Society of Robots - Robot Forum

Mechanics and Construction => Mechanics and Construction => Topic started by: jj911 on November 08, 2009, 01:58:12 AM

Title: New Robot~microprocessor suggestions? 15+ servos Pico-itx
Post by: jj911 on November 08, 2009, 01:58:12 AM
Hi, i am fairly new to the robotic community, and to robots in general. I've been working with rc cars, planes and helis for a few years now so i know the basics(as far as transmitter, servos, esc go).

i am going to be building a robot with tank treads as base, and a humanoid torso on top. i am thinking of putting a pico-itx board on the base running off a slimmed down version of windows xp, and connecting it to another microprocessor to control the servos. perhaps a ssc-32, or the axon, or even a custom one, the problem is i dont know which platform is better to program in, and how i should approach this.

the need for a another module is that the robot torso would have a minimum of 15 servos itself, being able to move in every direction and to be able to pick items off the floor. then the two tank treads would be run by two motors off a sabertooth speed control. how would i go about controlling these with a ssc-32, axon..etc if even possible?

i already a 3d-laser scanning system setup which i intend to implement into this robot. in the near future, i am going to be adding photoelectric sensors to help determine the general direction of the sun, as i am hoping it could be mostly self charging.

i have lipos from rc cars availble to power this robot, would a 3cell 11.1v 5000mah 40c lipo be too much or too little to power 15+servos, 2 motors, a microprocessor, and on top of all that, a pico-itx board drawing appx 60-70 watts?

please let me know if anymore information as far as what i know is needed, and please contribute any information possible.

thank you.
Title: Re: New Robot~microprocessor suggestions? 15+ servos Pico-itx
Post by: Admin on November 08, 2009, 10:26:45 PM
The SSC-32 isn't really a programmable microcontroller. Its just a servo controller, meaning you'd need your PC hooked up to it at all times. You tell it what you want it to do, then it sends a RC signal to the servos.

The Axon on the other hand is programmable, meaning you program servo motions into it. You can program the Axon to work like the SSC-32, if you wanted. The Axon can also read in sensor data, and output sensor data to your PC, etc.

Quote
then the two tank treads would be run by two motors off a sabertooth speed control. how would i go about controlling these with a ssc-32, axon.
Both the Axon and the SSC-32 can control the Sabertooth. For the SSC-32, use the RC mode. For the Axon, you can use any of the Sabertooth modes.