OSX Hacks
OSX Hacks
by BVis
Tue Jul 31, 2007 7:57 am
First off, thank you all for your incredible contributions to this site/forum.
I have been on here for hours just catching up!
I just received my Bioloid Comp Kit and so far I have justified $500 of the $900 price.
What I really want to do is write in C on a *NIX OS (OSX).
I have played with the avr-gcc stuff, but the problem is replacing the bootloader on the CM5, and I do not have a STK500 or similar.
I have successfully connected to the CM5 via "screen /dev/tty.usb-serial-blah, and can do all of the things the the 'robot terminal' can do, except download files.
I almost purchased the USB2Dynamixel adapter, but changed my mind after not being able to find out if the drivers are FTDI compatible or not.
Any info there would be appreciated.
Ultimately I would like to take the CM5 out of the loop and code everything from direct serial to Zig/Bluetooth and back.
Anyone working in this area, please let me know your tragedies and triumphs!
B'Vis.
I have been on here for hours just catching up!
I just received my Bioloid Comp Kit and so far I have justified $500 of the $900 price.
What I really want to do is write in C on a *NIX OS (OSX).
I have played with the avr-gcc stuff, but the problem is replacing the bootloader on the CM5, and I do not have a STK500 or similar.
I have successfully connected to the CM5 via "screen /dev/tty.usb-serial-blah, and can do all of the things the the 'robot terminal' can do, except download files.
I almost purchased the USB2Dynamixel adapter, but changed my mind after not being able to find out if the drivers are FTDI compatible or not.
Any info there would be appreciated.
Ultimately I would like to take the CM5 out of the loop and code everything from direct serial to Zig/Bluetooth and back.
Anyone working in this area, please let me know your tragedies and triumphs!
B'Vis.
by limor
Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:57 am
Dont know if this will help but if you are interested in connecting to CM5 via serial (at 115kbps) then you can find some information and serial driver code here http://humanoids.dem.ist.utl.pt/communication/mcu.html
it was written for Simulink's real-time-windows-target but at driver level the differences are minor and the code should be transferable to Unix.
BTW: The reason this Jon's answer comes before B'Vis's question is that yesterday the system clock on robosavvy.com became delayed by 24 hours for a few hours.
it was written for Simulink's real-time-windows-target but at driver level the differences are minor and the code should be transferable to Unix.
BTW: The reason this Jon's answer comes before B'Vis's question is that yesterday the system clock on robosavvy.com became delayed by 24 hours for a few hours.
USB
by BVis
Fri Aug 03, 2007 8:57 am
Jon, limor,
Thanks for the reply. I read the threads and links.
I was wondering if, instead of building the USB interface, if there is a simple 'off the shelf' way to do this?
I do not mind doing some soldering, but I would spend some bucks to avoid it!
I looked at the UMR232R from Mouser and I almost understand how that would work. But I am new to this particular problem, so I cannot fit all of the pieces together.
If anyone has any info on whether or not a USB2Dynamixel adaptor will work on *NIX, let me know.
Because I write code in the business world in mostly Java (day job), I am working on some libraries in Java that can communicate via USB->RS232 and would really like to get this into the Dynamixel world.
Interfacing the AX-12's to a Netstix is the task after that.
Thanks again for the replies.
This is surely the best robotics forum on the net!
Peace.
Thanks for the reply. I read the threads and links.
I was wondering if, instead of building the USB interface, if there is a simple 'off the shelf' way to do this?
I do not mind doing some soldering, but I would spend some bucks to avoid it!
I looked at the UMR232R from Mouser and I almost understand how that would work. But I am new to this particular problem, so I cannot fit all of the pieces together.
If anyone has any info on whether or not a USB2Dynamixel adaptor will work on *NIX, let me know.
Because I write code in the business world in mostly Java (day job), I am working on some libraries in Java that can communicate via USB->RS232 and would really like to get this into the Dynamixel world.
Interfacing the AX-12's to a Netstix is the task after that.
Thanks again for the replies.
This is surely the best robotics forum on the net!
Peace.
by JonHylands
Fri Aug 03, 2007 1:18 pm
I have a USB bus interface board that I use:
I have ordered and just got in this week some "real" boards, which I will be populating this weekend and should be available early next week.
Since OSX can interface to an FTDI FT232 chip (http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm), you should be able to use this board with no issues. You basically open a virtual serial port at 1.0 Mbps, and you can talk directly to the devices plugged into the board...
- Jon
I have ordered and just got in this week some "real" boards, which I will be populating this weekend and should be available early next week.
Since OSX can interface to an FTDI FT232 chip (http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm), you should be able to use this board with no issues. You basically open a virtual serial port at 1.0 Mbps, and you can talk directly to the devices plugged into the board...
- Jon
USB Boards
by BVis
Fri Aug 03, 2007 6:32 pm
Jon,
Those look great, how can I get one?
I have already successfully communicated with the FTDI RS232 chip on my Mac, so this might be exactly what I am looking for.
Those look great, how can I get one?
I have already successfully communicated with the FTDI RS232 chip on my Mac, so this might be exactly what I am looking for.
USB Boards
by BVis
Sat Aug 04, 2007 9:43 am
Jon,
Verry cool. I look forward to plugging one in.
I bought my bioloid from Canada (robotshop.ca) so I am sure that we can get one of these delivered to the states as well.
I will also share the Java libraries with you (and the group) after I get them working. I have not decided on javax.comm or rxtx, but I am leaning toward javax.comm.
The day job is getting in the way right now, but I am sure I will be able to get some slices dedicated to this project in the next couple of months/weeks.
Hope it all goes well this weekend!
B'Vis.
Verry cool. I look forward to plugging one in.
I bought my bioloid from Canada (robotshop.ca) so I am sure that we can get one of these delivered to the states as well.
I will also share the Java libraries with you (and the group) after I get them working. I have not decided on javax.comm or rxtx, but I am leaning toward javax.comm.
The day job is getting in the way right now, but I am sure I will be able to get some slices dedicated to this project in the next couple of months/weeks.
Hope it all goes well this weekend!
B'Vis.
CM5 Download
by BVis
Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:08 am
Has Anyone out there come accross any info on what the Robot Terminal is doing when it communicates with the boot loader on the CM5?
I have tried getting the download working on OSX, but so far its not happening, though, some of it is happening.
I guess I can cross the pins from PC to Mac and see what happens!
I have tried getting the download working on OSX, but so far its not happening, though, some of it is happening.
I guess I can cross the pins from PC to Mac and see what happens!
by Bullit
Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:05 am
You mean when the Robot Terminal transmits a file via the load command?
You issue the load command, the Robot Terminal just converts the hex file to binary and sends it. You can send a binary with the Robot Terminal also. It shouldn't be hard to create another program that does this.
If you like you can snoop the serial port using hhd's free serial monitor to see what goes over.
You issue the load command, the Robot Terminal just converts the hex file to binary and sends it. You can send a binary with the Robot Terminal also. It shouldn't be hard to create another program that does this.
If you like you can snoop the serial port using hhd's free serial monitor to see what goes over.
by BVis
Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:37 pm
Yes, that is what I meant.
I am writing a Java version of Robot Terminal and I can do everything except the download. It is getting the data, but not all of it.
Its probably some bad code on my part, but I wanted to make sure that there is nothing special about the CM5 boot loader.
If it is just expecting the bin, then I am on track.
If you could post the snoop output, that could be helpful.
Thanks!
B'Vis.
I am writing a Java version of Robot Terminal and I can do everything except the download. It is getting the data, but not all of it.
Its probably some bad code on my part, but I wanted to make sure that there is nothing special about the CM5 boot loader.
If it is just expecting the bin, then I am on track.
If you could post the snoop output, that could be helpful.
Thanks!
B'Vis.
Re: CM5 Download
by Sascha77
Mon Aug 13, 2007 4:08 pm
BVis wrote:Has Anyone out there come accross any info on what the Robot Terminal is doing when it communicates with the boot loader on the CM5?
I have tried getting the download working on OSX, but so far its not happening, though, some of it is happening.
I guess I can cross the pins from PC to Mac and see what happens!
I was able to get the download working on Mac OS X using a combination of minicom and cat
If this is of interest to you, please have a look here: http://robosavvy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10367#10367 . I would be interested in the answer to your original question (what it's doing exactly) as well.
Java Control
by BVis
Mon Sep 10, 2007 8:12 am
Just a note to all that after many hours of 'learning', I have a working Java environment running on OSX communicating directly to the AX-12 via Jon's (HUVRobotics) USB IO board. (Very cool, thanks Jon)
It's in the early stages, but if there are any others interested in programming the Dynamixels in Java, I would be happy to share the experience and the code.
Peace.
It's in the early stages, but if there are any others interested in programming the Dynamixels in Java, I would be happy to share the experience and the code.
Peace.
Re: Java Control
by JonHylands
Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:16 pm
BVis wrote:Just a note to all that after many hours of 'learning', I have a working Java environment running on OSX communicating directly to the AX-12 via Jon's (HUVRobotics) USB IO board. (Very cool, thanks Jon)
Cool, I'm really glad to see people making use of these items...
- Jon
Re: Java Control
by siempre.aprendiendo
Mon Sep 10, 2007 7:49 pm
BVis wrote:Just a note to all that after many hours of 'learning', I have a working Java environment running on OSX communicating directly to the AX-12 via Jon's (HUVRobotics) USB IO board. (Very cool, thanks Jon)
It's in the early stages, but if there are any others interested in programming the Dynamixels in Java, I would be happy to share the experience and the code.
Peace.
Of course, at least I am very interested. I am working with C# to load a mtn file but I want to work with Java too.
