I/O on the vonHippel Module » BUG Community

Feb 1, 2008 11:56pm

finsprings 268 posts

I was looking around the various bug sites, but I couldn’t see any specifics on what I/O ports were going to be brought out and made available by the vonHippel. Is that information available at this time?

Feb 3, 2008 4:08pm

bmartinek 22 posts

As far as I understand from some folks in the SF office, its supposed to have a breadboard section, so you could do whatever you want really. I am hoping to hook up some potentiometers.

Hope that helps.

Feb 3, 2008 6:00pm

finsprings 268 posts

bmartinek

its supposed to have a breadboard section, so you could do whatever you want really.

Thanks. But, in order for the bug to interact with whatever you put on the breadboard, the module will have to expose some I/O lines from the CPU: GPIOs, A/Ds, I2C, 1-Wire, serial, SSP, whatever. Often lines are multifunction and you tweak some control registers to tell it what you actually want the line to be used for. So I'm curious what lines will be available, and how bug apps will interact with those lines.

Cheers,
Dave

Feb 4, 2008 12:10am

bmartinek 22 posts

I think this is the point where some of the BugLabs folk can hop in with pointers?

:D

Feb 5, 2008 5:58pm

cdraptor 25 posts

I notice there is USB host interface on the BUGbase. I have an electronic wizard that may be able to convert an existing USB Bus Interface board he developed for controlling the Bioloid Dynamixels - which includes the AX-12+ Servos and Sensors.

So if through the Von Hipple can provide USB host connection, then soon after I can my vonHipple Module into his hands we may have a module for controlling the Bioloid.

If anyone is interested in Robotics - you may want to check out Trossen Robotics - http://www.trossenrobotics.com/bioloid-system.aspx

Great for learning and a major step up from Vex or Legos - You have some serious servo technology and you can see from the link various robotic configurations up to a humanoid.

Another place to check out is http://www.crustcrawler.com/ - They are utilizing the AX-12+ servos in some robotic arm configurations with plans to use those in there next generation of Hexapod walkers.

The BUGbase could provide a great platform to develop a controller on

Feb 6, 2008 9:39am

kschultz 107 posts

cdraptor - if you look the second connection from the left is a mini-usb port right on the BUG base. You won't even need the Von Hipple to connect a usb device. The only limitation is that it does not provide much power, so your usb device will have to power itself (as it sounds like it already does).

Hope that helps,

Feb 6, 2008 5:49pm

cdraptor 25 posts

The USB Device I have now should work as is with the BUGBase, but I am looking at how to minimize wires and extra boards for mounting. Prior to doing anything with the VonHipple I plan on experimenting with the current board.

As for Power even the VonHipple module that would be created will require an external power connector to run the servos. This is the current board - if you check out www.huvrobotics.com - it is the USB Bus Interface. Currently I have it hooked up to a PC with the FTDI drivers installed the device shows up as another COM port. Jon Hylands designed this with the power connector that matches up to the existing Bioloid Power Cord, I would like to see PC Board Connectors where you just tighten you +/- wires - opens it up for more variety on the power connection.

Now - Here is another question maybe someone can answer, I already have setup the SSC-32 board from Lynxmotion. Here is the board ---> http://www.lynxmotion.com/Product.aspx?productID=395&CategoryID=52

There are 4 UART Serial serial links - I am wondering if there are any existing cables from that directly to DB9 connector - which you can see would plug nicely into the SSC-32. It's not a huge deal I have made my own connectors, set the SSC-32 jumper to allow me to just connect on the TX/RX headers.

I did that to use the Gumstix with the SSC-32 --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU6oWsOG8Y8. I had the WiFi board on the gumstix and was sending the serial commands to control the Servos via TCP/IP from the Laptop to the Gumstix which was sending out the serial data to the SSC-32 board. (A big reason I hope the onboard WiFi gets worked out for final release of the BUGBase).

Anyway using USB connection on the BUGBase and Serial UART to the SSC-32 the BUGBase can be a plug/play connector for my robots. Still it would be nice to integrate the board like Jon's and standard Servo connector as a module (both of which will need external power for servos).

Mar 4, 2008 3:46pm

bmartinek 22 posts

Any word on the Von Hippel module yet?

I am hoping to connection some potentiometers and this info is really a crucial bit of information. I guess this can be done via USB but this is one more lever of hardware abstraction ( A/D USB card) to deal with.

Thoughts?

Thanks
Ben

Mar 26, 2008 6:28pm

mcaric 64 posts

Hi bmartinek,

We’ve got the specs for the vonHippel module up on the wiki if you’re interested in giving them a look, they can be found here:

http://bugcommunity.com/wiki/index.php/VonHippe…

Thanks!
Melinda

Mar 26, 2008 7:10pm

bmartinek 22 posts

Woo-Hoo!

Lots of good new there, can’t wait!

Mar 26, 2008 9:43pm

kschultz 107 posts

Wow that looks like a lot of goodies this is going to be my favorite module by far.

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Feb 1, 2008 11:56pm finsprings 268 posts	I was looking around the various bug sites, but I couldn’t see any specifics on what I/O ports were going to be brought out and made available by the vonHippel. Is that information available at this time?
Feb 3, 2008 4:08pm bmartinek 22 posts	As far as I understand from some folks in the SF office, its supposed to have a breadboard section, so you could do whatever you want really. I am hoping to hook up some potentiometers. Hope that helps.
Feb 3, 2008 6:00pm finsprings 268 posts	bmartinek its supposed to have a breadboard section, so you could do whatever you want really. Thanks. But, in order for the bug to interact with whatever you put on the breadboard, the module will have to expose some I/O lines from the CPU: GPIOs, A/Ds, I2C, 1-Wire, serial, SSP, whatever. Often lines are multifunction and you tweak some control registers to tell it what you actually want the line to be used for. So I'm curious what lines will be available, and how bug apps will interact with those lines. Cheers, Dave
Feb 4, 2008 12:10am bmartinek 22 posts	I think this is the point where some of the BugLabs folk can hop in with pointers? :D
Feb 5, 2008 5:58pm cdraptor 25 posts	I notice there is USB host interface on the BUGbase. I have an electronic wizard that may be able to convert an existing USB Bus Interface board he developed for controlling the Bioloid Dynamixels - which includes the AX-12+ Servos and Sensors. So if through the Von Hipple can provide USB host connection, then soon after I can my vonHipple Module into his hands we may have a module for controlling the Bioloid. If anyone is interested in Robotics - you may want to check out Trossen Robotics - http://www.trossenrobotics.com/bioloid-system.aspx Great for learning and a major step up from Vex or Legos - You have some serious servo technology and you can see from the link various robotic configurations up to a humanoid. Another place to check out is http://www.crustcrawler.com/ - They are utilizing the AX-12+ servos in some robotic arm configurations with plans to use those in there next generation of Hexapod walkers. The BUGbase could provide a great platform to develop a controller on
Feb 6, 2008 9:39am kschultz 107 posts	cdraptor - if you look the second connection from the left is a mini-usb port right on the BUG base. You won't even need the Von Hipple to connect a usb device. The only limitation is that it does not provide much power, so your usb device will have to power itself (as it sounds like it already does). Hope that helps,
Feb 6, 2008 5:49pm cdraptor 25 posts	The USB Device I have now should work as is with the BUGBase, but I am looking at how to minimize wires and extra boards for mounting. Prior to doing anything with the VonHipple I plan on experimenting with the current board. As for Power even the VonHipple module that would be created will require an external power connector to run the servos. This is the current board - if you check out www.huvrobotics.com - it is the USB Bus Interface. Currently I have it hooked up to a PC with the FTDI drivers installed the device shows up as another COM port. Jon Hylands designed this with the power connector that matches up to the existing Bioloid Power Cord, I would like to see PC Board Connectors where you just tighten you +/- wires - opens it up for more variety on the power connection. Now - Here is another question maybe someone can answer, I already have setup the SSC-32 board from Lynxmotion. Here is the board ---> http://www.lynxmotion.com/Product.aspx?productID=395&CategoryID=52 There are 4 UART Serial serial links - I am wondering if there are any existing cables from that directly to DB9 connector - which you can see would plug nicely into the SSC-32. It's not a huge deal I have made my own connectors, set the SSC-32 jumper to allow me to just connect on the TX/RX headers. I did that to use the Gumstix with the SSC-32 --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU6oWsOG8Y8. I had the WiFi board on the gumstix and was sending the serial commands to control the Servos via TCP/IP from the Laptop to the Gumstix which was sending out the serial data to the SSC-32 board. (A big reason I hope the onboard WiFi gets worked out for final release of the BUGBase). Anyway using USB connection on the BUGBase and Serial UART to the SSC-32 the BUGBase can be a plug/play connector for my robots. Still it would be nice to integrate the board like Jon's and standard Servo connector as a module (both of which will need external power for servos).
Mar 4, 2008 3:46pm bmartinek 22 posts	Any word on the Von Hippel module yet? I am hoping to connection some potentiometers and this info is really a crucial bit of information. I guess this can be done via USB but this is one more lever of hardware abstraction ( A/D USB card) to deal with. Thoughts? Thanks Ben
Mar 26, 2008 6:28pm mcaric 64 posts	Hi bmartinek, We’ve got the specs for the vonHippel module up on the wiki if you’re interested in giving them a look, they can be found here: http://bugcommunity.com/wiki/index.php/VonHippe… Thanks! Melinda
Mar 26, 2008 7:10pm bmartinek 22 posts	Woo-Hoo! Lots of good new there, can’t wait!
Mar 26, 2008 9:43pm kschultz 107 posts	Wow that looks like a lot of goodies this is going to be my favorite module by far.