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Serial Communication — Parallax Forums

Serial Communication

twizteds2ktwizteds2k Posts: 2
edited 2005-10-11 20:12 in BASIC Stamp
I have toyed around with boebot's for a couple years now.· My senior project is to control my boebot via a C# application I wrote from a remote laptop.· Does anybody have any tips for me.· I know the bot won't do anything with the serial cable plugged in, so how can I send it commands?· Is this even possible?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Tom

Comments

  • Jon WilliamsJon Williams Posts: 6,491
    edited 2005-10-11 18:50
    Sure, we have lots of RF modules on our site, and my students have made those work in this kind of applicaiton.

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    Jon Williams
    Applications Engineer, Parallax
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 1,023
    edited 2005-10-11 19:07
    Twiz,

    We used the EB500 bluetooth module for the hydrogen fuel cell robot. We wrote an app in VB for the PC side, and it works great. We can control all aspects of the robot, monitor the fuel cell, etc. The EB500 takes care of CRC, allows easy flow control and in general has been teriffic. Range is good and if your laptop/PC doesn't have bluetooth, a $29 dongle takes care of that.

    You can check out 'bot out at: http://madlabs.info/H2_FCRobot_Chron.shtml

    HTH,

    Jonathan

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    www.madlabs.info - Home of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Robot
  • twizteds2ktwizteds2k Posts: 2
    edited 2005-10-11 19:07
    All I have now is what comes in the basic boebot kit.· Do I need anything else, or should I just be able to plug my cable to my laptop and bot,·assuming both ends are·programmed correctly, make it move around?
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 1,023
    edited 2005-10-11 19:20
    Twiz,

    I'm not familiar with the boe-bot but here is what you need to do the EB500.

    Look up the EB500 and find out what pins it requires from the Stamp, and make sure that those pins are free.

    Check and see if the PC you are going to use has Bluetooth. If not, purchase a dongle. We use the Linksys USBBT100. Install drivers.

    The EB500 docs have code examples to get you started. We initially used Hyperterminal to communicate with the 'bot. While that has limitations, it is easy and quite effective.

    Then work on your C++ app.

    HTH,

    Jonathan

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    www.madlabs.info - Home of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Robot
  • TiboTibo Posts: 81
    edited 2005-10-11 20:12
    Hum...let's answer him : yes you can with a serial cable.
    Yes you can develop a soft in C# that talks serially to your bot and send it commands.

    The only problem is the lenght of the cable...the boe-bot wont go far......

    This is why some here suggest you should get (not in the standart boe-bot kit) a bluetooth link (the EB500 for the boet-bot while an USB adapter will be fine for your PC) or, as Jon Williams says (always listen to Jon [noparse];)[/noparse] ), just buy two RF serial modem. The idea is the same : use radio link between your bot and your PC.

    Here's my own trick : I did exactly the same thing.
    But i'm the lucky owner of a WIFI Ipaq that also have serial connection. So I did a soft (in C#) for the PocketPC to be a TCP/UDP to SERIAL proxy (some kind of server) and a client software for the PC. When the PC sends a command thru WIFI to the PocketPC, the Ipaq relays the command to the Bot...
    I may have the code if you're interrested.

    Good Luck !
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