Microsoft Robotic Studio BLuetooth BoeBot

T0m

I downloaded the http://www.parallax.com/dl/docs/prod/robo/MSRS-Bluetooth-Boe-Bot-v1.2.pdf·and on page 11 and 12 is an exercise that tests whiskers and IR sensors on the BoeBot. My problem is that my right ir sensor will only work with my eb500 card removed from BOE. Has anyone else had this problem? Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Tom
P.S. All of the excercises up to this point have worked great. MSRS and bluetooth worked great ( I thought I would have some stress setting it up, but it was easy with the well written instructions).

fmx95

Make sure the bluetooth module and the whisker setup arent trying to share pins.

,Travis

Post Edited (fmx95) : 2/23/2007 11:52:49 AM GMT

T0m

I guess pin sharing would be a problem. I am a newbie trying to learn how to use my boe bot with MSRS and I have to assume that the instructions provided are correct. What I'm trying to find out is if anyone else has had this problem and what they may have done to solve it. Understanding how my eb500 uses pins is beyond the scope of my understanding at this point in the sequence of tutorials.
Tom

Andy Lindsay (Parallax)

Tom,

It sounds like the eb500 is sending a signal to one of those I/O pins.· It shouldn't be doing that because its hardware flow control feature should be disabled by default.· For a little background, see page 114 in the eb500 manual.· The comment about "high Z inputs" applies here.

On page 114, it also says that CTS "transmits flow control".· Page 131 of the eb500 module lists CTS as connected to P3.· So, if the CTS pin is transmitting, it means that instead of just listening to the circuit (having no effect) it holds the P3 connection at either 5 V or 0 V.· If you have a voltmeter, you can test to find out if that's what it's doing.· Here's how:

• Run End.bs2 first.· This ensures that the BASIC Stamp 2 has no effect on these pins.
• Move the Board of Education's 3-position power switch to 0 to turn off power.
• Disconnect the resistors from P2 and P3.·
• Plug a 10 k resistor (brown black orange) into P3.·
• Connect the voltmeter's positive lead to the end of the resistor that's plugged into P3.·
• Connect the voltmeter's (common/ground/negative) lead to Vss.
• Connect the other end of that resistor to Vdd.· (Careful not to let part of it touch anything else!)·
• Move the·3-position power switch to 1.· The voltmeter should read 5 V.
• 3-position switch to 0.
• Unplug that end of the resistor from Vdd, and plug it into Vss.·
• 3-position switch to 1.· The voltage at P3 should then be about 0 V.·

I vaguely remember that there is a typo in the eb500 that·swaps the pin assignment for CTS and which is RTS.··This in mind, I would recommend repeating the test on P2 just to make sure the eb500 is leaving both P3 and P2 alone.· I did it on my Bluetooth Boe-Bot, and the 10 k resistor did in fact pull both I/O pins high (5 V) and low (0 V).· That's to be expected since my eb500 also doesn't interfere with IR circuits connected to P2 and P3.

Back on page 114 of the eb500 module, it also explains how to set the eb500's flow control pins to input, and·make it persist.· On page 11 it talks about resetting the eb500 to factory settings by shorting the status and mode pins (eb500 pins 8 and 9 which is equivalent to using a wire to connect P5 and P6) and then applying power to the device.·

After doing this, if the eb500 still isn't letting go of P2 and/or P3, there are a couple of things we can do.· One thing would be to connect the IR part that the eb500 is interfering with to P11, which is currently unused.· The .bs2 files can then be modified to use P11 instead of, say P3.· In the meantime, I'll check with A7 Engineering (the eb500 manufacturer), and find out if they have changed the default settings for their modules (and the flow control pins).

Regards, Andy

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Andy Lindsay

Education Department
Parallax, Inc.

Post Edited (Andy Lindsay (Parallax)) : 2/23/2007 10:35:48 PM GMT

T0m

Thanks Andy, I'll give it a try and let you know what happens.

Tom

Bryan Hall

Hello Tom,

Can you provide me the serial number on your eb500-SER? I want to take a look at the manufacturing information and make sure that this unit tested out properly prior to shipment.

Sincerely,

Bryan Hall
A7 Engineering

T0m

Hi Bryan,

The serial number is 0003134. Thanks for looking into it.

Tom

Bryan Hall

Hello Tom,

I have reproduced your problem and you are right that pin 6 (CTS) is not properly tristating on the eb500-SER rev.C when flow control is disabled. We have not yet determined what the problem is but we are looking into it. The rev. C hardware has a few changes around the RTS\CTS lines in preparation for the v2.1 firmware release and that is currently the prime suspect for this issue. My guess is that Andy has rev. B hardware and therefore does not see this problem.

I will keep you posted on our progress

In the short term do you have another I/O line available that you can use for the IR device instead of pin 6?

Sincerely,

Bryan Hall
A7 Engineering

Scoobyvroom

Just wanted to say I had the exact same problem.

eb500-Ser C S/N 0003231

Just figured I'd let someone know.

One cool thing I did do was connect my Xbox 360 controller and used it to control the Boe-boe, next thing I want to do is get the wireless reciver for the Xbox360 wireless controller, and use that to control it, would be pretty neat.

Chris

Scoobyvroom

O.k. the only way to get around this is to get rid of one of the LEDs. Both pins from the BS2 2 and 3 can't be used. Something with the bluetooth module messes it up. 5 and 6 are used as well so the only pin left is 11.

T0m

Hi Bryan,

Thanks for looking into this for me. The response from A7 and Parallax on this issue has been fantastic. You guys can consider me a life long customer. Thanks Again

Tom

Andy Lindsay (Parallax)

In the interest of maximizing the number of BASIC Stamp I/O pins available for circuit connections, we have published instructions on how to cut off the eb500 pin that interferes with the Bluetooth Boe-Bot for MSRS IR detection circuit. IMPORTANT: This only applies to eb500-SER C modules. Check the white bar code label on the eb500. If it says "SER C", then download this PDF and follow the instructions:

eb500-SER C Notice (.pdf)

These instructions are also available from the Embedded Blue Transceiver AppMod and Bluetooth Boe-Bot for Microsoft Robotics Studio pages:

EmbeddedBlue Transceiver AppMod
Boe-Bot® Kit for Microsoft® Robotics Studio

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Andy Lindsay

Education Department
Parallax, Inc.

T0m

Hi Andy,
Thanks. I saw that notice and took care of the pin
Tom

Logicalsifter

Hey guys would a Bluetooth USB Dongle (http://www.cellphoneshop.net/blusbdo.html) would work with eb500?

Andy Lindsay (Parallax)

Wow, at $12, the price is certainly right. It doesn't list Windows Vista as a supported operating system, so if that's what your PC is running, this adaptor would be quite the gamble.

Any old USB Bluetooth adaptor "should" work. I haven't tested this particular module or seen any reports on it. The two I have personally tested are the Targus USB Bluetooth 2.0 adaptor with EDR (works on both XP and Vista) and the Dlink DBT-120 (works on XP but not Vista).

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Andy Lindsay

Education Department
Parallax, Inc.

Logicalsifter

Oh ok well i go with the Targus USB Bluetooth 2.0 adaptor! I just got my Boebot last night and been working on night and now most of the day now hahahha i'm on chapter 4 and haveing fun with this new hobbie. And right now i getthing Vista to try it out i might buy it if my programs box likes it. How do you like Vista ?

Post Edited (Logicalsifter) : 4/12/2007 6:35:54 PM GMT

Andy Lindsay (Parallax)

Well, I wouldn't upgrade in the name of trying out the MSRS Boe-Bot.· The MSRS Boe-Bot instructions were developed on an XP box, so I would expect to see fewer discrepancies·with XP, maybe none.··I tried it on·a·Vista box with the Targus USB Bluetooth adaptor, and everything worked fine.·

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Andy Lindsay

Education Department
Parallax, Inc.

Logicalsifter

well i wanted to try it out just to see how it is and if i like it. hey trust me i like my Xp how it is hahah! i wanted to learn more bout MSRS with my boe bot but i wanted to wait after i'm doing with playing around with the boe bot book but from what i have seen it look kool

Andy Lindsay (Parallax)

That's the way to go. Adding new sensors, actuators, etc. involves modifying both the PBASIC code the Boe-Bot's BASIC Stamp is running AND the MSRS code. Going through the available tutorials for both the Boe-Bot and for, say, Visual C# will make a lot more cool applications doable.

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Andy Lindsay

Education Department
Parallax, Inc.

Logicalsifter

Yah windows Vista killer andy loving it and i think i'll keep it on my box! and with my boe bot im on chapter 6 and after i'm done with the book going to get some sensors and other mods for it when i get more confident with the program and i do have visual C#6 MSRS and soildworks2007 so i have a lot of programs to play with and learn i learning how to use soildworks to come up wth some designs. i wanted to ask you how do you use Visual c# with boebot programming?

Andy Lindsay (Parallax)

C# is for making decisions with the PC only. The PC communicates with the Boe-Bot. The Boe-Bot runs PBASIC code that communicates with the PC. The PC runs C# code that communicates with the Boe-Bot. I haven't tested it yet, but it looks like VB is also an option for the PC.

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Andy Lindsay

Education Department
Parallax, Inc.

Logicalsifter

yah i was about to sat that you can porgram that boe bot in c# to huh. well let me know if you come with anything good to go with andy!

Andy Lindsay (Parallax)

When you start following the PDF instructions on the Bluetooth Boe-Bot Robot Kit for MSRS page, you'll see how it works. The C# code can be adjusted to acquire sensor readings from the Boe-Bot, process them, and then control the Boe-Bot based on those decisions. For information on why it's set up this way, see the MSRS articles in the Spring issue of Robot Magazine, and/or the January issue of Scientific American.

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Andy Lindsay

Education Department
Parallax, Inc.

Logicalsifter

Oh ok well i just have the USB boe bot for now, I just got MSRS and i played with it and playd with but i dont know how to use it at all [noparse]:([/noparse]. But i think i need to up grade to bluetooth and some sensor, so MSRS wount be useful to me yet i guess.but some time next week i will order (EmbeddedBlue Transceiver Appmod).