EZ-B v4 by EZ-Robot
The v4/2 is the next-generation brain of your robot or IoT device, powering over 20,000 robots worldwide! Give your custom robot or IoT project features inspired by science fiction! With the electronics protected by a stylish plastic shell, the ez-bv4 clips into your ezrobot Revolution chassis or custom robot. It is easily controlled over Wi-Fi using ARC software.
The ez-bv4/2 boasts two Cortex ARM processors running at 220MHz to provide servo, digital i/o, real-time audio/video streaming, and more! 5-volt tolerant I/O, energy-efficient digital switching power supply, Wi-Fi connectivity with security, embedded web server, telnet server, amplified digital audio with the speaker, 3 I² C ports, 3 x UARTs, 24 multi-use servo/digital/serial ports, 73 servos (Dynamixel & PWM), eight analog ports, and integrated video, all in a tiny 2.1" x 2.2" size!
Datasheet
The datasheet is a document published by the manufacturer explaining the specific characteristics. The datasheet will provide information about operating temperature limitations, power consumption, and much more. Always check the data sheet for ezbs v4 hardware information and troubleshooting.
View DatasheetWhere to Buy
EZ-Robot has its products on its website store for purchase and many other online and offline retail stores. Here are links to the EZ-B v4 products directly at EZ-Robot's store...Introduction
The EZ-B v4, EZ-Robot Developer Kit, and IoTiny are excellent tools for building custom DIY robots or teaching old toys new tricks. Watch Overlord DJ Sures and Professor E introduces a few robots he has made using the IoTiny and EZ-B v4 in this The Robot Program episode. Let's begin by showing what's in the box. The Robot Overlord DJ Sures and Professor E will guide you throughout these tutorials. Have fun!
EZ-B v4 Port Summary
The EZ-B v4 has 24 Digital Ports and 8 Analog Ports. The Digital Ports are labeled D0 through D23, and the ADC Analog Ports are labeled A0 through A7.
3 PIN (GVS) Connectors
Each port has three pins: GND (Ground), VCC, and Signal. The GND and VCC are for powering the device connected to the port. The signal pin is connected to the EZ-B Microchip to read or write data from Digital or ADC. The GND and VCC pins are not connected to the Microchip; they are used only for powering the peripheral connected to the EZ-B v4.
For example, a servo has a three-wire plug that connects to one of the EZ-B Digital Ports. The wires of a servo connector are GND, VCC, and Signal. The GND and VCC provide power to the servo's motor and circuit. The Signal wire carries the information to tell the servo what position to move.
Connecting Camera
The EZ-Robot Camera connects to the EZ-B v4 with a 6-pin cable. Notches on the male connector match the EZ-B's female connector. This prevents the plug from connecting incorrectly. The camera connection is unique, making it easy to identify where to click. It is impossible to connect the camera cable to the wrong connector, as it only fits in the matching plug.
If the camera disconnects from your ezb v4, check the cable. A loose connection cable is the leading cause of camera issues with the ezb v4. This happens when the camera or ezb v4 is moved around, and the cable connection loosens. In a worst-case scenario, a wire may break if the cable is bent at the connection. However, this is uncommon, and it’s suggested that both sides of the cable connections be disconnected and reconnected.
Connecting Servos & I/O
Much like your home theater speakers, the cables of the EZ-B and peripherals are color-coded. The BLACK cable on the peripheral (i.e., servo) will connect to match the BLACK side of the EZ-B connector.
Connecting Over WiFi
The EZB v4 allows connection via Wi-Fi in either AP mode (direct from PC to ezb v4) or client mode (ezbv4 connects to an existing Wi-Fi network). The default mode when purchased or when reset to defaults is AP mode. To reset the iotiny to factory defaults, press the reset button when the EZB is powered. Configuring between the two Wi-Fi modes is done in the web server configuration of the EZB v4.
EZ-B v4 Ports Overview
EZ-B v4 Rollout Video
Learn everything about EZ-B v4 in this detailed video, including E-01 EZ-Bv4 Main Board and E-15 EZ-Bv4 WiFi Board reference designs.
Unregulated Power I/O
As an EZ-B v4 Developer, you must know how the power pins work. You will build a custom robot with custom power requirements.
The EZ-B v4 does not regulate the power on the I/O pins. If you provide 12v to the EZ-B v4, the I/O pins will output 12v. Of course, this will damage any +5v peripherals connected to the EZ-B v4 when using 12v. You must know how much power is being provided to the EZ-B v4 and what you connect to the I/O pins. For example, the EZ-Robot Servos do not like power above 7.4 volts, so we recommend using Rechargeable AA batteries in the provided holder. If you wish to use an alternate power source, please be aware of this message and select a voltage rating that works with your application.
*Note: The only ports with regulated power are Camera, i2c, and UART #0 Expansion.
Power Monitor
The EZ-Robot family of EZB products has a battery monitor to help protect against lipo battery issues. The battery monitor can be disabled in two places. It must be replaced in the ARC connection robot skill settings and the EZB's webserver configuration.
Web Configuration
The EZ-Robot family EZB products have a built-in web server for configuring advanced settings. By default, if the EZB is being used from default settings (i.e., after the reset button has been pressed), the web server configuration can be viewed by visiting HTTP://192.168.1.1 in your web browser once connected to the EZB wifi.
Learn Your Port Types
Digital
Working with digital means True (On) or False (Off). True means any voltage above 1 volt, and False means GND. There are 24 digital ports on the EZ-B v4 (D0 to D23)
Output is writing to a port: When a port's digital value is set to True, a +3.3 voltage will be outputted on that port. If the port has its digital value set to False, then the port will be GND.
Input is reading from a port: You can read the value of a specific port. This is how you can check for voltage, On or Off. Any voltage above GND (and below +5 volts) will be returned as True, and a short to GND will be returned as False.
Example peripherals for digital ports are Switches, Servos, Ultrasonic Distant Sensors, and Buttons.
ADC
ADC is short for Analog Digital Converter and is read-only (input only). This method reads voltages into the EZ-B Robot Controller. There are eight analog input ports on the EZ-B (A0 to A7).
Reading Relative Voltage: The returned value will be between 0-255 in 8-bit mode and 0-4095 in 12-bit mode. These values represent the input voltage on the specified port. The value will be relative to the input voltage, between 0 and 5 volts. Example in 8-bit mode: Value 0 = 0 Volts, Value 127 = 2.5 Volts, Value 255 = 5 Volts.
Reading Absolute Voltage: Returns the value in actual volts on the specified port.
For example, peripherals for analog input are Sharp GP2 Analog Distance Sensors, Pressure Sensors, Light Sensors, Sound Sensors, Color Sensors, and reading voltages.
Serial (tx only)
Every digital port of the EZ-B Robot Controller can transmit serial data. Also, on the V4s, there are 3 UART ports for bi-directional buffered serial communication. Serial Communication is the process of sending data one bit at a time in a sequence. Serial communication is common with many peripherals because it allows transmitting commands over one wire. The transmission works similarly to Morse code.
The Sender and Receiver must be configured for the baud rate (speed) in which the data will be transmitted. Common baud rate speeds are 300bps, 4800bps, 9600bps, 19200bps, 38400bps, 57600bps and 115200.
There are also three high-speed UART ports on the EZ-B v4, which allow transmit and receive abilities. The buffer size for input on the three high-speed UART ports is 5,000 Bytes.
Examples of peripherals for serial communication are LCD Screens, Motor Controllers, Servo Controllers, Computer Communication, Arduino Communication, iRobot Roomba, and more.
UART Serial (bi-directional)
The V4 UARTx ports connect to Serial TTL devices for input and output.Unlikeo the digital port serial output, these peripherals will receive data in an input buffer. The input buffer of each UART is 5,000 Bytes. There are 3 UARTs; the first is the hardware-labeled port, and the second and third are digital pins. These UARTs are controlled using the UARTInit(), UARTWrite(), UARTRead(), and UARTAvailable() commands. The speed of these UARTs can be any integer between 1 and 3750000 bps.
UART0 TX: Expansion Connector
UART0 RX: Expansion Connector
UART1 TX: D5
UART1 RX: D6
UART2 TX: D18
UART2 RX: D19
I2C
The I2C is also referred to as the "Two Wire Interface." There are three I2C connectors on the EZ-B v4. I2C is a communication method invented by Philips to communicate with peripherals. The I2C uses two wires for communication: Serial Data Line (SDL) and a Serial Clock Line (SCL).
I2C devices can be chained together in a network formation. Each device is given a unique address. The EZ-B v4 has three I2C headers, providing signal wires and +3.3v power.
Examples of peripherals for I2C communication are LCD Screens, I2C enabled Servos, BlinkM Multicolor LEDs, and more.
Click here for more information on understanding i2c addressing.
| Electrical Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Definitions | Description |
| Vin | Battery or DC Power Supply voltage supplied to the board minus the diode’s forward voltage drop (0.14 to 0.36V) which is current dependent |
| Vcc | Regulated 3.3VDC voltage from the on-board power efficient switching power supply |
| Digital I/O | Digital input/output pins – takes either an input logic level voltage of 0V (Low, 0, false) or 3.3V (High, 1, true) or outputs a logic level voltage of 0V or 3.3V |
| ADC | Analog to Digital converter – takes an input analog voltage in the range of 0-3.3V and internally converts it into a digital signal for the controller to interpret |
| I2C | Inter-Integrated Circuit – is a communication bus that supports multiple slave devices running in parallel |
| Camera | EZ-Robot Camera (v2) |
| Parameter | Min | Typ | Max | Unit | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voltage input (Vin) | 4.5 | 7.4 | 16 | VDC | Typ = 2 cell (2S) LiPo |
| Regulated voltage supply (Vcc) | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.4 | VDC | |
| Vin Continuous Current Draw | 0.008 | 1.3 | 5 | A | Typ = 8 servos |
| Vin Current Spikes (when fuse protected) | 0 | 5 | 20 | A | Typ = 8 servos |
| Vcc Continuous Current Draw | 0 | 0.18 | 1 | A | Typ = EZ-Bv4 + camera |
| Vcc Current Spikes | 0 | 0.4 | 3 | A | Typ = EZ-Bv4 + camera |
| Vin Default Low Battery Warning OFF | 7 | 16 | VDC | Default 7V for 2S LiPo | |
| Current Draw with No Peripherals | 70 | 80 | 90 | mA | At 7.4V (connected) |
| Current Draw with Camera | 140 | 150 | 160 | mA | At 7.4V (enabled) |
| Digital I/O TTL Voltage Level (input high) | 1.6 | 3.3 | 5 | VDC | 5V Tolerant, High sig >1.6V |
| Digital I/O TTL Voltage Level (input low) | 0 | 0 | 1 | VDC | Low sig <1V |
| Digital I/O TTL Voltage Level (output) | 0 | 3.3 | 3.3 | VDC | Regulated to Vcc |
| Digital I/O Power Pin Voltage (output) | 0 | 7.4 | 16 | VDC | |
| ADC Voltage level (input) | 0 | 3.3 | 3.6 | VDC | 5V tolerant |
| ADC Power Pin Voltage (output) | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.4 | VDC | Regulated to Vcc |
| I2C TTL Voltage Level (input/output) | 0 | 3.3 | 5 | VDC | 5V Tolerant |
| I2C Power Pin Voltage | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.4 | VDC | Regulated to Vcc |
| Camera Voltage Level (input/output) | 0 | 3.3 | 5 | VDC | 5V Tolerant |
| Camera Power Pin Voltage | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.4 | VDC | Regulated to Vcc |
wil there be a connection for a speaker in the future?similar like the iotiny.:D
Nomad, What I did was, on the Bottom Board I soldered wires on the pads marked speaker. Then connect that to a speaker or if you need it louder to a small amplifier. See the picture for the locationhi rz90208
i know this .but that wasn my question.thanks you for your rspond do.
happy new year
Sorry to post when the answer is somewhere, but with the split between the two websites I have difficulty finding some stuff. Can someone point me to the write up on adding a SSID to the EZBs? ALAN and ALENA are set up with the direct connection to the computer, but I still see the EZBs wifi broadcasting on my networks. I would like to lock them up with a SSID so at CES no one can connect to them...thanks in advance.
The eZrobot products have their own tutorials on the ezrobot website. This is not support for ezrobot products.
It’s not a split between websites. Ezrobot has products and their products are supported on that website. Use the website for the manufacturer, which is ezrobot.
Visit the ezrobot website and view the learn section to learn how to use the ezrobot products.
Or, you know, you could just post the link.... https://synthiam.com/Community/Tutorials/116?courseId=4
Then I am lost as ever as to what Synthiam is all about. So to clarify, Synthiam is software only? Has ARC been rebranded Synthiam? All the questions here are only software related? All hardware "products" belonging to EZ Robot are "their" domain to support? Along with the EZ Robots website that will support how the hardware works/videos and manuals?
@Alan, thank you found it and got the SSID figured out.
Not A question but some info Hobbyking has [color=#000000][size=3][font=Roboto, sans-serif]EZ-B V4 WIFI ROBOT CONTROLLER $49.99 tthis is great price for a fantastic piece of equiptment.
and the camera for some 9 dollar.
Looks like the controller is the version 1 controller and not the -2 version?
Although it’s a good deal!
Is there any information about powering it, which pin is + and which one is -? Or looking to the round power-plug, is + outside or inside? Any help would be great. Thank you.
A great place to start would be checking the data sheet which is at the top of this page in the manual. You will also find many other resources at the top of this page in the manual. Ezrobot had several tutorials as well that are linked at the top of this page in the manual. Have fun!
Thanks, not as helpful as i expected as I checked the data sheets already. However opening the Powerbase helped as there is some marking on the small board which shows + and -. Regards Stefan