Bioloid Premium Kit - Construction Blog (v0.1)
Bioloid Premium Kit - Construction Blog (v0.1)
by limor
Sat Sep 12, 2009 6:45 pm
Introduction
Robotis sent us one of the pre-launch boxes of the new Bioloid Premium kits. It is a pre-launch box meaning that the packaging, the parts, the software and electronics are all final. The only thing really missing is the final documentation. We received also two extra bits that are not going to be included in the retail box. The metal feet and the Zig100 zigbee module pair.
The Bioloid Premium Kit has many things in common with the Bioloid Comprehensive kit. Robotis have taken many aspects of the Comprehensive kit and upgraded them. The Bioloid Comprehensive Kit that has been with us for a few years and is still one of the best general purpose robotics kit with a large support community around the world. Robotis is planning to continue shipping the Comprehensive kit. The Premium kit will be more expensive than the Comprehensive and there will be an upgrade pack that will allow Comprehensive kit owners to upgrade to Premium.
The Premium box art includes text in the three main target languages - Korean, English and Japanese. It is better geared to catch the eye when displayed in a shop.
Opening the Box
The first thing we noticed about the box is that its shape and content have been redesigned. The Premium box width and height are smaller but has more in depth. [ Shape and weight distribution play an important role when shipping individual boxes. The more the box measurements are closer to a cube and the weight inside it is distributed homogeneously, the more it is likely to survive the abuses of couriers. This matters mainly to online distributors who prefer the boxes to arrive in perfect shape to their customers.]
The content is well laid out and items are segregated intelligently to ensure excessive motion and hardship during shipping doesn't damage the content.
There are two layers in the box. The bottom one has 4 small boxes containing the different brackets. The top one has all the rest.
First thing we did is lay out all the parts on a table.
The Manual
The included quickstart guide is split into two parts. First part is written in English, Korean and Japanese. The second half of the document is completely pictorial and mostly without any writing. Origami style. There are 3 documented humanoids in the QuickStart guide. We chose to construct Humanoid type B with 16 servos.
The Battery
The charger is a 2S and 3S LiPo charger from Yuntong. The LiPo battery pack is in plastic enclosure. The NiMh battery of the Bioloid Comprehensive kit is charged by the CM5 controller board (with a special charging software that runs from the bootloader). The Premium CM510 controler board is not involved in charging which is performed by a dedicated LiPo charging device. The charger is from the same manufacturer of the batteries - Yutong.
The Bioloid Premium kit's LiPo battery is rated 1000mAh (mAh = milli-amps hour) and is probably of type 10C3S1P (to be confirmed). This means that if the battery were to be discharged at 1amp it would take 1 hour to completely discharge. We know it is a 3S battery because it is charged through the 3S charger's port with the 3S label (and the 3 cells are visible through the plastic coating). So it means it is internally composed of 3 batteries attached to each other in series; each one 3.7V (industry standard) and together 11.1V. It seems that this is a 10C battery which means that it is guaranteed to output 10amps continuously if necessary for 1/10 of an hour until it is discharged. LiPos can also output 2-3 times that much in small bursts, which for walking robots is great because of the high bursts of current needed to hold a servo position when a walking robot's leg hits the floor for example or during a Robo-One fight.
The AX12 servo consume about 100mAh up to 1000mAh. So an 18 servo humanoid robot will probably last about 30 minutes when not doing much. (during our initial use and test of the robot we kept it on for well over half an hour). When it continously walks or fights in a competition, it may probably consume on avarage 6amps meaning 10 minutes of continuous use.
The battery pack comes with an internal PCM (Protection Circuit Module) under its protective red plastic wrap, which is a small PCB that, in order to prevent charge/discharge disasters associated with LiPo, prevents over-charging, over-discharging and ensuring discharging current doesn't exceed maximum allowed.
The battery casing has been designed to allow easy replacement of battery by sliding the case open side ways. This is very useful for long hours of robotic tweeking or during competitions. The old CM5 setup had the battery inside a single block with the controler PCB board and required a few screws for battery extraction. The new setup has seen separation between the controler block and the battery block. This also acheived the lowering of the center-of-mass of the humanoid robot which helps in passive stability.
The CM510 Controler Block
The CM510 is the name of the new controler block. The PCB board is similar to the Bioloid Comprehensive CM5 in shape and exposed input buttons. The CM510 board is based on Atmega2561 rather than Atmega128, meaning twice the memory for programs, motions and bootloader. The CM510 plastic container block is smaller than the CM5 block (which contains space for the battery).
The 6 sides of the block expose various interfaces including 6 analog ports. The old CM5 didn't expose any I/O ports of the Atmega128.
Left to right: Power Supply (you can also run the robot off the mains power); LiPo; AX12 bus; 4-pin TTL serial interface Infrared or zig110; RS232 headphone jack interface
On the left is an I/O port two horizontal lines each one 5 pins GND, 5V, Analog sensor input. The right port is for the AX12 bus.
The fuse (which protects the servos from burning by limiting the maximum current going out to the servos) is tiny and external. Changing the fuse on the old CM5 required taking the block apart and exposing the PCB. Making the fuse externaly accessbile and much smaller is a clever design improvement.
The top of the CM510 box is similar ot the CM5 with 6 button inputs and 7 LED indicators and an on/off switch. Note that the text on the sides mark the side port interfaces.
The USB2Dynamixel (direct PC control)
The USB2Dynamixel is a mandatory device to all Bioloid owners or those who would like to learn how to to work with Robotis servos. The device plugs into the PC's USB port and to the Dynamixel bus. Robotis has a couple of standards for Dynamixel enabled servos. The AX series servos work at half-duplex UART and the RX and DX servos work at full duplex. [Dynamixel protocol is single-master so full-duplex may allow some speed improvement through parallelization of back/forth packets and provides less chance of interferences with longer cable and more elements on the bus.]
The PC sees the Robotis servos through an emulated serial port (FTDI chip on the USB2Dynamixel module) and there are several tools and SDKs to communicate with the servos directly from the PC.
The RC110 Gamepad and Zig110 interface
The RC110 is a gamepad designed for remote-controling the robot. It allows for any keys and key combination to be sent over to the robot's controller in order for it to execute whatever motions. The great innovation about the new RC110 is that it can either work with Infrared or it can work with Zigbee. (Pictures included later regarding how to
The Gyro sensor
For the first time Bioloid PREMIUM includes a Gyro for Stabilization of the Walk.
This is a 2 axis gyro that connects to the new A/D ports available on the CM510.
The CM510, as mentioned, includes 5 new external A/D ports that can be queried via Roboplus.
This means you can actually extend the robot with other sensors from third parties (such as Sparkfun) including Accelerometers (to let the robot get up when it falls) or full 5 Axis IMUS.
All you need is a set of Cables to connect to the CM510 and then do the necessary prep work (ie soldering on the SF boards) to get a fully functional system.
The CM510 ports even offer GND and +5V (in addition to the Analog signal pin to read the input voltage) so you can conveniently power the sensors directly from the CM510 port/cable.
1 OUT : 5V Output
2 VCC (5V)
3 ADC : Can read analog signals made by users.
4 GND
5 NC : Not used
The limit is really your imagination, overcoming one of the Comprehensive major limitations (inability to add A/D sensors out of the box or without adding third party boards).
More information on how to do this can be found here http://support.robotis.com/en/product/b ... sensor.htm
The Infrared Sensors
The Premium kit comes with 4 infra red sensors. One of them (here on the right) is the RC110 receiver. The other three are distance sensors. The Sharp distance sensor is very popular in the hobby electronics world providing accurate measurement to within milimeters upto a range, in this case, of 80cm. It is intended to be fitted onto the Humanoid's chest. The other two Ir sensors are intended to be fit onto the Humanoid's feet or sholders. The Bioloid Comprehensive kit came with a single module AX-S1 that incorporated three distance sensors in 3 directions. The Premium kit setup allows for more liberty as to where to fit the distance sensors.
One interesting addition is the inclusion of OLLO connectors to attach the Ir modules onto the Robotis servos and brackets. OLLO is a "lego" like set for children to build motorized and animated critters with various patented connectors and it now shares some parts with Bioloid. Robotis have integrated the OLLO technology into the Bioloid. This integrative approach is also shown in the new software that is compatible with both the Bioloid and OLLO product lines.
Assembling the Humanoid type B
The new Premium Humanoid was designed for maximum customization and personalization. The head and chest are provided in transparent epoxy that can easily be painted to one's own taste in fashion.
We chose type B humanoid with 16 servos (Degrees of Freedom - DOF) for this first assembly. Type A has 18 servos and type C also has 16 servos with slightly different leg configuration.
We begin with the torso of the Humanoid. Some of the build sequences in the book are shared among the 3 types of humanoids and the book references the relevant page in type-A humanoid where the details are described.
To build the arms, some servos need to be attached with side brackets that in turn will allow side linkage.
bump pin in the shaft helps assembling and alligning the servo shaft and horn correctly.
The arm assembly is taken from Humanoid A. The leg assembly allows for optional aluminum feet that increase foot surface and friction to improve stability. These aluminum feet are not part of the premium kit but were given to us for evaluation. We chose in this initial build to use the standard plastic soles.
Small mistake in the leg assembly was identified after an hour's work. Cables need to fit under the bracket. Need to disassemble and realign properly.
After about six attempts, it seems we got it right and the legs can happily be attached to the torso.
Robotis sent us one of the pre-launch boxes of the new Bioloid Premium kits. It is a pre-launch box meaning that the packaging, the parts, the software and electronics are all final. The only thing really missing is the final documentation. We received also two extra bits that are not going to be included in the retail box. The metal feet and the Zig100 zigbee module pair.
The Bioloid Premium Kit has many things in common with the Bioloid Comprehensive kit. Robotis have taken many aspects of the Comprehensive kit and upgraded them. The Bioloid Comprehensive Kit that has been with us for a few years and is still one of the best general purpose robotics kit with a large support community around the world. Robotis is planning to continue shipping the Comprehensive kit. The Premium kit will be more expensive than the Comprehensive and there will be an upgrade pack that will allow Comprehensive kit owners to upgrade to Premium.
The Premium box art includes text in the three main target languages - Korean, English and Japanese. It is better geared to catch the eye when displayed in a shop.
Opening the Box
The first thing we noticed about the box is that its shape and content have been redesigned. The Premium box width and height are smaller but has more in depth. [ Shape and weight distribution play an important role when shipping individual boxes. The more the box measurements are closer to a cube and the weight inside it is distributed homogeneously, the more it is likely to survive the abuses of couriers. This matters mainly to online distributors who prefer the boxes to arrive in perfect shape to their customers.]
The content is well laid out and items are segregated intelligently to ensure excessive motion and hardship during shipping doesn't damage the content.
There are two layers in the box. The bottom one has 4 small boxes containing the different brackets. The top one has all the rest.
First thing we did is lay out all the parts on a table.
The Manual
The included quickstart guide is split into two parts. First part is written in English, Korean and Japanese. The second half of the document is completely pictorial and mostly without any writing. Origami style. There are 3 documented humanoids in the QuickStart guide. We chose to construct Humanoid type B with 16 servos.
The Battery
The charger is a 2S and 3S LiPo charger from Yuntong. The LiPo battery pack is in plastic enclosure. The NiMh battery of the Bioloid Comprehensive kit is charged by the CM5 controller board (with a special charging software that runs from the bootloader). The Premium CM510 controler board is not involved in charging which is performed by a dedicated LiPo charging device. The charger is from the same manufacturer of the batteries - Yutong.
The Bioloid Premium kit's LiPo battery is rated 1000mAh (mAh = milli-amps hour) and is probably of type 10C3S1P (to be confirmed). This means that if the battery were to be discharged at 1amp it would take 1 hour to completely discharge. We know it is a 3S battery because it is charged through the 3S charger's port with the 3S label (and the 3 cells are visible through the plastic coating). So it means it is internally composed of 3 batteries attached to each other in series; each one 3.7V (industry standard) and together 11.1V. It seems that this is a 10C battery which means that it is guaranteed to output 10amps continuously if necessary for 1/10 of an hour until it is discharged. LiPos can also output 2-3 times that much in small bursts, which for walking robots is great because of the high bursts of current needed to hold a servo position when a walking robot's leg hits the floor for example or during a Robo-One fight.
The AX12 servo consume about 100mAh up to 1000mAh. So an 18 servo humanoid robot will probably last about 30 minutes when not doing much. (during our initial use and test of the robot we kept it on for well over half an hour). When it continously walks or fights in a competition, it may probably consume on avarage 6amps meaning 10 minutes of continuous use.
The battery pack comes with an internal PCM (Protection Circuit Module) under its protective red plastic wrap, which is a small PCB that, in order to prevent charge/discharge disasters associated with LiPo, prevents over-charging, over-discharging and ensuring discharging current doesn't exceed maximum allowed.
The battery casing has been designed to allow easy replacement of battery by sliding the case open side ways. This is very useful for long hours of robotic tweeking or during competitions. The old CM5 setup had the battery inside a single block with the controler PCB board and required a few screws for battery extraction. The new setup has seen separation between the controler block and the battery block. This also acheived the lowering of the center-of-mass of the humanoid robot which helps in passive stability.
The CM510 Controler Block
The CM510 is the name of the new controler block. The PCB board is similar to the Bioloid Comprehensive CM5 in shape and exposed input buttons. The CM510 board is based on Atmega2561 rather than Atmega128, meaning twice the memory for programs, motions and bootloader. The CM510 plastic container block is smaller than the CM5 block (which contains space for the battery).
The 6 sides of the block expose various interfaces including 6 analog ports. The old CM5 didn't expose any I/O ports of the Atmega128.
Left to right: Power Supply (you can also run the robot off the mains power); LiPo; AX12 bus; 4-pin TTL serial interface Infrared or zig110; RS232 headphone jack interface
On the left is an I/O port two horizontal lines each one 5 pins GND, 5V, Analog sensor input. The right port is for the AX12 bus.
The fuse (which protects the servos from burning by limiting the maximum current going out to the servos) is tiny and external. Changing the fuse on the old CM5 required taking the block apart and exposing the PCB. Making the fuse externaly accessbile and much smaller is a clever design improvement.
The top of the CM510 box is similar ot the CM5 with 6 button inputs and 7 LED indicators and an on/off switch. Note that the text on the sides mark the side port interfaces.
The USB2Dynamixel (direct PC control)
The USB2Dynamixel is a mandatory device to all Bioloid owners or those who would like to learn how to to work with Robotis servos. The device plugs into the PC's USB port and to the Dynamixel bus. Robotis has a couple of standards for Dynamixel enabled servos. The AX series servos work at half-duplex UART and the RX and DX servos work at full duplex. [Dynamixel protocol is single-master so full-duplex may allow some speed improvement through parallelization of back/forth packets and provides less chance of interferences with longer cable and more elements on the bus.]
The PC sees the Robotis servos through an emulated serial port (FTDI chip on the USB2Dynamixel module) and there are several tools and SDKs to communicate with the servos directly from the PC.
The RC110 Gamepad and Zig110 interface
The RC110 is a gamepad designed for remote-controling the robot. It allows for any keys and key combination to be sent over to the robot's controller in order for it to execute whatever motions. The great innovation about the new RC110 is that it can either work with Infrared or it can work with Zigbee. (Pictures included later regarding how to
The Gyro sensor
For the first time Bioloid PREMIUM includes a Gyro for Stabilization of the Walk.
This is a 2 axis gyro that connects to the new A/D ports available on the CM510.
The CM510, as mentioned, includes 5 new external A/D ports that can be queried via Roboplus.
This means you can actually extend the robot with other sensors from third parties (such as Sparkfun) including Accelerometers (to let the robot get up when it falls) or full 5 Axis IMUS.
All you need is a set of Cables to connect to the CM510 and then do the necessary prep work (ie soldering on the SF boards) to get a fully functional system.
The CM510 ports even offer GND and +5V (in addition to the Analog signal pin to read the input voltage) so you can conveniently power the sensors directly from the CM510 port/cable.
1 OUT : 5V Output
2 VCC (5V)
3 ADC : Can read analog signals made by users.
4 GND
5 NC : Not used
The limit is really your imagination, overcoming one of the Comprehensive major limitations (inability to add A/D sensors out of the box or without adding third party boards).
More information on how to do this can be found here http://support.robotis.com/en/product/b ... sensor.htm
The Infrared Sensors
The Premium kit comes with 4 infra red sensors. One of them (here on the right) is the RC110 receiver. The other three are distance sensors. The Sharp distance sensor is very popular in the hobby electronics world providing accurate measurement to within milimeters upto a range, in this case, of 80cm. It is intended to be fitted onto the Humanoid's chest. The other two Ir sensors are intended to be fit onto the Humanoid's feet or sholders. The Bioloid Comprehensive kit came with a single module AX-S1 that incorporated three distance sensors in 3 directions. The Premium kit setup allows for more liberty as to where to fit the distance sensors.
One interesting addition is the inclusion of OLLO connectors to attach the Ir modules onto the Robotis servos and brackets. OLLO is a "lego" like set for children to build motorized and animated critters with various patented connectors and it now shares some parts with Bioloid. Robotis have integrated the OLLO technology into the Bioloid. This integrative approach is also shown in the new software that is compatible with both the Bioloid and OLLO product lines.
Assembling the Humanoid type B
The new Premium Humanoid was designed for maximum customization and personalization. The head and chest are provided in transparent epoxy that can easily be painted to one's own taste in fashion.
We chose type B humanoid with 16 servos (Degrees of Freedom - DOF) for this first assembly. Type A has 18 servos and type C also has 16 servos with slightly different leg configuration.
We begin with the torso of the Humanoid. Some of the build sequences in the book are shared among the 3 types of humanoids and the book references the relevant page in type-A humanoid where the details are described.
To build the arms, some servos need to be attached with side brackets that in turn will allow side linkage.
bump pin in the shaft helps assembling and alligning the servo shaft and horn correctly.
The arm assembly is taken from Humanoid A. The leg assembly allows for optional aluminum feet that increase foot surface and friction to improve stability. These aluminum feet are not part of the premium kit but were given to us for evaluation. We chose in this initial build to use the standard plastic soles.
Small mistake in the leg assembly was identified after an hour's work. Cables need to fit under the bracket. Need to disassemble and realign properly.
After about six attempts, it seems we got it right and the legs can happily be attached to the torso.
the box is very beautiful !!
by Suicidal.Banana
Tue Sep 15, 2009 9:14 am
RobotServicesGroup wrote:So would the IR sensor for the RC110 work on the Comprehensive Kit? We would love to be able to control the Bioloid over IR signals.
Afaik the sensor module of the comprehensive kit already allows for that, you can basiclly use any tv/vcr/dvd/audio remote and make the bioloid 'print' (show) the signal it recieves (all is assuming your using behaviour control software, idk how to use the sensor module without it) then just make some simple statement around recieving that signal
by Khashi.E
Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:04 am
Suicidal.Banana wrote:Afaik the sensor module of the comprehensive kit already allows for that, you can basiclly use any tv/vcr/dvd/audio remote and make the bioloid 'print' (show) the signal it recieves (all is assuming your using behaviour control software, idk how to use the sensor module without it) then just make some simple statement around recieving that signal
but I've tried to send IR signals from a dvd/tv... remote control to ax-s1.
it doesn't work well !
Edited: I think s1 can not recive any signals from any devices.maybe it only supports rc-100/rc-110 or another ax-s1.
by PedroR
Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:34 am
fyi as I had mentioned in the Roboplus thread already, the AX-S20 sensor (balance sensor) is being redesigned by robotis.
Me and Limor heard about it last week. The original chip in the S20 that we reviewed used a magnetometer to read pitch/roll/...
However Robotis came to the conclusion that there is too much noise / metal around the sensor and therefore those readinds were not very usable.
What we know so far is that the sensor is being redesigned to include a true gyro.
Having said that, the sensor seems an amazing piece of engineering and a great addition to the robot.
Because it sits on the AX 12 bus it is also compatible with the Comprehensive kits.
Two other things which I loved myself:
- The connector for the IR Receiver/Zigbee receiver on the CM5 is actually the ATMEGA UART exposed, with RX, TX, Vdd and GND pins. (not the UART for the Dynamixel bus though; it's the second UART on the ATMEGA that's exposed).
This means you can replace IR/Zigbee with any other controller (such as an Arduino or some custom board) that can relay signals into the CM510 using the Remocon Protocol.
The Remocon Protocol is a set of instruction packets the robot recognizes and - according to Robotis - the specs of the protocol will be released in the future for people to build their own implementations.
(Note: If you write your own firmware I believe you may be able to reuse this port to whatever you need, including passing packets back and forth to the Dynamixel bus.
- The 6 A/D ports.
The controller now exposes 6 generic A/D ports so extending the robot is now easier than ever (the robot is now ACTUALLY easily expansible with custom sensors).
No more need for those custom conversion boards from the old days of the Comprehensive Kit whenever you wanted to add an A/D sensor.
The ports expose Vdd, GND, VALUE, DIO and one other pin which we were unable to find out what it was for.
From what I understood the DIO pin on the port is similar to the DIO on the robobuilder servos: it is something that can be set HIGH or LOW meaning it will output some Vdd (I think 5V) or 0V.
The format of the A/D connectors is exactly the same as the one used in OLLO Bug (with the CM 100 controller) so sensors should be interchangeable.
Me and Limor heard about it last week. The original chip in the S20 that we reviewed used a magnetometer to read pitch/roll/...
However Robotis came to the conclusion that there is too much noise / metal around the sensor and therefore those readinds were not very usable.
What we know so far is that the sensor is being redesigned to include a true gyro.
Having said that, the sensor seems an amazing piece of engineering and a great addition to the robot.
Because it sits on the AX 12 bus it is also compatible with the Comprehensive kits.
Two other things which I loved myself:
- The connector for the IR Receiver/Zigbee receiver on the CM5 is actually the ATMEGA UART exposed, with RX, TX, Vdd and GND pins. (not the UART for the Dynamixel bus though; it's the second UART on the ATMEGA that's exposed).
This means you can replace IR/Zigbee with any other controller (such as an Arduino or some custom board) that can relay signals into the CM510 using the Remocon Protocol.
The Remocon Protocol is a set of instruction packets the robot recognizes and - according to Robotis - the specs of the protocol will be released in the future for people to build their own implementations.
(Note: If you write your own firmware I believe you may be able to reuse this port to whatever you need, including passing packets back and forth to the Dynamixel bus.
- The 6 A/D ports.
The controller now exposes 6 generic A/D ports so extending the robot is now easier than ever (the robot is now ACTUALLY easily expansible with custom sensors).
No more need for those custom conversion boards from the old days of the Comprehensive Kit whenever you wanted to add an A/D sensor.
The ports expose Vdd, GND, VALUE, DIO and one other pin which we were unable to find out what it was for.
From what I understood the DIO pin on the port is similar to the DIO on the robobuilder servos: it is something that can be set HIGH or LOW meaning it will output some Vdd (I think 5V) or 0V.
The format of the A/D connectors is exactly the same as the one used in OLLO Bug (with the CM 100 controller) so sensors should be interchangeable.
by PedroR
Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:47 am
with regards to the plastic brackets, they are indeed of a different material.
I only got to compare them by "looking" and to the eye they look very similar.
I have asked Robotis about that and they say the new brackets are now lighter and more resistant.
The preliminary Comprehensive-to-Premium upgrade kits I saw in Korea will include the new brackets so I'm assuming the difference is significant or otherwise they wouldn't bother to include it in the Upgrade kit.
I only got to compare them by "looking" and to the eye they look very similar.
I have asked Robotis about that and they say the new brackets are now lighter and more resistant.
The preliminary Comprehensive-to-Premium upgrade kits I saw in Korea will include the new brackets so I'm assuming the difference is significant or otherwise they wouldn't bother to include it in the Upgrade kit.
by siempre.aprendiendo
Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:04 pm
Great review, Limor & Pedro
I have some questions
1. All three IR sensors have the same range?, from milimeters upto a range, in this case, of 80cm.
2. Do you know which are finally the AX-S20 sensor components? Magnetics or gyros?
3. Could the connection for the IR Receiver/Zigbee receiver be used as a communication line? CM-510<->Arduino, for example.
Thanks!
I have some questions
1. All three IR sensors have the same range?, from milimeters upto a range, in this case, of 80cm.
2. Do you know which are finally the AX-S20 sensor components? Magnetics or gyros?
3. Could the connection for the IR Receiver/Zigbee receiver be used as a communication line? CM-510<->Arduino, for example.
PedroR wrote:"- The connector for the IR Receiver/Zigbee receiver on the CM5 is actually the ATMEGA UART exposed, with RX, TX, Vdd and GND pins. (not the UART for the Dynamixel bus though; it's the second UART on the ATMEGA that's exposed).
This means you can replace IR/Zigbee with any other controller (such as an Arduino or some custom board) that can relay signals into the CM510 using the Remocon Protocol."
Thanks!
by Suicidal.Banana
Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:02 pm
Goldrake wrote:Anyone knows if there will be an upgrade kit from comprehensive kit to premium?
I think it's really important info
Thank you
although im not in a position to be 100% sure about it, im at the least 99% sure
it will happen, theres not really that big of a difference between comprehensive and premium so its very possible, and people here and on trossenrobotics have sayd there will be upgrade kits.
by limor
Wed Nov 11, 2009 6:08 pm
siempre.aprendiendo wrote:1. All three IR sensors have the same range?, from milimeters upto a range, in this case, of 80cm.
there are 2 types of ir sensors the one in the chest and the small ones in the legs/arms which i assume are similar to the ones used with AX-S1. no further info yet.
2. Do you know which are finally the AX-S20 sensor components? Magnetics or gyros?
no. seems like the magnetic sonsor is replaced due to technical issues
3. Could the connection for the IR Receiver/Zigbee receiver be used as a communication line? CM-510<->Arduino, for example.
the comms is done via Ir or Zigbee utilizing the 2nd UART on the atmega128 of the controler. if you want to put arduino connected to that serial, you can do it. there's a new miniature linux board we are about to stock that makes it easy to attach any PC USB deviceto the robot including wifi and webcam.
Latest from Robotis is that the new boxes may not be shipped out in time to guarantee that they sit all wrapped up nicely under the Christmas tree. But if you are ok to receive it somewhere between the 20th and 27th of Dec then you will enjoy the kit during the end-of-year holiday. we will receive the shipment on the "second half" of December.