we happen to be sending a command to the BT module that has a meaning to the RBC that could pose a problem.

Maybe we could write some sort of "empty" firmware, that does nothing, to load into the RBC whenever we want to configure the Bluetooth module.
This way we can talk to the BT module without any interference for sure.
Once configuration is complete we can then upload the native firmware once again.

This is the extrema solution but I hope I will find the time to try and test all of this out.
I should be getting my BT module in the next days.

Statistics: Posted by PedroR — Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:18 am

need help with ESD200

2009-03-20T19:44:51+01:00

Got mine from Robosavvy today . 30 mins later - all working !!! The longest part was installing the BT drivers on Vista (BlueSolei)

For the soldering there aren't any instructions with the module - fortunately I found Joypad_Remote_Controller_KIT(RBX-BTCONT-01).pdf has all the details. With good pictures.

And as Joe says if you then a running the homebrew firmware its then pops up to tell you its 'idle' - (lazy robot).

cheers

Statistics: Posted by l3v3rz — Fri Mar 20, 2009 7:44 pm

need help with ESD200

2009-03-20T16:14:32+01:00

i-Bot wrote:
The BT is slightly slower, so I tend to use cable while I am doing downloads, and BT for control. I did not make the latency change that Joe suggested, may try that.

The latency change I did optimizes it for very small packets of data — that is, control data. The default mode is optimized for throughput, which would be better for downloads. So I'm going to be in the same boat as you, using the cable for downloads and BT for control.

Pedro's suggestion is a very interesting one. Could you install a virgin ESD200, connect the standard RBC serial cable, set your terminal program to 9600 bps, and use that to configure the ESD200? The RBC would be trying to listen at 115200 bps, but as long as it doesn't do anything "harmful" with your garbled commands, it should be OK. I think the standard firmware ignores the serial port entirely, after the first second or so, so it would probably be fine.

That's a very clever idea, and somebody should try it — but not me; it took me two weeks to get this thing working, and now I don't want to touch it.

Statistics: Posted by Joe — Fri Mar 20, 2009 4:14 pm

need help with ESD200

2009-03-20T15:42:04+01:00

The controller serial output sends to both the PC cable and th BT. The BT output and PC output are ORed to the controller input. So long as you don't send data from PC and BT at the same time all is OK.

The BT is slightly slower, so I tend to use cable while I am doing downloads, and BT for control. I did not make the latency change that Joe suggested, may try that.

Statistics: Posted by i-Bot — Fri Mar 20, 2009 3:42 pm

need help with ESD200

2009-03-20T13:51:51+01:00

Hi

As I understand the Bluetooth RX and TX are connected in paralel with the PC RX and TX.

I've looked at the schematics iBot has produced (here http://robosavvy.com/Builders/i-Bot/RBC.pdf ) and it seems to confirm that assumption.

My question is: for configuring the Bluetooth adapter couldn't we simply connect the RBC cable to the PC and send that sequence of AT commands over the PC cable?

Given that the BT module is in parallel with the PC RX and TX, theoretically we should be able to talk to the BT module for setup over the PC cable, without the need to use and external RS232-to-TTL converter, right?

Is there any inconvenience / incompatibility in doing this?

Thanks
Pedro.

Statistics: Posted by PedroR — Fri Mar 20, 2009 1:51 pm

need help with ESD200

2009-03-20T11:55:35+01:00

Great to hear it works OK. I will put my ESD200 back into my Robobuilder.

Thanks for taking the time to document it too.

Keep us updated on your progress on the software, controller and walking. I hope to come over to Robogames in June, so I may see it in action. Doubt if I will bring my bots due to homeland security.

Statistics: Posted by i-Bot — Fri Mar 20, 2009 11:55 am

Instructions for setting up ESD200

2009-03-20T04:30:16+01:00

It worked this time. I'm going to record here the steps I used for posterity, in case it helps somebody else sooner or later.

Step 1: Configure the ESD200

This requires giving it AT commands over a logic-level (3.3V) serial connection. This time I used a Pololu USB-to-Serial Adapter, both to power the ESD200 and to interface with it. My connections were as follows:

I had previously installed the drivers for the USB-serial adapter and verified the serial adapter by connecting its TX to RX, doing a simple loopback test. I'm using Mac OS 10.5.6 here, and Pololu's drivers worked fine.

So then I fired up a terminal program and did the following commands (with mistakes and info editing out — here's just the meat of it):

Code:: AT+BTNAME="RoboBuilder BT" OK ATS3=1 OK AT+UARTCONFIG,115200,N,1,1 OK AT+BTMODE,3 OK ATZ ...

So this changed the Bluetooth device name, set the stream priority to minimize latency, changed the baud rate to 115200, and switch it to mode 3 (i.e. normal discoverable Bluetooth behavior). The ATZ command at the end just did a software reset; I could have also power-cycled the device.

Step 2: Configure PC to connect to ESD200

Then I fired up the "Set up Bluetooth device" function on my Mac, and presto! "RoboBuilder BT" was available and connected successfully.

Step 3: Install & test device

Then the real test — I put the ESD200 back into the RoboBuilder controller (RBC), plugged that in, and turned it on. I've got our custom robobuilder-lib firmware installed at the moment, so I knew that it should respond to the "?" command over the serial port. But instead of connecting the serial cable, I pointed my terminal program at the Bluetooth device, and sure enough:

Code:: Connected to RoboBuilderBT-GenericSe-1 at 115200 ? Idle mode

It works! Now I can get back to writing code to control this thing from a game controller, and working on a continuous walk cycle...

Cheers,
— Joe

Statistics: Posted by Joe — Fri Mar 20, 2009 4:30 am

need help with ESD200

2009-03-19T23:46:45+01:00

OK, good news. It turns out that the Pololu serial adapter I was using is broken. It can receive data just fine, but no longer sends data. This was confirmed both with an oscilloscope, and with a loopback test (connecting the TX and RX pins).

This means that, most likely, my ESD200 is fine — I just need to rig up another way to speak to it. I plan to do that tonight and will report back.

i-Bot, thanks for your help — as always, this community is great.

Cheers,
— Joe

Statistics: Posted by Joe — Thu Mar 19, 2009 11:46 pm