Previous Thread
Hi Guys.
Thanks Vader will try that. Just a note to advise since all the great help everybody is trying to help us, I though I would try and and assist too.
I have got to the stage of where did I start and where am I heading too. I have tried all sorts of different things to make it work that I have become in such a muddle. Last night I decided to go back to the start and take Gerbers program readmes and doulble check all the setups in each program as if i had just loaded into my computer for the first time.
I have found and it would pay to check if you are having problems like me to check that the file names and addresses are correct.
In the Start_service_Vista.bat file, I found that the Tera term file name was different in my C:Program\ address.
I have since corrected this and now when I click on the Start_Service_Vista.Bat file it starts as well as the USB2tcp file.
Also opening the Tera Term File I have changed the Language and Baudrate and check for any other indescrepencies that need changing.
I now have a far more easier setup to open the uSB port to the robot, but I am still slowly moving forward from the start to the end of getting the robot to move in Gerbers Control Station.
I hope this will help someone else.
Curtainmaker
Hi all
I am new to the RS Media. Well when I say new, I mean my son and daughter have both had RS media’s for 3 year. Only now since my daughters robot stop working and I asked for help from this forum have I learnt so much about the robot. It is only now that I can seeing so much potential and possibility of the RS Media Robots.
I really have to thank the members of the forum for giving me so much help, time and advice in trouble shooting the Broken robot and learn about the program aspect of the RS Media. A quick thankyou to Jamie, FreddyA, Helibot, Vader and anybody else who has given me advise so far. (Currently the broken robot is still dead but I am really hopeful that I can repair it. The broken robot has now been named Frankenstien Monster as I am sure he needs a bolt of lightning to get him working again)
Anyway back the reason for this thread. My background is software development and I have many software and hardware idea I am going to develop in the near future to do with the RS Media. Some of which are:
RS media Musical instrument
RS media Auto dancing machine
RS media live video streamer
RS media robot Wars battle game.
RS media charging and Auto homing station
(I have many more but these are the more sane ideas I have had)
To start with I am just getting to grip with Linux and the command for the robot itself. I have however started working on my first project which I have called the RS Media Control station. Basically at the moment it is just a remote control to operate the RS media from the PC in realtime. This software will evolve over time and be that base station for all me software projects for the RS media.
Below is a screenshot of the “RS Media Control Station” software so far
Currently the software is quite crude and very basic as you control the robot in realtime by moving the scrollbar on the screen(but then again it did only take me half an hour to write)
Currently the software will only make the robots perform the basic movement but I will be adding all the other functions of the robot to the control panel. As it stands the software works quite well even though it is basic.
I will be getting rid of the scrollbar and to move the robot you will only have to drag the body part of the robot on the screen. I want to try and make the robot image 3d but as I have never written anything using 3d graphic I’ll have to do some research first.
Current Software issues
Problem 1) I have to switch off the robots vision and hearing from the RS medias remote control before I can control the robot from the software. However from previous thread that @Helibot and @Vader have sent I should be able to do this from within my software.
Problem 2) The other issue and more annoy I am have is that after a minute or 2 the robot go into a sleep mode then after about 5 minutes it powers off. FreddyA has advised me to look at the AUTONOMYV1 download to overcome this issue.
The software is fully working as it stand currently, but before its worth uploading, I think I need to do a lot more work to improve its functions and make it more use friendly. I do however promise I will be upload it for everybody to play with in the near future and I will keep you all up to date with my progress.
Oh yes, I have just received my serial hack in the post an will be install it on the media board next week
All the best
Gerber
Go to my website to download the latest version of the RS Media Control Station software www.TheMadRobot.talktalk.net
- member since: 02/02/2011
- rank: 21 of 10720
- 13 forum threads started
- 137 comments
Hi guys
Yes me again, I have tried the bot and it works perfectly in the Start_Service, but when I start the Console program , Nothing, I only have com 3 .
I have done a screen dump on USB View and this is what is showing. Does this help
Opening Start_Service as-is is most likely the problem. Try just opening usb2tcp.exe by itself and then connect with gerber's software (if you're not doing this already). Also make sure a virtual serial port is set up. Other than that, I'm pretty much out of ideas.
Hi Vader,
Thanks Yes i have tried with the usb2tcp by itself but it won't load unless I have either VSPE open or Tera Term going. I know that the com ports are working to the robot because Tera Term and usb2tcp will not open unless I connect up the robot and switched on. The same goes for VSPE and when I setup a new Connection and setup a TCPClient going it will show connecting ...OK
AND when i setup Com 4 on the VSPE I have the option of COm 3 or Com 4 on Gerbers Program, so there is a connection there going to the Robot, but there is a broken connection from the program to the robot for it not to respond to commands.
Yet in running the Start_Service I can type in the commands gerber advised and the robot moves exactly right.
That is where i am stuck
Regards curtainmaker
Hi
Not good news so far. It took me nearly and hour to install the usb driver for ther robot in the divce manager under windows 7. It took me this long as windows 7 doesn't automatically detect the robot and I needed to go and add it as a legecy device. (I now remember having that problem last time. Doh! Anyway I next installed VPSE to find out it won't work on my machine as I have windows 7 64bit and to use VPSE you need windows 7 32bit. (What a pain). However I did try with this the VPSE software anyway and below are my screen shots.
I did try another piece of software called HW VSP(another virtual serial port emulator) but had the same trouble. Back last september when I did this setup I was on a windows 7 32bit machine and successufully managed connected, I do remember having the same sort of problem and can't rember How it was solved.
I have spent 2 nights trying to connect with the standard USB cable and am now stumped. Curtainmaker you have got further in you connection than I have this time using the standard usb cable.
I don't know what is going wrong and or what I am doing wrong.
Tonight I tested my software with the serial hacker, both wired and wireless and it works perfectly. I know my software should work with the standard USB cable as when I wrote 1st ever version of this software I didn't actually have the serial hack added to the robot and even though I have changed the software a lot since then the core communication with the robot has not changed and should still work.
Unfortunately until I am able to get the robot connected with the standard USB cable I can't solve the problem you are having. If someone else has a standard usb connection to the robot can they please check that they can connect to the robot in my software and see if they have any problems .
Curtainmaker I definitely recomend you do the serial hack and all your troubles will be over. I forgot how much of a pain it was to get the standard usb cable to communicate to the robot.
Cheers
Gerber
Go to my website to download the latest version of the RS Media Control Station software www.TheMadRobot.talktalk.net
Hi again
Thought I would give you some brief notes about doing the serial hack.
1) You will need to open the robot and access the media board which is behind the neck under the shoulder plate. Below of is a picture of the media board
2) For the serial hack you will need to solder 3 wires to the pads Gnd, TX, RX
3) Next you need the USB-TLL model here is a link
4) Connect the 3wires solder from the media board to the GND, TX, RX on the USB-TLL module
5) Connect the USB-TLL module to a usb port in your computer (Windows will ask for a driver you can download the driver from the link below)
http://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/Pages/USBtoUARTBridgeVCPDrivers.aspx
6) In your device manager there will be a new comport this is the one you will use to connect to the robot.
7) Finally open the RS media control station software and connect to the com port for the robot and you will have control of the robot.
Making the robot wireless via bluetooth
Making the robot wireless via bluetooth is easily done. Below are the steps
1) You will need to get the following bluetooth module
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220716503455&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
2) When you receive it the Baud speed is set to 9600 as default and will need to be set to 15200 so it will work with the RS media robot. to do this you will need the USB-TTL module to program it. connect the following pins from the Bluetooth to the USB-TTL:
Bluetooth module (GND) .... USB-TTL (GND)
Bluetooth module (TX) .... USB-TTL (RX)
Bluetooth module (RX) .... USB-TTL (TX)
Bluetooth module (+5V) .... USB-TTL (3.3v)
Connect the USB-TTL to your computer. Open Hyerterminal or teraterm and open the comport for the USB-TTL module with the following settings:
baud speed = 9600
data bits= 8
Parity=None
Stop bits=1
flow control=None
next type in Hyperterminal AT and you should get the response OK
Open notepad and type AT+BAUD8 copy this to hyperterminal then you will get the response OK15200. The Bluetooth baud speed is now set to 15200
3) You will need to solder 4 wire to the media board pads GND, TX, RX & 3V (The 3v pad will power the wireless bluetooth module)
4) Connect the 4wires solder to the media board to the GND, TX, RX, +5v on the bluetooth module
5) Power up the robot and pair the Bluetooth module with your PC. (The pairing code I used was 1234)
6) In your device manager there will be a new comport this is the one you will use to connect to the robot.
7) Finally open the RS media control station software and connect to the com port for the robot and you will have control of the robot.
With both the above mods you will no longer need to use VPSE and USB2TCP as there is a perminent comport for the robot.
Hope this information helps
Cheers
Gerber
Go to my website to download the latest version of the RS Media Control Station software www.TheMadRobot.talktalk.net
Hi gerber
Keen to do the serial hack but i looks like I will have to get the USB from overseas as I cannot find anybody here in this country who stocks them.
I will keep persisting and try and get my bot working through the standard usb until i can get my hand on a usb module.
Curtainmaker
hi Gerber
i guess I'm exactly like Curtainmaker in everything so ill have 2 keep trying 2 hopefully 2 succeed 2 make the robot respond ..
Curtainmaker said: Hi Vader, Thanks Yes i have tried with the usb2tcp by itself but it won't load unless I have either VSPE open or Tera Term going.That's strange, it should work by itself as far as I can remember. I can't really test it for you though. Does the window just flash up and close?
Here is a more detailed tutorial from the original maker of the serial hack: http://www.robocommunity.com/article/13016/Connecting-to-the-RS-Media-Linux-C...
Curtainmaker, I am from Australia and you can get a prop plug from www.nollet.com.au You can contact the man and he will get you a prop plug in for a good price. He is very nice. Prop plugs are only a little more money and you will get a much better quality plug from Australia and it has a b-type mini usb connector. The pins are labeled and it doesn't need 5v to power it. Witht he BT dongle your batteries will go flat quit often (last 1 or 2 weeks casual use) and they will last near a month or a bit with a prop plug.
Hope you get everything working soon.
Cheers,
Jamie Kugelmann
Check out my site http://computersnmore.dyndns.org/
Hi
If you add the serial hack and using the USB-TTL module to communicate with the robot, battery power is not a problem as you are only using the RX, TX, GND connection and no power is taken from the robot. For this mod the power comes from the PC to run the USB-TTL module.
As Jamie said if you decide to make the robot wireless with the Bluetooth module the Bluetooth module is taking power from the robot and your battery life will be less. I don't have the problem with this myself because I run my robots from a main adapter. A useful thing to know when running you robot from a mains adapter is that in the manul it states to use a mains adapter running 7.5v. The problem with is that you will only be able to control the upper body movement. If you change the voltage on the mains adapter to 6v you will have full body control of the robot (Freddya told me about this last September and I haven't used batteries since)
About 2 years ago I used to use batteries I found I had to change the batteries nearly every day which I found a pain and that is why I prefer running my robot via mains.
I am in the process of adding switch on my robot under the cover for the mini usb connecter so I can switch off the power to the Bluetooth module.
Cheers
Gareth
Go to my website to download the latest version of the RS Media Control Station software www.TheMadRobot.talktalk.net
Hi Donnie / Curtainmaker
Sorry I can't be any more help with the Standard USB connect to the robot. I will see if I can get hold of a windows XP machine and I'll have a go of the standard connection on that.
Cheers
Gerber
Go to my website to download the latest version of the RS Media Control Station software www.TheMadRobot.talktalk.net
Hi Guys
Thanks Jamie i will look into that web address and get me 1. Question is now do I make it USB or bluetooth.
Thanks Gerber for trying and all your help, I will persist with the way Im going until I do the hack. I still feel we are just about there and are missing the final link somewhere.
I still feel the robot has cybertenitcally inherited my wifes Genes as she won't do as I command either. (whether I'm Bluetooth or Blue in the Face)
Regards
Curtainmaker
Hi,
If you want BT, your batteries will drain quicker, making a bigger bill (2 lots of batteries every month!) And if you get wired it will still last the month or whatever it currently is.
Cheers,
Jamie Kugelmann
Check out my site http://computersnmore.dyndns.org/
Hi Guys........................
IT WORK, IT WORKS.
Thanks Gerber, Vader, Jamie and everybody else.
I have got it to work not once but twice.
Yeh Ha
Curtainmaker
Hi guys, I have included Screen Dumps of the setting I had, I did turn off the windows firewall first when I started trying things but I am now unsure if it was still off or it had switched itself back on when i had to refired up my laptop when things wouldn't load.
But VSPE was started and then USB2tcp then RS Media console, This seems nothing new to anything else we have tried over the past weeks, but it now works..
Hi Curtainmaker
Well done. It's a great feeling isn't it to get it working. I remember it being the same for me one minute it wasn't working and the next for no apparent reason is started working and I don't know what had changed. You will be able to pass the knowledge to Donnie who is having the same trouble as you were.
Are you going to do the serial hack now?
Curtainmaker> Question is now do I make it USB or bluetooth.
You will need a USB-TTL to set the baud speed bluetooth chip so I would start with the USB-TTL first then move on to the bluetooth mod. On my bot I have add both of them. I can't use them both at the same time but the reason I added both is so that if I need to connect with the USB-TTL some time in the future I can switch off the power to the blutooth module (with a switch I have installed on the robot) and connect the robot to the pc via the USB-TTL. I am just finishing reassembling the robot at the moment but will take picture and post them to show you what I have done which may help you if you do the serial hack.
I have started working on the next release of my software which will have multibot control and hopeful have live video feed from the robot. I don't know when it will be ready though but I will keep you posted with my progress.
Cheers
Gerber
Go to my website to download the latest version of the RS Media Control Station software www.TheMadRobot.talktalk.net
hello every1 :
well the weird thing i got it work a day ago 2 :)), and i was here now 2 let u know how and here i found Curtainmaker made it 2, good work everybody and Gerber i wanna tnq 4 remembering me telling Curtainmaker 2 pass me the information when he said he did it, i really like u ppl alot :) and tnx every1 who tried 2 help..
Gerber waiting 4 ur new programs and yes plz keep us posted with ur progress :)
tnx again every1 who tried 2 help just 2 help :)
Hi Donnie
Glad you got it working. I recomend you do the serial hack now as the communication setup is a lot simplier. In that I mean no extra program need to run in the background.
Gerber
Go to my website to download the latest version of the RS Media Control Station software www.TheMadRobot.talktalk.net
hey Gerber
well i know ur right and it will make the connection lot easier like u said but right now its a little hard 2 buy it coz i already bought lot of stuff online so i must cool down 4 a while, but i think this gonna be the 1st thing ill buy next time.. :)
Hi Donnie & Curtainmaker
As promised I have started another thread showing photos of the serial hack I have add to one of other the bots I have. The mod took me roughly one and a half hours to complete. Below is the link to the thread.
http://www.robocommunity.com/forum/thread/18331/2-x-RS-media-with-serial-hack...
I will probably put detailed instructions of how I did this in the user manual for the next release of my software.
Cheers
Gerber
Go to my website to download the latest version of the RS Media Control Station software www.TheMadRobot.talktalk.net
Hi Guys
Congradulations on the Movement through Gerbers Program Donnie. I see that you have some bots with the hack done, aren't you lucky. hope it all goes well for you
Curtainmaker
Hi
On the weekend I added the serial hack with both wireless and wired to the other 3 remaining bots I have, which means I now have 4 completely wireless bots. I took loads of pictures while doing the mod so in the next release of my software I hope to have full instructions on how to the same mod as I have done. Hopefully this will be helpful if other people want add the same serial hack as me.
I am going to work on the multi bot control in my software this week. I'll give further news on my progress later in the week.
Cheers
Gerber
Go to my website to download the latest version of the RS Media Control Station software www.TheMadRobot.talktalk.net
Curtainmaker :
tnq so much 4 ur msg and gnograts 2 u as well :))
Gerber :
hope everything works exactly like u want :)
Hi
This is just quick update to let you know the progress of where I am in writing the next release of RS Media Control Station software.
Since christmas I haven't done any work on the software due to having lots of other projects on the go, but after finally getting all 4 of my RSM's wireless last week I desided to add some new feactures to the software which are as follows:
1) Adding a terminal console along the lines of hyperterminal or teraterm which will run in a window with in the software.
2) Adding the fasility to control multiple bots. With this feature you will be able to give the bots nicknames which will make it easier to connect to them rather than having to remember the com port number. You will also be able to make the robots link together so they perform action at the same time, or with a delay, or reverse action of robots (example: if robot a lifts it left arm robot be lifts it right arm).
Below is a screenshot of what the software currently looks like at the moment. The software isn't finished yet and the layout of screen may change slighty from this. It will be alot more tidier that what you see below when I release it to the forum.
If all goes well I hope to have the software ready for release by the end of March to April.
The other thing I have found is a possible way to make a fully 3d graphic of the robot rather than the crapy graphic of the robot I am currently using in the software. I will need to play with this first before trying to add it to the software as I have never written software with proper 3d graphics before so this will all be new to me and I will have a hugh learning curve to overcome.
Anyway I will keep you posted with my progress on the software.
Go to my website to download the latest version of the RS Media Control Station software www.TheMadRobot.talktalk.net
Add Your Reply
Sponsored Links
Copyright © 2013
Capable Networks LLC.. All Rights Reserved.
RSS |
Privacy Policy |
Advertise With Us |
Terms of Use |
About Us |
Contact Us |
Site Map
Our Capable Community Network:
DVR playground |
Explore3DTV |
MediaSmart Home |
My Open Router |
DijitCommunity |
Robo Community |
Sansa Community |
TechLore |
TiVo Community
Product names, designations and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of WowWee Group Limited and all copyright in the associated images is the property of WowWee Group Limited. RoboCommunity.com is not affiliated with WowWee Group Limited.
