My Dilema: Where to Begin
michaelgubbels
Posts: 2
First off--hello, everyone! This is my first post on this forum and I'm excited be here. 
Okay, now...
I purchased a Parallax Sumo Bot kit (the one from McGraw-Hill) identical to this one:
http://books.mcgraw-hill.com/getbook.php?isbn=0071411933&template=
My question is... where do I begin? What are some books/online resources/tutorials that start at ground zero and build up? I'm very eager to learn to use it and after learning a bit about it, upgrading to a BOE Bot. Any help would be appreciated. I'm quite eager to begin.
Okay, now...
I purchased a Parallax Sumo Bot kit (the one from McGraw-Hill) identical to this one:
http://books.mcgraw-hill.com/getbook.php?isbn=0071411933&template=
My question is... where do I begin? What are some books/online resources/tutorials that start at ground zero and build up? I'm very eager to learn to use it and after learning a bit about it, upgrading to a BOE Bot. Any help would be appreciated. I'm quite eager to begin.
Comments
Just a bit of clarification is in order here, I feel. The robots to which you make reference, are NOT produced by Parallax. In addition to that, there is a Yahoo Group dedicated to support of the TAB Electronics Robots; the company who DID produce them. Here is that Yahoo Group which you will want to join for support and information:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tabrobotkit/
Here is a link to the TAB Electronics web site, which has information about the various TAB Robots:
TAB Electronics: http://www.tabrobotkit.com/
These TAB Electronics robots were distributed through McGraw-Hill marketing resources (among other places), and sold though various retail outlets such as Amazon dot com. To be honest, I purchased mine from an ordinary online book seller, other than Amazon.
To call it a "Parallax" robot is more than a bit unfair, since the ONLY thing "Parallax" about it is one of the microprocessors (PBASIC Stamp BS-2) used as the "brains" of the robots which TAB Electronics has offered IS produced by Parallax. Indeed, support for that PBASIC Stamp microprocessor (per se) CAN be found here, but don't expect too much help on any thing else regarding the TAB products, since that is certainly not the responsibility of Parallax. Additionally, support for the TAB Robot co-processor is NOT available here to any large degree, since that is a Microchip PIC product running in native mode, and is not produced by Parallax.
This is NOT to say that there aren't some of us here that have purchased the TAB Electronics robots. It's just that it's unfair to take up Parallax resources discussing or supporting a competitive product. Parallax offers their own series of excellent robots, which can be seen here:
http://www.parallax.com/html_pages/robotics/shop/robo_comparison.asp
As you can see from that web presentation, there is indeed a Parallax Sumo-Bot which Parallax DOES produce. Thus the possible source of confusion.
Just for the record, I am NOT a Parallax employee.
Regards,
Bruce Bates
Thanks for that response. I really apprecaite the clarification and respect what you say about keeping the information where it should be. I was referring to the programming aspect of the robot--which is done using PBASIC. I suppose the question I should have asked was: "Where shall I begin learning to PBASIC language (with the TAB SumoBot in mind)?".
I downloaded the PDF of "What is a Microcontroller" from the Parallax website and will do my best to go through that (I see that a user from the link you gave me taught a class using the TAB SumoBot and this book with a bit of a modified interpretation of the material). We'll see how it goes.
Thanks.
Don't forget to put electrical tape over the heads of the screws holding the battery clips in place. The screw heads will often have sharp edges that work through the insulation on the batteries, and because of the way the board is designed it will cause a short, melting down the plastic battery clip. I saw it happen twice in the short time that the class worked with them.
Big differences from the Parallax BOE-BOT:
1. The TAB-bot uses a 'co-processor' PIC to control the motors. Thus you must start your program with the 'template' file, supplied on the CD, which has the PIC interface code (in PBasic).
2. The TAB-bot uses electric motors to drive the wheels/treads. This is more difficult than the BOE-BOT 'Continuous Servo' approach -- thus the need for the co-processor.
3. The TAB-bot has an on-board, hard-wired "OEM Stamp" -- while the BOE-Bot has a 24-pin socketed BS2 module. This means you can 'upgrade' the BOE-Bot with a BS2sx or other BS2 compatible module.
4. The TAB-bot actually runs at a lower voltage level than the BOE-Bot. This is kind of hidden in the documentation.
5. Some of the TAB-bot BS2 I/O pins are hard-wired to the co-processor, and are thus not available for labs. This is not a problem, really, it just means when the lab calls out a certain I/O pin, you may need to choose a different one.
6. Note the schematics of the TAB-bot are available on the Yahoo group site.
7. The co-processor is pre-programmed with a few built-in robotic 'behaviors' -- like a light seeker, a light-avoider, and a wall-follower. The BS2 can activate these, or you can use the supplied IR-Remote.
There's lots of documentation on the CD, though again it's not obvious. Print out the PDF files for a full manual.
1. Don't install the PBasic IDE off the CD - it's old. Download and install the latest PBasic IDE from here www.parallax.com/dl/sw/bs/win/Setup-Stamp-Editor-Lrg-v2.2.5.exe
2. Leave the red/black motor control cables unplugged when you running thru the experiments in What's a Microntroller. Your batteries will last longer and it's a lot simpler to wire the circuit when the robot isn't rolling across your desk
I feel for you. Not know where to start can be the biggest hurdle.
I also stated with that book..
Its a great starting source [noparse]:)[/noparse]