Trying Ken’s “Juke-Bots Propeller Robots” Project

NikosG

Hi All,

Looking for educational activities to support my curriculum about “multimedia and networks” I Shaw Ken’s “Juke-Bots Propeller Robots” Project. . This project is really amazing because except of robotics it combines both: multimedia exercises in order to create the appropriate .wav files using the Audacity software and a nice networking example as it uses the wireless communication with the Xbee modules!

I encouraged my students to find Ken’s song list in order to create the wav files. I have to admit that my students were very aware on this topic! They found the clip of every song on Youtube, and they used a site in order to get the MP3 file into their computer . Then they used the Audacity software in order to remove the metadata according the instructions and we rename the song’s filenames according the spin example.



So we created the list of the WAV songs that uses the given spin code example.
As I hadn’t a Veho Speaker Stand for Propeller BOE , I made one using my 3d printer .



The robot and the whole hardware stuff are ready.

I think that the given guidelines have 3 mistakes on pins connections. If I’m not wrong the P19 is the right pin for the Ping))) Ultrasonic Sensor ( Receiver Robot), P4 is the right pin for the XBee 802.15.4 Data Out (DO) (transmitter module) and P3 the right pin for the XBee 802.15.4 Data In (DI) (transmitter module)
I made some tests on receiver BOT (without the use of the Xbee module) removing some lines of code and I heard the songs on Veho speaker.
It was really amazing!
However I couldn’t achieve the whole goal choosing songs from the serial terminal menu etc. I don’t know what is going wrong...

Does anyone have made successfully this project?

Nikos

Ken Gracey

Hello Nikos!

Great attempt at implementing my project. Andy really made this possible. Before I brought the project to him I didn't have ramping and such seamless integration, but now it's really functional.

Stephanie made a fix to the table in Learn - the code is correct.

Therefore the problem you must be having is with the XBee units. Connect them both to X-CTU and be sure you've got the same channel, same PanID, and try again. Once everything is configured properly the wireless version works 100%.

Count on students to find the back door tricks to getting the songs off of YouTube. I wouldn't have known that's possible, but it's just proof that we're getting old when students know far more than we do about certain tricks.

It's nice to have some applications for them that involve their interests as well as embedded technology.

Report back to the thread when you have an update. And have a great day -

Ken Gracey

NikosG

Hello Ken!

My channel and PanID settings were right! My mistake was completely silly! On receiver robot I had missed to interface the X-BEE’s Data Out (DO) and Data In (DI) pins with P4 and P3. However I think that a close photo of the receiver robot, showing the interface, would be very helpful for many users.



As you can see in the image above, I have made a small change on transmitter’s module in order to reduce significant the cost of the whole project. Instead of the second Propeller Board of Education (#32900) in order to transmit the commands I use the X-CTU software in conjunction with a XBEE 5V/3.3V ADAPTER (#32401) and of course a XBee 802.15.4 2 1 mW Chip Antenna (#32406). The only disadvantage is that user can’t see the menu command from the Parallax serial terminal. Instead of the PST user must type the commands on X-CTU terminal.



However the result is exactly the same.We can send commands to the receiver robot from distance with less hardware, and we reduce the cost of the whole project for about 110$ !
The other day I made a small demonstration of the Propeller Juke-Bot in my school. Student and teachers became totally fascinated!!!
Next Thursday me and my colleague Panagiotis (religion teacher) will present on a robotic conference our project “Ecclesiastic Symbols & robotics” Using the Parallax S2. The presentation will take place on the Technological Educational Institute of Messologgi. I have programmed the S2 to write sentences using the Byzantine alphabet and I intent to demonstrate Propeller Juke-Bot playing Byzantine hymns at the same time! I’ll send feedback soon!!!

Nikos Giannakopoulos


EDIT: Unfortunately the robotic conference was postponed because the institute was under sit-in due to problems in Greek education.
I don't know now when the event will take place.....

Ken Gracey

Nikos, I'll work on supplementing the project on Learn.parallax.com with some pictures, or point to this thread for additional information so that everybody has success.

I've made the same mistake wiring up the XBee RF devices - it's always hard to see immediately if the code is written from the XBee's perspective or the Propeller's, in which DI and DO can be reversed.

Pretty soon I'll have some more interesting things to share with you (hardware).

Ken Gracey

Nikos,

I took a more detailed look at what you are doing with X-CTU and an XBee/USB Adapter on the cable. You could also use Parallax Serial Terminal.

There's even a cheaper way to achieve the project: use your PC's built-in Bluetooth with this piece of hardware http://www.parallax.com/Portals/0/Downloads/docs/prod/rf/30086-RN-42-Bluetooth-Module-Guide-v1.0.pdf

And pretty soon we will make this project even better. Can't say much beyond that out of respect for future announcements coming from our Marketing staff.

I like your improvements to the project!

Ken Gracey