RoboSavvy Forum

Trouble with Gyro

2008-01-25T03:49:53+01:00

Okay I feel like a jackass

Even though I double checked my connections twice, I had it wrong. Heres the thing, I had connected properly to AD0 but not to AD4. I thought it was the fourth pin from the left, when its the fourth pin in from the right. The labels on the board weren't helpful at all. When I looked again at the picture on theoddrobot.com, I realized that I had it in the wrong AD port.

When I connected it, he started to shake like crazy. Exactly what I wanted. From there I adjusted the gain and now I'm playin around with it to get it just right.

Thanks again for everyones help!

Statistics: Posted by visuvius — Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:49 am

Trouble with Gyro

2008-01-25T00:34:02+01:00

just connect the gyro to 0 and the output to a servo. I beleive this will give you something

Statistics: Posted by NVR2FST — Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:34 am

Trouble with Gyro

2008-01-25T00:30:27+01:00

i-Bot wrote:
You can check if the gyro works by putting it in line with one of the servos. Input to Gyro from C3024, output of Gyro to a single servo. Then servo should respond to movement of the Gyro.

If this works Gyro is OK, but probably not compatible.

The correct zero setting of the Gyro for the Robonova is often quite a way from the setting which gives red/green zero.

Sorry if this is a dumb question but when I try this, which AD port should I connect the Gyro to?

Statistics: Posted by visuvius — Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:30 am

Trouble with Gyro

2008-01-24T20:18:07+01:00

I think the biggest issue with running it in-line with the receiver would be getting it to action the servos. By connecting it to the AD ports and using robo Basic you can effect multiple servos and control the mixing of the impact of the gyro correction to individual ones. Thats kind of what you need to stabalise the balance. Not sure you could do that in-line with the reciever but I am no radio expert.

Even if it is connected to the processor board in the RN-1 the idea of controlling the gain via the radio sounds very doable and very useful too.

Pev

Statistics: Posted by Pev — Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:18 pm

Trouble with Gyro

2008-01-24T19:50:43+01:00

Thanks. I will try that.....if I get this gyro to work. As I said earlier in the post I dont have it working as of yet. It may not work at all. Even if it does not work directly connected in the normal fashion, It may work through the receiver for my radio, which would allow gain adjustment through my radio as it would with the heli. It is my thinking that the gyro will be controlled through the receiver. Not just gain but instead of being in line with code, no code may be needed at all. It may be processed through the radio instead. Run the gyro in line with the receiver instead. Make any sense to you? Sound possible?

Statistics: Posted by NVR2FST — Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:50 pm

Trouble with Gyro

2008-01-24T19:42:05+01:00

Hmmm just been googling these remote gain controlled gyro's. Very cool. Could be good to be able to adjust the gyro gain on the fly in code...................

Statistics: Posted by Pev — Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:42 pm

Trouble with Gyro

2008-01-24T19:32:45+01:00

NVR2FST wrote:
On a heli it basically lets you control the Gain from the radio as long as you have enough channels on your radio and receiver.

Ah ok so I guess that gain signal wire does accept some type of PWM or Servo type signal. I have certainly connected a non-digital servo to my RN-1 and moved it using the servo command. Might be worth just hooking it up to an empty servo signal pin and typing it. you can set the servo value by doing something like SERVO {port no}, {Angle} I think. I think the Angle values are something like 10 through to 190. Would be cool if you could control the gyro gain via code.

Pev

Statistics: Posted by Pev — Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:32 pm

Trouble with Gyro

2008-01-24T19:12:20+01:00

On a heli it basically lets you control the Gain from the radio as long as you have enough channels on your radio and receiver.

Statistics: Posted by NVR2FST — Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:12 pm

Trouble with Gyro

2008-01-24T18:53:10+01:00

NVR2FST,

I am guessing the gain is controlled by a pwm input to the gyro via the wire you metioned? And it has no manual override?

Well I guess you could connect it to an empty signal pin for a servo or maybe one of the PWM ports (all sockets share a common ground so the single wire would be fine). If memory serves roboBasic has a SERVO command for addressing individual servo ports by angle and a PWM command for the 3 (I think) PWM ports.

Hope that makes sense

Pev

Statistics: Posted by Pev — Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:53 pm

Trouble with Gyro

2008-01-24T18:44:05+01:00

Cant say for sure if you can damage anything but the positive terminal will always be in the center no matter how you connect it. That is a good thing .As a matter of fact I have been flipping mine around all morning and everything is fine. All you need is a continuity tester to make sure the wires are good. A meter really is a must have tool though. Oh and as for it being a "knock Off"....It probably is made at the same factory just like the rest. These Chinese companies mass produce all kinds of products and sell them to just about anyone who then put their name on it. Just look around many things you buy that are imported look very similar to other same products, just different company names. Hell if you place a large enough order of ,lets say, an electrical component or part from a chinese manufacturer you could even put your own name on it! This has become a Norm.

Statistics: Posted by NVR2FST — Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:44 pm

Trouble with Gyro

2008-01-24T18:40:29+01:00

You can check if the gyro works by putting it in line with one of the servos. Input to Gyro from C3024, output of Gyro to a single servo. Then servo should respond to movement of the Gyro.

If this works Gyro is OK, but probably not compatible.

The correct zero setting of the Gyro for the Robonova is often quite a way from the setting which gives red/green zero.

Statistics: Posted by i-Bot — Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:40 pm

Trouble with Gyro

2008-01-24T18:33:56+01:00

Pev wrote:
I think the first thing I would do is buzz out the connection cables with a multimeter and see if any of them are broken or have dry solder joints onto the board.

Pev

Time to go buy a multimeter!

i-Bot wrote:
I assume your snip of code is within a larger program, and the robot is in standard pose with the motors on. If so it should work.

Is it correct that this is not a PG-03 Gyro ?
The Robonova will only work with a Gyro which is exactly the same as the PG-03. Two gyros that work identically on a heli, will not both work on the Robonova. This is because in the Heli, the timing of the pulses into the gyro and the pulses out are asynchronous. In the Robonova, a set relationship between the timing of the input and output pulse is assumed in the software.

Some people have been lucky with non PG-03 Gyros, but many dissapointed !

Indeed it is within a larger program. Also, the Gyro says "PG-03" right on it, however, apparantly its a knockoff. If you look at the picture it says "Cyclone " instead of GWS. Ebay is sort of hit and miss, sometimes you win some sometimes...you don't.

Tim wrote:
Sounds like this won't be too helpful because you are sure you have the connectors round the right way, but on the off chance you change your mind . . . if you're happy popping the case off (some aero modellers do this for weight reasons anyway and I've done it to get the gyros hidden inside RN-1), you can at least tell quite quickly which of the three pins is the signal pin.

The pins for the servo plug(output from the gyro), and the wires from the receiver (input to the gyro), are right next to each other. There are tracks joining the ground wire to the ground pin, likewise for the power wire/pin, but there are separate tracks going to the signal pins. In my PG-03, the signal wires were on the in-board side.

Cheers
Tim

I am going to check this again when I get home. I actually did take it the gyro apart to see which wire was which (there is a picture of it taken apart in the ebay auction linked above). If I accidentally switch that input and output wires to the board, will I cause any kind of serious damage to it?

Statistics: Posted by visuvius — Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:33 pm

Trouble with Gyro

2008-01-24T16:06:04+01:00

I hooked up my gyro (align RCE-500x) When I have it connected, Robonova leans backward a little, enough where he will fall. It is a heli gyro but it is not in HH mode. The gyro has an extra single wire for the gain channel. Is it possible to connect this to a signal channel on the controller and use some code to use this? At this point with him leaning backward some, if I push on him there is no activity on the servos. His right leg will twitch every so often. I have the code I copied directly from Visuvious' post and placed it in the overall template just after "Main".

Statistics: Posted by NVR2FST — Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:06 pm

Trouble with Gyro

2008-01-24T10:48:25+01:00

Sounds like this won't be too helpful because you are sure you have the connectors round the right way, but on the off chance you change your mind . . . if you're happy popping the case off (some aero modellers do this for weight reasons anyway and I've done it to get the gyros hidden inside RN-1), you can at least tell quite quickly which of the three pins is the signal pin.

The pins for the servo plug(output from the gyro), and the wires from the receiver (input to the gyro), are right next to each other. There are tracks joining the ground wire to the ground pin, likewise for the power wire/pin, but there are separate tracks going to the signal pins. In my PG-03, the signal wires were on the in-board side.

Cheers
Tim

Statistics: Posted by Tim — Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:48 am

Trouble with Gyro

2008-01-24T10:40:50+01:00

I assume your snip of code is within a larger program, and the robot is in standard pose with the motors on. If so it should work.

Is it correct that this is not a PG-03 Gyro ?
The Robonova will only work with a Gyro which is exactly the same as the PG-03. Two gyros that work identically on a heli, will not both work on the Robonova. This is because in the Heli, the timing of the pulses into the gyro and the pulses out are asynchronous. In the Robonova, a set relationship between the timing of the input and output pulse is assumed in the software.

Some people have been lucky with non PG-03 Gyros, but many dissapointed !

Statistics: Posted by i-Bot — Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:40 am