
rgordon
Here is how I hooked up the SparkFun FTDI (USB to TTL) Adapter in place of the Bluetooth module that sits on top of the EZ-B.
1. I very carefully removed the Bluetooth module from the EZ-B by using a small flat blade screw driver to pry it up. The double sided tape eventually let loose from the IC Chip and I pulled the module free from the EZ-B header .
2. I used the male jumpers that I got from the EZ Robot Store to hook up the FTDI header to the EZ-B header.
VCC to VCC <- EDIT: Found out this connection is not needed.
GND to GND
Tx to Tx
Rx to Rx
(Yes that's right Tx to Tx and Rx to Rx. I thought it should be Tx to Rx and Rx to Tx but that did not work.)
3. I hooked the SparkFun Mini-B cable from the FTDI board to the ASUS Mini ITX motherboard.
4. I powered up the EZ-B using a battery pack and then powered up the ASUS Mini ITX motherboard.
5. Windows 7 Home Edition (64 Bit) informed me that it could not find a driver so I let it search the internet.
6. It eventually found, loaded and installed a "FT232 USB UART" diver and assigned it to COM 7.
7. I started EZ-Builder, chose COM 7 and clicked on Connect. The EZ-B blue LED went from blinking to solid blue and all looked good. I hooked a servo to D0 and tested its operation with good results.
Notice anything interesting in the picture above?..... When I unhooked the battery pack from the EZ-B the EZ-B remained on. It was being powered from the Mini ITX. Connection was not lost. The blue LED remained on. However, I found that the servo would not work anymore until I hooked the EZ-B battery pack back up.
<- EDIT: Found out the VCC to VCC connection is not needed.
I have now removed the VCC connection between the EZ-B and the FTDI.
Without the VCC line from the FTDI connected you will still be able to communicate no prob, as long as the GND to GND connection is being made the RX/TX logic will reference the same GND reference when grounds are shared.
Thanks for the tutorial! This is a question that comes up in the forums/support quite often.
Nice tutorial, this will come in handy. And good job on the links
Thanks
Alan
j
What drivers have i to use?