Profile Picture

ftlum

Country: USA
Member Since:

Achievements

  • 2012-11-13 - joined Synthiam
  • 2012-11-13 - created first new question
  • 2013-01-15 - joined your first forum discussion
  • 2014-09-09 - connected ARC to the cloud
  • 2014-10-02 - attempted to help a fellow robot builder

Latest submissions

question

Maxsonar

Hi All. Im thinking of using a Maxsonar sensor for collision avoidance. I dont want to mount it on a servo for aesthetic reasons (will it make a big difference if I do this?). Will one sensor be good enough? Is it even possible for the software to manage 2 or more sensors? Also, there appear to be many different models / types of Maxsonar sensors....
question

Soundservo

Im having some problems figuring out how to get the soundservo (EZB) to work. Ive got soundboard (EZB) working well. I plugged in a servo to a port and opened up the soundservo menu. I can hear/ see the servo go as I adjust the min/max settings, but when I play a sound from the soundboard area, nothing happens. Is there something else I need to do?...
question

Wifi Relay

I found this relay board that appears to be connectable by wifi. http://www.sainsmart.com/sainsmart-imatic-16-channels-wifi-network-i-o-controller-kit-for-arduino-relay-android-ios.html I was trying to find ways of creating a panel of randomly blinking 12v light switches. Could the EZ Bs wifi (in the mode where its independent from your network) be...
question
Amp And Speaker

Amp And Speaker

Hi All. I need to put in a speaker for my full-sized Dr. Who K-9 robot (see my avatar). He is made of styrene and the speaker (about 3 inches or so in diameter) for his speech would go into...
question

Wifi Disconnecting

Hi All. Im starting to get to know my new V4 and have gotten small servos to move ok. However, when I plugged in my big Turnigy S8166M, my V4 wifi randomly disconnects from my network several seconds after I start activating the servo (just a minor test with the vertical servo movement control). Like the smaller Futaba servos Im running (I tried...
question

Combining Ezb 3 And 4

Hi All. I recently recieved my EZ B 4 and was wondering if I could use the 3 along with it. Its a little over-kill but since I now have an EZ B 3 that Im not using, I thought I could use it to flash a panel of 14 lights in a random fashion. Id be using these lights:...
question

Relays Or Switches?

Hi All. Im trying to decide how to best activate a couple things on my robot build (full sized K-9 in my avatar). I need to turn on a laser pointer. Im thinking a pico switch would work. http://www.dimensionengineering.com/products/picoswitch Is there a more direct solution with the EZ B (Ill be upgrading to v4 soon)? --- Also, I need to move a car...
question
Can't Get Voice Recognition To Work.

Cant Get Voice Recognition To Work.

Hi All. I cant figure out why this is not working for me. It recognizes the command to enable and disable speech ok, so I dont seem to have a...
question

Relative Servo Scripting

Hi All. I need some help on how to write a script utilizing 2 servos in the relative servo mode. I played around with the non-script relative servo function and it seems to be able to do what I want, though it needs some limits: The robot dogs ears (see my avatar) need to rotate quickly back and forth about 30 degrees or so. One turns clockwise...
question

Label Printer

Hi All. Is there a way that the EZ B can control this USB label printer? http://global.dymo.com/enAU/ProductSpecs/LabelWriter_450_Turbo.html Thanks in advance, Frank
question

High Power Servo

Hi All. I understand that this servo does best with 6V. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__8496__Turnigy_S8166M_Servo_154g_33kg_21sec.html Can I simply connect the + and - wires from another power source to the servo, and connect the white wire to the EZ-b, or is something more complicated (like a voltage booster) needed? thanks in advance,...
question

Sabertooth In R/C Mode

Is there a way to use the control a Sabertooth in r/c mode rather than serial? I want to use it in conjunction with an r/c transmitter when the robot is not autonomous via the EZ-b (Ill use a multiplexer to do the switching). The problem I foresee is that Ill have to change dip switch settings each time I need to change from serial / EZ-b mode to...
question

Thermal Printer

Can an EZ b control (directly or indirectly) a small thermal printer? I see they can be hooked up to an arduino. http://learn.adafruit.com/mini-thermal-receipt-printer thanks in advance, Frank
question

2 H Bridges

Hi All. I know we can use 2 H bridges together-- one with the regular movement panel and the other via scripting. For some reason, though, I could not get a 4 wire H bridge to work (I wasnt tyring using 2 together-- just the one by itself). It might be a hardware problem-- the one I got looks very slightly different than the example in the video...
question

Joystick Control

Hi All. As far as I can tell, the joystick control is all-or-none movement. Is there a way to make it such that a small movement of the stick translates to a slow movement of the wheels (and a progressively larger deviation of the stick produces a faster wheel rotation)? Im using a sabertooth H bridge, if that makes any difference. Also, is there a...
question

Sensors

Heres an interesting sensor I read about: https://leapmotion.com/ Also, it looks like Primesenses sensor will be smaller in the future: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/12/primesense-reveals-capri-worlds-smallest-3d-sensor/ Hopefully therell be some way to support these with the EZ-b? Frank
question

Sabertooth Hook-Up

Hi All. Could someone clarify the hook-up to a Sabertooth 2x12? Specifically, the EZ-B tutorial page says The EZ-B connects to the GND, +5 and Signal to the Sabertooth. The Signal from the EZ-B connects to S1 on the Sabertooth. https://synthiam.com/tutorials/Help.aspx?id=173 I understand the 5V on the Sabertooth is providing 5V of power out (to the...
question

Fuse Question

(appoligies if this is a dupicate post) I am trying to build a robot (full sized K-9) and am contemplating putting in a fuse. Im using a lead 12v battery, which has connections to a sabertooth 2x12, ez b board, servos, 2 motors (says 14 amps at max load), a car antenna, LEDs, sparkfun mp3 trigger, speaker, multiplexer (to switch from RC to EZ b),...
question

H Bridge Movement

Hi All. How do I move a robot forward a certain distance (or time, since distances are going to depend on wheel size), then stop? I couldnt see an obvious way from the H bridge control panel. thanks in advance, Frank
question
Activating A Switch

Activating A Switch

Hi All. Im working on making a full sized Dr. Who K-9 robot and need some help on how to activate a couple things with the EZ-b. Its going to have a laser pointer in the nose, and Im...
question

2 Actions At Once

Hi All. Could someone walk me through how Id activate 2 things with one voice command? I need my robot to turn on its laser pointer and make a zapping noise (I plan to use a sparkfun MP3 trigger) at the same time. Similarly, Id like to have it move its ears when listening to the voice command and then respond with a movement or MP3 sound. thanks in...
question

Charging Without Disconnecting Battery

Hi Again. I need some help figuring out how to charge my robots 12v lead battery without taking it out of the robot. This seems to be what should be done, but its REALLY over my head: http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=9993.0 Ive seen people on the astromech forum mention that they simply added a switch to cut off the...
question

Pc For Everything

Hi. If Im reading things correctly, you need a constant connection from EZ B board to the PC for things like speech recognition. Is this true for everything? Specificially, how about collision avoidance? If thats the case, then youd really need to tote around a laptop or possibly integrate one into your robot. Would it be possible to have future...
question

Dual R/C And Ez-B Controls

Hi, All. I am just starting out on planning a robot build and was thinking that it would be good to be able to have the robot under remote control when it is not autonomous.  Running things via a sabertooth seems like a workable solution for a robots wheels, but I have other servos, lights, and sounds that need to be dual-controlled as well.  I...
question

Sites For Noobs

Hi All. This looks like what I need to build a full-sized Dr. Who K-9 from scratch. I am a total noob when it comes to building electronic things however. The main concern I have is how to power everything with a 12V battery correctly. I will need it to run the wheel motors (looks like I need an additional part to do that), the sounds, lights,...
No general conversations. Click here to start a conversation.
No robot skills. Click here to view the Robot Skill Store.
No Synthiam robots. Click here to view the featured robot projects.
No live robot hacking sessions. Click here to view the past live robot hacks.
No user tutorials. Click here to view all user tutorials.
No robot apps. Click here to view all user robot apps.
No firmwares. Click here to view robot hardware and firmwares.
No 3D printable parts. Click here to view 3D printing robot library.
No features requests.