Asked — Edited

Help For New User

I am purchasing the EV.B v4 controller and plan to use it for robots I make using my servos and mechanical parts (not from EZ). I downloaded the software and I'm trying to learn what it can do for me. I saw the JD example, containing actions and frames someone has prepared .I create a new project, but , despite the many helps and tutorials, I can't find how to create my own actions and frames and make them work. I must learn to do a very simple thing: make some servos move in a specific way , by frames and actions prepared by me. It's probably a trivial question for you expert users ! Thanks for your answer.


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PRO
Synthiam
#1  

Hi, welcome to the forum.

There is a ? (question mark) next to every (x) close button. The control in question is the Auto Position. Add the Auto Position and press the ? question mark to view its help. There are also tutorials on that page which will explain in further detail.

Here is a direct link to the Auto Position control help: https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/Help.aspx?id=180

Rather than using google, it will be more productive to use the LEARN section and ? (question marks) on this website and in the software. You will find the ez-robot.com website is tailored to the ez-robot products, such as the ez-b, etc.. When you view a manual page by pressing the ? (question mark) on the control, you can scroll down on that page for additional tutorials and videos. Enjoy!:)

*note: assistance required removed from this thread

#2  

Of course I have read the tutorials about the auto positioner and the helps in the software. But I didn't see anything about creating frames and actions and how to use them in my project . Please help.

#3  

Hi DJ Sures, I haven't yet the EZ-Bv4 here , it was ordered but not yet delivered I'm only testing the software. Perhaps the PC needs to communicate with it to work and do what is described in the tutorial ? Without it it doesn't work ?

#5  

thanks, but when I add the control "servo" and "auto position" I get the small screen named "autoposition" . I'd expect a larger image with my already designed robot (now my project is only 4 servos standing alone ) and buttons named "frame" "action", " settings" , "90" in the servo boxes", etc. as in the tutorial. But I don't get such screen and nothing else happens or can be done in the AutoPosition small screen. I don't have the EZ-Bv4 here (it's not yet delivered). Is it necessary to connect it to make the software work or can I test the software without it ?

PRO
Belgium
#6  

can you post a pic so others can see what you mean. screenchot ARC whit autopositioner showing.

#7  

You don't need to connect the EZ-B to start, but without being able to see the servos move, it is difficult to do auto-positions.

You need to have a robot image in your project if you want a picture of the robot in the auto-position window. The window will auto-size to fit the image.

Sorry I can't give step by step directions right not, but I am at work and just taking a short break, but hopefully that will point you in the right direction.

Alan

#8  

Alan , I do have a simple designed robot image in my project (4 EZ servos standing alone and connected to 4 ports in the EZ). My Auto Position window is empty. What must I do to have that image in my Auto Position window? Leonardo

#10  

Hi ,nomad 6R I created, with "design" a simple image with 4 servos. I have an empty Auto Position window, but no window like the one you sent .How can I make it appear ?

PRO
Belgium
#11  

click on the gear left ubove.

User-inserted image

#12  

My Auto Position window is different ! The left side ("stop" , arrows, etc.) is missing. Instead , I have the gear button at the top right side. It works ! Now I have the window with my design . I can try to create frames and actions. Perhaps I'll ask for more information. Thanks.

PRO
Synthiam
#13  

There is nothing more that can be said in this thread which isn't in the Auto Position manual. All manuals and tutorials can be accessed by pressing the ? Question mark button next to the x of each control.

The control you are looking for assistance with has its manual page here: https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/Help.aspx?id=180

What you will need to do is watch the videos. If you do not watch the videos, nothing more can be written. The videos demonstrate how to use the auto position. If you do not watch the videos, unfortunately we cannot assist you.

Trust me, watch the videos and it will be clear to you. If you do not use the educational material available to you that we panestakenly created, there's nothing a response in the forum can do to assist.

Again, the tutorial page for the Auto Position control is here: https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/Help.aspx?id=180

You can access all manual pages by pressing the question mark next to the x on all controls.

Also, there are help bubbles all over the software to hover your cursor on. Those are there for your assistance.

#14  

There are two versions of AutoPosition. The one Nomad shows is the AutoPosition with Movement, and is used for walking robots like JD or Six. It allows you to build frames and actions to create "gaits" for walking that are then controlled with movement commands (the arrows, scripts, keyboard arrows or a game controller). It is found in the Movement Panel section.

You can add non-gait frames and actions in the same panel, or have a separate one just for your other animations.

Alan

PRO
Belgium
#15  

there are two auto positions windows .small and big one. avery window has an ? mark when you click on thatyou get the , explanation.and the gear mark is to get in the window.

#16  

Thanks everyboby. It was precious information. I understand what DJ Sures says, and greatly appreciate the effort made in providing helps and tutorials. Believe me, I studied with attention the tutorials, but not always I was able to obtain the result. But I learned , in many years' experience (I began when computers were entire buidings, not chips) that three words by an expert may be more efficient than many pages of documentation. Leonardo

PRO
Synthiam
#17  

I guess those three words would be "read the manual":). Haha, joking aside - there are a few videos on that page. And they are each beneficial because they approach the process from a different angle (not visually).

The picture in the background of your robot is just a reference for you to place the servos.

Place servos by pressing the add button. You will find all the assistance needed in the videos and on the manual page:) trust me, once you get it, it'll be so simple. Mostly people come to ezrobot and overly complicate things because everything else out there is super difficult to use. So new users assume we're equally as complicated - later to find holy geez, ezrobot really is easy.

#18  

When I knew about EZ I realized at once it had to be a powerful and easy-to-use instrument . No doubts about that. But , as every new instrument, you have to become familiar with every detail. If you miss a detail, you may stop and don't go forward any more. It's impossible to put in a tutorial any specific situation a new user might meet. Some things may be obvious for the guy who wrote the tutorial, but not for me. I'll go on reading the tutorials and watching the videos, but sometimes I'll have to ask somebody for help. Leonardo

#19  

please can someone help about the control "microphone" ? I added the control and settings, but when i push "record" the button changes color,(until I push), but nothing seems to happen. I don't see any valid help or tutorial .

PRO
Belgium
#20  

when press button it becomes green,then you speak ,when stop speaking press , repeat button you hear what you have said thru ezbv.

User-inserted image

PRO
Synthiam
#21  

You don't have an ezb. Wait until you have a car before you can learn to drive.

If you had an ezb, pushing record would record the audio, as common sense expects. The audio would be played out of the ezb when stop is pressed.

Without an ezb, the software can't do anything.

Lastly, I do not believe that you have been following the instructions repeated here, or in the software manual. There is a question mark next to the x close button. Pressing the question mark on any control will bring you to the manual page for that control. If you press the question mark on the microphone control, it brings this page: https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/Help.aspx?id=198

There is more than enough information and tutorials on that manual page which explains the microphone. It also explains that you need an ezb because it mentions where the audio would come from.

please consult the manual pages by pressing be question marks in the future. By asking questions here which are already in the manual will only get you links to the manual.

PRO
Belgium
#22  

oh he dont have an ezbv4 yet.

#23  

Hi, guys. I'm awaiting delivery of EZB. Meanwhile I'm exploring the sotware. Before driving a car I had studied the signals. I'm doing the same thing. I tested speech syntesis, and it worked without EZB. I thought I could record and playback through the PC micro and speaker.

PRO
Belgium
#24  

leonardo yes you can see pic. below hope dilivery come soon.

PRO
Belgium
#25  

i just turn it otherwise.

soundboard pc is the one you need

User-inserted image

#26  

@nomad,

That isn't what he was asking about. He was trying to use the Microphone object. That one requires an EZ-B because it records what you say from the PC microphone and then immediately speaks it through the EZ-B speaker, just like DJ already answered.

Soundboard is for playing MP3 or other sound files, and yes, there are two, one for playing from the PC and one for the EZ-B.

Alan

PRO
Synthiam
#27  

If something says "EZB" then you need an EZB. An EZ-B is the item that you had ordered, so without it, anything that says it uses the EZ-B will not be useful. The control in question is the Microphone, and the manual can be viewed by pressing the ? question mark next to the X close button. Here is a direct link for your convenience: https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/Help.aspx?id=198

If any control mentions the EZ-B, such as the microphone, it cannot be used without an EZ-B. If a control mentions the PC speaker, it will be used by the PC speaker and not the EZ-B. The manual exclusively mentions the control. The manual page will be very useful for you to read for each control.

PRO
Belgium
#28  

darn how can i missed that.thanks for corection.

PRO
Synthiam
#29  

Also, keep in mind that if something says PC, it may also mention ezb because it sends data or receives from the ezb.

In short, the software is designed for the ezb.

PRO
Belgium
#30  

i wouldn though off that.thats what i like about ARC,you learn avery day something.

#31  

Thanks everybody . Few words by one (or more) experienced guys are often more effective than reading tutorials and trying to guess what the writer wanted to say. That's "team work". I love it.

#32  

hi guys, I'm trying to use ARC in another PC. I need an account to access EZ cloud, but in this PC I get an error: "the underlying connection was closed: could not establish trust relationship, etc,,,," I haven't any idea about the meaning of this message, and what to do . No tutorial or help found for this !

PRO
Belgium
#33  

try using same account as you have here but on the other pc then. when you can login there download ARC from there to.

#34  

Looks like an SSL certificate chain issue. What version of Windows are you running? Windows 7 is minimum. Make sure you have the latest dotnet installed and have updated windows with all important and critical updates.

Also try Uninstalling and reinstalling ARC.

In future, better to start a new thread fir new issues with better discription in the subject. Like instead of "help for new user" something like "error logging onto EZ Cloud". But don't start a new thread now that we are discussing it here.

Alan

#35  

Yes Alan, it says"could'n't estalish trust relationship for the SSL/TLS secure channel". The 2nd PC I'm trying to use was not used for a long time, has win 7, and probably has not been updated. I am updating it and then going to try again.

#36  

I've updated, but it was not possible to load all updates. At a certain point I got a message from microsoft: "not possible to search for new updates" " win update unknown error, code 80072F8F" ! God knows what's going on. The EZ error is still there. I

#38  

the 2nd PC has been off for one year and needs fixing and installing a lot of updates. A hard work ! but it's not necessary ! I saw that the date set was wrong (last year !). I set the right date and now the EZ error is fixed ! I didn't think a date was so important . Thank for your advice.

Meanwhile, i discovered EZ SCRIPTS. That's an extremely powerful specialized robot- programming language . With that you can easily do everything! To do such things with basic or assembly in a PIC MCU (like I used) would be much more complex! I need to understand a detail about that. I tried putting the script "say("hello") in Actions window (edit script), I saved it , and clicking" run" i have heard the speech. But when I execute the action containing the script ( Auto Position window), I see "done", but don't hear anything. What have I missed ?

#39  

Scripts are typically not done in autopositions (although you can attach a script to them, that is not the best way to learn about them). Using a script object or the scriot manager object (which can hold many scripts) is the place to start.

Alan

PRO
Synthiam
#40  

You don't have a ezb. You don't hear anything until you get an ezb. The Auto Position won't run to run the scripts because there is no ezb.

Please reference my earlier responses about needing an ezb.

PRO
Synthiam
#41  

Also, it's a good idea to help by reminding you to use the learn section when you do get the ezb. There are activities: https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/Course/6

Once you look at that link, there is information about ARC, ezscript, and even how to access the hundreds of example projects.

#42  

I experimented many issues without EZB. It's a great instrument ! It's time to close this thread . I'll open a new one when I have the ezb. Thanks to JD, Alan, Nomad for helping to enter the ez world.

I hate Hobbyking, giving little information on the status of delivery. They say "supplied" and give a tracking number that always says " not able to track at the moment" . No answer to my requests to Hobbyking contact center.

Does somebody know some FAST (and cheap) way to get the ezb? I might even order another one.

#43  

Buy directly from the online store here... If it is in stock you usually get it pretty quick...

United Kingdom
#44  

Ordered on a Thursday online, at my door on a Tuesday here in the UK.

Think thats says alot about the speed of delivery from the Online shop.

Well Done EZ-Robot

PRO
Synthiam
#45  

Great to hear:)

Thanks for the feedback with hobby King. I will have our account manager notify them for suggested improvements.

Most companies ship with postal service, not an accelerated service such as dhl. Those generic postal services do not provide much tracking either. I'm suffering from that right now. I ordered a package from sain Robotics beginning of April and their support continually repeats "wait another 5-7 business days". 2 months to receive a package is terrible.

#46  

Dj Sures, It's hard to wait ! I NEED my EZB ! Hobby king use a shipper located in Singapore (!) called "Speedpost" (they should change name !)

Ordering in UK is great . I often had the parcel the following day ! Immediate tracking, with airplanes going London to Frankfurt, to Venice and to Rome in a single night. But I didn't find the Ezb there, or the price was much higher.