Re: Robostix issues

Hi Brian:


Brian Davidson wrote:

> My Robostix arrived yesterday, and I've started playing with it this 
> evening.  I've come across a couple of issues:
>
> 1. The Board and Motor pins are in the way of the MMC

Yep, they are.  I have pulled those header pairs and will be replacing 
them with right angle equivalents.

Maybe a better answer is to use the RS MMC or SD cards instead.  :)  It 
seems the gumstix.com store is out of stock though.

If the holes were oriented along the length of the board (like the 
separated Gumstix UART header), then I could use locking molex KK style 
connectors that I have.  I don't know if there are KK connectors with 
the current orientation.

When I get that RS Card I will be putting vertical connectors.

> 2. The servo pins, A/D pins, port C pins and interrupt pins are too 
> close to the Gumstix board.  I can't plug in a servo and the Gumstix 
> at the same time...

The gotcha is the polarized connectors used on many servos.  
http://www.fatlion.com/sailplanes/servos.html has images of some popular 
ones. This is also a good reference for the pinouts of the connectors.

Futaba connector should be easy to modify with a knife. I'm not sure 
about JR and Hitec, but watch out for the Airtronics (A.K.A. Sanwa) 
ones! The pinout is *not* the same as the others, and older editions are 
coded brown, black, black.  No I'm not bitter.

Molex C-Grid connector shells should be a workable replacement with the 
existing crimps on each of these servos.  Or, hit up the local hobby 
shop for the JR ones.

What ever way you go, watch how you plug things in!

> Overall, it looks really good.  I like the design.
>
> Brian Davidson
> George Mason University

Has the website that published your robot design recovered from it's 
slashdotting yet?

My current challenge is finding hardware to mount the bits securely.  
The MMC end of the gumstix has no mounting holes and I don't want that 
flapping around on my mobile platform.

I think the reset button is going to be hidden for good when I get it 
mounted. :-|


   Albert.



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