Society of Robots - Robot Forum

General Misc => Misc => Topic started by: airman00 on December 11, 2008, 12:42:22 PM

Title: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 11, 2008, 12:42:22 PM
                   The Roboduino is finally on sale!!!
(http://curiousinventor.com/images/kits/roboduino/roboduino.jpg)
Its $40 for a kit and $55 for an assembled version

More info and sales information here: http://curiousinventor.com/kits/roboduino

 Features / Specs:
    * 100% Compatible with Arduino software.
    * Power buses along side pwm and analog pins easily accept standard servo and sensor connectors.
    * Powered can be supplied from USB, barrel plug or 3-pin male header. You'll need a suitable power supply when driving multiple servos.
    * dedicated UART 3-pin male header
    * 6 PWM outputs with neighboring unregulated power pins
    * 6 analog pins
    * 14 digital pins
    * Reverse polarity protection for board circuitry (not for unregulated power pins)
    * Optional I2C pull-up resistor locations

(http://curiousinventor.com/images/kits/roboduino/labeled_Roboduino.jpg)
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: ArcMan on December 11, 2008, 08:48:43 PM
Did you design that board, airman?  Very nice!  Very professional.
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: silo_xtreme on December 12, 2008, 07:09:35 AM
Very Nice!  ;D
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 12, 2008, 12:12:15 PM
Very Nice!  ;D
Did you design that board, airman?  Very nice!  Very professional.
Thanks . :)
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 14, 2008, 01:07:59 PM
Buy 10 or more and save 10% !

I've been playing with this board a lot and its really durable. I accidentally shorted it for like 30 seconds straight and its still working fine. :P
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: RoBoTicS on December 14, 2008, 04:54:09 PM
cant wait to pick this up! 8)
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: RoBoTicS on December 14, 2008, 04:57:34 PM
Is there other software you can use besides the Arduino or is it the only one?
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 14, 2008, 05:03:33 PM
Is there other software you can use besides the Arduino or is it the only one?

you can use straight GCC - which is plain C
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: RoBoTicS on December 14, 2008, 05:43:05 PM
DO you know anywhere to learn C effectively
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 14, 2008, 05:54:30 PM
DO you know anywhere to learn C effectively
Not really , I learned C from reverse engineering existing code that people wrote and seeing whats happened. I've gotten pretty darn good at C from doing that.
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: want2learn on December 15, 2008, 01:00:54 PM

[/quote]
 I learned C from reverse engineering existing code that people wrote and seeing whats happened. I've gotten pretty darn good at C from doing that.
[/quote]
I'm working my way through some tutorials but trying to reverse engineer code too. Hope i can end up half as good as you guy's
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: pomprocker on December 15, 2008, 05:29:37 PM
So what if people want to hook up a specialized shield to it? :P
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 15, 2008, 05:56:32 PM
So what if people want to hook up a specialized shield to it? :P
then you would just use the shield except when soldering up the shield use female headers instead of male headers. Not a big deal.
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: LertySwac on December 16, 2008, 06:23:07 AM
thats cool, nice and very professional!
 :)
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: ArcMan on December 16, 2008, 09:04:53 AM
DO you know anywhere to learn C effectively
I recommend The C Programming Language by Kernighan & Ritchie

http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Language-Prentice-Hall-Software/dp/0131103628/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229439663&sr=1-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Language-Prentice-Hall-Software/dp/0131103628/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229439663&sr=1-1)

It's considered the "bible" of C programming.  It's short and sweet.  A great reference after you've learned the language, too.

Of course, this is just general C programming.  IMO, learning the microcontroller architecture and how to interface with it using C is at least as big a challenge as learning C itself.

Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: TrickyNekro on December 17, 2008, 04:44:54 AM
Nice man!!!
Are u shipping @ Greece???
And how much... It may be some interest for 10 pieces around.... (depends on our on line community choice... )
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 17, 2008, 06:10:05 AM
We ship International on a lot of orders
For details just email:   sales [at] CuriousInventor.com
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: TrickyNekro on December 18, 2008, 07:17:54 AM
I took a look at the board... It's very nice... And some details are really nice! But I have a little little comment...
Shouldn't you be able to select also the voltage from the analog port pins (I mean that the analog connector is ground, regulated and signal)

Cause if a sensor outputs more that the Vref the analog register is done.....   :-\
Only this....


The board is very good and I wish you good sales!!!
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 18, 2008, 08:25:34 AM
if a sensor is powered by teh regulated power supply how would it output a signal greater than the regulated power supply?
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: TrickyNekro on December 18, 2008, 08:41:36 AM
It's not like that.... You see... It's Vref.... A sensor powered @ 5V by regulated can produce greater voltage than a Vref at 3V for example....
That can produce.... as datasheets say problem... And since your product targets beginners to mid users that may not notice many things....
This can generate problems....

Just to make it clean... I just try to help... I'm not here to judge you :P :P :P

It's like that The voltage at the analog converter should exist a certain lever voltage of the Vref....
Correct me if I'm wrong... But I'm lately very concerned about it... It happened that I shorted my STK600...
But in STK600 if the voltage goes down... Vref0 Vref1 reset to zero...And you have to manually raise em after reset... I didn't burn anything that far... But I only share my concern with you...

Edit: Or is it only Vref that shouldn't be more than Vcc..... x( 

Best Regards and wishes,
Lefteris, Greece
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 18, 2008, 08:48:14 AM
Theres a pin labeled Vref. You just jumper it to one of the power columns on the bottom left of the board ( columns of 3.3V, 5V, Vin , Gnd )
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: TrickyNekro on December 18, 2008, 04:45:47 PM
I don't want to say this... I know... I just want to say... that.... Is it bad if the input voltage on a ADC channel is more than Vref???
I guess so...
The analog power port pins are power only via 5V regulated... than means that the voltage of a ADC channel may be more than Vref???
My question is... Is that bad for the micro??? If yes then... It's just a small.... well... missed detail.... But This doesn't only happen with your board....
I've seen this on many other boards.... And I ask again... Is this bad.... or it's just not a concern....


Friendly, Lefteris
Greece
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 18, 2008, 08:23:42 PM
I don't really understand what you are saying , but I think this will answer your concerns. There is a male header pin connected to Vref of the microcontroller. On the Roboduino you can set the Vref to be either 3.3V ,5V , or Vin by connecting a jumper wire from one of the power columns that are located on the  left  side of the Analog pins.
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: Ro-Bot-X on December 18, 2008, 11:05:55 PM
I don't want to say this... I know... I just want to say... that.... Is it bad if the input voltage on a ADC channel is more than Vref???
I guess so...
The analog power port pins are power only via 5V regulated... than means that the voltage of a ADC channel may be more than Vref???
My question is... Is that bad for the micro??? If yes then... It's just a small.... well... missed detail.... But This doesn't only happen with your board....
I've seen this on many other boards.... And I ask again... Is this bad.... or it's just not a concern....


Friendly, Lefteris
Greece

Lefteris,

Here is a quote from the ATmega168 datasheet:

Quote
ADC Voltage Reference
The reference voltage for the ADC (VREF) indicates the conversion range for the ADC. Single
ended channels that exceed VREF will result in codes close to 0x3FF. VREF can be selected as
either AVCC, internal 1.1V reference, or external AREF pin.

AVCC is connected to the ADC through a passive switch. The internal 1.1V reference is generated
from the internal bandgap reference (VBG) through an internal amplifier. In either case, the
external AREF pin is directly connected to the ADC, and the reference voltage can be made
more immune to noise by connecting a capacitor between the AREF pin and ground. VREF can
also be measured at the AREF pin with a high impedance voltmeter. Note that VREF is a high
impedance source, and only a capacitive load should be connected in a system.

If the user has a fixed voltage source connected to the AREF pin, the user may not use the other
reference voltage options in the application, as they will be shorted to the external voltage. If no
external voltage is applied to the AREF pin, the user may switch between AVCC and 1.1V as reference
selection. The first ADC conversion result after switching reference voltage source may
be inaccurate, and the user is advised to discard this result.

So nothing gets burned if voltages do not get over 5V.
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: TrickyNekro on December 19, 2008, 02:26:03 AM
Thank you.... I was very worried about this in some late projects of mine...
That's why I've been asking....

I guess it's only RTFM for me :P (for anyone who gets the acronym!!!)

Thanks again...
And I wish airman best of sales!!!! ;)

Best Regards,
Lefteris, Greece
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 19, 2008, 06:09:29 AM
And I wish airman best of sales!!!! ;)
Thanks

I'll be putting up a promo code here over the weekend , probably be for 5% off
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: paulstreats on December 19, 2008, 11:32:03 AM
Congratulations! ;D

Ive just seen it at curiousinventor, and a nice price too! p.s. (whats the surface mount ic?)
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 19, 2008, 11:43:24 AM
whats the surface mount ic?
Its the FT232 , used for USB communication
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: Dscrimager on December 19, 2008, 11:09:15 PM
Ordered one up to compare to the Stamps and AXON that I working with now. I have a Duemilanove that I have done nothing with, it might end up in my halloween stuff instead of my robots since it looks like roboduino will be much easier to use in that respect,..

Excellent stuff all around. I can't wait to build robot #2 with the roboduino!
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: RoBoTicS on December 21, 2008, 08:33:09 AM
Just ordered the Roboduino.  Can't wait to build my first robot with it.
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 21, 2008, 08:48:32 AM
@dscrimager and RoBoTicS
be sure to post up pics and videos of your robots, I'll add it to the Roboduino Robots Showcase
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: RoBoTicS on December 21, 2008, 08:52:08 AM
as soon as I get my order in i should have the robot completed with in two days then I will post up some pictures or maybe a video
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 23, 2008, 09:34:16 AM
Happy Holidays Everyone!
Announcing the Roboduino Holiday Sale!
(http://curiousinventor.com/images/kits/roboduino/roboduino.jpg)

Special promo code for 5% Off your next Roboduino Order !
Limit one code per customer

The promo code is: robotsrule3231
Title: roboduino has arrived !
Post by: Dscrimager on December 24, 2008, 11:50:21 PM
and I reprogrammed the blink program to a different rate just to be sure that I had the environment figured out. So far so good it looks VERY promising.

Doug

Title: Re: roboduino has arrived !
Post by: airman00 on December 25, 2008, 08:12:16 AM
and I reprogrammed the blink program to a different rate just to be sure that I had the environment figured out. So far so good it looks VERY promising.

Doug
Be sure to post pictures and details about your robot!
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: AdvsNoob on December 25, 2008, 11:26:23 AM
For all of you new buyers! Oh!!!  ;D Forgot to say HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I will be posting my tutorial on building this awesome peace of machinery here! All i need is a color coded chart because i cant make out the other one located here. Roboduino v1.15 - 1.16 schematic

And i am using the "Soder Wick" and for cleaning my soldering gun i am using "Oatey H-20 Water Soluable Tinning Flux" Hope that will be ok because if i cant i will wait for the other one.... HEHEHE!

I ask for a color coded one because i do not have a clue on how to solder this thing. i am a noob a this but i am a quick learner. although i no how to use it i cant really make it lol wow i feel dumb. and i am just going to ask how do i solder pins? that is a never done before in my book... well for me lol
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 25, 2008, 11:33:24 AM
@AdvsNoob
All you have to do is follow the parts list that was sent in the email

We're working on detailed instructions - but most of it is obvious where to solder.
Email me  - airman00 at gmail.com , I'll give you some instructions through email.
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: AdvsNoob on December 25, 2008, 02:31:24 PM
Lol i got it im making the video now ^_^ wow i feel stupid... It only because i am a gangster lol.... ::)
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: RoBoTicS on December 26, 2008, 11:31:29 AM
Is curiosinventor running slow because of the holidays, because I sent out my order for the roboduino about a week and half ago.  I emailed them and still nothing?  Does anybody know?
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 26, 2008, 11:51:39 AM
Is curiosinventor running slow because of the holidays, because I sent out my order for the roboduino about a week and half ago.  I emailed them and still nothing?  Does anybody know?
yea its because of the Holidays . No one is there until Monday or Tuesday of next week.
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: RoBoTicS on December 26, 2008, 12:12:59 PM
Okay thanks
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: AdvsNoob on December 26, 2008, 08:44:49 PM
Hay i added some pics on the advsnoob site ^_^ of me building the roboduino i will add video soon
Title: upcoming Roboduino robot
Post by: Dscrimager on December 27, 2008, 07:02:22 PM
Here's Bumpy bot which my Daughter calls Ruby because of the red transparent plexi base.
Right now:
- Pololu Main Chassis
- Pololu Motor Controller
- Tamiya double gearbox and caster
- 1 bump switch
- Prop-1 used as controller - will be transplanted back into my Halloween stuff but good BasicStamp1 type module.

Warning Images are BIG:
Side/Front http://www.kentonavegraveyard.com/robots/Bumpy1.jpg (http://www.kentonavegraveyard.com/robots/Bumpy1.jpg)
Underside showing mechanicals and Pololu Motor controller: http://www.kentonavegraveyard.com/robots/Bumpy2.jpg (http://www.kentonavegraveyard.com/robots/Bumpy2.jpg)

Going to switch in the RoboDuino and add:
- downfacing light sensors for line-following
- accelerometer (because I have an extra)
- Sharp IR sensor - probably forward facing
- More bump switches

Eventually
- zigbee module to communicate to base station and the Octobot that I'm also building ( with AXON)

Doug
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on December 29, 2008, 06:05:51 PM
@Dscrimager
Can't wait to see it, be sure to post up pics and video

@RoBoTiCs
OK CuriousInventor is back from the holidays break, should be fine now

@Everyone (  ;D )
New demo video is up on the Roboduino page : http://www.curiousinventor.com/kits/roboduino
It shows how you can make a chaser robot using the PING sonar sensor. Also explains a bunch of the Roboduino's features.
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: RoBoTicS on December 29, 2008, 06:28:32 PM
They just shipped it to me hopefully it will be here soon and I like the new stuff on Curiousinventors.com
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: Ro-Bot-X on December 29, 2008, 09:31:10 PM
Cool video! Thanks!
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: airman00 on January 12, 2009, 11:51:42 AM
The Roboduino made MAKE!
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/01/roboduino.html
Title: Re: Announcement: the Roboduino is now on sale!!!
Post by: RoBoTicS on January 12, 2009, 06:19:27 PM
awesome nice to hear that!