Live Robot Hack Session
DJ Sures
Synthiam

The LattePanda Robot Hack

When:
Duration:
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I'm hacking the lattepanda to control Robotis Dynamixel servos and use a USB camera for machine vision. This will be a fun hack because the LattePanda is a powerful robot controller when it's running ARC and the appropriate Arduino middleware firmware. See you tonight!


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#1  

Looking forward to watch this...had some Latte on my mind lately!!:)

#2  

Yes this is interesting, I am thinking about getting a Lattepanda,sounds like it could be better than using just a cell phone for outside uses and all self contained.

PRO
Synthiam
#3   — Edited

Totally - and for the price of performance it's unbeatable. Although the onboard Arduino is a tiny bit limiting regarding having to wire servos and such with a custom setup. I feel a good alternative is connect an EZ-B v4 to the onboard LattePanda's GPIO TTL. I should do a demo on that this week for you

That way, you get the simplicity of connecting sensors and servos to the EZ-B v4 with the onboard processing power of the LattePanda

#4  

Which is the exact Voltage regulator you were talking about? This one? LM 1084 IT-ADJ Are they not producing to ton of heat?

Nice hack...will you do the Atomic Pi too?:)

#5  

Btw turining him into a Cyclops was the coolest thing ever!!!:D

PRO
Synthiam
#6   — Edited

Get the 5v fixed lm1084 not the adjustable one: http://www.ti.com/product/LM1084

it does get pretty warm, so put a heat sink on it.

i use one on my raspberry pi intellvision hack. It powers the pi without trouble

#7  

Thanks for the info!! There are so many of those Mini PCs right now...The Latte Panda keeps coming back to my mind!! Tight little piece...very good hack!!:)

#9  

Whoa! DJ, you have Intellivision running on the Pi? Like you mean the old school video game system? Some of my favorite games way back were on that game system, I even found an old Intellivoice module at the Flea Market,that allowed some games to have early speech Synthesis. A favorite was Space Spartans and B-17 Bomber!

PRO
Synthiam
#10  

Beeeeeee seventeeeeeeeen baaaaaaalmer

ya the intellvision was my favorite. I hacked the inside and hooked up a pi to the original power supply. Had to swap the 7805 regular with a 1084 to give it proper power. Then I used arduino micros to make the controllers usb devices. Then I also bought the keyboard and hacked that with an arduino micro as well so it’s detexted as a regular computer keyboard

the emulator I use is in retro pi. Have every rom downloaded from archive.org. It’s pretty wild

#11  

Oh right the Emulators do work on my computer but many times have spyware for windows versions. Still I can recall playing Tron Deadly Discs for many hours a day, I'll destroy those red dudes with the shock sticks some day again!

#12  

Hi All, I have the same LattePanda 2GB/32GB. this is a question using LattePanda with Ez_robot Servos. I got a servo to work adding a horizontal servo control on the Arduino header using pins 5 volt, Ground, and D4 (on the Panda board). When I make the servo go through its range (min max) and do it as fast as I can (like you did in the video) seems to respond well, no issue. I added a Interface builder control in F1 workspace and made a horizontal slider. connected it to D4 and if I move the slider control from the PC F1 workspace (slowly) left right seems to work well. if I move the slider quickly) the screen blacks out and the Panda shuts down. power it up and all is back on the Panda as normal. I updated Windows from 1607 (panda default) to 1803 and same thing. Happens every time. Is it related to Beta ARC 6/25/2019 bug , or I have the Panda hooked up to servos incorrectly? How DO you hook up EZ servo to Panda? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks! P.S. Awesome EZ robot products and Dj's and community are the the best out there.

#13  

Oh by the way, along with the way I hooked up the servo and the issue I found with the LattePanda in a previous post, and presuming it was correct way (ground, 5v, and D4 on header) how would you go about adding, say, the max (12) for the Panda (according to Synthiam info)?  I do not see enough 5v and grounds. I guess you would tie them all together someway and put the data pins in their respective D0-D14 header slots? I guess I'm pretty transparent that I am newbie to all this! LOL.

PRO
Canada
#14  

I think you are likely experiencing a brown out when the servo is moving fast. The servo likely draws too much current specifically when changing directions quickly and this brings the supply voltage low enough to reset the Latte Panda.

I would recommend powering the servos externally, which can be done with jumper wires and external battery or power supply. Just make sure you match the voltage rating for the servos you are powering to be within their specifications.

#15  

Thanks jeremie. so I guess using the Panda to run servos can’t be done then unless you are using a secondary power source. Too bad as I would have hoped that you could use the panda as a sole controller for robots. Running ARC, a camera and one servo apparently is too much for the panda.    If anyone has any info on using EZ robot servos like to run JD I’d like to hear about it.

PRO
Canada
#16  

I know my wording about an external power supply could be a bit confusing but it doesn’t necessarily mean a secondary supply. It just means that you should bypass the power coming through the Panda regulator, you can still use a single supply you just need to make sure to stay with the servo voltage specifications.

PRO
Synthiam
#17   — Edited

Buy the latte panda servo shield that I posted earlier and provide it adequate power. Servos require plenty of amps because they’re motors. Watch the live hack video for the latte panda and you’ll see servos were controlled fine if provided adequate power

#18   — Edited

Wow that TightVNC program was a great suggestion,that will even save some money when all those extra connections no longer needed on the Latte Panda! Too bad about the low res HDMI problem though.

#19  

So I did finally order the Latte Panda upgraded model with the 4 Gig ram and I noticed the awesome sensor pack they sell at the DF robot site, so thinking later I will get that with the upgrade shield for servos and sensors, sounds like fun times ahead!`

United Kingdom
#20  

@robo rad

I’m thinking in getting a Latte Panda for my InMoov, what’s the Latte Panda upgraded model??

#21  

cem, it is the same version 1.0 Latte Panda but just has double the Ram at 4 Gig instead of 2 Gig and double the storage memory at 64 Gig instead of the basic 32. I also ordered the extra 7" display panel that can fit on my robot's chest. An additional touch overlay can also go on top of the display to make it just like a touch tablet.Oh yes and the clear acrylic case to protect the panda but still see any indicator lights through .

#22  

Hi all, Thanks to Jeremie and Dj for the advice they gave. I got the Gravity IO expansion board that breaks out to a full Arduino Leonardo, got a 7.4 LIPO (2200mah), DC 2.1 barrel jack (for easy connection to the board/LattePanda), and tried the horizontal slider for the servo i had trouble with. No issues. I switched the servos back and forth fairly quickly and no issues/brown out/restarts of the Panda. I got a pretty good size heatsink from an old server and used the Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste between the chips and the heatsink with fan. Using ARC, and some servos I can keep the Panda around 44 - 52 degrees Celsius. Under like 75% CPU utilization plus, The heat was high, but never exceeded 65-70 Celsius. So not too bad heat, I think. I got a 5 inch HDMI screen to use for some other projects, etc. for l any other robots as small as possible. I want to use the Panda on DJ's Darth Vader so that I can output voice through Clownfish or something to automatically give the Darth Vader voice to a Pandorabot chat. That way he will sound like Darth on the fly, instead of premade sound files. This setup opens up a whole bunch of possibilities. And as DJ said I find Windows a little easier to navigate instead of Linux (I know guys Linux rules! LOL). Plus some other Arduino connectivity now that I have the IO expansion board. Anyway any other forward movement I make on this I will keep you all posted if interested. Thanks again guys!

#23   — Edited

Hello DJ Sures and forum....

allow me to present you after many years of working with EZ-B micro controllers (from EZ-B V1&2 to EZ-B v4 ) my 95cm  Services Robot TALOS!! It is a movement Services robot with many sensors with 7 inch ips lcd. Also it can  speak Greek!!! ( i am Greek!)

At first i want to share some photos and a small video...

As always, your opinion is usefull

User-inserted image

TALOS CLICK

#24  

@sakis33 this robot looks awesome, is it 3d printed? It looks like you are having a ton of hardware build in!! You should open a new post with your robot idea, to make a showcase of its functionality and to keep the forum organized! This way your robot will be more easy to find for other members of this forum!!:)

PRO
USA
#25  

I'm curious as to the various flavors of the Panda. I see another one listed as Alpha and Delta. They seem to be a bit more powerful with each version.....more RAM and different CPUs. I cant seem to find if there is an  Arduino on the alpha and deltas...anyone know?

PRO
USA
#26  

Quote:

I cant seem to find if there is an Arduino on the alpha and deltas...anyone know?
Yes Arduino Leonardo.

User-inserted image

PRO
USA
#27   — Edited

Thanks Pedro! Seems some of the hardware like the 10 inch touch screen don’t work with these versions.:(

#28  

Might use these on my android build!

PRO
Synthiam
#29  

Will - i think any touch screen with USB would work. The USB driver would be supported by the OS - and this case, Microsoft Windows. I don't know of any USB device that doesn't have a windows driver:D. Unless the touch screen is connected via I2C or something.... If it's USB, it'll work with the latte panda or anything running Windows.

PRO
USA
#30  

Yeppers! That post was from last summer. I got a 10 inch touch screen and works great with the Panda. I’ll be installing everything in episode 5!

United Kingdom
#31  

Will, I think when you were looking for a 10 inch touch screen for the Panda you found it hard to get one that was touch screen?

Which one did you buy in the end, is it for the Latte Panda with the special video cable, or the standard HTML video connector, or both?

I have a 7 inch touch screen on my Inmoov for the Latte Panda with standard HTML connector, but it’s so hard and frustrating to use the touch screen accurately due to the size of screen, and I have small fingers!!

I’m thinking of replacing it with a 10 inch touch screen and really wished I brought the 10 inch screen in the first place.

PRO
USA
#32   — Edited

Yes I am very happy with this version. I got the 7 inch first and agreed I just could not see or touch the screen very well. This one has:  HIGH RESOLUTION - The 10.1 inch IPS touchscreen LCD monitor with high resolution of 1280×800 pixels. PLUG AND PLAY - Just connect the control board and the screen by an HDMI cable and it can work immediately no driver. here is the link:

10 inch touch display

United Kingdom
#33  

Thanks Will, that’s the one I’ve been looking at ( SunFounder ), the only issue is it’s 12v powered, which would mean I would have to rethink my whole power system on my Inmoov, not a massive issue, but would require extra work!

#34  

@CEM, what is your main power voltage? You can simply use a boost or buck converter just in front of the display. Eiser then redoing your power grid.

United Kingdom
#35  

Dave, I only run my Inmoov from battery as I don’t want it tied via cable to a mains socket. l have a 7.4v @ 4amps running the 3x EZB controllers, power amp, and a DC to DC converters for the 5v supply for the latte panda and touch screen. And have a 6v 12.5amps lead acid battery powering the Servos. I could use a DC to DC converter as you suggested on the 7.4v rail to supply 12v for the screen, but with only 4 amps running the Panda, Power audio Amplifier, 3x EZBs and Screen it won’t last long before I will have to recharge.