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PSC data sheet — Parallax Forums

PSC data sheet

ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
edited 2004-04-27 04:23 in General Discussion
My PSC's arrived and the data sheet answers most of my earlier questions
about the command sequence. My initial CPU board won't be up and ready
to drive it for about another week, so I won't be able to fully test it
until then.

However, unless I've missed something , I don't think the data sheet
mentions where the servos are positioned by default immediately after
power up, if there has not yet been a command sent.

What is the default servo pulse widths sent, if any, from the PSC
outputs, following a power up? Obviously I'd like to ensure the robot
(soft) shuts down in the same position as it will try to later start up.

Andy

Comments

  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-04-26 16:27
    Hi Andy,

    Did you receive an answer on this question? I haven't seen a
    reply yet and I'm curious too.

    Thanks,

    Tim


    At 10:24 AM 4/24/2004, you wrote:
    >My PSC's arrived and the data sheet answers most of my earlier questions
    >about the command sequence. My initial CPU board won't be up and ready
    >to drive it for about another week, so I won't be able to fully test it
    >until then.
    >
    >However, unless I've missed something , I don't think the data sheet
    >mentions where the servos are positioned by default immediately after
    >power up, if there has not yet been a command sent.
    >
    >What is the default servo pulse widths sent, if any, from the PSC
    >outputs, following a power up? Obviously I'd like to ensure the robot
    >(soft) shuts down in the same position as it will try to later start up.
    >
    >Andy
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
    > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
    >from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
    >Body of the message will be ignored.
    >
    >Yahoo! Groups Links
    >
    >
    >
    >
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-04-26 16:57
    Tim,

    Not yet. If I get some free time this week, I may power up the card on
    its own and look with a scope. If this chip is now going into the new
    Hexcrawler, then there is probably a lot of final production checking
    out that's keeping everyone on that project very busy.

    Having thought a little more about my question, I realize now it does
    have implications if a robot gets stuck in an awkward position (eg leg
    trapped in a hole or an arm holding a fragile object) where repowering
    it up may cause a servo to try and revert fast to a position that can
    cause damage to the robot itself or something else. However, I suspect
    this is probably going to be just a fact of life for low cost robotics,
    as I don't think there is much that can be done about that without
    having a pre-readable position detection system on every servo output.

    Andy

    >>>Hi Andy,

    Did you receive an answer on this question? I haven't seen a
    reply yet and I'm curious too.

    Thanks,

    Tim


    At 10:24 AM 4/24/2004, you wrote:
    >My PSC's arrived and the data sheet answers most of my earlier
    questions
    >about the command sequence. My initial CPU board won't be up and ready

    >to drive it for about another week, so I won't be able to fully test it

    >until then.
    >
    >However, unless I've missed something , I don't think the data sheet
    >mentions where the servos are positioned by default immediately after
    >power up, if there has not yet been a command sent.
    >
    >What is the default servo pulse widths sent, if any, from the PSC
    >outputs, following a power up? Obviously I'd like to ensure the robot
    >(soft) shuts down in the same position as it will try to later start
    up.
    >
    >Andy
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-04-26 17:31
    I checked with the PSC engineer: When the PSC is powered up, each
    channel is set to 1.5 ms (center) and ramping is disabled.

    -- Jon Williams
    -- Applications Engineer, Parallax
    -- Dallas Office


    Original Message
    From: Timothy Medema [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=owbWMhfb7IqMzyeIhWfpenKpSLH3UM8t7KkN4A-r8VIsiGyeWRQlKCXkxfnNEINFkDAgSamkpB8adUGOpA]timm@c...[/url
    Sent: Monday, April 26, 2004 10:28 AM
    To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
    Subject: Re: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] PSC data sheet



    Hi Andy,

    Did you receive an answer on this question? I haven't seen a
    reply yet and I'm curious too.

    Thanks,

    Tim


    At 10:24 AM 4/24/2004, you wrote:
    >My PSC's arrived and the data sheet answers most of my earlier
    >questions about the command sequence. My initial CPU board won't be up

    >and ready to drive it for about another week, so I won't be able to
    >fully test it until then.
    >
    >However, unless I've missed something , I don't think the data sheet
    >mentions where the servos are positioned by default immediately after
    >power up, if there has not yet been a command sent.
    >
    >What is the default servo pulse widths sent, if any, from the PSC
    >outputs, following a power up? Obviously I'd like to ensure the robot
    >(soft) shuts down in the same position as it will try to later start
    >up.
    >
    >Andy
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-04-26 18:35
    Thank you Jon and Andy, now we know.

    Tim


    At 09:31 AM 4/26/2004, you wrote:
    >I checked with the PSC engineer: When the PSC is powered up, each
    >channel is set to 1.5 ms (center) and ramping is disabled.
    >
    >-- Jon Williams
    >-- Applications Engineer, Parallax
    >-- Dallas Office
    >
    >
    >
    Original Message
    >From: Timothy Medema [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=bY5mZZKGPNbIukr04owIQ-ok8-nvTMSMWez--bt5UKq40MFXevZxgCGf3zuQs26MKe8-ADV1jd5ls6rZAu0]timm@c...[/url
    >Sent: Monday, April 26, 2004 10:28 AM
    >To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
    >Subject: Re: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] PSC data sheet
    >
    >
    >
    >Hi Andy,
    >
    > Did you receive an answer on this question? I haven't seen a
    >reply yet and I'm curious too.
    >
    >Thanks,
    >
    >Tim
    >
    >
    >At 10:24 AM 4/24/2004, you wrote:
    > >My PSC's arrived and the data sheet answers most of my earlier
    > >questions about the command sequence. My initial CPU board won't be up
    >
    > >and ready to drive it for about another week, so I won't be able to
    > >fully test it until then.
    > >
    > >However, unless I've missed something , I don't think the data sheet
    > >mentions where the servos are positioned by default immediately after
    > >power up, if there has not yet been a command sent.
    > >
    > >What is the default servo pulse widths sent, if any, from the PSC
    > >outputs, following a power up? Obviously I'd like to ensure the robot
    > >(soft) shuts down in the same position as it will try to later start
    > >up.
    > >
    > >Andy
    >
    >
    >To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
    > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
    >from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
    >Body of the message will be ignored.
    >
    >Yahoo! Groups Links
    >
    >
    >
    >
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-04-26 18:53
    Thanks Jon,

    May I proffer a future PSC design "improvement" suggestion? If the PSC's
    servo position memory is non-volatile, would it not be a good idea to
    have an additional or modified read command which would allow read back
    of the last set position of each servo, regardless of whether the PSC
    was powered down in the interim? Then on the next power up, the user
    could have the option of reading and knowing the current servo positions
    first, and then the choice of letting them stay, or setting them to move
    from there at a safe speed, rather than having them always "reset" and
    move at full power and speed to the center default. The separate servo
    power line could always be held off a short time to allow for the
    housekeeping to happen first.

    Andy
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-04-27 04:23
    I will pass your idea on to the PSC engineer. Thanks for the feedback;
    yes, it's a good idea.

    -- Jon Williams
    -- Applications Engineer, Parallax
    -- Dallas Office


    Original Message
    From: Andy Reichert [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=ij_xwZ3WMh59gEoQ7wi1qR6TP_7YI0VjTaJ512uwSAOxYt1_ZuSxd7Xn31pABEirN_O4AGPXX7A_EUV0UQ]andy_r@i...[/url
    Sent: Monday, April 26, 2004 12:54 PM
    To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
    Subject: Re: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] PSC data sheet


    Thanks Jon,

    May I proffer a future PSC design "improvement" suggestion? If the PSC's
    servo position memory is non-volatile, would it not be a good idea to
    have an additional or modified read command which would allow read back
    of the last set position of each servo, regardless of whether the PSC
    was powered down in the interim? Then on the next power up, the user
    could have the option of reading and knowing the current servo positions
    first, and then the choice of letting them stay, or setting them to move
    from there at a safe speed, rather than having them always "reset" and
    move at full power and speed to the center default. The separate servo
    power line could always be held off a short time to allow for the
    housekeeping to happen first.

    Andy
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