ANNOUNCING: navX MXP Robotics Navigation Sensor

[Thad House]

So in the next shipment that you guys get, how many will be available? We need another one to put on our practice bot, since we only ordered one originally.

[slibert]

Originally Posted by Thad House

So in the next shipment that you guys get, how many will be available? We need another one to put on our practice bot, since we only ordered one originally.

100 units are being shipped to AndyMark today, they should receive them in about 3 days from now.

Within about 2 weeks, an additional 100 more units will be shipped to AndyMark .

[marshall]

Originally Posted by slibert

100 units are being shipped to AndyMark today, they should receive them in about 3 days from now.

Within about 2 weeks, an additional 100 more units will be shipped to AndyMark .

Not busy are you Scott?

[slibert]

Originally Posted by marshall

Not busy are you Scott?

Did I mention we're working on a robot at the same time?

[rich2202]

I convinced my team to get one to play with (when they are back in stock), but now we have a need for more DIO ports, so ...

All I can find on the navX is the data sheet. Is there a pin-out diagram? The ports are labeled well. I'm sure there is a standard, but I like to know for sure, which pin is for power (usually the middle), signal, and ground.

[jojoguy10]

Originally Posted by Thad House

So in the next shipment that you guys get, how many will be available? We need another one to put on our practice bot, since we only ordered one originally.

Thad, can't you just take the one off of your competition bot before it's bagged? (In case you can't get a second one)

[Thad House]

Originally Posted by jojoguy10

Thad, can't you just take the one off of your competition bot before it's bagged? (In case you can't get a second one)

We will if we have to. But we'd rather not be constantly switching them around.

[slibert]

Originally Posted by rich2202

I convinced my team to get one to play with (when they are back in stock), but now we have a need for more DIO ports, so ...

All I can find on the navX is the data sheet. Is there a pin-out diagram? The ports are labeled well. I'm sure there is a standard, but I like to know for sure, which pin is for power (usually the middle), signal, and ground.

Checkout the newly-added diagram on the navX MXP IO Expansion Wiki Page. This adds an image to clarify the orientation of the ground, power and signal pins for the digital and analog I/O pins.

[Thad House]

Originally Posted by slibert

Checkout the newly-added diagram on the navX MXP IO Expansion Wiki Page. This adds an image to clarify the orientation of the ground, power and signal pins for the digital and analog I/O pins.

Can I request one more thing be added to that. Would you guys add a pinout for which IO goes to which port on the MXP connector. We noticed PWMs were 0-9, but DIOs were not that. like the 8th slot was DIO 12, and the 9th slot was DIO 13. We were able to look through the schematic and figure this out, but it would be nice if you guys had an easy was to figure that out on your website.

[slibert]

Originally Posted by Thad House

Can I request one more thing be added to that. Would you guys add a pinout for which IO goes to which port on the MXP connector. We noticed PWMs were 0-9, but DIOs were not that. like the 8th slot was DIO 12, and the 9th slot was DIO 13. We were able to look through the schematic and figure this out, but it would be nice if you guys had an easy was to figure that out on your website.

Good point; the navX MXP IO Expansion Wiki Page has been updated to include the addressing of all the I/O pins.

[rich2202]

Originally Posted by slibert

Good point; the navX MXP IO Expansion Wiki Page has been updated to include the addressing of all the I/O pins.

Thank you. I have no idea how long that would have taken us to figure out.

[rich2202]

Any comments on using the navX with Mecanum wheels?

In the wpilib, there is a gyro parameter that you can pass to the Mecanum function. Can navX provide the gryo input? Or, does the navX libraries have Mecanum drive?

[slibert]

Originally Posted by rich2202

Any comments on using the navX with Mecanum wheels?

In the wpilib, there is a gyro parameter that you can pass to the Mecanum function. Can navX provide the gryo input? Or, does the navX libraries have Mecanum drive?

Team 2465 (Kauaibots) uses navX MXP w/Mecanum, it works great.

We found the key to good mecanum was both Field-Oriented Drive (which the navX MXP provides), and traction control (implemented via speed-control PIDs on each of the wheels). Additionally, the navX MXP allows an "auto-rotate to angle" feature, which is helpful in two ways: (a) it lets drivers push a button and have the robot line itself parallel (or perpendicular) to the field, and (b) if used while strafing, it helps the robot stay aligned with the head of robot pointing to the "head" of the field, even if the load on the mecanum drive-train is uneven.

Java Source code for the drive subsystem that implements this is available here. This demonstrates the use of the nav6 or the navX MXP. Drive.java is provided a reference to the IMU object when it is constructed, and then uses it internally.

The IMU class (for C++/Java) also implements the PIDSource interface, so you can use it with other classes that use a PIDSource for gyro input.

[jojoguy10]

Our team is also planning on using the NavX to keep us aligned (especially during AUTO). We're using Labview and will hopefully be able to decipher the Java examples into Labview code. Any help or discoveries would be much appriciated!

[slibert]

Originally Posted by slibert

100 units are being shipped to AndyMark today, they should receive them in about 3 days from now.

Within about 2 weeks, an additional 100 more units will be shipped to AndyMark .

A shipment of navX MXPs was delivered to AndyMark today; if you're waiting, please keep an eye on the navX MXP product page at the Andymark site, as they should become available for purchase soon. As noted previously, Andymark recommends interested parties should register for a notification when they are available by clicking on the "Email When Available" link on this page.