VEX inputs

[Andrew Blair]

Forgive me if this is a repeat, but I can't find any info on the inputs on the VEX controller. I am mostly interested in analog and TTL inputs. If anyone should know of these wonderful little thingy's I would very much appreciate it! Thanks much!

[Andrew Blair]

The reason I'm asking this is because I would like to interface a vex brain with a RFID tag reader.

[foobert]

by inference from the data sheet for the microchip pic 18f8520, (http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/e...oc/39609b.pdf), the sixteen analog/digital pins on the controller will be connected to ports D and E on the microcontroller as these are configurable as either analog inputs or as digital input or ouput pins. the six interrupt pins are probably connected to port B, which can be configured for hardware interrupts, though these pins might also be useable for digital i/o. no way to guess where the motor ports are connected except that they are probably not connected to ports B, D or E. all of this could be doped out with a little patience and an ohm meter, but i'm probably not the guy to do it and definitely not today.

i do know that two of the pins on the serial port are connected to pins rc6 and rc7 on port C, these being the transmit and receive pins on one of the 18f8520's uarts. i have verified this with a meter.

it may not be unreasonable to guess that the two pins labelled tx and rx are attached to pins rg1 and rg2 on port G, these being the transmit and receive pins of the other uart.

that's all i've got.

[foobert]

mea culpa. mea maxima culpa. ok, i was wrong.

according to the file ifi_aliases.h in the vex starter code available at vexlabs.com the pins on the vex controller are connexted as follows.

Analog / Digital Section

pin 1 = ra0
pin 2 = ra1
pin 3 = ra2
pin 4 = ra3
pin 5 = ra5
pin 6 = rf0
pin 7 = rf1
pin 8 = rf2
pin 9 = rf3
pin 10 = rf4
pin 11 = rf5
pin 12 = rf6
pin 13 = rh4
pin 14 = rh5
pin 15 = rh6
pin 16 = rh7
rx = rg1
tx = rg2

Interrupt Section

pin 1 = rb2
pin 2 = rb3
pin 3 = rb4
pin 4 = rb5
pin 5 = rb6
pin 6 = rb7

Motors Section

pin 1 = re7
pin 2 = rg0
pin 3 = rg3
pin 4 = rg4
pin 5 = ?
pin 6 = ?
pin 7 = ?
pin 8 = ?

sorry, but there are no definitions for those last four.

any pin can be configured as a digital input or output. pins 1-16 in analog/digital section can be configured as analog inputs. the 6 pins of the interrupt section can be used as external interrupts for wheel encoders, bumpers, etc. the pins of the motors section are normally used to produce pwm outputs to control, you guessed it, motors.

[John Wanninger]

Originally Posted by foobert

any pin can be configured as a digital input or output. pins 1-16 in analog/digital section can be configured as analog inputs. the 6 pins of the interrupt section can be used as external interrupts for wheel encoders, bumpers, etc. the pins of the motors section are normally used to produce pwm outputs to control, you guessed it, motors.

Thanks for posting the info Foobert.

I was surprized and perhaps a bit disappointed to see that the Vex User Manual addendum preview for the upcoming Optical Encoder Sensor instructs "You’ll need to plug your shaft encoder into any port in the Analog/Digital bank on the Vex Microcontroller."

I'm hoping the sensors will be able to utilize interrupts. I wonder if the outside pins on the interrupt section pin out the same as the analog/digital section and that either section can be used with many of sensors. I'm guessing one pin is +5V; the other ground? I suppose this could be a question for the IFI engineers, although there my be an info 'blackout' for sensor info until they're officially released.

[foobert]

white wire on the keyed end of the connector appears to be signal. middle pin on analog/digital and interrupt connectors is 5 volts and on the motor connectors it's the raw battery voltage. the pin on the unkeyed end of the connector is ground.

it doesn't appear that the folks at IF are eager to help with buggy interrupt code. there is a disclaimer to that effect in the function InterruptVectorLow in user_routines_fast.c. can't say i blame them.

[davefowler]

Thanx for all your help. I have most the stuff to make a programming module now so I think I'm going to go that route. Someone mentioned that they bought one. Are they for sale now? Where can you get them? I can't find them.

[billbo911]

Originally Posted by davefowler

Thanx for all your help. I have most the stuff to make a programming module now so I think I'm going to go that route. Someone mentioned that they bought one. Are they for sale now? Where can you get them? I can't find them.

I purchased one through IFI. Contact them by e-mail at info@innovationfirst.com I have not received mine yet, it is still in route via. UPS, so I won't be able to give details on what is included until it arrives. It is my understanding that the ones from IFI are prototype units. So my guess is they may be a little different from what will be released by Radio Shack in August.

[John Wanninger]

Originally Posted by davefowler

Thanx for all your help. I have most the stuff to make a programming module now so I think I'm going to go that route. Someone mentioned that they bought one. Are they for sale now? Where can you get them? I can't find them.

Call Innovation First at 903.453.0800 and you'll be able to order one. The modules are bare board beta units (no housings) and cost about $99 + shipping. The MPLAB CBOT compiler (IDE + C18 C compiler for PIC18F8520) and two cables are included.

One possible caveat: By ordering now, we do not recieve EASYC, a proposed C code generator which may or may not be bundled with the upcoming Radio Shack programming module release (slated for August).

[BradAMiller]

Originally Posted by John Wanninger

Thanks for posting the info Foobert.

I was surprized and perhaps a bit disappointed to see that the Vex User Manual addendum preview for the upcoming Optical Encoder Sensor instructs "You’ll need to plug your shaft encoder into any port in the Analog/Digital bank on the Vex Microcontroller."

I'm hoping the sensors will be able to utilize interrupts. I wonder if the outside pins on the interrupt section pin out the same as the analog/digital section and that either section can be used with many of sensors.

That's a mistake in the manual. You will plug the encoders into the interrupt port when using them with EasyC (and could do the same if you write your own program). EasyC will give you the option to turn them on, off, read the value, and preset the count. I'm pretty sure they return 90 counts (pulses) per revolution.

Brad

[Andrew]

Has anyone actually gotten some of the encoders? They've been listed on the vexlabs.com and the radioshack.com sites as being "sold out - coming soon" for the last couple of months.

Have they been released and sold out? Or, have they not yet been released?

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Andrew

Has anyone actually gotten some of the encoders? They've been listed on the vexlabs.com and the radioshack.com sites as being "sold out - coming soon" for the last couple of months.

Have they been released and sold out? Or, have they not yet been released?

I've seen them just before Thanksgiving at the local Radio Shack.

[Gdeaver]

Check the Radio shack website to find a local store with the encoders. I bought a set and am playing with them now. I must be doing something wrong or there is allot of latency in easy c. It drives straight with quite a wobble. These aren't greyhill quality or precision.

[foobert]

i got a pair a month or more ago at the rat shack, took one apart and said to myself, "self. with a couple of photo interrupters appropriately placed you could convert this thing to a quadrature encoder", but since i can't find the switches i got some time ago from budget robotics they've been sitting in the parts pile ever since. reckon i should hook 'em up and see what i can do. i don't have easy c, though, having ordered a prototype programmer from ifi over the summer. i got those mean old early adopter blues.

[ChrisH]

Originally Posted by Gdeaver

Check the Radio shack website to find a local store with the encoders. I bought a set and am playing with them now. I must be doing something wrong or there is allot of latency in easy c. It drives straight with quite a wobble. These aren't greyhill quality or precision.

I bought a set about a month ago. Quadrature would be a real nice addition, but I'm not sure how to go about that. I didn't have any trouble getting it to drive straight if I was just measuring distance. My Squarebot could repeatedly drive a path including straights and turns with reasonable precision as long as the surface remained the same. Move to a different surface and the turn angles changed. Not an unexpected result.

I have recently started working on velocity contol. I have a Proportional algorithm working on one side. It does oscillate a little when running free. Again this is not unexpected, in fact I would have been more amazed if it didn't happen as it is characteristic of this sort of control. PID's always oscillate, the question is whether or not the magnitude is acceptable. Gdeaver were you counting clicks or controling speed?

I haven't added the second side to see if it drives straight yet. Maybe in a few days. I've been too busy with going to FLL at Legoland and setting up next weekend's tournament at CSUN.

Has anybody done anything with Potentiometers?