control

[Pev]

Hi Pev,

I was just testing (aka. playing) around with BioBlue, it's nice!

Can you upload the program (I have both Visual Basic 2005 and 2008)?

--Scotty

Scotty,

Let me dig it out over the weekend and get it over to you ok?

Pev

[Pev]

Pev

Doing off CM5 processing on a PC is fine. I think problems may arise if you require short latency across the link. Although you have a 57K serial comm speed and hence quite a reasonable bandwidth the Windows driver for the comm port can introduce unacceptable latency times, presumably due to multitasking priorities within windows. It might be worth timing some round loop transmissions where the CM5 program just send back what it receives.

Dewey

Dewey,

I hear where you are coming from. My first thoughts are to leave the CM5 processing the motion files etc and send sensor data back to the pc for decision processing. Its not going to be the end of the world if the robot stops for a moment while it waits for a reply although I am hoping it won't. I was hoping to be able to get one of Hamids cameras then send the data retrieved from it back to the PC from a BCP program but I have a feeling its not going to work as the Hamid Camera seems to send back a multi-byte packet making the send data piece in BCP rather tricky as there is limited making and arithmetic/manipulation commands.

It more and more looks like I am going to have to bite the bullet and try to get up to speed with C programming for the CM-5. I think this may be a bit of a challenge but hey I am up to give it a go. May buy myself a second CM-5 to play around with C on so I can keep the Bioloid running in the mean time.

Pev

[srobot]

Let me dig it out over the weekend and get it over to you ok?

Thanks Pev! (Do you want my email?)

I was thinking about your idea of feedback, I wonder if you could use a "rumble pad" (game controller with feedback) and IMU.

You would "drive" the robot around with the game pad which is connected to the computer, the computer would be sending the robot commands with Zig or Blue Tooth, if the Bioloid hits an object or falls, the CM-5 would be reading the IMU and send the computer a string, the computer will tell the game pad to rumble.

This should be able to be done in VB, seeing that the programmer knows what to send to the game pad.

Maybe I will work on this latter..... Way too many ideas...... I just tell myself that there is 2009...... LOL

--Scotty

[Pev]

Let me dig it out over the weekend and get it over to you ok?

Thanks Pev! (Do you want my email?)

I was thinking about your idea of feedback, I wonder if you could use a "rumble pad" (game controller with feedback) and IMU.

You would "drive" the robot around with the game pad which is connected to the computer, the computer would be sending the robot commands with Zig or Blue Tooth, if the Bioloid hits an object or falls, the CM-5 would be reading the IMU and send the computer a string, the computer will tell the game pad to rumble.

This should be able to be done in VB, seeing that the programmer knows what to send to the game pad.

Maybe I will work on this latter..... Way too many ideas...... I just tell myself that there is 2009...... LOL

--Scotty

Scotty,

Excellent Idea and very do-able. The only thing to bear in mind when you are planing this is that you can only send a single double byte number per packet via the Zig interface (if memory servers me right), however you could always send a number of packets each containing one character of your string, maybe make it a fixed length so the reciever knows that it will always get a set number of characters/packets.

Pev

[AlphA]

This is an exciting idea! Acquiring the ability to “drive” the Bioloid around via a familiar game controller would certainly fill the void and truly complete the robot.

Will the Bioloid be able to utilize analog control? EG: moving the arm in relation to the position of the controller’s analog stick? I know the I-Sobot can do this with its stock controller.

Is there a limit to the number of motions one could assign to the Bioloid? I’m sure the overall ceiling would depend on the complexity of the motion and the amount of memory on the CM-5. Assuming the Bioloid has the capacity to hold many motions, is there any general limit to the number of motions the Bioloid can hold? Also, seeing how the CM-5 has so few buttons, is there a limit to the number of motions which can be triggered?

Has anyone made an app that would allow the user to map motions to PC keyboard keys (transferred wirelessly via Zig or BTooth or even while Bioloid is hooked up via serial)? Using something like Joy2Key would then allow users to use any PC compatible controller. This would also open the door to many custom/hacked controllers and keyboard bashing.

[Robo1]

Hi All

At the UK Robo-one Bill has a very nice interface where he uses a wireless Xbox controller to control his bioloid via his laptop. THis set up works really well there's a small lag but you can hardly notice it.

Bren

[BillB]

As Bren posted I can control my Bioloid using a wireless XBOX360 controller. Infact, I can also control it using a PS2 controller or Nintendo WiiMote (& Nunchuck).

I have found that the XBOX & PS2 were quite limiting. There are so, so many moves and combos that the Bioloid can perform that I have found it impossible to have a control configuration that could use all my programmed combos. I was hoping for a Tekken style control system where I could hammer away at a few buttons and it would yield a wonderful kungfu display. But after much tinkering I began to appreciate the stark contrast of Tekken and the Robo One robots. For instance:
1. In Tekken the control system automatically faces the opponent. The current generation of Robo One robots are blind and have absolutely no idea where the opponent is. Consequently I spend more time using the XBOX/PS2 controller to change the direction of the Robot rather than using the combo moves.
2. In Tekken the control system knows how far the robot is from the opponent, and can automatically use the appropriate combo. Once again very difficult to do with the current crop of Robo One robots.
3. In Tekken the control system knows whether the robot has fallen on the ground and will use the appropriate ground moves & combos.

I am trying different means to solve these short comings. I am experimenting with infared beacons and an infra red camera on the opponent to help determine where the opponent is. I am also considering using infra red proximity detectors to solve item 2. And I have had some success with using an accelerometer to determine when the robot has fallen and to automatically switch to ground attacks/moves.

BTW - I have found that the controller "Rumble" is great for warning that the battery is running low.

[AlphA]

BillB, that sounds very impressive! Care to share how you are managing to use those wireless controllers with your Bioloid?

[BillB]

Hi AlphA,

I use a standard wireless XBOX360 controller with wireless gaming receiver http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360wirelessgamingreceiver/

My setup works very much as PEV's great BioBlue software. My XBOX Gamepad communicates with the PC via bluetooth, the PC then converts the pressed (& depressed) button combinations into a byte value which is in turn sent to the Bioloid via Bluetooth.

Since the connection between the PC and the Bioloid is 2 way I can send byte back via bluetooth. Upon receipt of a byte from the Bioloid will then start the Gamepad rumble.

Bill