Parallax Servo Controller HELP

kevinb2050

Hi all, My·Servo Controller just arrived - but I now have even more questions
I ASSUMED (bad word that one) when i read the documentation on the parallax site that the controller would let me pre program sequences that could be called as routines from a BS2 - this i now know is not the case (i need to have a PC connected to the USB to achieve this)
Question 1 - has anyone worked out how to use this USB sequencing function from a basic stamp (no PC connected) this would be fantastic especially with walking bots

Question 2 - I am yet to play with the controller but i ASSUME (that word again) that i can
1- send a command to the PSC from the BS2 - "move forward"
2- send other commands to the PSC for other servos - i.e. rotate 90deg rotate back to 0deg
3- mean while the forward servo will still be·moving forward until a command is sent to stop it

Question 3 - prior to running out of I/O - i was using to navigate and know where my robot was a grid system i.e. a move forward was timed at x seconds for y distance (Using Parallax continuous rotating servos) and a turn was measured in the same way "x- y Co ordinance grid". As the BS2 did not progress to the next program line till this movement was completed.
However as the PSC allows other things to be done by the BS2 while moving forward my timing navigation is now U/S
I now need to work out how to navigate a different way.
# GPS is no good as the bot is indoors
# I have no input positions left on the BS2 to count wheel rotation pulses
# If I am doing other things with the·BS2·while bot is moving forward, i will not be able to get back to the PSC at a fixed time interval to measure distance/movement.

Any ideas would be appreciated - i can only think of 2 at the moment
1- sit and wait at program line to measure time/movement (this is a waste of the PSC ability to allow the BS2 to do other things while the servo is operating)
2- the PSC documentation mentions "RSP Command - Report Position of a servo channel" - maybe i could use this feature to count the rotation of the servo ????

Chris Savage

Hello,

Sure you can program sequences into the BASIC Stamp and call them from a subroutine and send them to the PSC. You just can’t do it from the Windows software. However you can use the values from those sequences to generate code versions on the BS2.

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Chris Savage
Parallax Engineering

kevinb2050

Thanks Chris - I understand this - the advantage i was looking for was that the PSC could look after a sequence while the BS2 was doing other routines. I was thinking one way would be to use another stamp as a slave feeding the PSC with the sequences. My main concerns are the timing issues - say you had a walking bot doing a sequence thru the PSC the BS2 has to be following the sequence to control the timing of movements and therefor can not do other things. However a sequence running thru Windows (USB conection) is stand alone. It would have been great if the PSC had memory allowing a BS2 to call a sequence then go and do somthing else while it was running. Any thoughts on my Navigation Problem.