Robonova, MacBook and OSX
by plingboot
Fri Nov 03, 2006 10:13 am
Back to square one i'm afraid.
Various bits arrived for my RN1 yesterday, so i spent the evening adding the following:
• tilt sensor
• tiny airtrix gyro
• chest mounted sonar sensor
I also bought a 'regular' hitec digital servo HS-5625MG, to use as either a head, or as a driver for the existing head.
All parts were fitted, but the communications interface between my MacBook, parallels, XP and the RN1 took a turn for the flakey.
I can do a controller check and see firmware versions etc, but 'something' causes the keyspan connector to shutdown and become unresponsive.
I'm reluctantly going to buy a full version of XP today (i dropped coin on an upgrade before) and install it using bootcamp - the difference being that i'll be running either OS at one time and not both at the same time. I might also look into different serial/usb connectors.
In a rage i ditched parallels and xp last night(!).
The wind has been a bit knocked out of my sales now i find that the 'brain' is much less intelligent than i'd hoped and that my particular RN1 walks like a wind up toy.
A good result will be soild communications between macbook and RN1, successful sensor tests and some work to try and improve the walk - target being the KHR-2HV 'smooth walking' demo.
PS: can the RN1 brain be swapped for a kondo brain and if so - will this improve 'intelligence'?
Various bits arrived for my RN1 yesterday, so i spent the evening adding the following:
• tilt sensor
• tiny airtrix gyro
• chest mounted sonar sensor
I also bought a 'regular' hitec digital servo HS-5625MG, to use as either a head, or as a driver for the existing head.
All parts were fitted, but the communications interface between my MacBook, parallels, XP and the RN1 took a turn for the flakey.
I can do a controller check and see firmware versions etc, but 'something' causes the keyspan connector to shutdown and become unresponsive.
I'm reluctantly going to buy a full version of XP today (i dropped coin on an upgrade before) and install it using bootcamp - the difference being that i'll be running either OS at one time and not both at the same time. I might also look into different serial/usb connectors.
In a rage i ditched parallels and xp last night(!).
The wind has been a bit knocked out of my sales now i find that the 'brain' is much less intelligent than i'd hoped and that my particular RN1 walks like a wind up toy.
A good result will be soild communications between macbook and RN1, successful sensor tests and some work to try and improve the walk - target being the KHR-2HV 'smooth walking' demo.
PS: can the RN1 brain be swapped for a kondo brain and if so - will this improve 'intelligence'?
by Robo1
Fri Nov 03, 2006 11:09 am
I've got a KHR-2 and I can't get my robot to walk like the demo 
. I don't think changing the brain will make a difference to the walking gait that's down to time/ trail and error.
I think the RN has a better brain anyway as you can't even code the KHR-2 it's just a gui interface. I have been looking into replacing it with a gumstix but haven't had the time or money to make the leap. As I want to be able to write an app to get the position from the servos before I make the change.
Hope his helps bren
. I don't think changing the brain will make a difference to the walking gait that's down to time/ trail and error.
I think the RN has a better brain anyway as you can't even code the KHR-2 it's just a gui interface. I have been looking into replacing it with a gumstix but haven't had the time or money to make the leap. As I want to be able to write an app to get the position from the servos before I make the change.
Hope his helps bren
by plingboot
Mon Nov 06, 2006 9:58 am
IT WORKS!
Finally after much fiddling around everything seems to be working and i have control of my RN1 via my MacBook.
The solution was to:
1. install XP with bootcamp and not via parallels
2. change my old serial/usb dongle for a new highspeed USB2 model.
There was a small amount of faffing around with COM ports, but once that was sorted i actually made contact and uploaded code the RN1.
I found a local computer shop who sold me an OEM copy of XP Pro which significantly reduced the cost of the software, (obviously i waive any tech support from MS), so any one else thinking about using their intel mac can do so knowning it all works.
Now, expect lots of BASIC code questions...
Finally after much fiddling around everything seems to be working and i have control of my RN1 via my MacBook.
The solution was to:
1. install XP with bootcamp and not via parallels
2. change my old serial/usb dongle for a new highspeed USB2 model.
There was a small amount of faffing around with COM ports, but once that was sorted i actually made contact and uploaded code the RN1.
I found a local computer shop who sold me an OEM copy of XP Pro which significantly reduced the cost of the software, (obviously i waive any tech support from MS), so any one else thinking about using their intel mac can do so knowning it all works.
Now, expect lots of BASIC code questions...
Last edited by plingboot on Mon Nov 06, 2006 4:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
