Just a Thought

[Pev]

I know that this could be developed independently with the information Robotis provide on the Dynamixel interface but wouldn't it be cool if there was an interface module. I am thinking of something with perhaps 4 AD ports, 4 Digital IO ports, perhaps an I2C interface and a RS232 interface. If that could be packaged into a Dynamixel case and addressable via the BCP interface the sensor processing options would be really cool. You could interface just about anything, sonar, ir-distance (well more of them) and even piggy back additional processing power for distributed processing, or standard Bluetooth modules like the BlueSmirf (can't wait for the expansion pack to be available either).

Now I know I may be dreaming but I am sure it could be done. Maybe as a group we should petition Robotis for their feedback.......

Would be interested in the rest of the Forum's views..... would it be useful to anyone else?

Pev

[stevo3d]

Pev, I'd love to have something like that.

[inaki]

Of course it would be easy to do, except for the communication speed perhaps. They run at 1mbps! This requires a pretty fast interface, specially in the software side.

Would you keep the sensors within the same servo box or outside the box?

Which sensors do you have in mind ? My first choice would be an accelerometer. What about a magnetic compass? A color detector comes to mind.....

Hmmm,what about taking a look at AX-S1 ?

[Pev]

Of course it would be easy to do, except for the communication speed perhaps. They run at 1mbps! This requires a pretty fast interface, specially in the software side.

Would you keep the sensors within the same servo box or outside the box?

Which sensors do you have in mind ? My first choice would be an accelerometer. What about a magnetic compass? A color detector comes to mind.....

Hmmm,what about taking a look at AX-S1 ?

I agree the tricky bit is the comms. As for where would the sensors be, I saw the module just as an interface to allow the use of many different sensors, just like all the ones you have mentioned. I love the idea of a color detector and was even thinking with a fast RS232 interface you could interface a CMU CAM, that does colour and motion tracking among other things. Could be a lot of fun. THink that there would need to be variable support in the BCP program though. I haven't looked into this yet so don't know if you can define variables and assign values to them....

Hmmmm, I am so tempted to have a look at hacking an AX-S1, wonder if I can get a spare one somewhere.......

Pev

[inaki]

Yes you can use variables in BCP. Just declare them anywhere.
For example you can do:

LOAD MyVAR, CM5.TIMER

By the way, this is actually the syntax used in my tokenizer. I have also introduced constant labels, that is, labels that replace numerical values.

I have opened my AX-S1 ( ). The circuit is very dense, not too easy to hack I think. As expected it uses an Atmel micro to control the board.

[Pev]

Yes you can use variables in BCP. Just declare them anywhere.
For example you can do:

LOAD MyVAR, CM5.TIMER

By the way, this is actually the syntax used in my tokenizer. I have also introduced constant labels, that is, labels that replace numerical values.

I have opened my AX-S1 ( ). The circuit is very dense, not too easy to hack I think. As expected it uses an Atmel micro to control the board.

inaki,

Thank you for all the information, especially on the variables. I am very interested in the tokenizer you are building, thin kthis will be a major benefit for the kit.

thanks again

Pev

[Ronbot]

I've been looking at processors (TiniPOD) from www.newmicros.com. They feature 80Mhz processors with RS232 and 16 I/O ports measuring just 1x1.3 inches. They are small, versatile and FAST. (connect to your PC serial at 115Kb). Downside is that you need to program in a FORTH language. Since I am still a beginner I have not had the chance to experiment with the CPU and a BIOLOID yet. (just received my beginner's kit this week). Just a thought ..

Of course it would be easy to do, except for the communication speed perhaps. They run at 1mbps! This requires a pretty fast interface, specially in the software side.

Would you keep the sensors within the same servo box or outside the box?

Which sensors do you have in mind ? My first choice would be an accelerometer. What about a magnetic compass? A color detector comes to mind.....

Hmmm,what about taking a look at AX-S1 ?

I agree the tricky bit is the comms. As for where would the sensors be, I saw the module just as an interface to allow the use of many different sensors, just like all the ones you have mentioned. I love the idea of a color detector and was even thinking with a fast RS232 interface you could interface a CMU CAM, that does colour and motion tracking among other things. Could be a lot of fun. THink that there would need to be variable support in the BCP program though. I haven't looked into this yet so don't know if you can define variables and assign values to them....

Hmmmm, I am so tempted to have a look at hacking an AX-S1, wonder if I can get a spare one somewhere.......

Pev