Society of Robots - Robot Forum
Electronics => Electronics => Topic started by: Ro-Bot-X on October 24, 2009, 07:17:03 AM
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Intoroducing R-Dev-Ino
R-Dev-Ino is a Robotic Development Arduino compatible board, easily stackable. If you want to build a more complex robot, you need to modularize it. Instead of designing specific boards for each module, I have designed a multipurpose configurable board with a small prototyping area and an I2C connector made so the boards can be stackable side by side, one on top of the other like this:
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Features
- 3 pin headers for all I/O pins
- power to the 3 pin headers is user selectable by manually connecting a pin to the desired power voltage (Vcc or Vin)
- small prototyping area for board customisation
- headers for SPI programmer and external FTDI Basic programmer
- header for UART
- mirrored dual I2C connector to allow stacking right on top or side by side
- regulated and unregulated power connectors, with small regulator on board
- power LED
- board size 3" x 1.65"
- user can use either a crystal or a ceramic resonator (8 or 16 MHz)
Implementation
The board was designed using Eagle CAD software. It is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 2.5 License. You will be able to order boards from seeed_studio (http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/propaganda-service-propaganda-pcbs-c-64_33.html) very soon!
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looks pretty cool
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It has been shipped yesterday. It takes a few days to get here, but probably the next weekend I'll have the first modules built and connected. I will probably have 4-5 modules on my robot. Can't wait to have it done!
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And we cant wait to see it!
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I received the boards yesterday from SeeedStudio and managed to populate 2 of the modules. Here are the pictures of the Bare PCB, MotorController and ServoController slave boards:
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Its... Its... Beautiful!
They look great mate! You done any testing yet?
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Two more boards populated, the Speech board and the Mapper board (right now this board will act as the main brain, using a mega328). Then I started connecting stuff and upload the code with a BasicFTDI device from SparkFun. All of the micros have Arduino bootloader (that I have uploaded using my AVR ISP programmer) so the boards can use both programmers.
There is one mistake on the boards design, easily correctable: I forgot to switch the Tx and Rx pins at the FTDI connector... Oh well, cut 2 traces on the top layer and solder 2 parallel wires on the bottom layer and it's done. Everything works as it should.
One more thing I would improve on the next revision is enlarge the holes for the custom connector pads I made for the prototyping area, they are a bit too tight and I couldn't fit the screw connectors for the motors until I enlarged the holes. Enlarging the holes removed the inside plating but I didn't actually need the top layer connection anyway. Also, a larger hole will let the user plug 2 wires in the same hole, right now it's too hard to do unless the connecting leads for the parts are thin enough.
Anyway, I really like the easiness of customizing the boards and they work together as a whole easier than I thought. At the moment, each module has simple code uploaded, but now this code can be further enhanced to more complex functions without the worry of screwing things for other modules. The servos stay rock solid (will not drop the object accidentally) while the robot is driving or scanning or speaking, singing or whatever. Hardware multitasking in place.
I will detail more about these boards both hardware and software after the FireFighting contest on Nov. 22nd.
Here are the new boards:
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I have a few boards that I am offering as freebees for anyone interested. But you need to pay for the shipment (if it's more than a few bucks).
Things to remember:
-Tx and Rx pins have to be reversed at the FTDI connector, cut the top traces near the FTDI connector and solder 2 short wires on the bottom, from the FTDI connector to the TTL serial connector
-AREF pin is not connected to Vcc, you have a pin nearby to connect it according to your needs, also a filtering capacitor connection is provided
-all ground pins are connected
-at the 3 pin headers, the power pins are grouped (see the silk screen), and you need to connect them at the proper voltage according to your needs (Vcc or Vin)
-in the prototyping area you may want to cut the traces to separate the pairs of holes, remember to cut from both sides
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Ahhh a resonator.... next prototype use a crystal?
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The board is designed to use a crystal or a resonator, your choice. I happened to have a few resonators in my tool box and used them on 2 of my modules.
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No more boards... Chelmi took 2 and Joker and Smash took the other 2. I'll order another batch soon but this time they will not be free, just a few bucks a piece plus shipment.
Thanks for your interest!
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No more boards... Chelmi took 2 and Joker and Smash took the other 2. I'll order another batch soon but this time they will not be free, just a few bucks a piece plus shipment.
Thanks for your interest!
Thanks a lot Ro-Bot-X, that's very generous of you. I'll post updates with my progress.
Chelmi.
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Sorry for not replying, I was busy lately...
I received the boards last week and they look wonderful! Could you post a schematic and the part list? (Maybe you already did but I can't find it).
Many thanks,
Michel.
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Hi Michel, the first post of this thread has the schematic and board layout attached. I did not make a part list, it depends on what you want to do. The board uses the basic parts used in any microcontroller board, a few 0.1uF capacitors, one 10k pull-up resistor for the reset pin, choice of a resonator or a crystal and 22pF capacitors, one LED and a 330ohm resistor for power, socket for the micro and lots of pin headers. I source my parts from a local store, I don't order them from Digikey, as the shipping is way too expensive.
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Still sitting here pulling my hair out waiting for the boards for me and smash to come in the mail. hopefully they will come soon. ;D
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they just came in the post. it is amazing, beautiful. Thans heaps RobotX.
;D
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Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know of a simple way to add the LED to the digital pin 13 like in any Arduino board, but use this method only if you decide not to use that pin for other purposes.
So, if you look at the PCB, there are 2 holes for GND and Power right at the top of the board, near the ISP connector and pin Digital13. Solder the LED in those holes (cathode to the ground line). On the back of the board, cut the trace for power below the next hole under the LED, that is coresponding for the 3 pin connector for the pin Digital13. Solder a 330 ohm resistor from the Digital13 hole to this power hole you just separated from the power line and it is connected just to the LED anode. Done. Now you can use Digital13 to turn ON/OFF the LED. I'll try to take a picture of my board so you can see better how it's done.
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Hi,
I finally took the time to assemble the first board yesterday.
A question: where do you get your female headers with long pins ? They seems to be a pain to find...
Also, a quick comment for your next revision:the pull-up resistor near the ISP header is too close.
I had to bend it to plug my programmer (USBtinyISP from Adafruit). It's a detail but since there is room...
Chelmi.
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Hi Chelmi,
Sorry about the resistor, I'll keep in mind the mod. I am using a AVRISP programmer that came with the 10 pin connector so I had to adapt it to a 6 pin connector, so mine fit's the limited space.
I get the female headers with long pins from Creatron Inc. (http://creatroninc.com/product.php?ProductID=575) (Toronto) as well as all my small parts. It's more expensive than ordering online, but I hate to wait for parts to come in the mail and sometimes to go the PO and get the package since they can't put in my tiny mail box. You can find those headers at any Arduino vendor, for example, at SparkFun (https://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=9279).
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there is this company in Malaysia which uses the same stacking concept for their boards. have a look at this link:
http://www.cytron.com.my/listProductGroup.php?pid=EzYfODwhEh8wFh4aIDkTG6vAdU/UT53ABmO2hj3guWo= (http://www.cytron.com.my/listProductGroup.php?pid=EzYfODwhEh8wFh4aIDkTG6vAdU/UT53ABmO2hj3guWo=)
its the Interface Free Controller, the first one on that page. they have lots of 'cards' to do just about everything.
i just thought this might give you some ideas / inspiration. keep up the good work. :)
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Thanks for the link! I see they have a complete line of boards available.
OSCAR concept is geared towards that basic principle. One specific board for each type of module, all compatible and inter-connectible. The gain is a multi-microcontroller modular system that uses the I2C interface for inter-communication and frees the UART for other uses.
I wanted to offer a way to eliminate the need of fabricating different boards, debug each one of them and so on. Most of those boards specifics can be done on the prototyping area of my board. Ordering multiple copies of the same board lowers the price per board. Removing the USB interface from the board also lowers the price. The R-Dev-Ino board is designed to be very flexible and configurable, but smaller than a regular devboard and robot ready.