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Roborealm Boe Bot is here at last - Page 2 — Parallax Forums

Roborealm Boe Bot is here at last

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  • WarrlokWarrlok Posts: 77
    edited 2007-04-30 20:13
    I,d have to move my mounts for my tracks if i switched the servos around ,,,probly gonna move to a different base altogether or stand it up so i can use the back too and mount some arms on its sides who knows ,,,is that ur bot Tom in ur avatar??

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    Problems are the "roads" of life,
    solutions are only "onramps" to the next problem



    ············································· "Brad Smith"
    ·
  • T0mT0m Posts: 124
    edited 2007-04-30 22:56
    Hi Brad,

    Yes that is one of my Boe Bots. You can see more of it here.

    http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=640103·and here ·http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=641485

    Tom


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    Robot vision is the the future, and Vision will take us there.


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbf0zaxWjvI

    Post Edited (T0m) : 5/1/2007 1:09:31 AM GMT
  • Tom CTom C Posts: 461
    edited 2007-05-22 19:17
    Hi T0m,

    Are you ever going to publish the RoboRealm\Basic Stamp·code for the operation of the pan & tilt on the BoeBot? There is a guy on the Lynxmotion Forum that would like to know how to integrate pan & tilt on his robot when using RoboRealm.

    Regards,

    TCIII

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    If you are going to send someone to save the world, you·better make sure that they like it the way it is!
  • T0mT0m Posts: 124
    edited 2007-05-30 00:33
    Hi TCIII,
    Did you see the first page of this post? It has the code for bs2 and the roborealm vb script.
    Tom

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Robot vision is the the future, and Vision will take us there.


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbf0zaxWjvI
  • T0mT0m Posts: 124
    edited 2007-05-30 20:40
    Roborealm has added a Boe Bot plugin!! Check it out here:

    http://www.roborealm.com

    Tom

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Robot vision is the the future, and Vision will take us there.


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbf0zaxWjvI
  • SN96SN96 Posts: 318
    edited 2007-09-09 00:01
    I have a quick question.

    I would like to do something similar but instead have roborealm send the values to the basic stamp and have the basic stamp send the values to the SSC controller. This way, the stamp can decide if the ssc should go ahead and send the commands or do something different.

    Are you having RoboRealm send the data to the stamp and then the stamp send the commands to the SSC? Or is RoboRealm sending commands directly to the SSC?

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    Mike



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  • StampNut2StampNut2 Posts: 224
    edited 2007-09-09 04:42
    TOm, Just followed your pan/tilt section, very nice setup, great pan/tilt. Tell me, Is roborealm easy to implement with the BS2 range of chips with Pbasic?

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    Never give up when things go wrong.

    Post Edited (StampNut2) : 9/9/2007 4:52:48 AM GMT
  • UnsoundcodeUnsoundcode Posts: 1,532
    edited 2007-09-10 15:39
    Roborealm is relatively easy to interface to a BS2. Tom's original post has the three elements required, the VB script, RR serial string and the BS2 code. Perhaps the most difficult for some would be the VB script. Tom's·script as is will work for two servos and can be easily adpated to suit your application. Once the instructions have reached the Stamp they can easily be redirected to a servo controller.

    Jeff T.
  • StampNut2StampNut2 Posts: 224
    edited 2007-09-10 18:16
    Unsoundcode: I am not to good on the programming area, Is there any more info on this set up code wise. Thanks.

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Never give up when things go wrong.
  • UnsoundcodeUnsoundcode Posts: 1,532
    edited 2007-09-10 19:04
    StampNut2, all the code to get you started is in the original post, I believe there was one slight modification to the script to eliminate some judder at the servos. Setting up RR is where you will need to play around with settings and get familiar with the interface. The Roborealm web site has instructions on how to filter colors and read various screen coordinates. The RR interface has a large menu at the left hand side where these paramaters are configured, a minimum would be to add RBGfilter (under Colors) GaussianBlur (under Filters) VBScript (under Extensions) and Serial (under Control). I would begin by attaching a camera and configuring the RBGfilter and Gaussian blur to recognize one small area of color that the COG (center of gravity) will follow. Spend a little time with these settings and if you have a specific problem you need help with then we will go from there.

    Jeff T.
  • Bob and HerbertBob and Herbert Posts: 25
    edited 2007-09-10 19:11
    Hi... I successfully this weekend ran my boe with msrs through the eb500. It worked really well. My next step is to integrate the roborealm vision aspect of the system, that is why I was excited to see your post and video. My question may be a dumb one by hear goes.... Which camera did you use and how does the video information get sent to the base PC containing the roborealm software?
  • Steve JoblinSteve Joblin Posts: 784
    edited 2007-09-11 20:13
    Bob and Herbert:· The post contains details on camera and communications...

    The camera is one of those cheap spy cams from ebay priced anywhere from $25.00 to $50.00.· Here is a sample link...

    http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Wireless-Pinhole-Spy-Camera-Hidden-Spycam-Nanny-Cam_W0QQitemZ110119296258QQihZ001QQcategoryZ48632QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

    Communications are done by a eb500, which can be purchased here...http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=30068
  • Bob and HerbertBob and Herbert Posts: 25
    edited 2007-09-11 20:47
    Steve,,,

    Thanks for the link....· But does this mean you have the camera attached to the same eb500 that is communicating with the PC?· In my situation, the eb500 will be radio linked to the pc where roborealm and msrs is located, controlling the boe.· Can the eb500 handle both video link as well as roborealm?· If so, how do you configure it?

    Bob
  • Steve JoblinSteve Joblin Posts: 784
    edited 2007-09-12 01:54
    Bob: Not quite... the wireless camera communicates with the Wireless Receiver unit that comes with the camera. The Wireless Receiver Unit is connected to your PC via a video-in port on your PC (in my case I purchased a TV/Video PCMCIA card for my laptop).

    Think of it this way... one wireless system for connecting the camera to your PC and another wireless system (the eb500) for connecting your BOEbot to your PC. It just so happens that the wireless camera is on your Boebot, but they are quite separate.
  • Bob and HerbertBob and Herbert Posts: 25
    edited 2007-09-12 20:14
    Steve

    Thanks for the reply.· I ordered a wireless camera; waiting for it to arrive.· Then can move to the next steps.·



    Bob
  • SN96SN96 Posts: 318
    edited 2007-09-16 00:47
    I have another question:

    Was RoboRealm communicating via RS232 serial port or was it a USB port? The reason I ask is that SparkFun has a nice Bluetooth serial device that plugs right in the USB port for wireless serial communications.


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    Mike



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  • UnsoundcodeUnsoundcode Posts: 1,532
    edited 2007-09-16 16:22
    Mike, the Roborealm software should detect your USB to Serial com port drivers just as it would with any other port. I have·used the·FTDI USB to 232 cable with the VCP drivers installed and they show up fine.

    Jeff T.
  • SN96SN96 Posts: 318
    edited 2007-09-16 17:47
    Jeff,

    Thanks for the info! Thats good news! hop.gif

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    Mike



    ·
  • Bob and HerbertBob and Herbert Posts: 25
    edited 2007-09-17 16:34
    Steve,

    I ordered my wireless camera through shop4tech it arrived in two days.· First thing was attach it to my regular tv to make sure it worked... it did without problem.· But that's where the problems actually started, trying to attach it to my computer.· I have two composite video inputs; one through a wintv card (TV tuner) and one through a pinnacle fusion device.· I found I could see the output from the camera through the wintv card.· I could see it in the tuner tv window and also if I switched my windows messenger to that device, I could see the picture there also.·· The problem came from telling Roborealm to look at the device.· It was listed but apparently RR didn't know a format to use.· I';ve been emailing back and forth with the Roborealm folks but they apparently don't have an answer....· Any suggestions?·· Was your wireless camera found easily by Roborealm?
  • UnsoundcodeUnsoundcode Posts: 1,532
    edited 2007-09-17 22:55
    Hi Bob, not sure whether I can help here but maybe tell you how RR detects my camera.

    I am using a DVD maker similar to the one at this link http://www.shopzilla.com/12--KWorld_Xpert_DVD_Maker_VS_USB2800_Video_Convertor_-_cat_id--423__keyword--tevion%20dvd%20maker__prod_id--515570075

    It is a USB device that accepts S-Video or Composite. My camera is a small wireless "nanny cam" I bought off E-Bay with composite video out.

    The USB device came with drivers, after installation the software showed up in the Cameras and Scanners folder of Windows Control Panel.

    When I pull up Roborealm the camera is not detected unless the Camera button is depressed, under the options tab the drop down lists my USB drivers plus Windows WDM drivers. The USB drivers are the default, if I select the WDM drivers (like I did once) it screws RR up completely. Under Video Format I didn't have to alter anything, it is set to YUY2 compression at 160x120. There is only one other choice which is l420. Under Video Capture it says Signal detected 1 the Video Standard is NTSC_M. Under Video Crossbar the Input is Composite In and the Output is Video Decoder Out.

    I would say its the capture drivers and not your camera, if you cant get RR to recognize either of your video device drivers you could try updating the drivers. At worse you can buy a device like that in the link above.

    Jeff T.
  • Steve JoblinSteve Joblin Posts: 784
    edited 2007-09-17 23:30
    Hang in ther Bob... I too had a few little glitches before it worked. I originally was using a Logitech QuickCam through my USB port. When I switched to using the wireless nannycam and a PCMCIA TV Tuner card, it didn't work... I rebooted a few times and then "bingo", it worked perfectly. Unfortunately, I don't know what it was that I did to get it to work, but try a few reboots launching the nannycam first, then RR... Then RR first, then the Nannycam. Hopefully it will work for you. I wish I coould help more.

    Steve
  • Bob and HerbertBob and Herbert Posts: 25
    edited 2007-09-19 21:48
    Well thanks for the suggestions and I will try them...· I have not heard from the RR folks yet either.·
    Apparently the only format that comes up is one that RR doesn't recognize; thus their frustration as well.· I thought that the tuner card I have (Hauppauge Win TV DVR 150) would be a standard but I guess not.· I will try downloading updated drivers etc.· in the mean time.

    I also have to construct the pan tilt mechanism anyway.· What materials did you use?· from the pics, it looks like one of those composite plastics.·
  • Steve JoblinSteve Joblin Posts: 784
    edited 2007-10-24 23:39
    I've finally decided to have a go at recreating the great work of T0m!

    I've downloaded RoboRealm and got it working. I downloaded the .robo file and copy/pasted in the VB code.

    I don't have a Bluetooth device, so I am just using the serial cable that is used to download programs from the Stamp IDE to my BOEbot. As I am not using Bluetooth, I did need to make a few changes. Here are the changes I made:

    On the BOEbot side of things, I changed the SERIN command to be SERIN 16,16780,[noparse][[/noparse]WAIT ("!"),DEC4 x,DEC4 y]. I understand that by using "16" as the Rpin value, , the BASIC Stamp uses the dedicated serial-input pin (SIN, physical pin 2), which is normally used by the Stamp Editor during the download process. I chose 16780 as the baudrate so that it will be 2400 8-bit, No Parity, INVERTED

    Question 1: Is my SERIN command correct?

    On the RoboRealm side of things, I changed the SSC Control settings... I changed the COM port to be the same COM port that the Parallax IDE uses when I download a program. I also changed the Baud rate to 2400.

    Question 2: Are there any other settings I need to chage in RoboRealm?

    Question 3: The feed back that I see in the SSC Control panel and the other panels all seem to indicate that RoboRealm is processing the visual information correctly and making changes to the left and right motor settings. I am pretty sure that the problem is in getting the data out from Roborealm, through my serial cable and into the Stamp on my BOEbot. Any ideas of what else I can test to find out why my BOEbot is not responding to the instructions RoboRealm is sending?

    Thanks much!

    Steve
  • Bob and HerbertBob and Herbert Posts: 25
    edited 2007-10-25 00:53
    OK... here is an update.· I also played around with my wireless camera and the two ways I had of importing the video signal into my computer.· I actually got it to work through the Fusion AV/DV (connected through usb). That was only after reinstalling the driver for the device twice.· Then all of a sudden....the image was there on the screen· hop.gif

    I also then tested it with RR and it found the camera and I was also able to see the image. In fact it was very entertaining playing with some of the imaging tools in RR· (edge detection, filters etc.)

    Last weekend I picked up two more servos and built a "camera platform" on top of the boe-bot. Intalled the two servos for pan and tilt (used a servo bracket) and did some basic programming to test the range of the servos.

    I realized I will have to add·ramping to the program because the servos move quicker than the picture.· We will see.· Next step is to start the integration with msrs and eb500.· Should be really interesting.

    BTW- earlier in this thread my communications is through blue tooth dongle plugged into a usb port.· It worked really well.·

    ·
  • Steve JoblinSteve Joblin Posts: 784
    edited 2007-10-25 00:59
    Glad to see that you were able to get it to work... I wish I could figure out why my BOEbot is not reacting [noparse]:([/noparse]
  • UnsoundcodeUnsoundcode Posts: 1,532
    edited 2007-10-25 05:45
    Hi Steve, your Stamp serial code looks right, in the original project the RR Serial control was used not the RR SSC control.

    Jeff T.
  • Bob and HerbertBob and Herbert Posts: 25
    edited 2007-10-25 18:40
    Hi guys...

    I found one interesting thing while looking at the image.·· It appears to have little "red" in the picture and much of the "black" objects appear as gray!!!!· The camera itself has infrared leds presumably as illumination aids, but even when I try covering them up, it doesn't improve the image that much.·· It is a concern if I try RRs blob tracking or color tracking...·· If I can't see the color, I don't expect the computer would "see" it.

    Anybody every encounter this?

    Bob
  • Steve JoblinSteve Joblin Posts: 784
    edited 2007-10-26 00:40
    T0m: thanks so much for the quick response... I bet you that is the problem... I will try it tomorrow.

    I noticed that the VB code in the beginning post of this thread does not have the commands for the tilt... I also can't seem to find where you posted the .robo file... can you confirm that the vb code in the first post is the latest version, and also attach the .robo file.

    Thanks much!

    Steve
  • BergamotoffBergamotoff Posts: 20
    edited 2008-01-23 07:21
    I have tryed spy-cam like one in pictures, but when bot moves picture is too distorted [noparse]:([/noparse] What might be the reason? Interference from motors?
  • LidemanLideman Posts: 6
    edited 2009-08-12 17:08
    I need the code for BS1, I tryed to put this code for BS1 but did not work
    someone knows how to change and put this code to BS1?
    Thanks.!!!
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