Trossen Robotics Blog » Hardware – Electronics

Brackets and Dynamixels and Bioloids Oh My!

Andrew — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:04:33 +0000

We’ve been a bit quiet around here lately, mostly because we have our heads buried and are hard at work at bringing you guys some awesome new robotics products and kits! Wanted to take some time to showcase a new reworked section of our site that helps builders like you build your robots easier. Our Robot Servos & Brackets section has been completely revamped, pairing up the servos with compatible brackets and frames (tons of new varieties have been added, as well as more to come).

The Robotis Dynamixel Servos section should be of particular intrest, as we now stock individual Bioloid Frames as well as every type of DX/RX/EX Series Brackets and Frames.

Even our Hobby Servos section got a revamp, now offering Micro, Standard, and Giant Scale PWM Hobby Servos and compatible brackets!

We also started rounding up some cool user projects to demonstrate what can be done with these awesome actuators, which can be found on various related product pages. Here are a few examples!

Share and Enjoy:

Sparkfun Free Day Video!

Andrew — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:01:28 +0000

On Jan 7th, Sparkfun did an awesome thing for the DIY hobbyist community; they gave away $100,000 worth of stuff for free. Free Day was a massive thank you to all that supported them growing as a company, a way to give back to the community. While we at Trossen Robotics cannot fully express just how much we appreciate such a gesture, the move was one that sparked both love and hate from their many fans, customers, and followers. The website was up and down all day under the immense amount of traffic they were experiencing and many of those who were not able to get their free stuff were ‘outraged’. How one can be mad over such a generous gesture is beyond me, but as the age-old saying goes: “No good deed goes unpunished”.

Anyway, Sparkfun put together a pretty cool video highlighting the chaos from their POV, check it out!

Share and Enjoy:

Roz: Super Quick Quadrapod Platform

Andrew — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:08:55 +0000

Our good friend Jon Hylands, of HUV Robotics (maker of all those awesome 3rd party Bioloid accessories), has recently started a new 4-legged Bioloid based walker named Roz. He is currently using an arbotiX Robocontroller, but has plans to eventually migrate over to a custom Gumstix-Overo platform. He is utilizing the upcoming NUKE (Nearly Universal Kinematics Engine) on the arbotiX, which will be available in public beta in the near future, and is really coming along in his walking gait progress. This has to be one of the fastest AX-12+ servo based walkers I have seen yet, check it out!

Share and Enjoy:

Serializer WL Robotics Controller now under $100

Andrew — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:34:32 +0000

.NET Developers rejoice! The Serializer WL has dropped $30 in price down to $99.95, making this powerful robot controller even more accessible.

Easy Robot Control using .NET or Robotics Studio:

The Serializer WL Robot Controller provides a ready-to-use solution to interface the Microsoft™ .NET framework or Microsoft™ Robotics Studio to common robotic hardware.

Never before has it been this easy to interface DC motors, servos, analog sensors, I2C devices, single and quadrature encoders, switches/relays, and other devices to the .NET framework and/or Robotics Studio.

Be sure to check out our Xbee section for add-ons for this awesome controller!

Share and Enjoy:

arbotiX Robocontroller Now Available!

Andrew — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:26:30 +0000

We’re officially launching this much anticipated new Robocontroller today! Thanks to all of those who pre-ordered, your board should be on it’s way! Our initial stock of these is limited, so get em while they’re hot!

The arbotiX Robocontroller, an advanced 3rd party Bioloid controller, is now in stock and ready to be sold! It incorporates a powerful AVR microcontroller, XBEE wireless radio, dual motor drivers, and 3-pin servo-style headers for IO.

The arbotiX robocontroller is specifically designed to control robots built using the Bioloid System and AX-12+ servos, although it is also a very high-end solution for powerful rovers. It is not intended to be a drop-in replacement for a CM-5, rather it is intended as a high level development tool for building more sophisticated robots.

For full information and product manual, check the manufacturer’s page.

arbotiX Robocontroller Specifications

16MHz AVR microcontroller (ATMEGA644p).
2 serial ports, 1 dedicated to Bioloid servo controller, the other to the XBEE radio
3 Bioloid AX-12+ style ports onboard, plug your AX-12+ Servos directly in!
32 I/O, 8 of which can function as analog inputs
Servo style 3-pin headers (gnd, vcc, signal) on all 8 analog inputs, and 8 of the digital IO

We have also put together the arbotiX Robocontroller Starter Kit that includes everything you need to get started, including a pair of Xbee radios, an Xbee USB Explorer, and a USB AVR Programmer!

Share and Enjoy:

arbotiX Robocontroller Now Available for Pre-Order!

Andrew — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:26:14 +0000

We’re officially launching this much anticipated new Robocontroller tomorrow, but we figured we would give our faithful blog readers a chance at one before we do a main page announcement.

The arbotiX Robocontroller, an advanced 3rd party Bioloid controller, is now in stock and ready to be sold! We still have some additional information to add to the page, as well as a new ISP programmer we picked up… but for those of you wanting to get the ball rolling, check it out and pick one up while supplies last! Our initial stock of these is limited, so get em while they’re hot!

Share and Enjoy: