Rookie help

[doyler]

I am new to programming and extremely new to a lot of mechanical stuff in general, so my team gave me something to work on over the holidays, but I am very confused.
I will try and be as specific as possible to receive help

They gave me an edubot controller, a battery, a charger, 2 servos, a serial to usb converter, and something called a BEI GyroChip

I know what the battery, charger, and serial -> usb cable do/are for, but how would i hook up the rest of thie stuff to the control

Thanks

[Mark McLeod]

Originally Posted by doyler

... 2 servos, ... and something called a BEI GyroChip

... how would i hook up the rest of the stuff to the control

The servos plug into any PWM available on your controller. Setting the value (0-254) of the PWM will turn the servo to a particular spot. The same spot everytime you use a particular value.

The gyro plugs into an analog input on the controller (one of the first inputs based on User_Initialization() in user_routines.c). If it doesn’t already have a connector attached you’ll have to make one out of a PWM cable. You get values from it doing something like “x = Get_Analog_Value(rc_ana_in01);“ The neutral position of the gyro will be close to 512. When the gyro is twisted slowly in one direction you’ll get numbers between 0 and 512 only while you are twisting it. Do the same in the other direction and you’ll get numbers between 512 and 1023. If you keep track of these numbers you can tell if your robot is driving straight or not and correct. It can also be used to make precise turns, to say 45 degrees if you calibrated it.
This particular gyro is no longer "street legal" to use on your competition robot, but it's good to learn with. This one will be overly sensitive to turns or sudden movements that are too quick, and will more easily lose track of the original robot heading.

Do a search on “gyro” for a lot of threads on the subject.

[doyler]

the gyro has a pwm, and my only job is to make the sensors move or something

sensors go to pwm out? if so, the black is on top right
the gyro goes to analog in with the black on botton?

if all this is correct thank you and i will probably have questions later about what all these do and what / how to code

[Mark McLeod]

Originally Posted by doyler

sensors go to pwm out? if so, the black is on top right
the gyro goes to analog in with the black on botton?

if all this is correct thank you and i will probably have questions later about what all these do and what / how to code

Yes, black on the outside, or the pin furthest from the controller, of each connector.
The gyro is a sensor and the servos are specialized motors.

[doyler]

um, i have 4 pwm out pins, but only three holes, does the closest one not matter for these servos?

[Mark McLeod]

Originally Posted by doyler

um, i have 4 pwm out pins, but only three holes, does the closest one not matter for these servos?

Leave the inside pin unconnected. It's a duplicate power pin.

[doyler]

I can use any 2 pwm out pins right
And I just put the gyro in the first digital in spot

[Mark McLeod]

Originally Posted by doyler

I can use any 2 pwm out pins right
And I just put the gyro in the first digital in spot

Yes, any pwms will do for the servos.

If you are starting with the default EDU code, that arranges for the first two inputs to be analog, so either 1 or 2 will work.

[doyler]

Will the default EDU code have stuff that i can just upload and make it work, just to learn the workings?

[Mark McLeod]

Originally Posted by doyler

Will the default EDU code have stuff that i can just upload and make it work, just to learn the workings?

Yes. Start with that. Also get the EDU documentation from the innovationfirst.com website:
http://innovationfirst.com/FIRSTRobo...04-Jan-14a.pdf
http://innovationfirst.com/FIRSTRobo...10-15-2003.pdf
http://innovationfirst.com/FIRSTRobo...t_02-16-04.zip

[doyler]

And I just use MPLAB IDE to mess with it right?

Also, what kind of code am i looking for just to make these things move for starters

What code(s) will I have to upload as well?