How to add the Wowwee MIP Movement Panel robot skill
- Load the most recent release of ARC (Get ARC).
- Press the Project tab from the top menu bar in ARC.
- Press Add Robot Skill from the button ribbon bar in ARC.
- Choose the Movement Panels category tab.
- Press the Wowwee MIP Movement Panel icon to add the robot skill to your project.
Don't have a robot yet?
Follow the Getting Started Guide to build a robot and use the Wowwee MIP Movement Panel robot skill.
How to use the Wowwee MIP Movement Panel robot skill
The WowWee MIP robot is hackable with a UART port on the mainboard. Connect the GND, TX, and RX to an EZB’s UART TX and control it from ARC.You can power the EZB with the MIP's onboard batteries, but if more power is needed, an EZ-B v4 + camera, for example, an additional 9 Volt battery, can be used.
Any EZB that supports a hardware UART can use this robot skill, such as the ESP32, ESP32-Cam, or EZB v4. The ESP32-Cam is preferred because it’s the smallest and has a built-in camera.
*Note: Remember that you will need to connect the GND if you power the EZ-B off a separate power source. It doesn't matter where the GNDs come from, as they are shared between the MIP and an EZ-B.
*Note 2: Synthiam is not a manufacturer of this third-party hardware device. Nor is Synthiam responsible for the operation of this third-party device. For operational questions, it's best to consult the product's instruction manual.
The MIP doesn't have the ability to connect to your PC. You have to connect it tor your EZ-B v4. I will add it to the list for making a tutorial. It'll be done in a few weeks
In the meantime, you connect the UART port 0 on the EZ-B v4
I stand corrected... Thanks for the info DJ....
Gotta say , MIP would be a cool little dude to hack.
Anybody have any pictures of this / wiring diagram? Would an IoTiny work for this?
google is your friend.
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/hacking-the-mip---proto-back/all
An IoTiny could work for hacking a MIP but communication would only be one way. The IoTiny doesn't have a UART, so it could only do software serial transmission (no receive). I've never tried it myself but I do have 2 MIPs.
One of the MIPS has an EZ-Bv4 on it, I used the onboard 4 x AAA batteries to power it, I believe. I'll try to put up a wiring diagram for you if I can find the time this weekend.
One thing that will have to be added to the MIP skill is that there are two different versions with different baud rates, one version communicates at 9600bps while the other communicates at 115200bps. It would be awesome if we had the ability to select the V1 or V2 baud rate in the skill.
Can you do this with IoTiny?
I took a look inside my MIP yesterday and the wiring was pretty simple.
MIP -> EZ-B v4
TX -> RX RX -> TX GND -> GND VCC -> VIN (only make this connection if you are using the 4 x AAA batteries to power the EZ-B as well)
A couple of notes here:
If you are using the AAA batteries to power the EZ-B v4 you'll need to turn off the battery monitor (in the EZ-B webserver, 192.168.1.1, and in the ARC software, in the connection skill settings)
I believe the skill is used only with UART0 on the EZ-B v4 (the black 4 pin port).
I haven't tried using the software serial with the IoTiny, but you couldn't use this skill to control the MIP with it, as the connect button wouldn't work. You would have to send the commands manually through scripting.
Here's an example (in ez-script):