ammsaverio
Italy
Asked
Hi All,
I'm a newbie in this community and I've arrived here looking around in the web to find how to upgrade an old Meccanoid bot and make my doughters happy!
My idea is:
- To change the useless meccabrain with a raspberry pi with a WIFI module and an Arduino MEGA
- To add a performing and re-chargeable battery
- To add a camera
- To add a mic
I know that there are already available firmware to control Meccanoid servos with Arduino.
Can you suggest to me the best HW I can use?
Have you any suggest/tip?
thank you!
Oh fun! The best place to begin is this guide: https://synthiam.com/Support/Get-Started/how-to-make-a-robot/computer-configuration
you can use an Arduino for the Meccanoid servos. I think there’s code somewhere posted on here but most people change the servos out to more reliable and stronger ones.
Thank you for answer DJ!
I've already evaluated the possibility to change original servos with 995 ones that seems to be more reliable and performant.
Currently I'm struggling with the decision to use a EZ-B V4 controller or an Arduino MEGA, considering that I would use a embeeded PC inside it, like Lattepanda with some wifi addon.
Have you any suggestion for the HW I can use?
thank you for the help
I'd go for the mega. Because with a servo breakout shield, you end up with the exact servo port count and a ton of extra ports for i/o.
Make sure you get 995s that are decent - there are a million different manufacturers, and I've never had good experiences with them. I'm biased about the ez-robot HDD servos because I enforced the specs and quality, but they're a little pricey, so I understand not choosing them. The HDDs also are super quiet, draw very low current, and have stall protection, so they don't burn out. Plus, they're uber-strong.
I think I will follow your advice, and I'll go for the mega. I'm also oriented for HDDs servos, it worth to spend a little bit more for good servos.
Any suggestion for the battery/batteries? I would have a reasonable working time without re-charging the robot, also considering that I have to power the lattepanda too.
For the computer, you can use a 20amp or so power bank. Something like this: https://www.amazon.ca/Portable-Charger-Battery-Outputs-External/dp/B09J7PVGFL/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3U8E8W7W3JPR8&keywords=6+amp+power+bank&qid=1670280693&sprefix=6+amp+powe+bank%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-6
And for the servos, you can get much time out of a high-amperage lipo battery. If you use lipo, make sure you don't drain the battery because they are dangerous when they drain