I would be happy to do the "Multiple EZ-B's" one, but to do it justice, I'll have to put a good bit of time into the DHCP running in client mode bug and working around it, so if/when the bug is fixed, I'll need to edit the tutorial. I'll cover the basics first, and then add the "if it doesn't work, this is what is happening" section, so it will be easy to just remove the additional info.

Alan

Awesome! I think I'll bump that one up to $25.

I'd like to do the tutorial on Files.

BTW, Hi James! Are you new at EZ-Robot?

@JustinRatliff James worked last year for ez robot and now this year too. So he's not new...

@James Graham Hu... I would like to do UART and looping if that works for you?

Nice!

I was here last winter for my first coop term, but then left for the summer to go back to school. I'm back for another few months for my second coop term.

Just saw your post @Richard R. Sounds good!

I would be happy to do the "speech recognition" and "connection servo speed/init script" tutorials. I have a speech recognition tutorial partially wrirtten up so both won't take to long to compose and post.

Steve. :)

Thanks Steve :)

No worries James.

I had a thought a while back about doing a Pandorabot control tutorial if you think it would help, as there isn't much documentation on it explaining how to set up a bot, setting up a bot to be used with ARC, or dirfferent examples of using script or Cheat Sheet commands with AIML files in different ways. I could make a tutorial with some video demos and pictures as well as a step by step write up. I think it might be useful for some members.

What do you think?

That would be awesome! I'll add it to the list.

I second James' vote. I would love to see a Pandorabot tutorial.

@WBS.

No worries. I'll make a start on it hopefully this weekend. ;)

@James.

If there is no other takers, I can write up a ADC tutorial too. I have a coiplenif simple examples I can use and turn in to a tutorial.

@Steve... jeez dude if you are that hard up for store credits I can give you some of mine... Ez Robot is graciously offering store credits for tutorials try not to milk it will ya'.... You can do my tutorials if you are are really that hard up.... :P

Alright, ADC tutorial for Steve G! You're gonna be rollin in the ez-credit :D

@Richard.

How did I know I was going to hear from you. I'm not trying to "Milk" anything, and no, I'm not hard up for anything. There is an offer to help the community and I have some time in my hands and would like to help. I think that I have explained my self before in regards to answering questions whether there is store credit on offer or not, and I'm getting a bit sick and tired of explaining myself or being hit with sarcastic comments from the likes of you. I do it to help like others have helped me, and to learn as well.

There is a list of tutorials that EZ Robot would like to have, so knowing that, and being that there are subjects I now have a good knowledge of, and I would do these whether there was credit on offer or not (did I you get that, because I'm not saying it again). I thought you would know that by now. I've been a forum member for long enough now and posted enough comments for you to hopefully realise that. I like to think of myself as a generioous and helpful person, and I visit the forum to enteract and enjoy it. I have posted information and answers here and in personal emails in order to help people, and I neither asked or expected anything in return.

I've bit my tongue long enough now so I've got to say this. I don't know what I have done to upset you or tick you off, but for months now you either don't respond to questions or comments I have put to you, and when you do, you mostly seem to be sarcastic or "der, didn't you know that?" kind of comments, and not just to me, but some other members too. Before you used to talk to me respectfully then for whatever reason that stopped. Whatever it has I done to upset you, then I apologise (although for the life of me I don't know why I should as I don't know what I have done). Whatever it was, for goodness sakes, speak up and tell me.

So I think I have made myself clear and I hope you get where I'm coming from now. This was a nice friendly thread asking for help and you have turned it sour with your "Gees"comment. Do you know what, I like you dude. I think you seem to be a decent guy (or at least I did), so why the sarcastic and negative towards me, and others too? I've got enough crap going on in my life without having to put up with it here too. That way I come here, to take my mind off of things.

BTW, on the ADC tutorial post... if you bother to read it again, I did say "if there are no other takers".

EDIT:

Also, I asked about the new tutorial section here and here a while ago (weeks before ANY credit was on offer) as I had some tutorials already partially written up for this section, which is something not easy for me to do as it takes me 5 or 6 times longer to write than the average person who hasn't have to put up with reading or writing difficulties all their life, but I was more than happy to do anyway.

@James.

Sorry James. Something had to be said. Anyway, thank you. I'm happy to help.

Wow great initiative everyone. Thanks for kick starting this idea, James. I'm super stoked!

Those who have said they will do the EZ-Script based ones, feel free to delve in to This topic which covers ADC, variables, loops etc. The syntax may need checking since I'm sure there have been updates since posting it, and new functions added since posting it, but it holds a lot of info that you may find helpful.

Some of my other tutorials touch on some of the above too, If/The/Else touches on goto/return loops.

Tip: If you search the forum for terms used in those required tutorial titles you will more than likely stumble across a post or posts I've written explaining things to someone. i.e. I've often explained parts of I2C such as addressing or daisy chaining multiple devices. You're free to use that to gain yourself some store credit.

Edit: And my Ping Roam, it's fully commented and there's a topic somewhere which even has my hand written notes. There's some valuable insight in there.

I would love to jump in on this to help others but I dont have much time lately. On the arduino controlling a neopixel ring, a read of THIS thread shows the sample code, along with the pinouts from an arduino to the neopixel. The serial commands to make the code work are also in this thread. If someone wants to write a tuto for it, I would start there. The arduino can handle 3.3 v serial from the EZ-B V4 without any issue. There is no communication back from the arduino to the EZ-B V4 so there is no need for a 5v to 3.3v logic level converter if you use the UART port on the V4. If you use the digital pins on the V4 for the serial communication, there is also no need for a logic level converter.

While writing this tutorial, the one for Serial communication can also be done.

I would suggest a tutorial on using an H Bridge (although there are multiple great threads on this), a sabortooth and a sabortooth/kangaroo combo.

I would also suggest a tutorial on using a car parking sensor for range measurement, using a LIDAR with the V4 and something as simple as explaining Amps vs Volts and how to know how many Amps your project is going to pull so that you can size the battery. Another one going over different types of batteries and their benefits/downsides would be great. Maybe one on how to choose a suitable power supply for your project would be good also.

Anyway, I would love to contribute to this but my time is very limited lately.

There's already a great, detailed, extremely well explained tutorial for H-Bridges here.

I should have looked into it more. I knew you had a lot of information out on them as I have looked at them many times for information. I haven't looked at it in a while and it didn't occur to me to check first to see if it was in that format. Thanks Rich.

Added to this list Thanks for the suggestions :)

@James. I have created a tutorial on Connecting a Neo Pixel Ring to the EZBv4. I don't feel right taking any money for it as all I did was summarize this thread - https://synthiam.com/Community/Questions/6767.

There were many contributors to the thread that ultimately got everything working correctly - Myself and others have benefited from their input. Perhaps put the money towards another tutorial you would like to see done.

I'm not going to write a tutorial unless I get $30 in EZ Credits. mad

Just kidding all. I'd love to help but am overwhelmed right now with higher priority things happening in other parts of "MY"life. After all, it's all about me, right? When I get some time in a few months I'll try to do one on the Sabertooth/Kangaroo. However there are so many ways to use these boards in combo and there's a few different Sabertooth boards (yes, some Sabertooth boards are different then others and not only in the amps they can handle). I've only really just got a hang of setting it up and using it in Independent / position mode and parts of the DeScribe software. I could just do a basic tutorial on the differences I know about each Sabertooth, the FACT that the Kangaroo will work with all Sabertooths (despite the documentation saying it won't work with the 5 amp version), how to hook it up, what it needs to run properly, how to get into the DeScribe software and some of the setting I understand. That much would get people going in the right direction. However, sadly I can't see myself doing this till the the end of this year. :(

Thanks @bhouston!

@Dave Schulpius, I can mark you down for those tutorials.

Hey James, I am new here, just joined 10 mins ago. I am going with Battery choices (Different types of batteries and what to use them for) - $20. Can I get some references or link to the tutorials created by others.......... :)

@Ravdeep.

If you click here, it will take you to the tutorials home page where you can view all of the tutorials made by fellow community members.

BTW, welcome to the forum. :)

Thanks @Ravdeep. I've marked you down

Hey James.

Just a quick note to let you know that the tutorials are now written up, and have gone live ;). It took me a bit longer than I thought it would as my reading and writing are not so great, so the proof reading took ages. Anyway, I hope that they are okay and are the sort of things you and DJ were looking for.

Speech Recognition Tutorial.

Using ADC (Analog to Digital) Ports, Commands, and Controls.

Setting INIT servo speeds and Initialization Scripts.

Pandorabot Tutorial.

I also wrote up a tutorial on, well, how to make a tutorial. Hopefully members like our new friend @Ravdeep will find it useful. Check it out and see what you think.

How to Make an EZ_Robot Tutorial.

Writing the tutorials also took a lot longer than i initially thought, as I kinda got carried away and wrote some more. They were mostly information I already had posted in the forum which I have edited, added pictures, added tutorial links in the YouTube videos, and reformatted them to go with the new tutorial style. I'm not expecting any store credit for these, I just figured that someone, sometime will find them useful.

Cepstral Voice Effects.

Flex Sensors with an ADC Port.

Fixing Speech Synthesis Problem with Windows 8.1.

A couple of thins I wanted to mention. When creating a "Details" page, when writing a title and brief description, when you select a thumbnailI, the title and description disappear. A way around it is to choose a thumbnail first then save the details. Then add the written content.

One other thing, when using multiple ">Greater than" and "Less than<" symbols in a script or multiple scripts in one step, after saving the details, it plays havoc with what is written and deletes some of the contents. You can use one set of symbols however. Just thought you might want to know. Apart from those little issues, the new tutorial section really is great.

I must admit, the tutorials were fun to do, and actually learned a couple of new things too. Anyway, I hope the tutorials are alright.

Steve. :)

Great Tuts Steve. Really indepth with the Pandorabot, learned alot. I'd like to see the Flex sensor tut expanded a bit to show how perhaps you can take the data and connect it to a servo to get the servo to move.

@Steve... you can do mine too... The UART and repeatuntil loops.... Just check with James....

Wow @Steve. Those are amazing! Thank you! I'll update your account with well deserved ez-credit. I can assign @Richard's tutorials to you if you would like @Steve.

@Will.

Thanks your comment. Hopefully someone will find them useful.

@Richard.

Thanks for the offer, but I don't really know very much about UART. If used it a few times for certian things, but don't know if it's enough for a tutorial. BTW, although I stand by most of what I said, I'm sorry for going off at you the other day. That came at the end of probably the worst day I've had this year.

@James.

I'm really pleased you like the tutorials. I wasn't sure if I covered enough on the different subjects, but put in pretty much all I know and examples of what I have used. And thanks for the extra credit. You didn't have to do that, but it is appreciated. I will put it to good use by maybe putting it towards a dev kit or something, and enter it in a charity raffle. I did it a while back and the ticket sales went towards epilepsy research at a school charity event. The dev kit made a boy and his dad very happy, and ther was so much interest that it generated a few sales as well, and I've helped these new customers with setting things up for them.

Anyway, back on point, I'd like to do the UART one, but like I said above, I'm not sure I know enough to make it a worthy tutorial. I'd like to take a stab at the amps/volts one though (unless someone else would like to do it), as myself and others have answered many questions about this very subject and have accumulated lots of info. I don't know what the max current rating of the signal pins are, and the Max amp draw is for the HD servos (inrush and while moving) are though, as a lot of the info posted in the forum so far seems to be speculative. The signal pins was mentioned somewhere in the forum, and Jeremie made a correction, but I can't find it now, and I could use a multimeter, but if I was to do the tutorial, I would prefer to use official figures.

I have a couple of other small tutorial ideas I'll post sometime, but again, I wouldn't want credit for these as its information I already have... somewhere. :)

@Steve G, Great idea doing a tutorial for making tutorials. Great job and it will be very useful.

I am getting ready to go on vacation (although it might get postponed again because my wife thinks she is coming down with a cold), so I plan on doing the Multiple EZ-B tutorial in about a week. Your tutorial I am sure will save me a good bit of time.

Thanks,

Alan

Thanks Alan. It's nice if you to say. I hoped it would come in useful to someone. Hope the missus gets well soon and you have your vacation. It's been so long, I forget what a vacation is, lol. Anyway, if you go, have a nice time. :)

@James.

I had an idea on the tutorial home page. Would it possible to add a new topic in the "Filter By Control" menu for non ARC subjects that don't use ARC controls? Things like the "Tutorial" one I made, and things like the "Battery" and "Power supply" ones for example, that don't use controls would be easier to search for. Just a thought. ;)

@Steve, I just checked your ADC one out (eventually I'll make it through them all - I still lurk I just don't post as much now...)

You referenced to a temperature sensor however, and this is just me being pedantic but the sensor shown is not analogue but serial. It's also one which has come up a few times due to it's cost being very low. To avoid people getting the wrong idea and incorrectly buying the combined temp/humidity sensor shown perhaps you could change it to a thermistor based sensor (or just a thermistor) which would be analogue and would work with the ADC ports.

Also, and I'm not 100% sure here since I don't have the time to check it out but o the V4, isn't 255 on the ADC a 3.3v signal not 5v signal? Hence the difference in value for V3/V4 on the multipliers for voltage? I may be wrong but something is in the back of my mind about the V4 being based on 3.3v not 5v.

@Rich.

Fair point about the temp sensor. I'll change that.

As for the 3.3v/5v, I was going with the analog read is 255 at 3.3v, but as its 5v tolerant I figured it would be the same. Would that be right?

Thanks for the input, as I obviously don't want to supply incorrect information, and will happily fix any errors. ;)

EDIT: I stand corrected. I see how that could be confusing. The max signal is indeed 3.3v, and the changes to the tutorial changes made. I should have said this in a previous post, if anyone notices anything that's incorrect, please let me know and I'll be more than happy to correct it.

Thanks again Rich.

I have done................James. Search "How to choose correct Battery(s)" or https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/UserTutorials/162/1

waiting for your valuable feedback and also any other suggestions . :)

nice tut @Ravdeep

Awesome, thanks @Ravdeep! I just noticed one formatting error here. (Not sure what's going on with the [/i] at the end)

Quote:

Choosing out of Uni or Multiple battery. How do you know if you need multiple batteries? Check the nominal voltage of each of the products you selected:[/i]

@Steve I'll let DJ know about your non-ARC subjects filter. Great idea!

@James.

Cool, thank you. Is it okay if I put my name in the hat for the "amps & volts one as I think I will pass on Richards offer for the UART one. I think he will do a much better job of it than I can.

Alright, I marked you down for Amps & Volts

Thanks James.

@Steve G,

For your amps and volts tutorial, Dave Schulpius gave a great analogy of water in a pipe in this thread https://synthiam.com/Community/Questions/7036&page=1 (post#10, 3rd paragraph) that I thought was useful enough that I bookmarked the page so I could refer to it in the future. The "how many volts/how many amps can x device use?" is one of the most asked questions on the forum. Would be great to have a tutorial on it.

Alan

@Alan.

Yeah the water analogy is a good one. @Rich had a great explanation of it too that helped me in my early EZ-Robot days. Thank you for the link, and I'll be sure to use it as its a great explanation, and is certainly something that needs to be addressed.

@James.

Can you ask Jeremie what the max amp limit is in the digital signal pins on the EZ-B (I think it's 20mA) and the HD servo inrush and running amp draw is please? Also the "other things" we discussed. ;)

Thanks.

It's 10mA Steve... The inrush as you call it depends on the servo you are using and the initial load it may or may not have on it. In other words it's not going to be a static value.. Are you sure you should be writing this tutorial? Maybe you have gotten over your head here....? But what do I know... :P

@Richard. Nah, I'm all good ;).

I just wanted to make sure about the signal pin (thanks for the info). I remember you said it was 20mA when I had a problem running an LED of digital ground and signal pins a few months back, but also remember that Jeremie said it was something else recently, but can't remember what it was.

The servo info I wanted to know was just the EZ-Robot HD servo on its own with no weight so I could use it as a comparison (I don't have any free to measure). Anyway your quote, "inrush as you call it", I thought the correct term for the power flow when a servo starts to move was called "inrush". Is that not correct? That is the term the rest of the industry uses, and the term everyone uses here too, including you.

Hey @Steve G, @RR is correct it's 10mA per digital pin.

No load, "running", current draw of our HD Servos is usually around 200mA.

"In rush" current is always higher than "running" current and appears as a large spike in current draw. "In rush" current is the instant demand of an electronic load (such as a servo) when first powering on (or being activated the first time.) As @RR mentioned, it is often load dependent. More load = more in rush current needed.

@Jeremie.

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it. I was aware about what inrush is (I've helped answer members questions about it in the past, explaining what it means), and that it would be a much higher figure than "running". I was hoping for a possible inrush figure with no load as I know people have asked about it before and thought it might be helpful.

Anyway, thanks again. :)

Sorry @Steve G, instantaneous "in rush" is very hard to capture as it happens so fast. I might be able to capture it with my oscilloscope but I'd have to sit down and figure out a way to do it.

Okay thanks Jeremie.

@James

Do you have a email address at EZ Robot. I need to contact you.

@James I'll check it out ".......[/i] error. confused btw inform me if you need any other work done like this :)

@James I am also doing "Arrrays (Explanation, functions) - $15" ......................will update you soon on this. :)

I'll take "Chinese pop culture" for 10 points... :)

I noticed the other day that my TIP based transistor switching circuit tutorial isn't marked as a tutorial. Perhaps that could be added to the list for a nice easy bit of store credit, everything is in the topic you just need to make it step by step. Feel free to use my images or make your own.

I wish I had the time and desire to do it myself but at the moment that's just not going to happen.

@Rich.

I'll do that for you. I don't want any store credit for it though, as the content is already there. It's just a case of reformatting it in to steps like you say, and it won't take me long. I'll do it over the weekend when I finish my Amp/volts one.

@James I also wanna do "Arrrays (Explanation, functions) - $15"..........................................and after that will also go with power supplies one. :)

@Ravdeep, I have marked you down for Arrays. @Herr Ball, send me an email at james@ez-robot.com

I got this one too @james.............................array one, actually its lil' advanced one. https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/UserTutorials/164/1

@Ravdeep.

I don't wish to come across as critical or anything, but when you post code, you should format it properly using the UBB codes.

Also, when you copy other people's work taken from another source, you should give the appropriate credit to the person who originally wrote the article...

www.cs.grinnell.edu/~weinman/courses/CSC161/2015S/modules/arrays-functions/labs/arrays.shtml

EDIT: The same applies for you battery tutorial as well (I thought it looked familiar)...

Original article

Using quotes, snippets and information is fine, but I think your tutorials should be your own work, not copy and paste an entire article from someone else.

He also should have did his code in ARC "scripting" instead of C.... Few people here will be able to use your code...@Ravdeep I would re do your tutorial using ARC scripting instead if I were you so more people can utilize it...

@Richard R and @Steve G , Actually I didn't stole anything and their is no reason for it. I just did it for the sake of making this community place a better one as everything here is well organised. But I am not gonna use it for my standing on the forum but this is for @James who I think so will be making tutorials from the data collected, btw if u guyz want that i should have permission from the original author then soon I will get that..............................even then if it is wrong with you then I will take down the tutorials myself and will also quit from here............... tired

@Ravdeep Please don't get discouraged. We all appreciate your efforts and contributions to this community. I for one have little experience with electronics and robots and need all the help I can get so please just keep compiling the data for tutorials and we can work out the credits and corrections after. Thank you for your help.

@Richard R and @Steve G You guys are the best !

@Ravdeep,

Personally, I don't care if you get discouraged and I don't care if I sound critical. I'm having a hard time believing this was an honest mistake. Passing off someone else's work as yours for profit or praise is dishonest and reprehensible in any civilized culture or to any decent person. Judging from your selfie avatar you look like you're old enough to know the difference. You didn't even do a good job of copying the articles you stole in an understandable format. It would have been better if you had just posted a link to the original tutorial that was so well written BY SOMEONE ELSE. I hope EZ Robot does not reward your effort to use other people's hard work and take EZ Robot's money. mad

@Dave.

Agreed. It's not vary fair in the rest of us who have spent hours or indeed days researching, testing, writing, sharing their "own" knowledge, and proofreading our original content, when someone comes along, spends 10 minutes copy and pasting and says "here's my work" when almost all the entire document is clearly C & P, and then ask to do more and expects to get the financial incentives that are on offer. The not being critical bit was a little bit of sarcasm from me as well have spent 4 days writing my current tutorial and was gobsmacked when I noticed this and the other one.

Besides @Ravdeep, you say you have done nothing wrong, but if your weren't so quick to copy the text from the arrays document, you would have seen the licence link explaining the terms and conditions of using that particular content. And to include @Richard R in your last post was also unfair, as what he actually said was absolutely correct in my book. Keep the content relevent to the EZ-Robot platform, not something else.

Maybe you should read the terms and conditions for using the EZ-Robot website, and maybe my tutorial too. Anyway, it's not for me or anyone else to tell you to take it down, that's down to the staff who at least know about it now.nif they wanted cut and paste articles, I'm sure they would have done it themselves and saved on paying out store credit. If you want to use other people's work, at least read it and then put it in your own words. You might even learn something too.

synthiam.com/Terms-of-Use.aspx

@Ravdeep After looking through the tutorials and this thread it is obvious that you did cut and paste from other peoples work for the sole purpose of getting easy credit. (Not Cool)

We need tutorials specific for the EZ Robot Community that apply to Easy Robot Products so that new users can understand how to build our Robots and have a place for reference.

What you did is unacceptable. The guys that are doing real tutorials have every right to be upset with you.

I didn't mean what u all r saying.................. I just tried to bring some info to this place. I don't die for the 10-20 dollars...Have some problem with mee. Go get me kicked outta here. I don't care,/.,

Well that went south fast.

Showed his true colours in the end.

Anyway, moving on. @Rich, your TIP120 122 tutorial is now up. No real changes made to it, just added to the description. If you want anything added or changed, let me know ;). Again, no credit for this please James.

TIP120 and TIP122 Transistor Switching Circuit Tutorial.

10/7/15: Joined EZ Robot 10/11/15: Quit EZ Robot 10/12/15: No loss

Don’t let the screen door hit you on the way out. If it was an honest mistake than I hoped you learned something.

SteveG is whipping the tutorials out like none other! I've got to get on mine. Any quick tips Steve or handy pointers for making a good tutorial?

I believe SteveG put out a tutorial about how to do a tutorial :)

Tutorials... Tutorial

@Justin.

A quick tip for making a tutorial, hmm let me think... cut 'n' paste dude, lol. Sorry, couldn't resist.

I don't know if you've seen it, but I wrote a Tutorial tutorial which might give you a few quick pointers. Basicly try to write them so everyone who has different ways of learning can hopefully understand and follow them. As you know, even if seems so obvious to you, it may not be for someone else. That's all I can really say. I'm sure whatever you come up with will be great.

I'd love to see them if you write any. :)

Thanks for catching that guys. @Steve, thanks for compiling the Tip120 & Tip122 Transistor Switching Circuit tutorial.

Hey James.

The "amps 'n' volts" tutorial is now live. I've added a few extra bits of info in it as well, as its all relevant as you will see.

@Dave. I used your water analogy that Alan mentioned and expanded on it a bit. I hope that's alright.

Amps, Volts, and Power Converters & Power Supplies.

After the shenanigans that took place over the "arrays" one, I had a crack at it myself and made it "relevant" to the EZ-Robot platform. I wrote it as how I understand what arrays are and how they are used, so I hope it's okay. I'm not really expecting credit for it as I felt I had to put something up that actually made sense to take the place of that other thing. I'm not sure if it's the sort of thing you were looking for, but anyhow, here it is...

Explanation and Uses of Arrays.

I also put another one explaining what the "Display Popup" plugin is and ways to use it. Hopefully someone will find it useful.

Display Popup Tutorial.

I had an idea for another tutorial that someone could have a go at, and that's for the "Sketch Pad" control. I know that Justin Ratliff and WBS0001 have dabbled with it, and I've had a play with the example in ARC and made some basic shapes, but there's a lot more it can do apparently. So if someone's got a real hang on it, a step by step tutorial with explanations of what the different values are, how to use them, and some working examples of what else it can be used for (apart from drawing shapes), I think would be great.

BTW, your welcome about the pointing out that plagiarism thing. After I saw the first one, alarm bells started to ring as I remembered reading it a few months back. Anyway, no probs about the TIP tutorial. Half hour of copy/past (lol) was all it took. Rich did all the hard work.

Steve, I'm honored you felt the water thing was good enough to use in your tutorial. Nice job on making it better. I love the job you've done on all the other tutorials. You've become quite an asset to our slightly dysfunctional family here. I hope you stick around for a while. :)

@Steve, great tutorial on amps/volts and power sources. One thing you might want to add, but would take some research is something on power dropoff curve. When I used to teach classes on GPS navigation, NiCD was still common and NiMH were just becoming available with decent mAh ratings. One of the things I talked about (other than the deadly environmental poison of Cadmium if you threw away instead of recycling your NiCDs) was that a pair of AA NiCDs would output 1.5 volts until they werw almost drained and then drop voltage to almost nothing in seconds, potentially leaving you lost, where NiMH would drop off steadily and predictably, giving lots of warning. They also held 90% of their charge in storage where NiCDs would start draining the minute you removed them from the charger. On the other hand, I never jad a NiMH last more than a year regardless of the number of charge cycles, but have used 10 year old NiCDs. I don't know the charecteristics of SLA or the new chemistry batteries, thus the need to research if you want to include this kind of information.

Alan

Thanks guys. That means a lot to hear that from you two. Hopefully I hopefully will be around for a while Dave, and Alan, I'll have a look in to what you mentioned. I will have a look around and try to draw some information on the drop off curve for the other batteries. Someone may just find it useful.

Anyway, thanks again guys. :)

Btw, a slightly delayed "HAPPY THANKSGIVING" to all of our Canidan friends.

Nice job @Steve. The array tutorial isn't exactly what I had in mind though. I was thinking more along the lines of the scripting side of arrays:

AppendArray( variable, value ) DefineArray( variable, size, [default value] ) FillArray( variable, default value) GetArraySize( variable )

What you already have is awesome though I think that first steps are a really good introduction on how arrays are structured. Do you think that you could include the scripting part of arrays at the end of the tutorial? If not I can always put it up as a separate tutorial for someone else to pick up. Maybe the two could link to each other.

Just wanted to pop in and say thanks! You guys have been doing amazing work on the tutorials. A special shout out to @Steve G who has gone above and beyond!

@James.

Lol, I think had a feeling the "arrays" one might need a bit more. Truth be told, I pretty much understand the concept of arrays, but have never used the array commands in ARC or have a clue of how to use them.

That being said, when I read your post earlier, I opened up ARC and had a good play around with the "Append Array" example for the first time. Sooo, I think I get it and I took some notes and made another step in the tutorial, including the other commands too. It's a pretty basic step and I think I got it right, so hopefully someone will find it useful. If you feel it needs more, it would probably best that someone who knows the commands better has a go.

Alan mentioned earlier about adding some extra info in to the "Batteries" section of the amp/volts one which I think would be a good idea, so I'll do a little research and add to it. There was some mention of battery discharge rates in the "other" tutorial, but I'll do some more research and add what I fine to mine.

@Jeremie.

Thanks buddy. That does mean a lot coming from yourself. I'm happy that I could contribute something that hopefully will help others (I remember my first days here, lol). Anyway, thanks again. ;)

SteveG! When did you steal Doc and Marty's Time Machine?

PopUp Tutorial: "Tutorial created on 12/10/2015" ;)

@Justin.

What, this one you mean...

Lol, I'm a little lost at what you mean though, unless it's because the date is formatted in the UK way?

Anyway, "Roads?" Where I live, I still use "roads". What happened to the flying cars we were promised? That was 2015 wasn't it? :P

@Steve Regarding "arrays", I have made once a short game for my little daughter.

It's an array text file containing words with comma separator.

The array has not more than 6 elements per line. The game script, extract the first line from the file and submit the first element to the player as a question "Yes or No"

Then depending of the answer, the script will navigate through the file to find the next logical question or affirmation to submit to the player.

Have a look at it, it might help to develop examples to your tutor

p.s. you will have to adjust the the 2 first lines of the script depending where you store the txt file.

The STL file https://synthiam.com/Community/EZCloud/Download.aspx?id=1318

Can not load the txt file. Here is the content. Just make a txt file with it.

Is it an animal,can it fly,is it a bird,it have green feders,can he talk,it is a parrot, Is it an animal,can it fly,is it a bug,it is multicolor,it was before a caterpillar,it is a butterfly, Is it an animal,can it fly,is it a bug,it is brown or black,it is small,it is a fly, Is it an animal,can it swim and walks,it is black and white,he loves fish,it is a penguin, Is it an animal,can it walk,it have four legs,is it tall,it can roar,it is a lion, Is it an animal,can it walk,it have four legs,is it tall,you can ride on it,it is an horse, Is it an animal,can it walk,it have four legs,is it tall,it gives milk,it is a cow, Is it an animal,can it walk,it have four legs,is it small,it is your best friend,it is a dog, Is it an animal,can it walk,it have four legs,is it small,mouses are afraid of it,it is a cat, food,fruit,in a tree,yellow,monkeys loves it,banana, food,fruit,in a tree,green or red,round,apple, food,fruit,in a tree,green,small and round,grapes, food,fruit,in a tree,red,small and round,cherries, food,vegetable,in garden,orange,carrot, food,vegetable,in garden,brown,potatoes, food,icy,creamy,pink,to be licked, ice cream, object,clothing,summer,T-shirt,white, object,clothing,summer,shirt,blue, object,clothing,summer,shirt,red, object,clothing,summer,shirt,white, object,clothing,summer,shirt,red and white, object,clothing,winter,tuke, object,clothing,winter,mitain,,, object,clothing,winter,coat,blue, object,clothing,winter,coat,yellow, object,clothing,winter,boot,blue, object,clothing,winter,boot,yellow, object,clothing,winter,boot,red, object,clothing,winter,boot,yellow, end,end,end,end,end,end,end,

Thanks Areius. I'll check it out and have a play about with it. Sounds like fun. :)

@SteveG Flying cars were seen next Wednesday... I've waited 30 years and still no flying cars or weather service :(

Anyway, back on topic and I must tip my hat to Steve for the efforts put in!

@Rich.

Flying cars? I'm still waiting for power laces. What with my dodgy back, tying them is not as easy as it used to be, lol. I can't believe it was 30 years when BTTF came out. Where has the time gone (no pun intended).

Anyway, thanks for the kind words. It's means a lot coming from yourself, and they wouldn't have been half as detailed if it wasn't for you and the other guys here. I have learnt so much from you all, for which I am forever grateful. :)

Hey James.

There was a member, Gwen, asking about the soundboards earlier in this thread, and asked if there were any tutorials she could look at. I gave some advice and had a look for any tutorials, but only found one which was a step by step to do a robot dance routine, so I said I'd put a more I depth one together with some examples. I've just posted it so hopefully Gwen and others will get some use out of it as I know some members don't realise that there are two soundboards. Anyway, let me know what you think.

Soundboard (PC) & Soundboard (EZB) Tutorial.

@Steve That looks great! Just one thing

Quote:

[b9.)[/b] Save this script, and now you are ready to test it. Press "Start" on the "Play Music" control and your audio track will begin to play. To stop the track from playing, press "Start" on the "Stop Music" script.

You got something weird going on here with your bolding.

Oops. Missed a bracket. Fixed it.

Thanks. :)

Superb! As usual. :P

Thanks Dave. ;)

Hi James.

Just wanted to let you and everyone else know that I put together another tutorial... well it's not really a tutorial.

I spent the day C/P-ing the EZ-Script manual so we can have an online version to reference. I reformatted it so it looks the same, and also broke it down and rearranged it in to alphabetical order to make it easier to look for something. There used to be a copy of the manual on the website but has since disappeared. I for one used to use that a lot when using my phone (I know others used it too), and was surprised to see it was gone. On thing I noticed, there are a few spelling errors for the word "shield" in the ARC manual for the MP3 commands and thought you and DJ may want to know.

I will keep my online one maintained and keep an eye on DJ's release notes for any changes, which I will add or edit in the manual where relevant. I've also reformatted the dates in all of my other ones. Justin picked it up and I think he made a good point.

Anyway, I'm taking the weekend off to get over my RSI :P, and get back to robot building next week.

The EZ-Script Online Manual.

If no one claimed it, I will to the power supply tutorial. Yes i made a thread about it.

@Steve, nice work! @Technopro, I'll mark you down for that tutorial.

Done! Tell me what you think.

synthiam.com/Community/Tutorials/170/1

@Technopro.

I had a read through your power supply tutorial and it's looking good, but if your open to some suggestions (and me not wanting to sound like I'm criticising your work, just want to help you), there are some elements that needs to be addressed.

Quote:

All Ez-robot heavy duty servos run at 7.4V.

They run at a recommended 7.4v maximum. The are actually rated from 4.8v to 7.4v so can run anywhere between that.

Quote:

Other servos often have a max of 6V. This will require you to regulate the power from the battery to the servo.

Or use a 6v power supply which would be more efficient and possibly less expensive.

Quote:

The EZ-b V4 does not regulate power to the pins, so whatever goes in comes out.

Not quite right. The EZ-B "Digital" power pins are not regulated. Analog, UART, i2c, camera power pins are regulated to 3.3v.

Quote:

The EZ-b has an operating range of 5V-16V.

Almost. 4.5v not 5v.

Quote:

The Ez-b V4 uses around 200mAh at idle. The camera, around 50mAH

Actually, the EZ-B draws 80mAa on its own, and 180 with a camera connected. Have a look at the spec sheet and here

Quote:

the heavy duty servos in the store, and used on all Ez-robots, pull a max of 2A.

You did say this a while back and you was corrected. This is speculation. There is no definitive and official answer for this yet as it is hard to measure with a dmm. There have been reports that the "inrush" can be more than 3 amps, (again, speculative). The no load "Running" current draw for the HD servo you referred to is 200mA. The more weight (load) the servo has to move, the more this, and the inrush current draw will be.

@Jeremie. Mate, did you ever get around to reading the no load HD servo inrush?

Quote:

Remember that 1 servo can use 2A? Well, most regulators only provide 2-3 Amps, which means you need one for each servo.

Again, this may not be true, and other even higher power servos will definitely draw more than 2 amps, so a 2 or 3 amp regulator would not be sufficient.

Quote:

Regulators are not connected to components via the ez-b.

Not true. For example, ping sensors found in the dev kits have inline regulators that connect directly to the EZ-B, and the 5v rgulators in the store themselves are designed to connect directly to the digital ports to use with other components.

I hope you don't think I'm being facetious or anything, far from it. You did great, but getting these issues sorted will see your work shine. You've got to think that someone new may come along and possibly use the incorrect info in the tutorial then run in to big problems, so getting the details correct, especially when it comes to power, is important. Have a look through my "amps & volts" one. There's a lot of info in there that has been well researched and confirmed, so please feel free to use any of it. You are more than welcome to do so. Anyway, I hope you write some more tutorials as I for one, like reading them.

@Technopro I also wanted to mention that you did a great job! I personally appreciate you're contributions to the community as you usually have unique was of solving hardware problems that I hadn't thought of before :)

I agree with @Steve G on the clarifications that he's made, but as he said it doesn't take away from what you've done, it just adds to it.

@Steve G I did attempt to take inrush measurements with my professional multimeter but the sample rate is just not fast enough to pick up the peak inrush value. I'm going to look into another ways to measure it.

Thanks for the heads up guys. Anything I wasn't hard set sure of I made sure to put at a safe number that I had used, or seen others use. Will get it changed.

Okay Jez, no worries.

Absolutely no problem techno. keep up the good work. :)

@James,

Please remove me from the commitment of the Sabertooth/Kangaroo tutorial. I just don't have the time to get to this any time soon. With my name off of that one maybe someone else will get the ambition to tackle it. If when I get more time (may not be for months) no one else has done it I'll step back in. I really don't want any payment or EZ Credit if it gets back to me.

One thing I'll say about any Sabertooth/Kangaroo is that each in themselves each board is very versatile and can do many different tings. Where the Roo is only able to work with only 2 models of DE's motor drivers ( Any of the SaberTooths and also their SyRen controllers) the Sabertooth's can work by themselves and do most of what a robot maker needs except position control. There is so many different things these controllers can to with and without each other that any tutorial would need to be able to cover these differences with their limitations and abilities. At least a basic mention of models and differences would be needed to help someone choose the proper combination for their application. For example Some Sabertooth's offer speed ramping, one offers a way to use it with a power supply with no battery attached to capture the regeneration energy. You can use these with RC controllers, microcontrollers, pots. The list of ways to use these goes on and on. Also needed is what a Roo would add to the motor controller and how to set it up and command it. Lastly a section for the DeScribe software used to change settings in the Kangaroo and Sabertooth's would be needed along with how to hook it up to the boards through your laptop. Each model board will activate a different settings section in the Describe software. I'm not talking an in depth manual on how to use each function of each board. DE's manuals do all that (although sometimes they are not always user friendly). What's needed is a basic guide of each board, their functions and what they do. In depth descriptions would be needed for attaching these to your motors and the EZB along with how to command them using ARC.

Just my opinion but I think any useful tutorial on these amazing controllers would need most of what I mentioned above. No small task.

@Steve, If you are up to tackling the main authorship of this tutorial I would be more then happy to lend any advice or guidance I can. I'm no expert but I have been working with these board for a while now and have worked through many problems. @Richard R. seems to have a very good grasp of using a Sabertooth as a dual wheel driver (and perhaps other things). Maybe he could grace us with some of his wisdom if needed? You seem to be able to intuitively grasp difficult concepts you're not entirely familiar with and put them to words and action. Your tutorial are amazingly clear and understandable. Perhaps the complexity of this tutorial is just down your alley. Any thoughts? I hope I haven't put you on the hot seat here so feel free to back away. totally understandable if you do. ;)

@Dave.

What I will do is take a look and do a lil research to see if it's something I could get my head around and knock something up. I've never used either device as you probably know, but I think I understand the concept of both. I won't commit just yet, but I'll leave a post in a couple of days either to say "yay" or "nay" unless someone else wants to take a crack at it.

Thanks Dave. :)

Alright, I think I got all of your points @Steve_G. Added a bit more too.

@Technopro, nice job! @Dave Schulpius, I'll remove your name from the list.

@Dave & James.

Just a quick post to say that I've decided against doing the saber/Roo tutorial for now, as this particular one would take me some time to do to make it detailed and meaningful. With the realisation that Novermber is only a week away, I really need to get back and finish building/programming my droid project before Xmas arrives, so I need to spend my free time doing that for now.

Steve.

No problem @Steve G. Can't wait to see the finished E4-B4 :)

Finally finished the Reading and Writing Text Files tutorial.

https://synthiam.com/Tutorials/UserTutorials/176/1

Thanks Justin, Nice job :)