Propeller BOE-BOT

Mike Green · 2007-03-02 20:35

In other threads, I've mentioned about mounting an SD card breakout board and some other things on a protoboard. Attached is a photo of the setup. The SD card breakout board is partially covered by the xBee proto board. You can see the 20K pullups mounted on the back of the breakout board which is connected to Propeller pins 8-11. The resistors mounted vertically at pins 12-15 are for a video output. The xBee Rx/Tx are connected to pins 6-7. The servo connectors are for the two BOE-BOT wheel servos and a PING bracket servo. The extra header pins are intended for the PING, IR LEDs, and an IR detector. The 2-pin header by the 5V regulator is the video output.

crgwbr · 2007-03-02 22:14

Were do you get the xBee protoboard? How Much?

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NerdMaster
For
Life

Mike Green · 2007-03-02 22:16

Martin Hebel's website: www.selmaware.com.

Mike Green · 2007-03-11 23:41

The proto board is now mounted on a BOE-BOT chassis with the crawler attachment. It's all wired up with the PING sensor, the IR emitters and detector, servos, and an HM55B compass has been added, attached via a PCA9554 I2C I/O Expander on the boot EEPROM I/O pins. Attached to this post is an extended version of FemtoBasic with built-in statements for the servos, PING, IR distance detection, and compass. The attached archive also contains a Basic program to demonstrate servo movement, IR detection, and PING use. I'm working on getting it to behave like "Roaming with the PING". I'll try to post more photos over the next few days.

Mike Green · 2007-03-21 04:20

Here are the photos of the completed BOE-BOT. Again, you can see the xBee with the red and green leds mounted vertically next to the VGA/PS2 connectors and the SD card breakout board next to the power socket. On the right is the PING bracket on its servo with the HM55B compass and the IR detector sticking up on the PING bracket. There are two IR emitters on the corners of the protoboard. As mentioned before, the vertical resistors soldered together on top are for the TV output.

Brian_B · 2007-03-21 04:31

Mike,
It's allways a joy to see your projects : -)

PS , I sure would think you would want GPS (hint,hint)

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Thank's Brian

www.truckwiz.com

·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein

Post Edited (Brian Beckius) : 3/21/2007 4:36:41 AM GMT

Brian_B · 2007-03-23 11:14

Mike , I'm setting my super_bot up to run your software . why does my Xbee board look differnt than yours ? You don't happen to have a wiring diagram ? What program are you using on your computer for the xbee ?

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Thank's Brian

www.truckwiz.com

·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein

Post Edited (Brian Beckius) : 3/23/2007 11:20:53 AM GMT

Mike Green · 2007-03-23 13:57

Brian,
You have the AppBee-SIP which is designed for use with 5V logic devices. It has a built-in 3.3V regulator and a 74LVC244 buffer which can take inputs from 3.3V or 5V logic. The board in the pictures is the AppBee-Proto which has neither the regulator nor the buffer and uses a 3.3V supply and logic. There's also an AppBee-SIP-LV which is essentially the same with a smaller header (only 6 pins). You can use what you have, just be sure to power it from the 5V supply and allow for the slightly greater height and width.

I've mostly been using Hyperterm on the PC end. I bought one of the USB base stations that Selmaware sells. It uses a CP2102 for the USB-serial adapter and Silicon Labs' drivers don't work on an Intel-based Mac so I can't use it with Mac software. I can run Windows and the Windows drivers work fine with it ... so Hyperterm it is for now.

Brian_B · 2007-03-23 14:24

Mike,
I have the base station and the compass , do I need the vga & keyboard plug ins . Also where did you get the IR from , I can't find them on parallax's web site ?

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Thank's Brian

www.truckwiz.com

·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein

Mike Green · 2007-03-23 14:50

For IR, I'm using www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=350-00017 and www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=350-00014.

I did use the Accessory Kit (VGA/keyboard/mouse/servo connectors) and used the VGA/keyboard connections for debugging BOE-BOT Basic. You don't need them.

If you don't use the VGA/keyboard/mouse connectors, you can use those I/O pins for the compass rather than having to use an I/O extender as I did. The existing HM55B code comments in the Object Exchange shows how to connect it.

Post Edited (Mike Green) : 3/23/2007 2:54:52 PM GMT

Brian_B · 2007-03-24 00:11

Mike,
Here's the deal ,I have a bigger robot in the works . Instead of reinventing the wheel .I rather put my time into machining . I'll work on the fabrication part , your software is really close to what I'm going to need. Any sensor you want to add ,I have (except IR ,should be here tuesday).Some time next week all my parts should be in , I'll pm you with the some specs.

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Thank's Brian

www.truckwiz.com

·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein

Brian_B · 2007-03-24 01:07

Mike,
I thought about this ,check my new post in robots

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Thank's Brian

www.truckwiz.com

·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein

Mike Green · 2007-03-29 03:07

I've translated the Quack BOT code into BOE-BOT Basic. It doesn't work all that well (but the BOE-BOT does flail around) since my BOE-BOT has the crawler attachment and the timing and movement is different. I'll be switching back to wheels this weekend and then I'll refine the program. I'm also working on the Roaming With a PING translated for BOE-BOT Basic and will report back once that's working. It's really nice to be able to display debugging information on my MacBook via xBee as the BOE-BOT roams around. I can also stop the program, make minor changes and see what happens ... all wirelessly.

Brian_B · 2007-03-31 04:48

Mike Green said...
I've translated the Quack BOT code into BOE-BOT Basic.

What's a Quack Bot ?

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Thank's Brian

www.truckwiz.com

·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein

http://www.diycalculator.com/subroutines.shtml· My favorite website ( Bet you can't guess why)

Mike Green · 2007-03-31 05:00

Brian,
It's a version of "Roaming with a PING" that continuously checks its environment for a long clear path even while the BOE-BOT is moving. I'm not sure where the name came from. It was posted recently on the forums and I thought it would be fun to play with.

Brian_B · 2007-03-31 05:13

Mike,
Heres a little info, three pings in front and three pings in rear , ~~~~~~~ Hela monster

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Thank's Brian

www.truckwiz.com

·"Imagination is more important than knowledge..." ·· Albert Einstein

http://www.diycalculator.com/subroutines.shtml· My favorite website ( Bet you can't guess why)

Rob7 · 2007-04-03 16:37

Mike,

I must have missed it ?

Where did you purchase your SD card breakout board.

Is there a previously working project thread. I checked the Robotics and Proppeller forums·and could not find it ?

Great job on your robot!

Rob7

Mike Green · 2007-04-03 17:22

I bought the breakout board from SparkFun (www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=204). They also have a similar board for the micro SD card format (www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=544) which is smaller and possibly more useful when there's limited space and you don't plan to remove the card often. The micro SD card is not as physically robust as the standard SD card.

Rob7 · 2007-04-03 21:50

Just what I was looking for !

Thanks, Mike

Rob7

Rob7 · 2007-04-30 14:39

Hi, Mike

I was wondering ? I am at the stage to start my next upgrade on my· Beo-Bot! I am working· on controlling my bot with blue tooth thru my Pda.

I have not had time look thru all the specs for the x-bee or the eb500 at this time and have not assigned requirments for my upgrade. Just thinking outloud at the moment.

My question is, Why did you chose the xbee over the eb500?

Rob 7

Mike Green · 2007-04-30 16:39

Rob7,
I think the main reason is that the xBee takes less power than the eb500, is smaller, and is simpler to configure. It has the disadvantage that it requires a second xBee on the PC side although I have a MacBook which, like most Macs, always comes with Bluetooth. The MaxStream xBee doesn't need any interface stuff with the Propeller since it runs off 3.3V and has 3.3V inputs/outputs. The eb500 is designed for use with the Stamp and is based on 5V logic. None of this is a big deal, it's just a little easier to use the xBee with the Propeller. SparkFun now has a breakout board for the xBee which gives yet another option for mounting it.

Rob7 · 2007-04-30 17:25

Thanks, Mike

I will take a look at the xbee spec's and make a decision soon.

Rob7

Whit · 2007-05-28 02:44

Mike,

How would using the new spin stamp·on a "stock" BOE Bot compare to what you have done here? Just thinking...

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Whit+

Mike Green · 2007-05-28 04:30

Whit,
I was an alpha tester for the Spin Stamp and my original BOE-BOT was done that way. I switched to the Protoboard mostly to have the VGA, keyboard, and mouse connectors (and I added TV output myself as well). That mostly uses up the other 16 pins. I also wanted to have permanent wiring for the extra sensors (PING, HM55B compass, accelerometer, IR distance sensors, etc.) and an SD card. Currently, I'm using BoeBotBasic with the Protoboard BOT. If you want to use a Spin Stamp with BoeBotBasic, you'll have to change the clock constants to the Hydra's (10MHz crystal with 8x PLL).

I used Selmaware's xBee AppMod for wireless communication and extra EEPROM rather than the SD card (on the BOE).

Whit · 2007-05-28 23:07

Thanks Mike!

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Whit+

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney

MovieMaker · 2008-08-17 16:24

Mike, It looks like· your current setup is the one that I wish to impliment. Do you have a complete schematic for your setup.· I don't have the accellerometer. But, I have the chasis, protoboard, sd card,ir sensors, line following sensors, ping and soundpal.

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Mike Green · 2008-08-17 17:14

There's no schematic, but there is a description of which I/O pins are connected to what in the FemtoBasic/BoeBotBasic documentation. I've got 1K resistors in the leads to the servos, the PING))), and the IR detector. The IR LEDs have 100 Ohm current limiting resistors and run off the 3.3V supply. There's no accelerometer, SoundPAL, or line following sensors, but there is an HM55B compass. I used the Accessory Kit, but you'd be better off leaving off the VGA and PS/2 connectors and using the extra 12 I/O pins for the compass, accelerometer, and/or line following sensors.

wperko · 2008-11-23 01:08

Mike Green said...
For IR, I'm using www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=350-00017 and www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=350-00014.

I did use the Accessory Kit (VGA/keyboard/mouse/servo connectors) and used the VGA/keyboard connections for debugging BOE-BOT Basic. You don't need them.

If you don't use the VGA/keyboard/mouse connectors, you can use those I/O pins for the compass rather than having to use an I/O extender as I did. The existing HM55B code comments in the Object Exchange shows how to connect it.

Hi,

I tried to find the 350-00014 in a Parallax.com search but it came up with nothing ... what is the product ID code?

Bruce Bates · 2008-11-23 01:50

wperko -

It can be found as two parts. Here is a link to the I/R transmitter:
http://www.parallax.com/Store/Components/Optoelectronics/tabid/152/CategoryID/30/List/0/SortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/178/Default.aspx

This is a link to the I/R receiver:
http://www.parallax.com/Store/Components/Optoelectronics/tabid/152/CategoryID/30/List/0/SortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/177/Default.aspx

Regards,

Bruce Bates

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When all else fails, try inserting a new battery.

Post Edited (Bruce Bates) : 11/23/2008 2:01:45 AM GMT

Ezsynn · 2009-01-22 09:26

That's not a BOE-BOT! (Coz' BOE stands for Board of Education)
Nor is it a Propeller powered BOE-BOT!
It's a PROBO-BOT. (Propeller-pROtoBOard - roBOT).
Anyways, it's cool, My head is right now smart enough to think up names. (HOBO-BOT, Homework Board BOE-BOT)

Post Edited (Ezsynn) : 1/22/2009 9:31:41 AM GMT

J. A. Streich · 2009-02-01 18:09

Mike,

On the AppBee-Proto board, did you (or is it necessary to) connect pins other than Vss, Vdd, Tx, Rx? I notice you only list in spurce the Tx and Rx as connected to prop, and I know the XBee has built in pullup on the reset.

Propeller BOE-BOT

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