Yes, I have had extensive contact with DE's tech support. The level of support has been anywhere from quick and less than helpful to throughly covering the problem I would be having at the time. As far as the issue of the RC mode not working correctly with EZ Robot, their answer to me was the same as DJ's. They said they should work fine with each other and to look to EZ Robot for the answer. They did offer an odd explanation that I can't really remember. Somthing about the signals being different or something like that I didn't really understand. I felt like I was left standing between two giants and that was when I gave up that approach and found a different way to make things work.

I know for a fact that others working with both ez robot and DE has contacted and worked wit DE tech support. Toymaker was working with them to resolve issues with encoders and his ez robot powered robot. He also found that experience flusterating.

I can understand why DJ thinks why no one has gone to DE for customer support (on this RC issue anyway). No one ever came back to EZ Robot telling of no luck with support after being returned here from DE. Sorry DJ.

Maybe there is no problem with the two working with each other in RC mode. Maybe us as a consumer just gave up before we found out the way to properly do it.

As far as I know the two platforms work smoothly with each other in every other way. They may also in RC mode. We just haven't found the right method to do it yet.

As far as feedback, only your needs and how you set up yoir motors will dictate if you really need it. In my robot I hardly ever need to ask for positions but I do have one or two critical places in a script where I need to confirm a motor has reached a certain place before I start up a different motor.

Dave,

I am sorry to hear this. Having been a tech support manager I know how time consuming it is tontrybto help s customer with another compan's product and leave them hanging... I am going to try it when my Roo gets here since I don't know how to do any of this stuff yet. My hardware is just about complete and so I will be starting on getting things moving. Maybe I will have better luck or die in frustration... I am sure I will need a lot of handholding. I have gone down this path because I have been told that what I want to do can be easily be fone this way / I don't want to find out that I still need to buy some unobtanium...

Here's a couple things I would try if I had the time right now. This stuff may or may not work but is something I don’t think I tried. It's been a long time.; Attach the roo to the proper ezb digital port in the right manner according to the DE documents and set the dip switches properly on both the Sabertooth and the roo. DO NOT attach the roo's 5v port to the ezb! Not needed and you will burn something out as pins on each board is a voltage output pin. Then try sending servo command to the Sabertooth / Kangaroo combination. Along with the movement position command also send a servoSpeed command. I can't write a sample script now but the ez script instructions say you need to send that command either before or after the servo position command depending on if it's the first time you have used the servo or not during that session.

Good luck.

Very cool! Thanks Dave! My Roo is still in transit but I'm anxious to try it!

Hi guys! My Roo arrived and after extensively studying the DE documentation for both the Sabertooth 2x12 and the Kangaroo x2 I decided on the following dip switch settings:

I am attempting to just operate one 12VDC motor with a 10 Turn 20K potentiometer for positioning on S1. S2 is not used on either the Sabertooth or Kangaroo for this work.

Sabertooth - I chose to set up in Mode 2 - R/C Input 1 - OFF - this is for R/C mode 2 - ON (UP) - this is also for R/C mode 3 - ON (UP) - this is for when you are using Lithium Ion batteries - I'm using lead acid. 4 - OFF - this is for independent mode - i'm not steering a robot and need differential drive 5 - ON(UP) - for linear response 6 - ON(UP) - for a 0-5v input signal range - since I am feeding 5v from the Kangaroo to the pot this seemed to be the right setting.

Kangaroo 1 - ON - for digital input - I presumed this is the signal from the EZ-Bv4 - more on that later 2 - OFF - for Analog feedback - a 0-5v signal on input A 3 - NO - for Position control - the motor is controlled by the input signal 4 - ON - for Independent mode S1 controls motor 1

On the EZ-Bv4 I just have two wires - a ground wire from the black pin on D0 connected to the 0V screw on the Kangaroo, and a signal wire from the white pin on D0 which is connected to the S1 screw on the Kangaroo.

On ARC I have nothing configured but I have the computer connected to the EZ-Bv4 - I have still yet to figure out what controls to use or what script to write but for the moment I am just trying to get the Kangaroo to do a complete auto tune using the Teach Tune Mode - meaning that I will need to turn the pot from one end to the other and back to center when running auto tune.

On the potentiometer I have the 5V pin on Kangaroo 1 connected to one end of the pot, the B pin on Kangaroo 1 connected to the opposite end of the pot and the A pin on Kangaroo 1 connected to the pot's wiper.

I have attached a photo of all of this for your reference. This hookup is using the best information I have gleaned from this forum and the DE documentation.

So what happens? I power up everything and nothing happens except that the STATUS LED on the Sabertooth is on steady. I then disconnect the potentiometer drive from the motor so that I can turn it from one end to the other during the Teach Tune time. I then press and hold the autotune button on the Kangaroo until the yellow LED lights up and then I release it and it starts a slow one blink repeating blinking. This indicates that I am in Teach Tune mode. I then press the autotune button again and the yellow LED dims. I then turn the pot by hand all the way clockwise (5 turns) and then counter clockwise (10 turns) - when half way back the dim LED becomes bright but I continue to turn, it goes dim again and then I hit the opposite stop, I then turn the pot 5 turns clockwise to roughly center and stop. I then attach the pot to the driven shaft on the motor and then press the autotune button again. The yellow LED goes bright, blinks once and then starts blinking very fast. I am expecting this to signal that autotune will starting turning the motor and running through a sequence between the two ends of the Teach Tune range. But instead, as I recall, the motor turns about 1/4 turn very slowly and then stops and the yellow LED starts a slow 1 flash blinking. The documentation says this means I have a wiring error but I can't find one. I tried changing all kinds of things but nothing worked. Well, once the motor started turning in one direction and never stopped or reversed - don't remember what settings did this but it wasn't what I was expecting.

So, I will be calling DE tech support first thing tomorrow morning to find out what to do to get the autotune to completed. Once I get an autotune completed I will start working on how to send commands to the Sabertooth and will be looking for recommendations from all of you as to how to control.

p.s. the extra switch is to power cycle the Sabertooth.

Castle

OK, First, Nicely done so far. I love your enthusiasm. This is some hard stuff to grasp sometimes.

Now: If you look on page 20 of the Kangaroo manual you'll see a picture of the proper dip switch settings for the Sabertooth to have set for all modes if there is a Kangaroo attached. This is Dip 1 & 2 off and the 3,4,5 and 6 in the on position. Till you have these set like this nothing will work properly.

Your power input to the Sabertooth and output to the motor look good.

The Dip setting on the Roo look good.

Your connections on the EZB look good but it looks like you have the signal wire attached to the wrong input on the Roo. It should be attached to S2 (Receive RX).

You won't need to have the EZB up and running to get an auto Tune to complete properly but the Dips on the Sabertooth do need to be set properly. However get everything set and wired properly before you go on. You won't get a successful tune until your motor is connected properly and the feedback is attached properly so double check your connections and wiring. As far as wiring up the pot; usually the center of the pot's 3 lugs would be the signal (or the A pin on the Roo's feedback header). One side of the pot's 3 lugs is positive (or the 5v pin on the Roo's feedback header). The other side of the pot's 3 lugs is negative (or the B pin on the Roo's feedback header).

OK, Now after you triple check all your connections and correct your wiring you can try another autotune. Do not disconnect the pot or your auto tune will fail. If you can't move the motor by hand in teach mode you will have to add limit switches or physical stops and tune it in either one of those modes. One other way would be to attach the Roo to your laptop and after downloading DE's DeScribe software, tuning it with the tuning tool you'll find in there. I advise downloading this software anyway and learning it as there are many settings you can make with it that will make your motors work smoother and respond better.

Oh, and make sure your pot is in as close to center as possible.

Let me know how it turns out. If the tune fails let me know how many times the LED on the Roo blinks. It will blink a error message and then pause and re blink over and over again. Look on page 15 of the Roo manual for a list of the different error codes. If you get a failed tune you'll probably either get either one or three blinks of the LED.

I've tried to call DE's tech support and they never answer. You may have a different experience. They will answer the email "Help Desk" request but usually it takes several days to a week to get a response. When I did get a responce it was usually a short few sentences with a suggestion of something to try. I've been frustrated more than once with them. However there have been a few times they were very helpful. Again, you may have a different experience.

I think all you really need to do is get your wiring attached properly as I stated above and you'll get this moving.

EDIT: I just had another look at your setup. I see you're using a plug in wall transformer for your power source. These won't deliver enough amps to supply a DC motor and you may experience a power drain that the Roo will see. If that's the case you will not get a successful tune as it will see your motor as not attached properly. I had this issue and until I used a properly sized power supply and wire that was sized big enough to handle the motor's amp draw I had failed tunes. Make sure you either get a battery or switching power supply that is rated to handle the "TOP" amps that your motor will draw or all bets are off.

Good luck and have fun.

Good Morning Dave,

I got it to auto tune! I missed the dip switch settings on page 20,..

The wall wart does have enough power but it is just temporary - I have a glass mat battery for the system...

Since I am running independent where S1 controls motor 1 and S2 controls motor 2 I think the EZ-B input should still be on green screw S1 on the Kangaroo...

So now that I have it tuned / how do I send a command to it from EZ-B?

Castle

Hmmm / I send Replies to this thread and some of them don't make it...

Anyway- I got it working using a Horizontal servo! thanks to everyone that helped / especially Dave.

Now to move on to voice control!

Castle