Ubtech Alpha 1 Bluetooth

Hi DJ. I'm sure  you are busy on many issues, but  I hope , when it'll be  possible for you,  you'll go back  working on this  one .

I'm not sure what else can be done. It seems the servos only respond when they want to respond. I'll try another update with experimental settings as usual, and see if that helps. But unless they update the documentation for the robot, i'm shooting in the dark.

I understand, there's lack of information about  bluetooth protocol. lt's a non  promising work.

@DJ. A new idea. We have experimented direct command of servos with  bluetooth plug-ins, but they  don't work correctly. As you said, and i agree, further trials  to drive  servos directly are shots in the dark. We might try another path, i.e. using ezb software and also  ubtech software, but  only to move the servos.  The procedure could be:

1. Actions   are programmed using ubtech PC software. This creates a special ubtech file containing action information. The file is  saved in the PC with its name , and sent to the robot via USB as usual with this robot .
2. The execution of the action is usually started or stopped  by a bluetooth tablet.  EZB could do the same thing , using the bluetooth protocol  command called  "implementing the action list" that sends  to the robot, via bluetooth, a string with the action file name.
3. A iotiny on board might perform, under ez-b control, other functions alpha can't  perform (sound, camera, etc.)

I'd  make such experiments .  Do you agree ? I need some tool  to send (and receive) bytes via bluetooth (by ezb or PC).  Please  help with this.

Referring to my previous post, can you help providing or suggesting some tool to send (and receive) bluetooth messages for my experiments ?

Was this made for Alpha 1s or Alpha 1p?

I have an Alpha 1s and whilst he does connect (flashes lights and plays little tune) I can not make him move. I have read all instructions and all posts here but no joy.

As I have only recently 'adopted' my Alpha, I was hoping to use him as a learning tool before moving up to the EZB and modifying him. I am a mechanical design engineer and was really wanting this to be my first step into robotic programming.

Hey Icy - as far as i know, the skill was created to work with the alpha 1s. Unless a recent firmware update has voided the communication protocol, it should still work.

You'll need to select the Vx servos that correspond to the servo IDs of the alpha. Then, you can add other robot skills and ensure you select those Vx servos in those skills as well. Specify the min and max of those servos or they will not move.

There's a dozen or so EZB firmwares available for variety of hardware - while the most popular is the EZ-Robot EZ-B v4, which comes pre-installed with the firmware. The list of EZB compatible hardware is here: https://synthiam.com/Support/Hardware/Hardware-Overview

If you're still having trouble and believe a firmware update on the alpha changed some things, we'd be happy to help you out. However, there's limited information available about their communication protocol. It would be a good start for you to contact the manufacturer and request a protocol definition for the bluetooth connection. We can go from there to update the skill appropriately

Thanks for the quick response, I've figured it out now and have all his servos set up and moving. Im slowly getting my head around the software but its a totally new way of thinking for me.

Now I have him moving, I would like to start programming some routines using Roboscratch. I assume I would have to add the Alpha servo skill to be able to do this, is that correct?