BlueTooth Comms Hack For The Bioloid CM-5
BlueTooth Comms Hack For The Bioloid CM-5
by Pev
Sat Aug 26, 2006 5:32 pm
Hi,
Attached is a PDF that details a hack to add a BlueSmirf BlueTooth module to the Bioloid CM-5 in place of the Zig100 wireless link. This is a draft document so please read it carefully and note it has no warranty what so ever. It worked for me but please only try this at your own risk.
The only other thing to note is that I have reset the page scan interval on my BlueSmirf to drop the standby power consumption to 2mA average rather than the standard 48mA. This means the units maximum power comnsumption is approx 33mA when sending a continuous data stream.
Using this link I have now called motions in the 18 DOF humanoid from a Bluetooth enabled PC with a Vb.net program.
Pev
Bioloid BlueTooth Hack
Attached is a PDF that details a hack to add a BlueSmirf BlueTooth module to the Bioloid CM-5 in place of the Zig100 wireless link. This is a draft document so please read it carefully and note it has no warranty what so ever. It worked for me but please only try this at your own risk.
The only other thing to note is that I have reset the page scan interval on my BlueSmirf to drop the standby power consumption to 2mA average rather than the standard 48mA. This means the units maximum power comnsumption is approx 33mA when sending a continuous data stream.
Using this link I have now called motions in the 18 DOF humanoid from a Bluetooth enabled PC with a Vb.net program.
Pev
Bioloid BlueTooth Hack
by Pev
Sun Aug 27, 2006 5:32 pm
Hi Mark,
Just a quickie. I think the hack will work with any serial Bluetooth module that can be set to 57600 baud, 8, 1, None with no Flow Control. Obviously it will also need to run on 3 to 3.3 volts and then its just hook up the RX and TX. I personally like the BlueSmirf modules but there are plenty of others and some seem to have a smaller formfactor. Only problem I have had with the BlueSmirf is I have had one that won't let me contigure it to anything other than 9600 baud. Its weird but I've let SparkFun know and I am waiting to here.
Pev
Just a quickie. I think the hack will work with any serial Bluetooth module that can be set to 57600 baud, 8, 1, None with no Flow Control. Obviously it will also need to run on 3 to 3.3 volts and then its just hook up the RX and TX. I personally like the BlueSmirf modules but there are plenty of others and some seem to have a smaller formfactor. Only problem I have had with the BlueSmirf is I have had one that won't let me contigure it to anything other than 9600 baud. Its weird but I've let SparkFun know and I am waiting to here.
Pev
by Pev
Tue Aug 29, 2006 3:48 pm
inaki wrote:This is great contribution! Congrats PEV !
Now, have you found a 57Kbps BT interface that we can use ?
Where have you placed the BT board ?
Hi Inaki,
I am using a BlueSmirf Bluetooth AT Modem module, they are configurable and can certainly do 57k. Mine is working well, I have been sorting out a BCP program to control it and have written a 32 function Pocket PC remote program (will share a bit more once I have it a little more tested and well rounded).
The Bluesmirf module has been mounted between the two hip rotation servos on the 18 DOF humanoid design. Think there may be a picture or 2 in the PDF doc. The BlueSmirf units are available from http://www.sparkfun.com, who seem happy to ship globally and are found at:
Bluesmirf Module
Have had a minor problem with one of my BlueSmirfs (I have a few) where it wouldn't run outside 9600 baud but have informed Sparkfun and am awaiting their response. The others have been fine. I am not working them hard as I am only using it to send 2 byte control codes (i.e. the Robotis serial comms packet for Zig100).
I have managed to get to a point now where I can walk my Bioloid Humanoid around like a very expensive remote controlled vehicle. Now need to get the sensor input added to the control program and do some snazzy moves
Pev
by pepperm
Thu Nov 30, 2006 7:32 pm
Pev
How the hell do you get this bluetooth stuff working. I just can't talk to the BluesMiRF from my laptop. I have an Abe UB22S and a Sitecom CN-500 USB dongles and when I install them they give me 2 serial ports, one for an inbound and one for an outbound connection and I cannot connect from Terminal.exe on either port to the BlueSMiRF.
I have followed the configs in the Smart Fun pdfs but my menus are not the same so have to connect by a slightly different process. I occassionaly get a connection and sometimes a red LED lights on the BlueSMiRF but still no comms.
Any suggestions please?
How the hell do you get this bluetooth stuff working. I just can't talk to the BluesMiRF from my laptop. I have an Abe UB22S and a Sitecom CN-500 USB dongles and when I install them they give me 2 serial ports, one for an inbound and one for an outbound connection and I cannot connect from Terminal.exe on either port to the BlueSMiRF.
I have followed the configs in the Smart Fun pdfs but my menus are not the same so have to connect by a slightly different process. I occassionaly get a connection and sometimes a red LED lights on the BlueSMiRF but still no comms.
Any suggestions please?
by Pev
Fri Dec 01, 2006 12:12 am
Mark,
Let me revisit this over the weekend. I just used hyperterminal. You can't run the motion editor or download BCP programs as these keep changing the baud rate I think, and the hack doesn't allow for this.
I have just written a PPC control app to use as a remote for the humanoid bioloid. Am happy to send it over, exe and code and the BCP/Motion file I use with it if that will help.
Feel free to PM me if you need anything else and I'll try to get back to you over the weekend
Pev
Let me revisit this over the weekend. I just used hyperterminal. You can't run the motion editor or download BCP programs as these keep changing the baud rate I think, and the hack doesn't allow for this.
I have just written a PPC control app to use as a remote for the humanoid bioloid. Am happy to send it over, exe and code and the BCP/Motion file I use with it if that will help.
Feel free to PM me if you need anything else and I'll try to get back to you over the weekend
Pev
by pepperm
Fri Dec 01, 2006 12:35 am
Pev
Well I've had a fun evening with Bluetooth. How does anyone get it working??? I have 2 USB Bluetooth dongles and 4 laptops, 2 with built in bluetooth. One of the built ins I got to work but sadly that was my dads laptop so it will have to go back tomorrow.
The other built in laptop is from work and still won't connect to the BlueSMiRF.
I have a Sitecom CN500 that sort of works but send corrupt characters every other character and until just now the ABE UB22S USB dongle I have for use with the Lego NXT (Lego sell the UB22S) we have got our kids (
) for Christmas, installed and gave separate inbound and outbound ports, which was just bemusing.
I have just downloaded BlueSoleil 2.3.0.0 though and it works a treat. Apparently the ABE dongle I have is registered for use with it. The Sitecom dongle isn't so is restricted to 50Mbytes of file transfer.
So, with the BlueSoleil software installed I can send serial data through the BlueSmiRF to a 9600baud serial LCD module I made. Next I will up the baud rate and try comms to the CM-5. God knows if the Lego NXT will work with this setup though???
I never have had much luck with Hyperterminal so have been using the built in terminal program with BASCOM AVR and the free Terminal.exe application from Br@y++ V1.9b.
Your PPPC app would be interesting but I will have to run it over RS232 because although I have 3 IPAQs they have all been freebees without Bluetooth. It's worth a try though. I'll have to see if I can blag a Bluetooth one from work, which you would think would be easy as I work for HP but it ain't so........
Regards
Mark
Well I've had a fun evening with Bluetooth. How does anyone get it working??? I have 2 USB Bluetooth dongles and 4 laptops, 2 with built in bluetooth. One of the built ins I got to work but sadly that was my dads laptop so it will have to go back tomorrow.
The other built in laptop is from work and still won't connect to the BlueSMiRF.
I have a Sitecom CN500 that sort of works but send corrupt characters every other character and until just now the ABE UB22S USB dongle I have for use with the Lego NXT (Lego sell the UB22S) we have got our kids (
) for Christmas, installed and gave separate inbound and outbound ports, which was just bemusing.
I have just downloaded BlueSoleil 2.3.0.0 though and it works a treat. Apparently the ABE dongle I have is registered for use with it. The Sitecom dongle isn't so is restricted to 50Mbytes of file transfer.
So, with the BlueSoleil software installed I can send serial data through the BlueSmiRF to a 9600baud serial LCD module I made. Next I will up the baud rate and try comms to the CM-5. God knows if the Lego NXT will work with this setup though???
I never have had much luck with Hyperterminal so have been using the built in terminal program with BASCOM AVR and the free Terminal.exe application from Br@y++ V1.9b.
Your PPPC app would be interesting but I will have to run it over RS232 because although I have 3 IPAQs they have all been freebees without Bluetooth. It's worth a try though. I'll have to see if I can blag a Bluetooth one from work, which you would think would be easy as I work for HP but it ain't so........
Regards
Mark
by mic2
Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:50 pm
Hi Guys,
I am very pleased to post and share this result to everybody. I have successfully upgraded my Bioloid to work with BlueSMiRF - Bluetooth Modem, although it took me a while to overcome some problems with Hyper Terminal. But it is worth to doing it, now I can control my Bioloid to do anything its in the program.. Must say BIG THANKS TO PEV for his helps and support.
Cheers
Mic.
I am very pleased to post and share this result to everybody. I have successfully upgraded my Bioloid to work with BlueSMiRF - Bluetooth Modem, although it took me a while to overcome some problems with Hyper Terminal. But it is worth to doing it, now I can control my Bioloid to do anything its in the program.. Must say BIG THANKS TO PEV for his helps and support.
Cheers
Mic.
by limor
Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:41 pm
RoboSavvy has recently had to supply some Bioloid with the BlueSmirf pre-installed and hidden inside the CM5 box. We took some notes and pictures during the process for you to enjoy.
- Frist read bluesmirf manual
at fist there was no reaction from the bluesmirf when it was just powered
(only VCC and GND connected). after reading sparkfun forum
http://forum.sparkfun.com/viewtopic.php?t=5399
first thing was to install TeraTerm to use instead of HyperTerm (which
btw does not exist any more on vista)
hyperterm has too many bugs
set local echo on the terminal otherwise you dont see what you type
then finally entered the sequence +++ and then ENTER and got the magical OK
if you enter AT it will respond again with OK so you know you have a
2-way connection
turns out the arial (RF) side of bluetooth can work and detect any baud rate
but the RX/TX side of the BlueSmirf must be set to a fixed baud rate.
In our case it is 57600 bps.
Fortunately the RX/TX baud rate can be changed by the remote PC.
So the command is: ATSW20,236,0,0,1
verify with ATSI,8 which will respond with 00EC,000...
( see the BlueSmirf documentation for more about this )
to change the name of the device as it is discovered by the remote PC
use the command:
ATSN,Bioloid01
http://giladlotan.com/blog/?p=45
http://rob.faludi.com/itp/BlueRadios_AT ... .1.4.0.pdf
These are 4 brand new BlueSmirf modules straight from http://RoboSavvy.com/store
Here's Veroboard that we are going to chop up.
We cant just wire the BlueSmirf to the CM5 because the pins that come onboard its PCB are difficult to handle. So the Veroboard bridges the connections making them solderable.
- Frist read bluesmirf manual
at fist there was no reaction from the bluesmirf when it was just powered
(only VCC and GND connected). after reading sparkfun forum
http://forum.sparkfun.com/viewtopic.php?t=5399
first thing was to install TeraTerm to use instead of HyperTerm (which
btw does not exist any more on vista)
hyperterm has too many bugs
set local echo on the terminal otherwise you dont see what you type
then finally entered the sequence +++ and then ENTER and got the magical OK
if you enter AT it will respond again with OK so you know you have a
2-way connection
turns out the arial (RF) side of bluetooth can work and detect any baud rate
but the RX/TX side of the BlueSmirf must be set to a fixed baud rate.
In our case it is 57600 bps.
Fortunately the RX/TX baud rate can be changed by the remote PC.
So the command is: ATSW20,236,0,0,1
verify with ATSI,8 which will respond with 00EC,000...
( see the BlueSmirf documentation for more about this )
to change the name of the device as it is discovered by the remote PC
use the command:
ATSN,Bioloid01
http://giladlotan.com/blog/?p=45
http://rob.faludi.com/itp/BlueRadios_AT ... .1.4.0.pdf
These are 4 brand new BlueSmirf modules straight from http://RoboSavvy.com/store
Here's Veroboard that we are going to chop up.
We cant just wire the BlueSmirf to the CM5 because the pins that come onboard its PCB are difficult to handle. So the Veroboard bridges the connections making them solderable.
by limor
Mon Jul 02, 2007 3:18 pm
Here is the end result. As you can see the BlueSmirf is snug inside the CM5 cavity between the wall and the battery.
Here's a closeup of the veroboard after it has been sawed to shape. Note that the first and last pins - CTS and RTS - are shorted as instructed in the Bluesmirf manual.
Here are the cables soldered to the CM5. Please note a couple of important things. The correct supply voltage for the BT module is (in this CM5 case) 5V i.e. we connected the supply voltage wire to the input of the
5V->3.3V regulator, not to the output as suggested in Pev's original instructions (Red wire = 5V, Black = GND)
Serial RX and TX from Atmel are using 5V voltage levels, thus also supply voltage needs to be the same. BT module would work with both 3.3V and 5V. Using 3.3V supply voltage may cause extra current to be drawn from the serial output of the Atmel. The little hole close to the voltage regulater had to be expanded using a sharp thin piercing utensil
The other important thing that we learned the hard way is to use Solder Flux! without it, it is almost impossible to make these delicate solder points.
Next, we had to drill through the CM5 internal cage base in order to allow access to the CM5 PCB in case one needs to change fuse or something. These first drillings were quite rough but allowed the BlueSmirf to be taken out through the new holes.
Our next attempts at drilling the CM5 were more elegant.
We also drilled through the side wall just enough for the Bluesmirf to be able to be stuffed on the side of the CM5 next to the battery.
Finally, here they are the 4 modified CM5's before being shipped to the customer.
The CM5 are installed into pre-assembled Bioloids in their Puppy shape and you can't really tell that the BlueSmirf is installed in the CM5.
Here's a closeup of the veroboard after it has been sawed to shape. Note that the first and last pins - CTS and RTS - are shorted as instructed in the Bluesmirf manual.
Here are the cables soldered to the CM5. Please note a couple of important things. The correct supply voltage for the BT module is (in this CM5 case) 5V i.e. we connected the supply voltage wire to the input of the
5V->3.3V regulator, not to the output as suggested in Pev's original instructions (Red wire = 5V, Black = GND)
Serial RX and TX from Atmel are using 5V voltage levels, thus also supply voltage needs to be the same. BT module would work with both 3.3V and 5V. Using 3.3V supply voltage may cause extra current to be drawn from the serial output of the Atmel. The little hole close to the voltage regulater had to be expanded using a sharp thin piercing utensil
The other important thing that we learned the hard way is to use Solder Flux! without it, it is almost impossible to make these delicate solder points.
Next, we had to drill through the CM5 internal cage base in order to allow access to the CM5 PCB in case one needs to change fuse or something. These first drillings were quite rough but allowed the BlueSmirf to be taken out through the new holes.
Our next attempts at drilling the CM5 were more elegant.
We also drilled through the side wall just enough for the Bluesmirf to be able to be stuffed on the side of the CM5 next to the battery.
Finally, here they are the 4 modified CM5's before being shipped to the customer.
The CM5 are installed into pre-assembled Bioloids in their Puppy shape and you can't really tell that the BlueSmirf is installed in the CM5.
Last edited by limor on Mon Jul 02, 2007 3:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
by limor
Mon Jul 02, 2007 3:24 pm
BTW:
when the BlueSmirf is soldered to the CM5 and you switch on the CM5, the BlueSmirf immediately lights up and can be communicated to by a remote PC. You can not run the Behavior and Motion Control software from the remote PC because of the varying baud-rate (this has been discussed extensively in other threads on this forum).
However, if you connect the serial cable to the CM5, you can operate the robot in the normal way (including firmware upgrade, Behaviour & Motion editor etc). So when the CM5 is attached to the PC, the Zig100 interface does not disturb the normal serial communications.
Therefore, no features are lost by attaching the BlueSmirf permanently !
when the BlueSmirf is soldered to the CM5 and you switch on the CM5, the BlueSmirf immediately lights up and can be communicated to by a remote PC. You can not run the Behavior and Motion Control software from the remote PC because of the varying baud-rate (this has been discussed extensively in other threads on this forum).
However, if you connect the serial cable to the CM5, you can operate the robot in the normal way (including firmware upgrade, Behaviour & Motion editor etc). So when the CM5 is attached to the PC, the Zig100 interface does not disturb the normal serial communications.
Therefore, no features are lost by attaching the BlueSmirf permanently !