Yeah, Alan’s got it. It all comes down to the amount of data that could be carried over a serial connection. The key word is serial - the data flows one bit at a time. The advantage to having multiple ezbs when requiring more ports is ARC is multitasking so commands are sent to each ezb at the same time. This way the number of ports doesn’t weigh down the communication.

One uart ttl per ezb and voila!

I just bought an amazon basics usb hub last week for $7 Canadian - that’s like 35 cents usd

This is brilliant. THANK YOU!

Okay, I am not looking for the cheapest solution, but I found this on Amazon. Would this work?

Yep, that one should work. I know Will has used that one (or similar) with a direct connection to the EZ-B Camera.

I just don't know how the USB-to-Serial drivers are for that chip in particular. I've had troubles with prolific chips in the past. Maybe Will can offer some advice when it comes to the driver, it could just be built into windows but I doubt it. The unit might come with a driver CD though.

I can chime in here for sure. The Prolific is both recognized by windows 10 and you can download software and drivers from their website. The software will allow you to choose the max data rate. The one I have is 12m/sec max baud.

@fxrtst

In reference to my post #19, the USB to TTL serial cables that I listed has 4 wired leads (+5V, GND, RXD and TXD). Is that sufficient? I do see some with six lead wires (GND, CTS#, 3.3v, TXD, RXD and RTS#).

Also... Is this the driver set you recommend? http://www.prolific.com.tw/admin/Technology/GetFile.ashx?fileID=232

I used my prolific to turn the EZ camera into a serial/usb Camera. I’ve not used it to connect the EZB to a computer. For that I used the ossep FTD-01. And it’s only 4 wires not 6 and 3.3 and 5 volts user selectable. I have one in all my robots, never had an issue.

And yes I believe that is the download site for prolific.

@fxrtst

I was hoping you could answer this question. I have two EZ-B v4 on hand without the EZ-B v4/2 Comm Upgrade and was wondering if the upgrade was necessary if I am going down the path of utilizing the USB to TTL serial cables? Is there any advantage of using the v4/2 with a direct USB connection?

Note that I did order one EZ-B v4/2 as well as a EZ-B v4/2 Comm Upgrade kit last month and I am waiting for delivery, however if there is no advantage of using the upgrades with a direct USB to TTL connection, then I can begin working on my bots.

If you follow the instructions for usb conversion and the software is missing an option, then you need a firmware upgrade.

Here’s the link to instructions: https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/Lesson/76