Robobuilder ,Evolutionary Computing, and serial code problem

[hendri_laurant]

Hi..im hendri its my first posting,last month i got Robobuilder 5720k from my college, to try using Gene Expression Programming (GEP) in Robobuilder..so im newbie here

first..i want to connect my robobuilder and pc using usb to serial connector but something problem here...

"serial no...
timed out = the operation has timed out"

yupz im try this code from robobuilder ANN project..to see how communicate robobuilder and pc.
and how can i solve this problem??

althoughy my GEP program already finish, just implementation from robobuilder,and i will post here if my project all done..this about how GEP works in Robobuilder..and i use C#

thanks

[l3v3rz]

HI assume you're referring to Alex's ANN project

http://code.google.com/p/robobuilderann/

he used my C# DLL library to connect
http://code.google.com/p/robobuildervc/

You can also see example of the Kinect demo of other people using on this site.

Generally connect errors are caused by using wrong COM port so you need to check which port you're on and that robot is connected an on before you run the software. Check the lights on th vback to make sure robots in a good status. If in doubt connect a terminal like putty at 115200 baud and when you switch robot on you should see '^' appear confirming your serials working

good luck

[hendri_laurant]

yaa~ first thanks to alex'ANN project to help me understand how implemented AI (ANN) in robobuilder
http://code.google.com/p/robobuilderann/

and thanks alot to you to make library,

in conect error, i check in Robobuilder Diagnostic tool and check all wck connection,the wck all connect with COM 8 (use COM8) it means the COM port and robobuilder is connecting..but if i try connect in c# still "timed out"


can i ask? what meaning "Check the lights on the vback to make sure robots in a good status"..what condition robot in a good status?and if the robot have program before (use Remote) and we want to change the program in c# (my GEP program), how we can replaced it?

sory for my english..and thanks a lot for the answer,,

[l3v3rz]

If you're connecting to the right serial port then time out means you're not getting a response. So this could be because robot is not responding either because its not on (i.e. can you see some lights on the back / green for power) or its not got the right firmware, so make sure you have a reasonably up to date version - simplest way if not sure is to download latest from robobuilder.net site and use the upload tool.

cheers

[hendri_laurant]

thanks it works...the problem in firmware..

btw with robobuilder.dll, can we set like PID value or torque control in C#, so we can auto change the PID value in c# with algorithm like genetic algorithm..

thanks

[l3v3rz]

In theory yes, but in practice I have only implemented the read calls - you can see the code here

http://code.google.com/p/robobuildervc/ ... kMotion.cs

Its would be easy to add, but as you see the sets all have "NOT IMPLEMENTED" against them as Ive never needed them. So if you do it send me the code and I'll update the library.

cheers

[hendri_laurant]

yupz i will do it, give me a time

thanks