Control LewanSoul digital smart servos from the EZ-B UART or PC COM Serial Port
How to add the Lewansoul Servo 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 Servo category tab.
- Press the Lewansoul Servo 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 Lewansoul Servo robot skill.
How to use the Lewansoul Servo robot skill
Control the LewanSoul Digital smart Servos (i.e., LX-16A) with ARC. The servos must be powered appropriately and connected to the EZ-B v4 or IoTiny with the respective port. Visit the Config menu of this plugin to view the port configuration. This plugin will only operate on EZB Index #0.
Demonstrated with IoTiny using Software UART
Details
ARC's Virtual Ports (V1..V99) can be assigned to the LewanSoul servos.This plugin requires the RX signal wire of the servo to be connected to the TX of the selected UART or digital port (if Software UART is selected) using a Dynamixel servo Cable provided by one of our hardware partners.
Hardware UART is available on the EZ-B v4 only and is recommended if using an EZ-B v4 with a Dynamixel servo Cable. View the EZ-B v4 datasheet to identify the UART ports (0, 1, or 2).
Software UART is available on both the EZ-B v4 and IoTiny. We only recommend using software UART on IoTiny and hardware UART on EZ-B v4.
The configuration menu also provides an option to select the Virtual Ports, which correspond with the ID's of the UBTech servos. If the LewanSoul servo ID #0 is connected, select V0. #1 = V1, #2 = V2, etc..
Default baudrate of LewanSoul servos is 115,200
Specify servo Port By servo ID
The servos are addressable, meaning they each have a unique address ID. The address ID is related to ARC's Vx servo (virtual servo). This means servo ID #1 is V1 in ARC. servo ID #5 is V5 in ARC. Etc. Specify the Vx ports to bind to using the configuration screen of this plugin. ID #1 (V1) is selected in the example image below. Any servo commands sent to V1 will move LewanSoul servo ID #1. You can choose as many Vx ports as necessary to bind in this plugin.Use USB/TTL Debug Board This option in the configuration is if you are using the optional TTL/USB debug board, which changes the communication to the servo. With this unchecked, the packet length includes the sent packet because the Rx & Tx are crossed. When checked (using the ttl board), the Rx & Tx will only include the return values. Keep this unchecked if you are not using a USB/TTL Debug Board.
Continuous Rotation (Motor) Mode
The servos can be configured for Continuous Rotation (i.e., Motor Mode) using the EZ-Script ControlCommand()...ControlCommand("LewanSoul Servo", SetToContinuousMode, v1)
You can change the port (v1 in the above example) to whatever port you wish to be in continuous rotation mode. Once you do that, the servos will respond as regular, continuous rotation servos, where position 90 stops, 180 is fast in one direction, and 1 is fast in the other. The values further from 90 in either direction change the speed. This allows these servos to be used with the Continuous Rotation Movement Panel.
Servo Mode
If you switched the servo into Continuous rotation mode, you can use the ControlCommand() to change back to servo mode. This can be done with the following command...ControlCommand("LewanSoul Servo", SetToServoMode, v1)
I'll give it a try DJ, thanks for the help.
Still having a bit of trouble here. I can not get it to recognize my servo. -Using IOTiny -I have my adapter plugged into port D0. -Selected D0 for the software UART -Assigned it to V1 (my servo identifier is #1)
Am I doing something wrong?
Says not connected to ez-b in your screen shot. Is that just because it’s a screenshot or did you forget to connect to the ezb?
if not, that all should work. I can test tomorrow with an iotiny and see if there’s any trouble.
Yes, I was connected to the ez-b. All good there.
Works great with IoTiny. Check your wiring and power to ensure it meets the minimum requirements. Here's a video..
Well I have success, thanks for the tip DJ. I made my own cable and had the polarity reversed on the ground and signal traces. Luckily it did not damage anything. Once the cable was fixed it took a bit of playing to get it to work. I kept waiting for the control to say connected to ezb. On a whim, I added a horizontal servo control and when I moved it everything jumped to life. The Lewansoul control never does say connected to the ezb even though it works.
I updated the plugin and removed the "not connected to ezb" message - because it was confusing. That was there for debug when I was making it. So it's not relevant anymore. Thanks!
Hi, after ARC update this skill stopped to load.. Thanks in advance for any help on this.