Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!sgiblab!spool.mu.edu!agate!netsys!pagesat!decwrl!netcomsv!netcom.com!jfox
From: jfox@netcom.com (Jeff Fox)
Subject: HERO Jr. Help or advice?
Message-ID: <jfoxCD3uID.w8@netcom.com>
Sender: jfox@netcom.com (Jeff Fox)
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Distribution: comp.robotics
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1993 21:03:47 GMT
Lines: 37

PLEASE HELP!     I have a Hero Jr., it has a 6800 and following hardware,
Drive and steering motors, sonar sensor, light sensor, sound sensor, heat
(motion) sensor, voice synthesizor, front panel with lights and buttons,
socket for rom catridges, rs-232 port, and power supply. 
I have connected computers to the RS-232 port long ago and run the monitor
program in ROM.  I can load, save, dump,  examine mem, set registers, etc,
all the stuff you do with this utility.
Like you I would like to find some software that I can download.  I would
prefer not to have to reverse engineer the operation of this device to 
write my own driver software.  ALL I REALLY WANT is a  short program that
I can download that will let me execute the code to run the motors and
sensors from the rs-232 port.
I posted a similar  request for help with HERO Jr. a few months ago and  
I did collect some pages from a HERO manual.  It describes to some extent
the ROM routines that drive the sensors.  I have not examined the details
of these ROM listings to see if they match the HERO Jr ROM.
I am still almost where I started,  my options are:

   1. Get a 6800 manual and study it, compare the few pages of ROM listings
      I have from HERO and see if I can figure out the HERO Jr. ROM.  Reverse
      engineer enought to write a rs-232 remote control program.  Write and
      debug said program. Just to do anything interesting with the robot.

   2. Find someone on the internet who can supply an rs-232 monitor program
      for the HERO Jr. and download it to the robot.

   3. Offer the robot for sale, as best offer.  (It is not worth much,
      except as a big stupid toy robot.  It can be programmed to say a
      personalized name, or sing "Happy Birthday" offkey on a certain 
      date, etc.

If there is anyone out there on the internet who can help me with any of
the above ideas, or with any better ideas please let me know.

Jeff Fox
jfox@netcom.com

