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PSC serial info and pin outs? — Parallax Forums

PSC serial info and pin outs?

bigkahunabigkahuna Posts: 9
edited 2009-05-01 00:10 in General Discussion
Can anyone provide the pin out information for the Serial connector on the Parallax USB Servo Controller? I've had 2 of these for quite some time but never used them, so I hope to put them to work in a project we're working on. Why did you folks discontinue it? Pretty nifty device. What serial standard is the serial port, RS232? I'd like to use serial versus USB because the controller will be 100 - 200 feet away from the computer.

Comments

  • $WMc%$WMc% Posts: 1,884
    edited 2009-04-27 22:13
    bigkahuna

    I saw the Parallax USB Servo controller in the May 09' Jameco catalog I just got in the mail. It says it has Doc.s for it.

    The Jameco part# is 387962


    ___Maybe this will be of some help________$WMc%__________

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  • bigkahunabigkahuna Posts: 9
    edited 2009-04-27 22:23
    I have the docs for the controller, but unfortunately there isn't any info on the pins or the serial version in it. I also emailed Parallax but so far no reply.
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2009-04-27 22:32
    Have you looked at the Parallax webstore page on the serial version of the PSC? Almost all Parallax product pages have links to the documentation and sample code /demos. The PSC, like most Parallax Stamp devices, uses +5V logic levels for their serial I/O. You'd need an RS232 to TTL adapter if you're going to use it with a standard serial port.

    The USB version of the PSC uses the same serial interface as does the serial version of the PSC. You can use the same documentation of the commands and the connections.
  • bigkahunabigkahuna Posts: 9
    edited 2009-04-27 23:27
    Thanks Mike. Yes, I've already visited that page and downloaded the linked documentation. I also received a reply from Parallax saying pretty much the same as you. Hmm... sounds a bit more involved that I was planning. What I was hoping was that I could use the PSC to drive servos in a robot that will have a 100+ foot tether, but want to keep things pretty simple. I found some USB to TTL converters, could I use one of those at the computer end and then run 100+ feet of 3 wire cable to the PSC?
  • FranklinFranklin Posts: 4,747
    edited 2009-04-28 01:31
    RS232 is not a good choice for 100+ feet. Look at one of the other protocols (RS422 or rs485)

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    - Stephen
  • Ole Man EarlOle Man Earl Posts: 262
    edited 2009-04-30 23:52
    Or XBee transcievers and make it wireless...
  • bigkahunabigkahuna Posts: 9
    edited 2009-05-01 00:10
    Our project is an underwater robot. Although an XBee xcvr on its own wouldn't work, we have considered using them and xmitting the RF signal down a wire to the robot.
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