#robotics Logs

Dec 26 2011

11:57 zhanx nope it was cold outside
11:58 Tom_itx deer?
11:59 zhanx attempted to, but got nothing
11:59 zhanx whitetail
13:12 rue_house I should etch a baord today
14:07 Kingsy anyone around?
14:07 rue_house na
14:09 Kingsy rue_house: just got myself a 3pi robot for christmas, I don't really know what applications I need to install tho, to get started... any suggestions?
14:10 rue_house I dont know of the 3pi
14:11 Kingsy rue_house: I am assuming all robotic programming has standard programs used?
14:11 rue_house depends on the language and interface you want to use
14:11 rue_house whats the 3pi?
14:12 zhanx polulu robot
14:13 zhanx pic or basic stamp
14:13 Kingsy rue_house: yeah, sorry, its polulu, I am assuming it will be in C
14:14 rue_house do you have a pic or basic stamp on it?
14:15 Kingsy how can you tell? sorry I am new to this
14:15 zhanx it could be arm mbed or avr
14:15 zhanx what version did you get
14:16 zhanx thinking he got the 328p on
14:16 zhanx one
14:16 Kingsy I bought this --> http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1306
14:17 zhanx Kingsy: avr based
14:17 rue_house I think its avr...
14:17 zhanx c
14:17 rue_house Kingsy, look for a chip with "ATMEL" on it
14:18 rue_house there is a part number like mega168 on it, whats that number?
14:18 zhanx http://www.nongnu.org/avr-libc/
14:18 Kingsy rue_house: hmm no I don't see anything like that on the device itself
14:18 zhanx its a 328p rue
14:19 rue_house oh
14:19 Kingsy the intructions say it has a ATmega328P
14:19 rue_house ok
14:19 rue_house next, what io does it have?
14:20 zhanx 13 digital
14:20 zhanx 6 a/d
14:20 rue_house not hte avr :) the robot!
14:20 zhanx :D
14:20 zhanx you didn't say that
14:20 zhanx http://www.pololu.com/docs/0J21
14:20 zhanx Kingsy: check that link ok
14:21 Kingsy hehe sorry..
14:21 Kingsy ok cool
14:23 Kingsy oh wow.. I didnt think you had to use things specific for each robot
14:25 rue_house hah the little gearmotors on those are worth more than rc servos
14:26 rue_house Kingsy, tell us if you run into any problems
14:26 rue_house I need lunch, then I have to tear apart the draft fan on the boiler
14:45 Kingsy np
14:46 rue_house keep us up to date with what you get it doing to eh?
14:46 Kingsy hehe tbh I have no idea how to get started so it will take a while..
14:47 rue_house dosn't it say how to set up the software they suggest?
14:47 rue_house should all be free
14:48 rue_house you using windows or linux?
14:48 Kingsy linux
14:48 rue_house can I ask more question when you can answser?
14:48 rue_house hmm your keeping up pretty well
14:48 rue_house did they assume windows?
14:48 rue_house what kinda programmer do you have
14:48 rue_house what distro of linux
14:48 rue_house am I getting ahead of you?
14:48 Kingsy ummm no they don't assume windows
14:48 Kingsy I don't think
14:48 Kingsy xubuntu is my distro
14:49 Kingsy they tell you which components to get.. they look to be free
14:49 rue_house if they dont say what software packages to get we can suggest some
14:50 rue_house have you ever done any C programming before?
14:50 rue_house is my lunch burning?
14:50 Kingsy hah..
14:50 Kingsy umm I have done C programming before yes.. in uni.. but it was a while ago
14:51 Kingsy so I am pretty much a beginner. I cant remember ANYTHING about setup and libraries etv
14:51 Kingsy etc
14:52 rue_house is their webpage helping,
14:52 rue_house what link are you looking at now
14:52 Kingsy rue_house: not really check it out --> http://www.pololu.com/docs/0J21/6 <--
14:52 rue_house ok they assume windows
14:53 Kingsy :S
14:53 rue_house http://www.pololu.com/docs/0J36/4
14:54 rue_house hmm
14:54 rue_house hmmm
14:55 Kingsy ah wow cool
14:55 Kingsy it looks like it just "works" from a driver front
14:55 Kingsy you need to install some packages however..
14:55 Kingsy but nice one
15:02 rue_house I wonder if it works wiht avrdude
15:02 Kingsy it does.. thats the driver
15:02 rue_house for avr dev I use nedit, avr-gcc, and avrdude
15:02 rue_house avrdude is a firmware uploader
15:03 KongfuPanda e)_(e
15:03 Kingsy rue_house: once you have plugged the controller in, how do you know where it has been assigned in /dev/ ?
15:06 rue_house avrdude usually dosn't need that, it searches out the programmer
15:06 rue_house but if you do, as root tail -f /var/log/syslog you can see kernel usb activity
15:08 Kingsy rue_house: that has a weird output
15:08 Kingsy http://pastie.org/3076591
15:08 rue_house thats cause you have a program trying to find dial up modems on your system
15:08 Kingsy rue_house: it says according to http://www.pololu.com/docs/0J36/4.b that it usually gets assigned to /dev/tty0 but I need to make sure
15:09 rue_house no its being assigned ttyACM0 and ttyACM1
15:10 Kingsy rue_house: ok, I fixed that ---> http://pastie.org/3076595
15:10 rue_house the device names are still the same
15:11 Kingsy how come it mentions two devices ACM1 and 0 ?
15:11 rue_house the web page said it would
15:14 Kingsy rue_house: poo, I got a avrdude: stk500v2_command(): command failed
15:14 rue_house yup, its not a stk500v2 I recon
15:14 Kingsy avrdude: stk500v2_program_enable(): cannot get connection status
15:15 rue_house did you use command line?
15:15 Kingsy yeah
15:16 rue_house I have only 3 hours left to tear apart a boiler and get it back togethor, do a google search for "avrdude asdf" where asdf is the name of the programmer you have
15:16 rue_house back in a while
15:16 Kingsy np thanks.. laters
17:00 KongfuPanda it there like a 3D printing service in the uk online? where I can send like CAD files for parts for my mini-hexapod robot?
17:07 rue_house constant current source...
17:08 rue_house old school: get 600vdc, and put a HUGE resistor on it, the voltage differnce on the load wont make a significant difference
17:15 Steffanx no fablabs near you KongfuPanda ?
17:16 KongfuPanda Steffanx, fablabs? I'll have a look online
17:18 KongfuPanda we don't have
17:18 KongfuPanda Oxford
17:19 KongfuPanda is this ok ? : http://3dprint-uk.co.uk/3d_printing_costs.html
17:21 KongfuPanda resin I guess
17:24 KongfuPanda hmm, if my base is ~ 36 cm^2 * 0.5 cm , and legs ~ 6 * (1cm*12cm*0.5cm). That will be : 54cm^3
17:25 KongfuPanda or ~110 pounds :D
17:25 KongfuPanda that's way too much
17:25 KongfuPanda it's only simple shapes with holes