Asked — Edited

Ez-B V4 Gets 2 Uart Ports

The most recent version of the EZ-B v4 firmware now includes 2 high speed UART ports instead of 1. The ports can work up to 3,750,000 bits/sec. The standard UART Expansion Port has 10,000 Byte Buffer. The new Port uses 2 Dx pins and has a 4,000 Byte Buffer.

You're welcome:)


ARC Pro

Upgrade to ARC Pro

Discover the limitless potential of robot programming with Synthiam ARC Pro – where innovation and creativity meet seamlessly.

#1  

Thanks DJ, that's gonna come in handy with the Create/Roomba bots.

#2  

I'm trying to learn and understand this kinda thing. From what I understand a high speed UART translates data between parallel and serial forms. Does this mean we now can send and receive serial commands and information really quickly? For example; I'm starting to use a Kangaroo X2 and Sabertooth combo controlled by EZB and ARC. One way to control the Kangaroo is to send serial commands from ARC. It also has the ability to send information like position and error codes back to a terminal. Can EZB and ARC receive this info back now?

#3  

I think Dave has some good questions....its hard to appreciate something with out really knowing all its potentials. Some real world/robotics applications or sensors or whatever the UART can be used with would be helpful. Thank you DJ for doubling the UART ports , like increasing the digital or analog ports its gotta be good! that I know!

PRO
Synthiam
#4  

Yes, EZ-B v4 has two way UART communication up to 3.75 Mb, that's 3,750,000 bits per second. One UART has a 10,000 byte input buffer, and the other has a 4,000 byte buffer.

You can connect many things to the two UARTs for two way communication - including the Roomba, GPS, and a lot more

#5  

Thanks for the explanation. This is great. Thanks!

One more question. If I understand this right then ARC can receive serial communication back from the unit it's operating. If this is in the form of text (like an error message) will it show up in the ARC of the control or script text window I'm using or will I still need to use a terminal program?

PRO
Synthiam
#6  

You use EZ-Script commands. The manual shows commands for the uart if you search UART.

Also, there is an example for the Uart in the examples folder. You can search for keywords in folders when opening a project.

For example, you can check how many bytes are available in the input buffer. Then you can read those bytes to a variable.