Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!uunet!noc.near.net!mv!world!gkulosa
From: gkulosa@world.std.com (Greg A Kulosa)
Subject: Run of 6.270 robot controller boards
Message-ID: <ByK3Mr.zp@world.std.com>
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1992 01:18:26 GMT
Lines: 172



I have put together 50 kits for Fred Martin's 6.270 robot controller
board.  The board is based on Motorola's 68HC11 Microcontroller and
has the following features:

- 32K Battery backed Static RAM

- Motor drivers for 6 Bi-directional motors, 4 of which can be PWM.
Each motor has one green and one red LED to show direction.  This
would be useful for testing, as you wouldn't need motors hooked up.

- Circuitry to sense when one of the four PWM controlled motors might
be stalled.

- 16 character by 2 line LCD panel for user interaction.

- Two 'user' buttons, 4 dip switches, and a `frob` knob for user input.

- 16 Analog inputs which can be connected to light sensors, Resistive
'bend' sensors, etc.

- 8 Digital inputs, 2 of which can be used to precisely measure
Waveforms, etc.  (Useful in IR detection of obstacles, other robots,
etc.) The others are useful for 'touch' sensors.

- An Infrared Transmission circuit which will transmit a 100 or 125hz
wave on top of a 40Khz carrier.  (I believe the 100 or 125hz wave can
be changed to other values in software).  The 'Brightness' of the
Infrared LED's can be adjusted in software.

- A separate Power source for the electronics and the motors.  This
keeps motor noise from causing problems, and also allows swapping of
motor batteries without disconnecting RAM backup power.

- A 'low' battery indicator LED on the board.

- A prototyping area on the 'expansion' board.  The 68HC11's bus
signals are all available here.  Allows easy addition of other
hardware, more digital inputs, etc.

Also, Fred Martin and Randy Sargent from MIT have written the
'Interactive-C' C programming environment to go with the 6.270 board
hardware.  The software runs on a PC or Unix machine (Already ported
to Sun SPARC, NeXT, DECstation, and VAX.  Source code is also
available.)  You connect the 6.270 board over an RS-232 (Serial) line
and run the software on your PC (or whatever).  You can then type
regular C commands and they will be immediately compiled, downloaded
to the board, and executed.  This makes it very easy to test sensors,
motors, etc for new designs or whatever.  Of course, you can also
write programs, download them to the board, disconnect the RS-232
line, and have the robot go off and execute your program for days,
weeks, whatever (As long as the battery holds out).

Interactive-C contains a large library of functions to control the IR
transmitter, IR receivers, Motors (Including PWM functions), R/C
servos (The type used in Radio Control Planes, Helicopters, etc.), get
inputs from sensors (Both analog and digital), and several more.
Interactive-C (IC) supports the major C constructs such as if, then,
while, for, etc.  It also supports 'lists' of files (Similar to
Makefiles) to include in one compile and download.

I have contracted with Douglas Electronics to make 50 sets of boards.
Each set includes the following boards: Main Board, Expansion Board, IR
Transmit, Motor Control, and Battery Charger.

I have also decided to put together a 'limited' parts kit for the
boards.  This includes all of the harder to find parts, and the parts
that you MUST buy in quantity (Like the CPU).  The kit will contain the
following parts:

1	MC68HC11A1FN	(Microcontroller)
1	62256-085L	(32K Static RAM)
3	L293D		(Motor Driver IC)
2	LM18293N	(Motor Driver IC)
3	HS125		(Heat Sinks for Motor Drivers)
1	16x2 LCD	(LCD panel for expansion board)

NOTE:  I substituted the 68HC11A1 for the 68HC11A0 Microcontroller
because the A0 model wasn't available until the end of January.  I
checked with Fred, this will work fine.  Also, the LM18293N is a
National Semiconductor equivalent for the SGS-Thomson L293B, which is
also hard to find.

These are all the hard to find parts, and the ones which must be
bought in quantity.  (For some reason, they will only sell Motorola
CPU's in packs of 23, go figure!).  The rest of the parts, (There is a
parts list in the Docs) can be easily found in your local electronics
store, or even on your workbench.  I would have liked to do a full
parts kit with resistors, caps, etc., but I do not have the resources
(read money) to order that much stuff.  If someone else wants to do
this, they are welcome to.

In addition, for people with no access to FTP or Postscript printers, I
will offer to also send a floppy disk containing the IC software and/or
printed documentation. The printed Docs are about 250 pages.  The Docs
do describe all steps for the assembly, and also include stuff about
IC, etc.

I will also be putting together a mailing list to discuss robot
controller boards in general, and the 6.270 board and Miniboard in
particular.  I think this will give us a more focused area to discuss
construction techniques, problems, and programming issues.  Also, this
will offer people with no news feed (Or a very slow one) to keep up with
new hints, etc.

So, the info that you have all been waiting for;  How much will it
cost?


Set of 5 boards:	$35.00 (Including shipping)
'Limited' Parts Kit:	$40.00 (Including shipping)

Total:			$75.00

If you want me to reproduce docs (Please only if you ABSOLUTELY need
me to):			$10.00

Floppy Disk:		$2.00

I would prefer not to do many disks or Sets of Documentation;  Please
only ask if you have no access to FTP or Postscript printers.  This is
the part that will be a major hassle.

The boards will ship to me from California this Wednesday, 12-2.  The
rest of the parts will be arriving this week.  I will pack kits the
weekend of December 12-13, and ship everything on Monday, December 14.
You should have your kits by Christmas.

The first run will only be for 50 boards and kits.  There is a
possibility of additional runs, possibly even with complete parts
kits, if there is additional interest.  This will be first come, first
served, with the people who have already contacted me by E-mail coming
first.  I already have about 20 orders, even before this post.

If you have any questions, please either post them, or preferably,
send me E-mail.  Please do not bother either Fred or Randy with
questions, they are busy Grad students, and one of the reasons they
are supporting this is that I promised to handle all questions,
problems, etc.

My real E-mail address is:  gkulosa@oberon.com

Please send a message letting me know how many sets you would like,
and I will send a message back letting you know if there are still
sets available.  You can then Snail-mail me a check for the total
amount.  If you need a Floppy disk of software, please tell me what
platform.  The disks will probably be High-Density DOS formatted
disks, as these are the most versatile.  They can be read on PC's,
NeXT's, SPARC's, DECstations, etc.

Here is my address:

Greg Kulosa
42 Florence St.  #3
Somerville, MA  02143

Please include a piece of paper with the check that details your
address, how many you want, etc.

NOTE:  The board design and software discussed in this Posting was
created by Fred G. Martin and Randy Sargent of MIT.  Everything that I
am making available can be FTP'ed from their FTP server at
CHER.MEDIA.MIT.EDU.  You do NOT have to go through me.  However, Since
I am doing this in volume, it will be much cheaper.


-- 
Greg A. Kulosa		|  "If we are to be damned, let's be damned for what
Systems Administrator	|   we really are"    - Jean-Luc Picard
Oberon Software		|___________________________________________________
gkulosa@oberon.com	 One Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02142
