UART-based EZ-B/ESP32 skill to control WowWee MIP, enabling ESP32-Cam camera support and flexible battery-powered integration.
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 can be controlled from Synthiam ARC by connecting to the MIP’s internal UART (serial) port. This Movement Panel robot skill sends serial commands to the MIP through an EZ-B (such as an EZ-B v4, ESP32, or ESP32-Cam) that supports a hardware UART.
What You Need
- WowWee MIP robot
- One EZ-B that has a hardware UART (supported examples: EZ-B v4, ESP32, ESP32-Cam)
- Hookup wire (3 wires minimum) and basic tools for accessing the MIP mainboard
- Optional: extra power source (for example, a 9V battery for an EZ-B v4 + camera, if needed)
Hardware Wiring (UART)
The MIP exposes a UART on the mainboard. UART uses three connections for basic communication: GND (ground reference), TX (transmit), and RX (receive).
Connect These Three Wires
- MIP GND → EZ-B GND
- MIP TX → EZ-B UART RX (cross connection)
- MIP RX → EZ-B UART TX (cross connection)
Power Options
In many setups, you can power the EZ-B from the MIP’s onboard batteries. This keeps wiring simple and ensures both devices share a common power system.
If your project requires more power (for example, an EZ-B v4 with a camera or additional accessories), you can power the EZ-B from a separate battery, such as an additional 9V source (as an example).
It does not matter where the grounds originate from (MIP battery ground or EZ-B battery ground) as long as they are connected together.
Using the Skill in ARC (Beginner Steps)
- Connect your EZ-B (EZ-B v4 / ESP32 / ESP32-Cam) to ARC as you normally would.
- Add the WowWee MIP Movement Panel skill to your ARC project.
- In the skill settings, select the hardware UART port you physically wired to the MIP. (Example: choose the UART that uses the EZ-B pins connected to MIP TX/RX.)
- Power on the MIP and the EZ-B.
- Use the Movement Panel controls to send movement commands to the MIP.
Reminder: This skill requires an EZ-B that supports a hardware UART. Software/bit-banged serial is not recommended for reliable control.
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):