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Pioneer 2TM Robotics User Manual

1. LABEL BYTES CURRENT VALUE DESCRIPTION HEADER 2 OxFA OxFB Common header BYTE COUNT 1 XX Varies TYPE 1 0x98 Packet type N PAIRS 1 x Number of gyro data pairs FOR N PAIRS RATE 2 varies 0 1023 Gyro rate TEMPERATURE 1 varies 0 255 Gyro temperature CHECKSUM 2 varies Computed checksum INPUT OUTPUT I O Your AROS based robot comes with a number of I O ports that you may use for sensor and other custom accessories and attachments See Appendix A for port locations and specifications Some I O states and readings appear in the standard SIP and may be manipulated with AROS client commands There also is an IOpac SIP for convenient access to all of your robot s I O User I O The User I O connector on the H8S controller contains eight digital input and eight digital output ports as well as an analog to digital A D port 4 The bit mapped states of the siteen digital ports and analog port automatically and continuously appear in the standard SIP in their respective DIGIN DIGOUT ANALOG bytes When not physically connected the digital input and A D port values may vary and change without warning Use the AROS client command number 30 to set one or more of the eight DIGOUT ports on the AROS controller Electrically the ports are digital high 1 at 5 VDC Vcc and low 0 at O VDC GND DIGOUT uses a two byte unsigned integer argument The first byte is a mask whose bit pattern selects 1 or ignores 0
2. csssscssssscccssnsccecssscccscssccessnsccecssscecessscceessnsccecssceecees 29 JOY DRIVE MODE 353 otto e AE 29 ENGAGING SELFS PESTS etre eO e e eee eee ib eos qa cif 30 CHAPTER 6 ACTIVMEDIA ROBOTICS OPERATING SYSTEM e eene eee eren eese enne eee tn aee ta 31 CLIENT SERVER COMMUNICATION PACKET PROTOCOLS esses eene enne ener enne nre enne 31 Packet Che ches vain ve i teca 32 Packet ELV ORS ors Dee dd ea oo na fiin na iieri ero 32 SERVER INFORMATION DACKETS 1 5 n recenti reete is 33 CLIENT COMMANDS ed eerie Deere ive ei veces oues PUT dee REIN e vue EYE a 34 THE CLIENT SERVER CONNECTION c sccssesssecssssssecesseececesssecsessesecsesaececeesaecsesaesecseseeeeceasecseseeseceesaeeesenaaees 36 Autoconfiguration SYN C2 x 5 efti e ce taber pe etae ee eO e Peut epe ea eee rg edente 37 Opening the Servers OPEN hrener iiie eea a E eaae E e iaria eea ie i eiieeii 37 Keeping the Beat PULSE nieri atu ge eee Re rea Seea reesi sio ERE ee pecu d 37 Closing the Connection CLONSE esses ener ener trennt tre nennen rennen trennen 37 MOTION COMMANDS Ree E Dai 38 ActivMedia Robots in Motion cccccccccccccssesssscccccccssssscesccecsessssssssccscusssssssssecsceesesssasseescsesessausescesseeseaas 39 Platform Dependent and Independent Variables eee eene eene 39 PICOTTO AITEAL T I PEE 40 Position IntegratiOt se itas a ttr e epo gto ees ee e dept edite eee 41 NONE ETE 41
3. Table 29 H8S Power connector 5 pos microfit PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION Vbat Battery power Gnd Power common Vcc 5 VDC for sonar Vcc 5 VDC for sonar nc No connection Und ctm Radio Auxiliary and User Power Connectors Various connectors provide conditioned 5 VDC 1 5A total and unconditioned battery power for the variety of accessories and custom user attachments Some are AUX and RADIO power switched from the User Control Panel And some are for Use the 12 position latchlock connector for legacy installations Otherwise screw down auxiliary user power connectors make custom attachments easy Four position microfit connectors also provide AUX power for standard accessories Table 30 User Control Panel switched radio power connector 3 pos microfit PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION Vpp Radio switched battery 12 VDC Gnd Power common Vcc Radio switched 5 VDC QW dN Table 31 User Control Panel switched and unswitched Aux power connectors 4 pos microfits and screw down terminal blocks PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION 1 Vpp Aux switched battery 12 VDC 2 Vcc Aux switched 5 VDC 3 Gnd Power common 4 Gnd Power common 71 Appendix B Motor Power Board Connectors Table 32 User Power connector 12 pos latchlock unswitched IR Signal and Power Originally available on the Motor Power Interface Board and now integrated on the new
4. If the initial connection fails AROScf still starts up into its Interactive Mode but with empty and thereby useless parameter values You may still operate many of AROScf s interactive features without a connection such as maintain disk based copies of your robot s operating parameters And there is an interactive connect command that lets you establish a maintenance connection with your robot See the next section for AROScf commands and operating features Include each of the selected AROScf s startup mode options as a key letter with a dash prefix followed by any required arguments separated by spaces For example to start up AROScf and make a connection with a serial port other than the default com1 or ttyS0 C AROS gt AROScf p COM3 54 ActivMedia Robotics Similarly this Linux xterm command uploads a fresh copy of AROS to your robot s H8S based microcontroller and then exits much like the simple di AROS1 0 program AROScf d AROS1 0 hex n b 6 Table 15 AROScf startup options KEY ARGUMENT DESCRIPTION b command Batch mode executes list of AROScf arguments Interactive mode commands with arguments d hexfile Automatically upload AROS hex image file after connecting with the controller h none Print help message and exit l paramsfile Load the disk stored parameter file instead of the robot s copy n none Don t automatically connect with controller p seri
5. Intended mostly for indoor use on hard flat surfaces the Pioneer 1 had solid rubber tires and a two wheel differential reversible drive system with a rear caster for balance The Pioneer 1 came standard with seven sonar range finders two side facing and five forward facing and integrated wheel encoders Figure 5 The original Pioneer 1s Software wise the Pioneer 1 initially served as a platform for SRI International s Al fuzzy logic based Saphira robotics applications development But it wasn t long before its open architecture became the popular platform for the development of a variety of alternative robotics software environments Many developers created software that interfaced directly with PSOS Others extended the capabilities of Saphira PAI and P LOGO are two good examples while others have implemented alternative robotics control architectures such as the subsumption like Ayllu Functionally and programmatically identical to the Pioneer 1 the four wheel drive skid steering Pioneer AT was introduced in the Summer of 1997 for operation in uneven indoor and outdoor environments including loose rough terrain Except for the drive system there are virtually no operational differences between the Pioneer AT and the Pioneer 1 The integrated sonar arrays and microcontrollers are the same The accessories available for the Pioneer 1 also work with the Pioneer AT Further applications developed for the Pioneer
6. Serial Ethernet Radio Modem An integrated onboard PC wired internally for direct onboard control KUSA STARTING UP CLIENT AND SERVER We recommend that you first test your robot and are confident of its operation before putting it together with and controlling it from the ARIA demonstration client Drive Self Test Position your ActivMedia robot on the floor or ground in an open space or up on blocks if you have attachments to the Computer Control Panel Slide the Main Power switch to ON You should hear an audible beep and the Power light and Battery light should glow while the Status light blinks rhythmically on the User Control Panel The same AROS initialization sequence also occurs whenever you press the red RESET button Now press the white MOTORS button twice to engage the motor s self test If your robot is working properly it should move or rotate the wheels in four brief but distinctive turns forward and back left and right If not please contact support activmedia com for assistance Press the red RESET button to prepare for the client connection Client Server Connection ARIA s examples are text based terminal applications that do not include a GUI so its programs do not require X Windows over Linux or special software on a remote PC client a simple telnet session will do the trick First please note well that you cannot connect with and control your ActivMedia robot through its c
7. 3 5 21 11 252 8 10 3 4 2 4 2 pneumatic 191 50 75 Differential 38 3 1 33 0 900 150 15 50 11 Wheel chair accessible PB V1 47 38 104 3 5 19 13 252 8 10 3 4 2 4 2 solid rubber 165 37 75 Differential 38 3 1 32 0 800 130 15 50 11 Wheel chair accessible CE 44 33 22 5 1 20 84 8 10 na na 2 solid rubber 165 37 75 Differential 19 751 32 0 1 600 300 20 89 2576 Wheel chair accessible Sensors DXE Sonar Front Array one each side six forward 20 intervals Rear Sonar Array one each side six rear 20 intervals Top Deck Sonar one each side six forward 20 intervals na Count e counts mm 66 counts rotation 18 400 Controls and Ports Main Power Y Charge Port Y Joydrive Optional DX8 P3DX na 76 600 128 33 500 Y Y Optional AT AT8 na 34 000 49 22 500 Y Y Standard Perf PB 76 600 128 33 500 Y Y Standard ActivMedia Robotics PB V1 76 600 148 39 000 Y Y Optional CE na na 39 400 76 18 400 Y Y Optional 17 Warranty amp Liabilities Your ActivMedia robot is fully warranted against defective parts or assembly for one year after it is shipped to you from the factory Accessories are warranted for 90 days This warranty explicitly does not include damage from shipping or from abuse or inappropriate ope
8. Appendix A H8S PORTS amp CONNECTIONS This Appendix contains pinout and electrical specifications for the external and internal ports and connectors on the H8S microcontroller motor power interface and User Control boards Figure 23 Mini and micro fit style connector numbering Note that layered connectors are numbered differently depending on the socket type IDC ones are odd and even layers mini and micro fit connectors use successive position numbering See the Figures nearby for examples Figure 24 IDC type connector H8S MICROCONTROLLER e 57 OR User Controls ansi lC NM E 9 1 ia vMedia Robotics LLC Acti a 2e ns l Motors IR Interfa Sonar b phis c Aux Serial Joystick User l O Gripper SRAM FLASH EJ E fent ETE T NE Figure 25 ActivMedia s H8S based microcontroller Power Connector The power connector is a 3 pin microfit socket that delivers 12VDC battery to the microcontroller circuitry and separate conditioned 5 VDC to the sonar including power grounds Table 19 H8S Controller Power Connector PIN DESCRIPTION 1 12 VDC battery 2 GND 3 Sonar SVDC 65 Appendix A Ports and Connections Serial Ports Two DSUB 9 and two 5 pin microfit sockets provide the HOST and AUX1 AUX2 auxiliary serial ports for the H8S controller All are RS 232 compatible The HOST port is shared on both the User Control Panel a
9. Consult the next chapter on how to change the FLASH settings Use the sonar POLLING command 3 to have your client change the firing sequence and the SONAR CYCLE command 48 to change the rate The changes persist until you reset the controller or restart the client server connection The POLLING command string argument consists of a sequence of sonar numbers one through 32 Sonar numbers one through eight get added to the polling sequence for 41 ActivMedia Robotics Operating System sonar array number one numbers nine through 16 get added to the sequence for sonar array number two 17 24 specify the sequence for array three and 25 32 are for array four You may include up to 16 sonar numbers in the sequence for any single array Only those arrays whose sonar numbers appear in the argument get re sequenced You may repeat a sonar number two or more times in a sequence If a sonar number does not appear in an otherwise altered sequence the disc will not fire Note that for compatibility with earlier ActivMedia robot operating systems if the string is empty all the sonar get disabled but their polling sequences remain unaltered just as if you had sent the SONAR command with an argument value of zero In earlier versions of AROS and P2OS the sonar polling rate is fixed one sonar per array gets polled every 40 milliseconds That common cycle timing accommodates ranging out to the maximum of the sonar of several meters for general appl
10. Motor Power board four connectors provide power and signal for fixed range IR sensors A separate connector provides signal path for an additional four IR sensors Table 33 IR power and signal connectors 3 pos microfits PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION 1 Vpp Battery 12 VDC 2 IRn Switching signal 3 Gnd Power signal ground Table 34 Additional IR connector 8 pos latchlock 0 1 header PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION 1 4 IR4 7 IR signals 5 8 GND Signal common LEGACY MOTOR POWER User Power The legacy Motor Power system is a two board set that 9 besssssessee connects the H8S controller s control signals to the original P2 Motor Power board and provides connections for Main Pd switched radio and auxiliary Power Encoders power power and digital inputs for IRs charge detection port and e emergency stop detector o See the H8S controller board in Appendix A for interface connection specifications Figure 27 The Original P2 Motor Power Board GLE ee free E Stop Charger H8 Power rom A A EN DLL p puo e b IN a Hr Figure 28 Motor Power interface board 72 ActivMedia Robotics Appendix C RADIO MODEM SETTINGS The radio modem based wireless serial accessory comes pre configured for use with your ActivMedia robot for client server connections One modem comes installed in the robot robot s HOST serial port pins 7 and 8 jumpered
11. The LEDs on the charger indicate charge status as marked on its case It takes fewer than 12 hours often just a few hours depending on the level of discharge to fully charge a battery using the accompanying charger roughly three hours per volt per battery Although you may operate the robot while recharging it restricts the robot s mobility Automated Docking Charging System The automated docking charging system accessory optimally conditions power to charge the three 21 Ahr 12 VDC lead acid batteries 6 A charging current max and provides sufficient power up to 5A for operation of all onboard systems The charging mechanism and onboard power conditioning circuitry can be retrofitted to all Pioneer 3 and some Pioneer 2 and PeopleBot robots All require return to the factory Alternative Battery Chargers The center post of the charger socket is the positive side of the battery the case is the negative side A diode protects against the wrong charger polarity Nonetheless if you choose fo use an alternative battery charger be sure to connect positive to positive and negative to negative from charger to robot Loosen 2 turns An alternative AC to DC Gack oak Savas converter battery charger should hex wrench sustain at least 0 75A at 13 75 to Vaan 14 VDC per battery and not more LN than 2 2 5 amperes per battery The High Speed Charger accessory for example is a four ampere charger and should be used
12. effectors and control accessories like an onboard PC system automated docking recharging system laser range finder 5 DOF arm robotic pan tilt cameras and much much more PIONEER FAMILY OF MICROCONTROLLERS AND OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE The original Pioneer 1 mobile robot had a microcontroller based on the Motorola 68HC11 microprocessor and powered by Pioneer Server Operating System PSOS software The first generation of Pioneer 2 and PeopleBot robots use a Siemens Cl66 based microcontroller and Pioneer 2 Operating System P2OS software Now all new 4 ActivMedia Robotics ActivMedia robots including Pioneer 3 Performance PeopleBot and PowerBot use a multifunctional Hitachi H8S based microcontroller and new ActivMedia Robotics Operating System AROS software 2 The newest Pioneer 3 and 2 Plus platforms also sport an advanced motor power board for high power motor drives and systems power Although differing in some power and interfacing features processing power support for various sensors and I O all ActivMedia Robotics server operating system software PSOS P2OS AmigOS and now AROS are upwardly compatible and virtually interchangeable Accordingly client software written to operate a six year old Pioneer AT will work with a brand new Pioneer 3 We ve taken great care to have all client commands for control of that original Pioneer 1 work identically in our latest robots Client server communications protocols over
13. on the other hand simply reports the bit mapped states of the input bytes associated with the bumpers regardless of hardware The FrontBump and RearBump byte values also are reported near the end of the CONFIGpac If for any reason you remove a new style bumper from your robot you MUST reset the InvertBump FLASH value or disable BumpStal1 for that bumper Otherwise the robot will stall incessantly 60 ActivMedia Robotics chapters Maintenance amp Repair Your ActivMedia robot is built to last a lifetime and requires little maintenance TiRE INFLATION Maintain even tire inflation for proper navigation of your Pioneer 3 or 2 robot We ship with each pneumatic tire inflated to 23 psi If you change the inflation remember to adjust the ticksmm and revcount FLASH values DRIVE LUBRICATION Pioneer 3 and 2 drive motors and gearboxes are sealed and self lubricating so you need not fuss with grease or oil An occasional drop or two of oil on the axle bushings between the wheels and the case won t hurt And keep the axles clear of carpet or other strings that may wrap around and bind up your robot s drive BATTERIES Lead acid batteries like those in your ActivMedia robot last longest when kept fully charged In fact severe discharge is harmful to the battery so be careful not to operate the robot if the battery voltage falls below 11 VDC Changing Batteries Except for those equipped with the automated docking charging s
14. w pa N E wW H A H d Oo Oo H o AHI N N O N a ct o mps DI Z u Ra H E Analog inp Gnd Signal common AN Board versions C and earlier pin 24 HOST RI and pin 26 ground Nine aja aja N Analog input User Control Interface A 16 position latching IDC connector provides interface with the User Control Panel board and functions See description in a following section Table 26 User Control Panel interface Vee 5 VDC power MOTORS button Aux power switch Buzzer PWM E Status Signal power common Signal power common f HOST serial transmit HDSR HOST serial receive 68 Joystick Port ActivMedia Robotics An 8 position microfit socket provides signal lines for connection to an analog joystick Indicated lines are shared on other connectors Table 27 Joystick connector 8 pos microfit PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION Vcc 5 VDC 2 FBO Fire button 0 3 AN4 A D port 4 4 Gnd Signal common Y axis 5 AN3_ A D port 3 6 FBI Fire button 1 X axis 7 nc 8 nc 69 Appendix B Motor Power Board Connectors Appendix B Power Distribution ActivMedia Robotics original H8S based Pioneer 2 robots have two separate boards which interface with the H8S microcontroller and provide power for the motors as well as conditioned power and signal paths for the stan
15. 1234567 00 Ping sequence for sonar array 1 Up to 16 number characters 1 8 0 to disable the array Ping sequence for array 2 See sonarl above Ping sequence for array 3 See sonarl above Ping sequence for array 4 See sonarl above In 1 10 volts microcontroller alarm activated when battery charge falls below this value S time before robot automatically stops if it has not received a command from a client Restarts on restoration of connection The number of differential encoder ticks for a 360 degree revolution of the robot 1 enables alternative SIP aximum PWM before stall If PwmMax never S time after a stall for recovery Motors not engaged during this time Set to 1 if you have the gyro accessory Set to 1 if P3 or 2 if PowerBot autocharger mechanism and circuitry installed otherwise 0 O Set to 1 if P2 P3 Gripper 2 if Gripper on Performance PeopleBot TCM2 module connected to 1 AUX1 or 2 AUX2 O none 1 stop on detect 2 limit speed 3 stop and limit speed O disable bump stall l enable rear 2 enabl front 3 enable both front and rear bump stalls O none 1 front 2 rear or 3 invert both front and rear bumper signals 57 m m OPO Oy N o o E n o o Updating and Reconfiguring AROS 0 integral FID for rotation 30 Proportional PID for translation 1 45 Differential PID for translation Integral PID for translation 100 Joydrive maximum translation
16. 72 LEGACY MOTOR POWER 5 n een de Pe ele Pedale 72 TN ieii sediiiisi iisi iiii iieo iiii sviidis iiias niisiis 73 RADIO MODEM Eed ZEMA INTE NERE EE A E A E 73 A A DA BI DSa D DE 74 SERIAL INN 74 LAN TP SETTINGS Riera eere epe heehee t Dr ia Rhee a 74 CONSOLE TOGO oot ord etate eee tai ee ade ete O AAE relire dudes nite ee ace vete 74 WD PA Gia ied cts Ete etes ete o e Re oed pute online eve arc et ue ego 75 Peer to Peer Networking eese eene eent trennen 75 ENIM ak 76 SPECIFICATIONS C En 76 WARRANTY amp ETABILITIES oia ete eeteet vea oaa et eee e eee o e eet eade a oat e Fee 0 candado cadena dos 78 vi ActivMedia Robotics Chapter 1 Introduction Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the rapidly growing community of developers and enthusiasts of ActivMedia Robotics intelligent mobile robots This Pioneer 3 amp Pioneer 2 H8 Series Figure 1 Pioneer Mobile Robots first Operations Manual provides both the appeared commercially in 1995 general and technical details you need to operate your new Pioneer 3 DX or AT or Pioneer 2 DX8 DX8 Plus and AT8 AT8 Plus mobile robot and to begin developing your own robotics hardware and software For operation of previous versions of Pioneer 2 which use the Siemens C166 based microcontroller original motor power boards and support systems please consult the Pioneer 2 Operat
17. BOARD The new Pioneer 3 and previous Pioneer 2 Plus robots come with an advanced motor power board It can be configured as a plug and play replacement for some older Pioneer 2s as well Besides expanded user power connectors and connections for ease and versatility of use the new board supplies three to four times the motor power than the original Pioneer 2 board Accordingly the Pioneer 3 and 2 Plus platforms operate more robustly over rougher terrain fewer stalls and carry significantly more payload when compared with their predecessors And because of the power improvements the Pioneer 3 AT and 2 2 AmigoBot has an H8S based controller too but uses the AmigoBot Operating System tailored for its electronics What is Pioneer AT8 Plus now come with a lower motor gearhead reduction for faster speeds even with much improved turning power CLIENT SOFTWARE All ActivMedia robots operate as the server in a client server environment Their controllers handle the low level details of mobile robotics including maintaining the platform s drive speed and heading over uneven terrain acquiring sensor readings such as the sonar and managing attached accessories like the Gripper To complete the client server architecture ActivMedia robots require a client connection software running on a computer connected with the robot s controller via the HOST serial link and which provides the high level intelligent robot controls including ob
18. DIGOUT bit 6 User only DIGOUT bit 7 User only 5VDC lt 1A Signal power common Y A 40 pin high density IDC socket on the H8S microcontroller provides a general purpose connector for future I O expansion Digital lines including 8 bit bus adaress data read write and other general purpose ones are buffered with inputs pulled high Indicated ports appear on other connectors Table 23 General purpose I O and data bus 40 pos high density IDC SIGNAL DESCRIPTION Disp DO D1 D2 Address bi Address bi ct o DESCRIPTION Da Da Address bi ta bi ta bi ta bi 1 Alda Di D3 D4 H D7 N6 D 5 ANA AN3 D Z 1 2 1 NO oio os 2 2 2 8 2 Slojojo w w w w w N N N R Rl RRR wle 0 N Oo wje w PR o N On wje Q D z z Q Zz J Address bi Address bi Address bi Address bi Address bi A D port 6 gyro temp A D port 5 gyro rat A D port Joystic A D por Joystic A D por A D por A D por Signal common Signal common Signal common Signal common Signal common ct BD OW N FR Oy O1 ct se TiN Al xX WIK A se ct E wj w w wj w R P PR P P OO oy BH NM oO CO oy B NM oO JILL DN Ou Hs ct RF Nh U H ct p o Q ca A c o Q n Co Q n N P1 1 j Q Q Vcc a J c Ol OY Data bi ata bi Data bi ata bi Data bi Chip se
19. DX s come with a removable right side panel through which you may install accessory connectors and controls A special side panel comes with the onboard PC option for example which gives users monitor keyboard mouse and 10Base T Ethernet access as well as the means to reset and switch power for the onboard computer AT s come with a single access panel in the deck Fastened down with finger tight screws the User Control Panel and onboard computer controls are accessible beneath the hinged door All models come with an access port near the center of the deck through Front which to run cables to the internal TI 7 components Sonar Arrays with Gain Adjustment Natively H8S AROS based ActivMedia robots support up to four sonar arrays each with eight transducers that provide object detection and range information for collision avoidance features recognition localization and navigation The sonar positions in all Pioneer 2 and 3 arrays are fixed one on each side and six facing outward at 20 degree intervals Together fore and aft sonar arrays provide 360 Figure 12 Pioneer 3 sonar array degrees of nearly seamless sensing for the platform Courtesy of ActivMedia Robotics LLC 7 With older Pioneer 2 models you also needed to remove the Gripper before removing the Nose With the DXE and
20. TO GET AROS SOFTWARE Your ActivMedia robot comes preinstalled with the latest version of AROS And the various AROS configuration and update tools come with the robot on CD ROM Thereafter stay tuned to the pioneer users newsgroup or periodically visit our support website to obtain the latest AROS software and related documentation http robots activmedia com AROS tools come in two flavors One di AROSV v simply updates the AROS servers in FLASH The other utility AROSc is a multi functional application for both uploading new AROS versions as well as modifying your robot s onboard FLASH based parameters AROS MAINTENANCE MODE To connect with and update your robot s AROS servers and its FLASH based operating parameters you need to first connect a serial port on the PC from which you will run the AROS tool s to the HOST port of your robot s microcontroller Y Ifyou are running from an onboard PC the computer to HosT connection already is made Y Ifyou have an onboard PC but prefer to use an external computer for maintenance simply power down the onboard computer v f you use radio or Ethernet wireless switch RADIO power OFF Y When connecting from an external PC directly tether no radios its serial port to the 9 pin DSUB serial connector on the User Control Panel Now start up your robot and put its controller into the special Maintenance Mode The STATUS LED on the User Control Panel should flash twice the rate th
21. a serial communication link remain identical too See Chapter 6 ActivMedia Robotics Operating System for details HiTACHI H8S BASED MICROCONTROLLER Your H8S based ActivMedia robot also has a variety of expansion power and I O ports for attachment and close integration of a client PC sensors and a variety of accessories all accessible through a common application interface to the robot server software AROS Features include Y 18 MHz Hitachi H8S 2357 with 32K RAM and 128K FLASH Optional 512K FLASH or SRAM expansion 3 RS 232 serial ports 4 connectors configurable from 9 6 to 115 2 kbaud 4 Sonar arrays of 8 sonar each 2 8 bit bumpers digital input connectors 1 P2 Gripper User I O connector with 8 bits digital I O and 1 analog input Expansion bus connector containing 5 Analog input 2 Analog output 8 bit I O bus with r w and 4 chip selects 2 axes 2 button joystick port User Control Panel Controller HOST serial connector Main power and bi color LED battery level indicators AUX and RADIO power switches with related LED indicators RESET and MOTORS pushbutton controls Piezo buzzer Motor Power Board drive system interface with PWM and motor direction control lines and 8 bits of digital input NS SS NS NN NS SANSA NSNASXS With the onboard PC option your ActivMedia robot becomes an autonomous agent With Ethernet ready onboard autonomy your robot even becomes an agent for multi intelligence work PLUS MOTOR POWER
22. client server connection without disrupting recharging as long as the robot remains positively engaged with the charging platform and you don t do anything else to otherwise disrupt recharging Once disengaged from the client the rules for engaging and disengaging the recharge mechanism and power manually apply Monitoring the Recharge Cycle Three digital signals indicate battery recharging states of the docking recharging system All appear in the standard SIP Table 14 Recharging cycle states Charge State Overcharge Volts Charge current 1D7 Bulk 1 discharge 14V 6A Overcharge 0 14 14 7 6A Float 1 13 5 lt 1A The power good signal appears as both User I O DIGIN bit 6 and as bit 10 of the FLAGS integer in the standard SIP but their states are inversely related DIGIN bit 6 normally high 1 when not charging or when the charging system is not installed goes low 0 when the recharge system is engaged on the charge platform Conversely the power good bit 10 in FLAGS normally is low and goes high when the robot is docked and charging For compatibility with future docking systems we recommend that your client monitor the power good FLAGS bit and not the DIGIN line to determine if the robot is getting power from the charging platform The DIGIN and DIGOUT bytes of the Standard SIP also reflect the states of the associated charging digital input and output bits DIGOUT bits 4 and 5 are the inhibit a
23. different from most standard wireless Ethernet devices in that it also connects to the HOST serial port on the robot s microcontroller It works by automatically translating network based Ethernet packet communications into streaming serial for the robot controller and back again Accordingly you may run the robot s client on any network PC just as if that client PC were connected directly to the robot s controller See Appendix D for Serial Ethernet settings A major disadvantage of the wireless Ethernet to serial device however as well as for radio modems is that they require a constant wireless connection with the robot Disruption of the radio signal a common occurrence in even the most modern installations leads to poor robot performance and very short ranges of operation This is why we recommend onboard client PCs for wider much more robust areas of autonomous operation particularly when equipped with their own wireless Ethernet In this configuration you run the client software and its interactions with the robot controller locally and simply rely on the wireless connection to export and operate the client controls such as through X Windows or VNCserver Moreover the onboard PC is often needed for local processing such as to support a laser range finder or to capture and process live video for vision work 18 ActivMedia Robotics ONBOARD PC Unlike the original Pioneer 1 Pioneer 2 and 3 robots are designed to support an
24. eed 2 Lacu pc 2 ym E 3 CHAPTER 2 WHAT IS PIONEER rere senno ero aa eoe anao E rh adea ee aoo Vg na ae vig aaa Ua rone resa a ao necia nacos 4 PIONEER REFERENCE PLATFORM cssccccssssecessssseceeseececesssecsseesecessaeeesessecsssaesecsesaeeseseasecseseesecsesaeesseenseseees 4 PIONEER FAMILY OF MICROCONTROLLERS AND OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE cene 4 HITACHI H8S BASED MICROCONTROLLER eese enne enten rennen sitne nr rente nr ee terrse eaten eren rens en nnn 5 PLUS MOTOR POWER BOARD 2 pee esce eset etd do pe ie Pa Bra ert ee e He de eadera 5 CLIENT SOFTWARE is 0 2002 eene Pn e eec iege ettet iet te tede ege ie P E pe EE eae Poe edd 6 ARIM i ron emetene cane ibn iens 6 hp m E 7 Laser Navigation and Localization esee eene enne enana 7 SUPPORTING SOFTWARE noora eser dy a eee oa teet ders 7 ITERUM 7 MG pp etree es U U 7 DHE PIONEER EGA c ounce 7 Pioneer Dand AT sette odere eere se Pioneer 2 and PeopleBot uet ee e ER TRE a LS HUE e Reve RECS 8 New Pioneer 3 and Recent Pioneer 2 DX8 AT8 and Plus Mobile Robots see 9 MODES OE OPERATION etc tete tee eie ien eese eee tese ubere eed eee ce cee eee eee ch 10 hA MISTER a ita Matta 10 Maintenance and Standalone Modes seen eene
25. eene eene enne na cr een rca 10 Joydrive and Self Test Modes eh temet etd deb be beet e 10 CHAPTER 3 SPECIFICATIONS amp CONTROLS eere eese eren neenon eee tn oeste toast tns seen ases ee tn aee ta 11 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS ete tt eU rede eee e e ta eese PU hs eevee Base 11 MAIN COMPONENTS c M 12 Motor Stop Button ceci rite eere ee tene ette ee eee Re E de nex An TE REAS 12 User Control Bat iii 13 Body Nose and Accessory Panels e e OE ER WERE REO S E RAUS 14 Sonar Arrays with Gain Adjustment esee eee eene nre anar eene nennen 14 Motors Wheels and Position Encoders essen eren eee eeeheh hehe ness e eee e rennen eene 15 BATTERIES AND POWER 4 eiecti etiem eiie tette tu etae ess 15 Battery Indicators and Low Voltage Conditions eene 16 R ch arging J eem te e eet ed ee e ier aider eerte eed 16 DOCKING CHARGING SYSTEM ccssccssscesssecsscesseecueceeseeceueceeseecssseeessecsaeeeeaeecsueeeeseecsueesessecsueeseaeecaeeeesaecea 17 Manual Operation Robot Power OFF eene ener 17 Manual Operation Robot Power and Systems ON sse eene 17 RADIO CONTROLS AND ACCESSORIES sees ener ener ener eren nennen nets rennen eren rennen rires en nnns erre nn nnn 18 ONBOARD PC itenim tenta eti tt etd e 19 Computer Control Patel b dedere d lr etit edle endete dts 19 Operating the Onboard PC 2 eee eene b deb teu ebbe 20 PO
26. first check and see if the robot is out of range 27 Quick Start To test for range limits simply pick up the robot and move it closer to the basestation radio modem or access point If the robot was out of range the connection should resume If not check to make sure that radio modems were not inadvertently switched OFF Communications also will fail if the client and or server is somehow disabled during a session For instance if you inadvertently switch off the robot s Main Power or press the RESET button you must restart the connection Turning the Main Power switch OFF and then back ON or pressing the RESET button puts the robot servers back to their wait state ready to accept client connections again If the ARIA demo or other client application is still active simply press esc and restart SRIsim To verify proper installation of the software you might run the robot simulator SRISim It is in the same directory as the ARIA demonstration program Start SRIsim first then the ARIA demo program ARIA should successfully connect with the simulator if the software has been installed correctly SRIsim looks like a real robot to the ARIA client so you can operate the demo as you do your own ActivMedia robot SRIsim includes simulated worlds and different robot profiles which you select from the Files menu too so you can see how different robots might navigate in a real or imagined space 28 ActivMedi
27. from a PC that contains wireless Ethernet in what is known as peer to peer mode l 2 NN From console mode see above at the Local prompt Type 3 set enet mode adhoc 4 save 5 init 6 exit Restart the device Or from the webpage access as above Select Configure WiFi Choose Ad hoc from the Mode menu Submit Restart the device 75 Appendix D Serial Ethernet Settings Appendix E SPECIFICATIONS DXe Physical Characteristics Length cm 44 5 Width cm 40 Height cm 24 5 Clearance cm 6 5 Weight kg 9 Payload kg 23 Power Batteries 12VDC 3 lead acid Charge watt 252 hrs Run time hrs 8 10 with PC hrs 3 4 Recharge time hr battery 6 std charger High Speed 24 3 batteries f Mobility Wheels Z pneumatic diam mm 191 width mm 50 Caster mm 75 Steering Differential Gear ratio 19 7 1 Swing cm 32 Turn cm 0 Translate speed 1 800 max mm sec Rotate speed max deg sec 260 Traversable step 20 max mm Traversable gap 89 max mm Traversable slope 25 max grade Traversable Wheel chair terrains accessible DX8 P3DX 44 5 40 24 5 6 5 9 25 252 8 10 3 4 2 4 2 pneumatic 191 50 75 Differential 38 3 1 32 0 1 400 300 20 89 2576 Wheel chair accessible AT AT8 50 49 24 5 5 14 40 2 4 4 pneumatic 220 75 na Skid 85 2 1 40 700 140 89 127 40 Unconsolidated No carpets Perf PB 47 38 124
28. newer DXs and ATs the Nose and Gripper come off together so you only need to remove the Nose s mounting screws 14 ActivMedia Robotics Each sonar array comes with its own driver electronics for independent control Each array s sonar are multiplexed the sonar acquisition rate is adjustable normally set to 25 Hz 40 milliseconds per sonar per array Sensitivity ranges from ten centimeters six inches to over four meters depending on the ranging rate You may control the sonar s firing pattern through software too the default is left to right in sequence 0 to 7 for each array See the AROS chapters 6 and 7 for details The driver electronics for each array is calibrated at the factory However you may adjust the array s sensitivity and range to accommodate differing operating environments The sonar gain control is on the underside of the sonar driver board which is attached to the floor of each sonar module Sonar sensitivity adjustment controls are accessible directly although you may need to remove the Gripper to access the front sonar if you have that accessory attached For the front sonar for instance locate a hole near the front underside of the array through which you can see the cap of the sonar gain adjustment potentiometer Using a small flat blade screwdriver turn the gain control counterclockwise to make the sonar less sensitive to external noise and false echoes Low sonar gain settings reduce the robot s abili
29. onboard internally integrated PC for fully autonomous operation Mounted just behind the nose of the robot the PC is a common EBX form factor that comes with up to four serial ports 10 100Base T Ethernet monitor keyboard and mouse ports two USB ports and support for floppy as well as IDE hard disk drives For additional functionality such as for sound video framegrabbing firewire or PCMCIA bus and wireless Ethernet the onboard PC accepts PC104 and PC104 plus PCI bus enabled interface cards that stack on the motherboord Necessary 5 VDC power comes from a dedicated DC DC converter mounted nearby A hard disk 5 drive is specially shock mounted to the robot s nose Hs o in between a cooling fan and computer speaker i 8 The onboard PC communicates with the H8S ETHERNET microcontroller through its HOST serial port and the resin o Mo dedicated serial port comi under Windows or o o ee dev ttyS0 on Linux systems Automatic systems on Cp PWR HDD the microcontroller switch in that HOST to PC connection when PC based client software opens Sh J the serial port Otherwise the PC doesn t interfere MONITOR with externally connected clients through the shared COMPUTER f SERIAL port on the User Control Panel Note also that some signals on the H8S Figure 14 DX computer microcontroller s HOST serial port as connected with control side panel the onboard PC or other accessory can be used for automated PC
30. rv3 66 string Sends string argument to serial device connected ERES 16 No this isn t a misprint the DIGOUT command was mistakenly omitted until version 1 7 35 ActivMedia Robotics Operating System a to AUX2 H8S serial port Ha Request to retrieve 1 200 bytes from the AUX2 1 1 l H8S serial port 0 flushes the buffer 1 to deploy autocharging mechanism 0 to retract j ROTKV ROTKI TRANSKP l 9x Arm related commands see manual for details int int int int Change working rotation Proportional PID value 1 not FLASH default int i int int int int int ag t value not FLASH default TRANSKV Change working translation Derivative PID value not FLASH default Change working rotation Integral PID value not FLASH default TRANSKI Change working translation Integral PID value not FLASH default Change working rotation Derivative PID value not FLASH default EEEE E 81 REVCOUNT Change working differential encoder count 1 1 not FLASH default LE 0 mute or 1 enable buzzer 0 cancel shutdown 1 simulate low power 0 condition 2 initiate computer shutdown The number of client commands you may send per second depends on the HOST serial baud rate average number of data bytes per command synchronicity of the communication link and so on AROS command processor runs on a one millisecond interrupt cycle but the server response speed depends on the comman
31. shutdown or other utilities Pin 4 DSR normally is RS232 high when the controller operates normally otherwise it is low when reset or in maintenance mode Similarly pin 9 RI normally is low and goes RS232 level high when the robot s batteries drop below a set nominally 11 VDC voltage level Computer Control Panel User accessible communication and control port connectors switches and indicators for the onboard PC are on the Computer Control Panel found on the right side panel of the DX or in the hinged control well next to the User Controls of the AT or ONBOARD COMPUTER ooo o PWR motors ooo O C O eoesrarus e G reser KEYBOARD Om BATTERY ETHERNET SERIN PWR HDD O Rano o Nj o o o of yo T O i RESET FAUX ON OFF MOUSE MONITOR bs 9 gt Fiaure 15 AT computer and user controls 19 Specifications and Controls The controls and ports use common connectors standard monitor DSUB and PS 2 connectors on the mouse and keyboard The Ethernet is a 10 100Base T standard RJ 45 socket The ON OFF slide switch directly controls power to the onboard PC through Main Power unlike some earlier versions of the onboard system which included a delayed power shutdown The PWR LED lights when the computer has power The HDD LED lights when the onboard hard disk drive is active The RESET button restarts the PC Operating the Onboard PC This is a brief overview of operating the onboard PC Please consult t
32. the robot to drive away from its current position However if you purposely 24 Many other ports also appear at that connector but are not yet supported in AROS 25 These output ports and the charge sensing User l O based digital input ports see below do not interfere with the Pioneer PeopleBot Gripper 50 ActivMedia Robotics disengage the motors while charging such as by disconnecting you will have to re engage them from the client or by manually pressing the MOTORS button on the controller Re engaging the motors automatically retracts the charging mechanism While the motors are engaged the charging mechanism cannot be deployed except by the CHARGE command For best control and safety consider also using the AROS CHARGE Command number 68 with integer argument O to gracefully cancel charging retract the charging mechanism and restore motor state In addition to the client mediated commands you also may cancel recharging and retract the charging mechanism manually with the Charge Deploy button as described in the earlier sections Do note that client mediated docking charging behaviors may act to reverse your actions For example the client may upon untimely loss of recharging power resulting from someone pressing the Charge Deploy button may re engage the motors and have the robot automatically attempt to re dock with the charging platform and restart charging Your client software may disengage and re engage the
33. these command arguments into robot dependent wheel encoder related motion values using two user settable parameters ticksmm for translation and revcount for rotation 20 Note that acceleration and deceleration are distinct values settable via SETA for translation and SETRA for rotation 39 ActivMedia Robotics Operating System At the same time AROS reports back to the client in the standard SIP the robot s position and speed Not all robots convert these values into platform independent units ARIA and Saphira clients rely on conversion factors found in your robot s respective p parameter file to make the necessary conversion So when you tell the robot to move a certain number of millimeters forward measure its actual travel with a meter tape and adjust ticksmm accordingly Similarly turn the robot and adjust revcount to achieve the correct heading Then when you are satisfied that the robot moves and turns precisely adjust the various parameter file based conversion factors such as DistConvFactor so that the client reports the robot s position and speeds in platform independent units Please see the next chapter for a detailed description of these platform dependent variables PID Controls The AROS drive servers use a common Proportional Integral Derivative PID control system to adjust the PWM pulse width at the motor drivers and subsequent power to the motors The motor duty cycle is 200 microseconds pulse widt
34. 1 work with little or no porting to the Pioneer 2s and 3s Pioneer 2 and PeopleBot The next generation of Pioneer Mobile Robots including the Pioneer 2 DX CE and AT introduced in Fall 1998 through Summer 1999 improved upon the Pioneer 1 legacy while retaining its many important advantages 4 Indeed in most respects particularly with applications software Pioneer 2 works identically to Pioneer 1 models Figure 6 The Performance PeopleBot sports an attractive body design and bundled systems including voice synthesis and The ActivMedia Robotics Pioneer 2 models DX recognition for human interaction DE DXe DXf and AT and the V1 and research and applications Performance PeopleBot robots used a high 4 Price performance ratio included The much more capable and expandable Pioneer 2 was introduced four years later for just a few hundred dollars US more than the original Pioneer 1 8 ActivMedia Robotics performance 20 MHz Siemens 88C166 based microcontroller with independent motor power and sonar controller boards for a versatile operating environment The controller had two RS232 standard communications ports and an expansion bus to support the many accessories available for your ActivMedia robot as well as your own custom attachments Sporting a more holonomic body larger wheels and stronger motors for better indoor performance Pioneer 2 DX DXe DXf and CE models like Pioneer 1 are two wheel
35. Enable Disabling Sonar essent entren trente eerte erinnere 41 Polling Sequence and Rate essent rentrer trente eere 41 STALLS AND EMERGENCIES esses eene rennen enne a enter sien tene nono nn nn enne ria oeiee hee eren see r rennen nennen nnns 42 ACCESSORY COMMANDS AND PACKETS ccssssessssceceesececseceecesseeecsssaececsesaeeecaseecsesaececsesaeeecnseeeesaeeecsaas 43 Packet PYOGeSSIWg o o eyes decree rep E etae ruentes ue atero cree etu etu 43 CONF IGpac and CONFIG Command sese nn anna armani 44 SERIAL PORT COMMUNICATIONS cccessssceceessececseseecessseeecsesaececseseesecsaeeessssaeeeceeseecesaeeecsesuececseseeessseeecnaas 44 Changing Baud Rates and Autobauding seen 44 HOST to AUX Serial Transfers eee eene nre trente entrent erinnere 45 ENCODER PACKETS honeen 45 Gripper packets 2 eot its EEE aa EE Rede 45 OUTS E REN E E AAE E eae Vn claps e E E 46 yg pH e a 46 Onboard Pu Ee ae UE UE 47 Heading Correction Gyro iie e e eee erp trt teo eie ree ai 47 INPUT OUTPUT TO ii rene e Pe e Re RUE IR e d ge e RE UE eR EE He REY d 48 ETAGE NN 48 Bumper and IR MO i cete ai dee P Seu bru t La aH Dag AAE 49 IO PAC a SEA SSRs 49 Dyno 50 DOCKING CHARGING SYSTEM I O seseo ti oie ito etre ere ate vede e HERE ee Eve ee E E 50 Digital Port Contkols z a A EE sand Ee cen POET NR e 50 Docking Charging Servers e t
36. LC MEDIA ROBOTIC S ROBOTICS Pioneer 3 amp Pioneer 2 H8 Series Operations Manual Copyright 2003 ActivMedia Robotics LLC All rights reserved Under international copyright laws this manual or any portion of it may not be copied or in any way duplicated without the expressed written consent of ActivMedia Robotics The software on disk CD ROM and or in the microcontroller s FLASH which accompany the robot and are available for network download by ActivMedia Robotics customers are solely owned and copyrighted or are licensed products distributed by ActivMedia Robotics LLC Developers and users are authorized by revocable license to develop and operate custom software for personal research and educational use only Duplication distribution reverse engineering or commercial application of the ActivMedia Robotics software and hardware without the expressed written consent of ActivMedia Robotics LLC is explicitly forbidden The various names and logos for products used in this manual are often registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies Mention of any third party hardware or software constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation Pioneer 3 amp Pioneer 2 H8 Series Operations Manual version 3 August 2003 ii ActivMedia Robotics Important Safety Instructions NNSSSS Read the installation and operations instructions before using the equipment Avoid using power ext
37. NT 22 Number of data bytes 2 TYPE 1 OxFO Packet type N DIGIN 1 4 Number of digital input bytes DIGIN 1 varies 0 255 ID0 8 bits mapped FRONTBUMP i varies 0 255 Front bumper bits mapped REARBUMP 1 varies 0 255 Rear bumper bits mapped IR I varies 0 255 IR inputs N DIGOUT 1 1 Number of digital output bytes DIGOUT I varies 0 255 Digital output byte s AN al 5 Number of A D values A D 10 5 integers A D ports 1 5 input values at 12 varying 0 2047 bit resolution 0 5 VDC CHECKSUM 2 varies Computed checksum Not all analog and digital I O appears in the standard SIP Accordingly your client software may request the ropac SIP type 240 OxFO which contains all common I O associated with the H8S controller and which appear on the various connectors including User IO General IO Bumpers and IRs Use the AROS client IOREQUEST command number 40 with an argument value of zero one or two The argument value one requests a single packet to be sent by the next client server communications cycle The request argument value of two tells AROS to send IOpac packets continuously at approximately one per cycle depending on serial port speed and other pending SIPs Use the IOREQUEST argument value zero to stop continuous IOpac packets Actual bits not affected by InvertBumps since bumper bits may be used for other digital input besides bumpers 49 ActivMedia Robotics Operating System Expansion I O Fou
38. NetWOFkilig d sd seeing e ette pet e re tee eet eed tte 20 UPS and GenpoWer etit ticae ate e ted eere SE terti att 21 SAFETY AROS WATCHDOGS ies EN siente non TE EE 22 CHAPTER 4 QUICK START ais iccssesnssscicscacssevssosssedncceecesosddcancesenadoesdeseceuecssedensseudcesescensecsceteceebessdenasoess 23 PREPARATIVE ASSEMBEY 5 rh p bee dl cree Lie Bebe eit rt mie aeter reete Sheet 23 TU SIal AREAS oec iie totes cone desata alo tins kal edad teal Mil a exsistens ae aa inr 23 TnstalL Batteries daa ed adidas aida nl Sa id ltd 24 Client Server COMMUNICATIONS ccccccccccceccccccccssssssssccesccssssssssscesecsessssssccssecscssessscsssceessssscessscessssssassssesens 24 iv ActivMedia Robotics STARTING UP CLIENT AND SERVER eo p dt eee tra e ore 24 DriveSelf Test 2g etc tg mt tte dt e ee t ett HA 24 ClientiSekver GCOHnleotloWs ua at ntc dte Reese cedentes taa da Ice eves Tubs eee Eres eee od 24 Demo Startup ODtiOns iia oett eie E t t ee merece Tee e ce putt be rs A Ee Re eae ege dne dd 25 A Successful Connection eee O 26 OPERATING THE ARIA DEMONSTRATION CLIENT ccccsssscesssececesssececseseecessseeecsesaeeeceeseesesseeessesaeeecneaeees 26 DISCONNEGTING aaa 27 QUICKSTART TROUBLESHOOTING eseeeeee eee enne entente sienne sien tene innere sr en tense erre ns sn nere ns enne sre nn nnn 27 Proper COMES cada 27 DIST S AE EAS MA Ne de AD e e A DO ed AA MIE e LO 28 CHAPTER 5 JOYDRIVE AND SELF TESTSS
39. O eid ear ass 61 Automated Docking Charging System esee eene nene etre ennt entren 62 Alternative Battery Chargers esee rennen rien anna 62 TIGHTENING THE AT DRIVE BELT n ness bin 62 GETTING INSIDE ie 63 Removing the Nose ies a nane do ias 63 Opening the De nie e e E eia et Eds 64 FACTORY REPAIRS 2 eene ie eee tee Tet e de etae Fe eve e 64 APPENDIX A A ss ikesvidoi soises idisse coi sdisev tss 65 H8S PORTS amp CONNECTIONS cui eE E EEKE EEE e e d doce dae dear E eeke id 65 H8S MICROCONTROLLER ci po Pe en kE do cus dba iiaa a E e eike o a dede 65 Power CohnectOE s ecce a I EE E IRE mn SS Bas 65 SATA OFA Sixes ace Oe ass aE TI a e Es tN ashe ERE e 66 User I O Gripper Docking Charging Port eese nennen 66 The Expansion I OtBus rte RO ii 67 Bumper Ports scsi xi e ML nM D La eT 68 Motors Encoders NARA e ee erbe e ene itu iio eins 68 User Control Interface ic subo ene d e Ies 66 Joystick Port s ste ee tele ol etae RN ed 69 APPENDEX B Du 70 PIONEER 3 AND 2 PLUS MOTOR POWER BOARD iere enne en ernnr ener nien rennen nennen nennen rennen 70 Configuration for Current and Temperature Sensing sse eene 70 Controller Power and Interface eee eene 71 Radio Auxiliary and User Power Connectors essent 71 AR Signal dnd Power iii eere e nb e Fa Re b dear ERU EE
40. ON 1 DTR Input 2 TXD output 3 RCV Input 4 DSR output 5 GND common User I O Gripper Docking Charging Port A 20 pin latching IDC socket on the H8S microcontroller provides the digital analog and power ports for user connections and for the Gripper and automated docking charging accessories if installed Indicated ports are shared on other connectors Digital inputs are buffered and pulled high digital 1 outputs are buffered and normally low digital 0 Table 22 User I O Gripper 20 pos latching IDC EJE CINEEEN NNNM 10 CNNNNNE NEN DIGOUT bit DO DIGIN bit 0 Gripper enable pa Paddles open limit DIGOUT bit DIGIN bit 1 Gripper direction pues Lift limit DIGOUT bit DIGIN bit 2 MINA Outer breakbeam IR 8 103 Lift ele DIGIN bit 3 DIGOU t 3 26 Unlike with earlier P2 controllers HOST does not interfere with the User Control Panel serial connections if its attached device PC or radio modem is OFF 66 The Expansion Lift direction DIGIN bit 4 Left paddle contact DIGIN bit 5 Right paddle contact DIGIN bit 6 Automated docking charging power good DIGIN bit 7 Automated docking charging overcharge A D port 0 default 0 5VDC 0 255 1 O Bus ActivMedia Robotics Inner breakbeam IR DIGOUT bit 4 Automated docking charging inhibit DIGOUT bit 5 Automated docking charging deploy
41. OWBATTERY WATCHDOG REVCOUNT SOUNDTOG P2MPACS STALLVAL STALLCOUNT HASGYRO CHARGER GRIPPER TCM2 LEDGESENSE BUMPSTALL INVERTBUMP FRONTBUMPS REARBU ROTV ER Ss FU un SV ROTACC ROTDE ta Q E El li 2 lt 5 x S S S S 1 1 1 lI lt ct O byte tr EX EX EX nt nt nt nt nib EX nt byte yte yte str str t St 0 H int int JO o KIX ct ct Ojo N e oj N R N ojojo ojo CO OC CO CO OC o W 0 o o eojojo rm ta o o o Mass az o o o o o SS Ke K K K KIK ct ct Cr ct ct ct at ct Ojo O O O O ojo Ple ct Default Should not be changed Pioneer Identifies the robot type P3DX Lx aximum rotation de acceleration deg sec 6 220 0 3 Lum 3 6 400 1 aximum translational de acceleration mm sec Encoder ticks mm ticks per rev x gear ratio wheel diameter x PI O if a 12V system 1 if 24V OO Parameters that you may change not set Unique name for your robot aximum of 20 characters no spaces Server information packet cycle time in 1 ms increments Default is classic 100 ms aximum motor PWM 500 fully on 10 40 Baud rate for client server HOST serial 029 6k 1 19 2k 2 38 4k 3 56 8k 4 115 2k Baud rate for AUX serial port 1 see HostBaud Baud rate for AUX serial port 2 see HostBaud Sonar cycle time in milliseconds Hs olojo Lao Y aem
42. P20S in 20mm sec increments oT perreo mama ford Gripper or PeopleBot manual for details eR eo LT value in standard SIP A A PeopleBot manual for details Request one 1 a continuous stream gt 1 or stop ae 0 Gripper SIPs See Pioneer 2 Gripper or PeopleBot manual for details Request one 1 a continuous stream gt 1 or stop a 0 IO SIPs TS Msbyte is port number 1 4 Isbyte is pulse pape bytes width in 100usec units PSOS or 10usec units P20S to AUX AUXI on H8S port PET inant pore 0 dedere AUXI on H8S serial port 0 flushes the buffer BUMP_ STALL 44 Stall robot if front 1 rear 2 or either 3 bumps 1 0 ote contacted Off is 0 See BumpStall FLASH for P default ee eee ec ene details DOCK 46 Default is OFF 1 enable docking signals 2 enable docking signals and stop the robot when 1 C docking power sensed 1 0 1 G Hm 593 Default is O OFF 1 allow joystick drive from EX port while also connected with a client d Change the sonar cycle time arg in milliseconds 1 8 HOSTBAUD i Reset the HOST serial port baud rate to 0 9600 1 19200 2 38400 3 57600 or 4 115200 AUXIBAUD 51 int Resets the AUXI serial portbaudrate 18 Lo A 00 09 E ESTP none Emergency stop overrides deceleration stop overrides deceleration fete P20S deus off pe TIT 0 if inactive 1 if stop when near IRs triggered 2 if impose speed control only 3 if both stop and speed control
43. Read on 12 ActivMedia Robotics User Control Panel The User Control Panel is where you have access to the AROS based onboard microcontroller Found inside the AT s hinged access panel on the deck or on the left side panel of the DX it consists of control buttons and indicators and an RS232 compatible serial port with a 9 pin DSUB connector The red PWR LED is lit whenever main power is applied to the robot The green STAT LED state depends on the operating mode and other conditions It flashes slowly when the controller is awaiting a connection with a client and flashes quickly when in joydrive mode or when connected with a client and the motors are engaged It also flashes moderately fast when the controller is in maintenance mode The BATTERY LED s apparent color depends on your robot s battery voltage green when fully charged 712 5 volts through orange and finally red when the voltage is below 11 5 When in maintenance mode however the BATTERY LED glows bright red only regardless of battery charge A built in piezo buzzer audible through the holes just above the sTAT and PWR LEDs provides audible clues to the robot s state such as upon successful startup of the controller and a client connection An AROS client command lets you program the buzzer too to play your own sounds The SERIAL connector with incoming and outgoing data indicator LEDs Rx O O and TX respectively is through where ig ooo you may inter
44. ST serial 0 9 6k 1 19 2k 2 38 4k 3 56 8k 4 115 2k byte int int LOWBATTERY int In 1 10 volts alarm activated when battery charge falls below this value REVCOUNT int Current number of differential encoder ticks for a 360 degree revolution of the robot int Ms time before robot automatically stops if it has not 22 You may have to adjust the HOST serial baud rate to accommodate the additional communications traffic 43 ActivMedia Robotics Operating System received a command from a client Restarts on restoration of connection yt 1 enables alternative SIP b i i nt Maximum PWM before stall If PwmMax never n STALLCOUNT Ms time after a stall for recovery Motors not engaged t s during this time int int int int int int i int j j int j j int i Current Proportional PID for translation TeawsKy PADDED IN ARS 1 6 SSCS ADED IN ARS 1 4 1 if P3 or 2 if PowerBot automated charger mechanism and circuitry installed in robot otherwise 0 ADDED IN AROS 1 8 1 CONFIGpac and CONFIG Command Send the CONFIG command 18 without an argument to have AROS send back a CONFIGpac SIP packet type 32 0x20 server information packet containing the robot s operational parameters Use the CONFIGpac to examine many of your robot s default FLASH based settings or their working values when appropriate as changed by other client
45. TROLS AND ACCESSORIES All ActivMedia robots are servers in a client server architecture You supply the client computer to run your intelligent mobile robot applications The client can be either an onboard piggy back laptop or embedded PC or an offboard PC connected through radio modems or wireless serial Ethernet In all cases that client PC must connect to the HOST serial port of the robot s microcontroller in order for the robot and your software to work For the piggyback laptop or embedded PC that serial connection is a cable Radio modems simply replace that serial cable with a wireless tether Accordingly if you have radio modems one is inside your robot and connected to the controller s HOST serial port and the other modem plugs into a serial port on some offboard computer where you run your client software Hence in these configurations there is one dedicated client computer See Appendix C for radio modem settings Ethernet Access Point A Laptop Computer Connector Cable Autonomous with Onboard Computer no Figure 13 Client server connection options Radio Ethernet is a little more complicated because it lets you use many different computers on the network to become the robot s client A special onboard Serial Ethernet accessory that we provide is a standard wireless Ethernet radio which connects to your local TCP IP network through an Access Point But it s
46. a Robotics chapter 5 JOy drive and Self Tests Although not all models come standard with a joystick port your robot s H8S based controller has a joystick connector and AROS contains a joydrive server for manual operation 3 And AROS comes with a short self test routine for your robot s drive system To run in either joydrive or self test mode start up or RESET the robot into its AROS wait state You may press the RESET button at any time to disable self test and joydrive modes You have about 10 seconds to engage and complete the joystick calibration and begin driving the robot or to enter into motors self test mode before the controller automatically cancels joydrive mode and reverts to waiting for a client connection You may also enable AROS joydrive server while connected with a client by sending the client command number 47 with the integer argument 1 JOYDRIVE MODE To joydrive your robot when not connected with a client program switch the robot s Main Power ON or RESET the controller then press the white MOTORS button on the User Control Panel once Listen for a rhythmic low tone beeping indicating joydrive mode To joydrive your robot while it is connected with a client overrides client based drive commands for manual operation while recording a map for instance you must have the client software send the AROS command 47 with an integer argument 1 to enable the joydrive servers The first time you pre
47. ables type c or v respectively followed by a return Enter Similarly type or help to see a list of AROScf interactive commands Changing Parameters Other keywords refer to the operating parameters themselves Alone a parameter s keyword simply asks AROScf to display the parameter s value Provide an argument with the parameter keyword separated by a space to change its value That value may be a string no quotes or spaces or a decimal or hexadecimal 0xN number For example to change the watchdog timeout to four seconds type gt watchdog 4000 or gt watchdog Oxfa0 55 Updating and Reconfiguring AROS See the respective control command and parameter Tables nearby for a full description of AROScf operation Table 16 AROScf control commands KEYWORD value Alone a keyword displays current edited value Add argument to change current value c or constants Display all constant parameters You cannot edit these v or variables Display all variable parameter values which you may edit and eventually save to your robot s FLASH r or restore Restores variables to values currently stored lt paramsfile gt in FLASH or from a paramsfile on disk save lt paramsfile gt Saves current edited values to FLASH or saves current edited values to pathname on disk for later reference connect lt portname gt Connects AROScf with microcontroller through serial port COM1 or dev ttyS0 default disconn
48. act with the H8S RX e s microcontroller from an offboard computer for tethered client server TX control and for AROS system 5 T maintenance The port is shared internally by the HOST serial port to e e O which we connect the onboard E E 21 J 0 computer or radio modem Ethernet i T T Digital switching circuitry disables the i R internal HOST serial port if the computer n radio modem is OFF However serial port interference will be a problem if the HOST and User Control SERIAL ports are both occupied and engaged Accordingly remove the cable from the SERIAL port if you plan to connect with the controller through the onboard radio modem or PC Or NAD DZ Figure 11 P3 DX User Control Panel RADIO and AUX are pushbutton switches which engage or disengage power to the respective devices on the Motor Power Interface board See Appendix B for power connections Respective red LEDs indicate when power is ON The red RESET pushbutton acts to unconditionally reset the H8S controller disabling any active connections or controller attached devices including the motors The white MOTORS pushbutton s actions depend on the state of the controller When connected with a client push it to manually enable and disable the motors as its label implies When not connected press the pushbutton once to enable joydrive mode and again to enable the motors self test 13 Specifications and Controls T
49. ae Ao ipse Secus o tite A id 50 Monitoring the Recharge Cycle eese eee eene nne nennen eene trennen nnne 5l CHAPTER 7 UPDATING amp RECONFIGURING AROS eee ee ee ee eren eene eee teer tn sees sees te tone eese 53 WHERE TO GET AROS SOFTWARE cssccssssssecssssssecssseececssssecsessnsecsesaeeecesssecsesassecsesaeescsasecseseusecseaasesseeaaees 53 AROS MAINTENANCE MODE 1 endende eite diia cake 53 SIMPLE AROS UPDATES ci deem cae ere Pee Pe Ee eo Feeder ou rie ce Ped eee YO R EE ev tended eves 53 AROSCE Em 54 STARTING AROSCE eda tese e eerie eres tete dedi e Rd ER e de ele eee dae Re odo stade 54 CONFIGURING AROS OPERATING PARAMETERS esses eren eterne enne nr sien rennen nenne enne sre r nennen 55 Tnteractive Comm ndsz ost one ete a AL LE E 55 Changing Parameters 2 nione ie A teet 55 SAVE YOUR WORK eec me dade E e de e ea aee tede eda cet dade eed e Poe eee Ee REL AL RE Eia 56 PID PARAMETERS aii 56 TICKSMM AND REVCOUNT a aaa iii 58 STALLV AL AND STALLCOUNT iodo dietas 59 BUMPERS 0 id esd eaaa 59 CHAPTER 8 MAINTENANCE REPAIR ssesesssesssocecssooeessecesssecssooeessooeessecessoecssooeesseceesseessseessooeessese 61 TIRE NELLA TON Ed en ie dic niet ete el 61 DRIVE LUBRICATION EAA EE EEA a salas 61 BATTERIES aia 61 Changing Balta is 61 Hot Swapping the Batteries eese eene ennt tenen reete enne tne nnne nenne 61 Charging the Batteries s ice ERR REI RE
50. al Uses specified serial port for connection device zie etaed EST On exit from AROScf automatically save the current parameter values to the named paramsfile CONFIGURING AROS OPERATING PARAMETERS Your ActivMedia robot has several parameters stored in FLASH that AROS uses to configure its servers and auxiliary attachments and to uniquely identify your robot For instance the default maximum translational velocity is stored in the TransVelMax parameter Its value takes effect when starting your robot or after resetting the microcontroller and may be changed temporarily by a client command Use AROScf s interactive mode to modify these operating parameters and hence your robot s default operating characteristics Start up AROScf as described in the previous section As discussed earlier AROScf normally downloads the set of operating parameters from your robot s FLASH for your review and modification Or you may load a disk stored version of those parameters Some of the parameters Constants should not to be changed The others Variables are the identifying and operating parameters that you may edit Interactive Commands To operate AROScf in interactive mode simply type a keyword at the command line Some keywords affect the operation of AROScf the status of the parameters file as a whole or the connection between AROScf and your robot s microcontroller For instance to review the list of current AROS constants or vari
51. an when in server wait mode and the BATTERY LED should shine bright red SIMPLE AROS UPDATES The simple AROS update application is just that a standalone program that when run updates the AROS servers to the indicated version v v 1_0 for example in your robot s microcontroller Although it may add parameters to your current FLASH values the dl AROSV v application never changes your current parameters To use this convenient utility simply download the dl prefixed executable for your PC s operating system 1in filename suffix for Linux or exe for Windows Connect the PC to your robot s HOST serial port and put its controller into Maintenance Mode see section above Then run the a1 program 53 Updating and Reconfiguring AROS Text prompts will help you get connected with your ActivMedia robot s H8S based controller and update its AROS servers No fuss No muss AROScF The AROS update and configuration program AROScf is part of a collection of utilities and files for comprehensive management of your ActivMedia robot s onboard servers and FLASH based operating parameters The distribution archive for the software is simply named AROSV v V and v are the version major and minor numbers such as 1 0 with a tgz suffix for Linux based PCs or exe for Windows computers Install the utilities and files on the PC you plan to use for maintaining your robot s operating system and parameters by double
52. and even disable joydrive mode through special AROS FLASH configuration parameters See Chapter 7 Updating amp Reconfiguring AROS for details 13 The joystick adaptor kit including the 15 pin DSUB joystick connector and pull up resistors if not installed on your robot is available for nominal fee through sales activmedia com Also note that this port is different than the USB based joystick port found on the back of the Laser bracket for the optional equipment and used to manually drive from ARIA based clients 29 Joydrive and Self Tests ENGAGING SELF TESTS To enable self test mode press the white MOTORS button twice after startup or RESET 4 Currently the only AROS self test exercises your ActivMedia robot s drive motors During this test the robot is not at all conscious of bystanders Please have everyone step back and remove any obstacles from within a diameter of four to five feet around before engaging the self test The motor s self test begins by engaging the left drive wheel first forward then in reverse each to complete a partial tum clockwise then counterclockwise Similarly the right wheel engages first forward then reverse to complete partial turns first counterclockwise then clockwise The H8S AROS controller reverts to its client connection wait state after completing the motors self test 14 As described above the first MOTORS press and release puts the robot into joydrive mod
53. and number 92 with an argument of zero to mute the controller s buzzer argument of one to re enable it See also the SOUNDTOG FLASH parameter in the next chapter to set its default state The SAY command number 15 lets you play your own sounds through the buzzer The argument consists of a length specified string of duration frequency tone pair bytes The duration is measured in 20 millisecond increments Frequencies are half tones limited by the 8 bit timer You ll have to experiment with tones Here is the sequence that generates the AROS tone when the robot stalls in octal 012 001 012 000 012 010 012 000 012 001 TCM2 The TCM2 accessory is an integrated inclinometer magnetometer thermometer and compass that attaches to one of the AUX serial ports of the AROS microcontroller When attached and enabled special TCM2 compass servers read and report the heading as the compass byte in the standard SIP Use the TCM2 command 45 to request additional information from the device in the form of the TCM2pac See the TCM2 Manual and supporting software that accompanies the device for details 46 ActivMedia Robotics Onboard PC Communication between the onboard PC and the H8S microcontroller is RS232 serial through the respective CoM1 Windows or dev ttySO Linux and internal HOST ports Set the HostBaud FLASH communication rate to match the PC client software s serial port rate Beginning with AROS version 1 6 the RI pin 9 on the HOST
54. and the robot The new automated docking recharging system is the best option Because its integrated charge management system has sufficient power and actively adjusts to system loads it can run your robot s onboard systems while properly and optimally recharging its batteries And because the charging mechanism may be operated independently of your robot s systems power you may start up and shut down your robot and its onboard systems without disturbing the battery charging cycle All our recommended chargers are specifically designed for safe lead acid battery recharging Indicators on the module s face show fast charge mode typically an orange LED in which the discharged batteries are given the maximal current and trickle mode green LED indicator which the batteries are given only enough current to remain at full charge 16 ActivMedia Robotics DOCKING CHARGING SYSTEM The Pioneer 3 PeopleBot docking charging accessory is both a manual and an automated mechanism Onboard controls triggered either by the DEPLOY CHARGER button near the manual CHARGE port or by H8S controller mediated client commands deploy actuated contacts on the bottom of the robot which in turn seat onto the charging platform Then when activated by an IR based unique frequency modulated signal from the robot the charger platform delivers up to 17 VDC 11 5 A to its plates While connected onboard circuitry conditions the power to optimally charg
55. any steady state errors thereby limiting velocity fluctuations during the course of a move At rest your robot will seek to zero out any command position error Too large of a Ki factor will cause an excessive windup of the motor when the load changes such as when climbing over a bump or accelerating to a new speed 40 ActivMedia Robotics Consequently we typically use a minimum value for Ki in the range of O to 10 for lightly to heavily loaded robots respectively Position Integration ActivMedia robots including Pioneer 2s and 3s track their position and orientation based on dead reckoning from wheel motion derived from encoder readings The robot maintains its internal coordinate position in platform dependent units as reported in the standard SIP Xpos Ypos and Thpos Be aware that with the simulator as well as with real robots registration between external and internal coordinates deteriorates rapidly with movement due to gearbox play wheel imbalance and slippage and many other real world factors You can rely on the dead reckoning ability of the robot for just a short range on the order of several meters and one or two revolutions depending on the surface Carpets tend to be worse than hard floors Also moving either too fast or too slow tends to exacerbate the absolute position errors Accordingly consider the robot s dead reckoning capability as a means of tying together sensor readings taken over a short period of
56. articular device From Linux use ifup and ifdown to enable or disable an Ethernet device For example as superuser type ifdown eth0 ifup eth1 to switch from a tethered to a wireless Ethernet connection For remote connections over Ethernet to your onboard PC simply use telnet or the more secure ssh to log in to your Linux system Allow X windows server connections at your remote PC xhost if you plan to export the X Windows display from the robot PC for remote GUl based controls export DISPLAY remote s hostname or IP 0 for example With Windows you will need a special remote control application to establish a GUI based connection from a remote computer to the onboard PC over the network VNCserver for example or XWin32 Please note that you may not connect with the robot s microcontroller directly over the network That is you cannot run a client application such as the ARIA demo or Saphira on the remote PC and choose to directly connect with the robot server by selecting the robot PC s IP address Rather either run the client application on the onboard PC and export the display and controls over the network to the remote PC preferred or use the ARIA based IPTHRU programs see program sources in Aria examples to negotiate the IP to serial conversions needed by the client server connection UPS and Genpowerd To protect your robot s onboard PC data we ve enabled a detection scheme in AROS and UPS like software on the c
57. at the Gripper status information bits 0 5 also may be obtained from the respective digin and digout values of the standard SIP as related to the User I O port states See Appendix A for connection details Sounds Unlike its ActivMedia robot cousins the AmigoBot mobile robot has onboard sound reproduction hardware and software that includes a playlist of contents To support the ActivMedia Robotics Interface for Applications ARIA that includes all ActivMedia s robots we ve included the PLAYLISTpac type 208 OxDO and PLAYLIST request command 91 in AROS We document the command and packet here for completeness but they have no effect on the operation or performance of your ActivMedia mobile robot The AmigoBot sounds playlist consists of a series of one to 255 24 byte long sound references followed by individual sound data Sound references may be NULL or redundant Sound references consist of a 16 byte sound name followed by two long integers which specify the sound data position and length in the playlist Upon receipt of the PLAYLIST command 91 with any or no argument AROS responds with a PLAYLISTpac SIP containing 25 NULL bytes telling the client that your AROS based robot does not have any onboard sounds Whereas the AmigoBot has a high fidelity sound system AROS and P2OS based robots have a piezo buzzer that aurally notifies you of system conditions such as low battery or stalls For stealthy operation issue the SOUNTOG comm
58. ating surface and so on Table 18 Some platform dependent robot parameter values Model PARAMETER DX DXE CE PB V1 P3DX AT P3AT PerfPB AT8 amp DXS ATS DXS and Plus PerfPB Plus ENCODER TICKS REV 500 500 500 500 500 100 100 GEAR RATIO 19 7 19 7 19 7 38 3 38 3 85 5 57 5 WHEEL DIAM MM 165 191 165 165 191 220 220 ENCODER TICKS MM 76 66 76 148 132 49 138 DISTCONVFACTOR 0 840 0 969 0 826 0 413 0 424 1 32 0 465 DIFFCONVFACTOR 0 0056 0 0057 0 0056 0 0056 0 0060 0 0034 0 0060 58 ActivMedia Robotics Ticksmm and revcount affect only the conversion of your motion command arguments into platform dependent values Your client must independently convert values reported back from the server such as x Pos and Th into platform independent values ARIA clients use the conversion factors found in your robot s respective ARIA params file p3dx p for example To adjust both the server and client parameter values for your robot first connect the robot with a client and have the robot move a certain distance preferably one to three or more meters Measure the actual distance moved not the client reported value and adjust ticksmm accordingly Similarly rotate your robot from the client and measure the actual achieved heading Adjust revcount the measure of differential encoder ticks to achieve 360 degrees rotation accordingly When you are satisfied that the robot moves and rotat
59. ating your ActivMedia mobile robot with ARIA Saphira or other client software see their respective programming manuals PREPARATIVE ASSEMBLY Your ActivMedia robot comes fully assembled and ready for out of the box operation However you may need to attach some accessories that were shipped separately for safety The procedures we describe herein are for control of the basic robot If you have the onboard PC option we recommend that you leave it off and perform the following tests first with a laptop or desktop computer tethered to the robot s serial port on the User Control Panel then attack the many networking issues before you establish a remote control connection with the onboard PC Install ARIA The ARIA client software development environment including the ARIA demonstration program and robot simulator come on CD ROM with your new robot They also come installed in your robot s onboard PC if you purchased this option ActivMedia Robotics customers also may obtain ARIA and related software and updates from our support website http robots activmedia com When installed ARIA typically requires ten or more megabytes of hard disk space The Windows version of ARIA is a self extracting InstallShield amp archive Simply double Click its exe icon and follow the extraction program s instructions Normally ARIA is put into a directory named C Program Files ActivMedia Robotics ARIA The demonstration program and simulator get
60. ation information back to the client following the last synchronization packet SYNC2 The configuration values are three NULL terminated strings that comprise the robot s FLASH stored name class and subclass You may uniquely name your ActivMedia robot with the FLASH configuration tool we provide The class and subclass are constants normally set at the factory and not changed thereafter See next chapter for details The class string typically is Pioneer The subclass depends on your robot model P2D8 or P2AT8 for example Clients may use these identifying strings to self configure their own operating parameters ARIA for instance loads and uses the robot s related parameters file found in the special Aria params directory Opening the Servers OPEN Once you ve established a connection with AROS your client should send the OPEN command 1 no argument OxFA OxFB 0x03 0x01 0x00 0x01 to the server which causes the ActivMedia robot controller to perform a few housekeeping functions start its various servers such as for the sonar and motor controllers listen for client commands and begin transmitting server information to the client Note that once connected your robot s motors are disabled regardless of their state when last connected To enable the motors after starting a connection you must either do it manually press the black MOTORS TEST button or have your client send an ENABLE client command 4 with an integer argu
61. ceeds a configurable level and the wheels fail to turn stallval motor power is cut off for a configurable amount of time stallwait The server software also notifies the client which motor is stalled When the stallwait time elapses motor power automatically switches back on and motion continues under server control There also is the LowBattery FLASH parameter that sets off an audible warning when the batteries fall below a safe charge level To avoid systems corruptions the AROS servers force a soft system shutdown possibly including the onboard PC Linux genpowerd or Windows ups exe when the batteries fall below approximately 11 volts All these failsafe mechanisms help ensure that your robot will not cause damage or be damaged during operation You may reconfigure the various FLASH based parameter values to suit your application See Chapter 7 Updating amp Reconfiguring AROS for details 10 RI and DSR on the HOST serial port are RS232 low during reset or when the controller is in Maintenance Mode 1 AROS versions 1 5 and earlier raised the HOST serial port s DSR and RI to RS232 level high and lowered the RI for low power condition which worked fine for Linux genpowerd but was incompatible with Windows ups 22 ActivMedia Robotics Chapter 4 Quick Start This chapter describes how to quickly set up and operate your new ActivMedia robot with the ARIA demonstration software For more details about programming and oper
62. clicking the distribution software s onscreen icon or otherwise executing the self extracting self installing package For Linux uncompress and untar the files tar zxvf AROS1 0 tgz The expanded archive creates an AROS directory in the selected Windows or current Linux path and stores the AROS software within STARTING AROSCF AROScf is a text based console application as opposed to a graphical user one It runs in two stages Startup Mode followed by Interactive Mode When invoked you may start AROScf with various command line options With an X terminal under Linux for example navigate to the AROS directory and invoke the program cd usr local AROS AROScf options With Windows PCs you may double click the AROScf icon to automatically open a console window and start the program without any options To start up with command line options Run the program from the Start menu or run Command from the Start menu then navigate to the AROS directory and start AROSc with options For example after invoking the MSDOS like command window C gt cd AROS C AROS gt AROScf options Normally without any command line arguments AROScf starts up expecting to connect your PC s COM1 or dev ttys0 serial port with your robot s microcontroller which you ve put into Maintenance Mode If successfully connected the program automatically retrieves your robot s FLASH stored operating parameters and enters interactive mode
63. coming serial data from the AUXI and AUX2 ports On request AROS sends successive portions of the buffers to your client via the HOST port in the respective SERAUXpac type 176 OxBO and SERAUX2pac type 184 OxB8 SIPs Use the GETAUX Command 43 for AUX1 or GETAUX2 Command number 67 for AUX2 Use the integer argument value of zero to flush the contents of the respective buffer Use an argument value of up to 253 bytes to have AROS wait to collect the requested number of incoming AUX port serial bytes and them send them in the respective SERAUXpac Or SERAUX2pac SIP ENCODER PACKETS Issue the ENCODER command 19 with an argument of one for a single or with an argument value of two or more for a continuous stream of ENCODERpac type 144 0x90 SIPs Discontinue the packets with the ENCODER command 19 with an argument of zero Table 9 ENCODERpac SIP contents Header integer Exactly OxFA OxFB Byte Count Number of data bytes 2 checksum Left Encoder integer Least significant most significant portion of the current accumulated encoder counts from the left wheel Right Encoder Least significant most significant portion of the current accumulated encoder counts from the left wheel Checksum integer Checksum for packet integrity Gripper packets AROS controls the Gripper accessory for the Pioneer and Performance PeopleBo
64. commands such as SETV and ROTKV A table nearby gives details about the configuration packet data SERIAL PORT COMMUNICATIONS AROS provides two way communications through the HOST client server communication port and to and through two auxillary serial ports on the microcontroller AUXI and AUX2 Changing Baud Rates and Autobauding The baud rates for the HOST AUXI and AUX2 ports initially are set from their respective FLASH based defaults and get reset to those values whenever the controller is reset or Upon client disconnection For advanced serial port management from the client side in AROS 1 8 and later we provide three client commands which let your software reset the HOST HOSTBAUD 50 AUX AUX1BAUD 51 and AUX2 AUX2BAUD 52 serial port baud rates respectively Use the integer command argument values 029600 1 19 2K 2 38 8K 3 57 6K or 4 115 2K baud 44 ActivMedia Robotics For auto baud the HOST serial port automatically reverts to its FLASH default baud rate if after being reset by the HOSTBAUD client command it does not receive a subsequent and valid client command packet within 500 milliseconds HOST to AUX Serial Transfers Use the client side TTY2 command 42 with a string argument to have that string sent out the AUXI port to the attached serial device such as a robotic camera Similarly use the TTY3 command 66 to send a string argument to the AUX2 port AROS also maintains two circular buffers for in
65. d Typically limit client commands to a maximum of one every 3 5 milliseconds or be prepared to recover from lost commands THE CLIENT SERVER CONNECTION Before exerting any control a client application must first establish a connection with the robot server via a serial link through the robot controller s HOST port After establishing the communication link the client then sends commands to and receives operating information from the server When first started or reset AROS is in a special wait state listening for communication packets to establish a client server connection To establish a connection the client application must send a series of three synchronization packets containing the SYNCO SYNC1 and SYNC2 commands in succession and retrieve the server responses Specifically and as examples of the client command protocol the synchronization sequence of bytes is in hexadecimal notation SYNCO OxFA OxFB 0x03 0x00 0x00 0x00 SYNC1 OxFA OxFB 0x03 0x01 0x00 0x01 SYNC2 OxFA OxFB 0x03 0x02 0x00 0x02 When in wait mode AROS echoes the packets verbatim back to the client The client should listen for the returned packets and only issue the next synchronization packet after it has received the appropriate echo 17 There also is monitor mode for AROS downloads and parameter updates see next chapter for details 36 ActivMedia Robotics Autoconfiguration SYNC2 AROS automatically sends robot configur
66. d heading Table 6 AROS motion commands HEAD 12 Turn to absolute heading at SETRV max velocity DHEAD 13 Turn to heading relative to control point at SETRV max velocity DCHEAD 22 ROTATE 9 Rotate at SETRV velocity 18 With earlier versions the changes persisted between sessions and reverted to the FLASH defaults only after the controller was reset 1 Alternatively disable the motors with the ENABLE command argument of zero 38 ActivMedia Robotics ActivMedia Robots in Motion ActivMedia robots use position as opposed to velocity motion controls to translate the platform a certain distance and turn it to a particular heading To achieve constant translational VEL rotational ROTATE or independent wheel VEL2 velocities the servers simply set the target position well ahead of the robot s current position When the robot controller receives a motion command it accelerates or decelerates the robot at the translational SETA 5 TR and VEL2 modes and rotational SETRA 23 TR mode only rates until the platform either achieves its SETV 6 maximum translational and SETRV 10 maximum rotational speeds or nears its goal Accordingly rotational headings and translational setpoints are achieved by a trapezoidal velocity function which AROS recomputes each time a new motion command is received 20 max velocity velocity start position position position achieve
67. d achieved Figure 17 ActivMedia robot s trapezoidal velocity profile AROS automatically limits VEL2 VEL and RVEL specified velocities to previously imposed client modifiable SETVEL and SETRV maximums and ultimately by absolute platform dependent FLASH embedded constants Similarly the distinct acceleration and deceleration parameters for both translation and rotation are limited by FLASH constants AROS initializes these values upon controller startup or reset from related FLASH parameters The speed limits either from FLASH or when changed by SETV or SETRV commands take effect on subsequent commands not previously established velocity or heading setpoints And the maximums persist across client server connection sessions until the controller is reset Note that the E STOP command 55 or the sToP button that is found on some ActivMedia robots override deceleration and immediately stop the robot in the shortest distance and time possible Accordingly the robot brakes to zero translational and rotational velocities with very high deceleration and remains stopped until it receives a subsequent translational or rotational velocity command from the client or until the STOP button is reset See E_STOP and E_STALL later in this chapter Platform Dependent and Independent Variables All client side motion command arguments use robot independent units of measure in millimeters or degrees AROS converts
68. dard and accessory onboard electronics The new Plus series Pioneer 2 robots and the Pioneer 3s have just a single Motor Power Board Consult Appendix A for H8S controller and User Control Panel interface details PIONEER 3 AND 2 PLUS MOTOR POWER BOARD The new Motor Power Board for the Pioneer 2 AT8 Plus DX8 Plus and all Pioneer 3 robots contains all the features of the two board legacy system and lots more E J0 O O DEJO O O Dbz Slave Legacy Motors Slave Master Current Sense Resistors c oQo noo noo Doo noo R Motor Power FETs 000000000000 i A Fan S Motor co Mot ar pou R 0 ensor Temperature Sensors H8S Power z 71 00000 L SIN c Q 00 n i 0000000000000 we ou Optional Copyright 2003 H8 0000000000000 X Accessory ActivMedia Robotics LLC Power Square Pad Pin 1 Controller Yellow Battery V Interfaces Charge 00006000 Red S VDC 166 2990000000000 Sensor Add 1000000000000 TR RO IR1 182 1R3 E Ls o noo goo gmoo Figure 26 New Pioneer Motor Power Board R 0000 000 O L 5 o O a c i 0 Configuration for Current and Temperature Sensing The motor drivers are configured to limit 10A per motor and to share the drivers with both motors on each side of the AT Accordingly there are two additional motor current sense resistors added to the AT versus DX board R3 and R26 as well as R1 and R2 The new Motor Power board al
69. differential drive mobile robots The four wheel drive Pioneer 2 AT has independent motor drivers Unlike its Pioneer AT predecessor the Pioneer 2 AT comes with a stall detection system and inflatable pneumatic tires with metal wheels for much more robust operation in rough terrain as well as the ability to carry nearly 30 kilograms 66 los of payload and climb a 60 percent grade The newest version of the 2 AT introduced in mid 2001 includes an integrated joystick port for manual operation and a hinged top plate for easy access to the internal systems Other Pioneer 2 like robots include the Performance PeopleBot robots which were introduced in 2000 They are architecturally Pioneer 2 robots but with stronger motors and integrated human interaction features including a pedestal extension integrated voice and sound synthesis and recognition ideal for human interaction studies as well as for commercial and consumer mobile robotics applications Figure 7 PowerBot carries over 100 ka of payload New Pioneer 3 and Recent Pioneer 2 DX8 AT8 and Plus Mobile Robots Two new models of Pioneer 2 appeared in the Summer of 2002 two more at the beginning of 2003 and the Pioneer 3 debuted in the Summer of 2003 They are the topics of this manual the Pioneer 3 DX and AT and Pioneer 2 DX8 DX8 Plus and AT8 AT8 Plus mobile robots All sport a microcontroller based on the Hitachi H8S microprocessor with new control systems and I O
70. e 30 ActivMedia Robotics chapter 6 ACtivMedia Robotics Operating System All ActivMedia robots use a client server mobile robot control architecture originally developed at SRI International Inc and Stanford University In the model the robot s controller servers work to manage all the low level details of the mobile robot s systems These include operating the motors firing the sonar collecting sonar and wheel encoder 4 uw Communications Bac E ent Serial Ea E TCPAP Local Fipe Server Communication Packets Interface data and so on all on command from and reporting to a separate client application such as ARIA Velocity amp Angle Controls Position egration With this client server architecture robotics applications developers do not need to know many details about a particular robot server because the client insulates them from this lowest level of control Some of you however may want to write your own robotics control and reactive planning programs or just would like to have a closer programming relationship with your robot This chapter explains how to communicate with and control your ActivMedia robot via the ActivMedia Robotics Operating System AROS client server interface The same AROS functions and commands are supported in the various client programming environments that accompany your robot or are available for separate license Encoder Counti
71. e Careful The computer s hard drive fan and speaker have attached wire harnesses that you need to relieve before completely detaching the nose from the body We recommend unplugging the speaker wire and simply rotating the nose out of the way to access the onboard computer Opening the Deck All the H8S based Pioneer robots have a center hinge in the deck which let you easily open and access internal components without completely removing the top plate Simply remove the indicated 3mm screws shown in the Figures nearby from the section of the deck that you want to access You may need to first remove any accessories that are bolted to the top plate through the indicated holes FACTORY REPAIRS If after reading this manual you re having hardware problems with your ActivMedia robot and you re satisfied that it needs repair contact us support activmedia com 603 881 3818 fax In the body of your email or fax message describe the problem in as much detail as possible Also include your robot s serial number IMPORTANT as well as name email and mail addresses along with phone and fax numbers Tell us when and how we can best contact you we will assume email is the best manner unless otherwise notified We will try to resolve the problem through communication If the robot must be returned to the factory for repair obtain a shipping and repair authorization code and shipping details from us first DD ActivMedia Robotics
72. e a registry value so that the PC shuts down one minute instead of two minutes after low power notification by the controller Use regedit and navigate to HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SYSTEM ControlSet001 Services UPS Config Change the ShutdownOnBatteryWait dword value to 1 from 2 Use the AROS client maintenance command 250 to test your genpowerd or ups exe setup Send the COMshutdown command 250 with an integer argument of 1 to simulate the low battery condition in which AROS issues warnings first then disconnects from the client after about a minute and sets the PC shutdown signal on RI An argument of 2 forces the computer shutdown signal RI high O cancels the shutdown test Resetting the controller cancels shutdown too unless battery power really is very low Put the controller into maintenance mode and fix your onboard PC settings if the computer falsely engages genpowerd or ups exe Heading Correction Gyro With the new rate gyro accessory your client software may detect and compensate for robot heading changes that aren t detected by the wheel encoders such as from slipping wheels AROS version 1 8 and later supports the gyro via its attachment to the AN6 and AN7 analog to digital input ports on the H8S microcontroller AROS collects 10 bit 0 1023 gyro rate and 8 bit 0 255 temperature data and will upon request send the collected data to a connected client in a new GYROpac type 0x98 server information packet for
73. e robot s sonar readings though a special client command Normally the c Controls and exercises the robot s pan motors are disengaged when tilt zoom robotic camera a a A The amber SERIAL port IBeTODOES Gripper User Control Panel should blink whim while avoiding obstacles to indicate ARIA client to AROS server communications too teleop Allows the user to drive and steer the robot via the keyboard or a joystick connected to the computer OPERATING THE ARIA DEMONSTRATION CLIENT When connected with the ARIA demo client your robot becomes responsive and intelligent For example it moves cautiously Although it may drive toward an obstacle your ActivMedia robot will not crash because the ARIA demo includes obstacle avoidance behaviors which enable the robot to detect and actively avoid collisions The ARIA demo displays a menu of robot operation options The default mode of operation is teleop In teleop mode you drive the robot manually using the arrow keys on your keyboard or a joystick connected to the client PC s joystick port as opposed to a joystick port on the robot Table 2 Keyboard teleoperation ACTION Incremental left turn gt Incremental right turn While driving from the keyboard each keypress speeds the robot forward or space All stop backward or incrementally changes its direction incrementally For instance when turning it is often useful to press the left or right turn key rapid
74. e the three 21 Ahr 12 VDC lead acid batteries 6 A charging current max and provides sufficient power up to 5 5 A for operation of all onboard systems The charging mechanism and onboard power conditioning circuitry can be retrofitted to all Pioneer 3 and some Pioneer 2 and PeopleBot robots all require return to the factory Manual Operation Robot Power OFF With MAIN POWER off place the robot over the charge platform so that its charging contacts are perpendicular to and when deployed contact the charger plates Note that no charging power is applied to the plates on the platform only low signal 5VDC O 300mA power for the IR detectors Press and hold the DEPLOY CHARGER button to manually deploy the charge mechanism on the bottom of the robot Hold for a few seconds but not more than 10 seconds Charging is activated by positive contact with the charging platform In that case the charge lamp on the charger unit will light and the robot s contacts will remain deployed when you release the DEPLOY CHARGER button Otherwise the mechanism will retract In that case re position the robot and try again The robot s charging mechanism automatically retracts if you press the DEPLOY CHARGER button while charging if you move the robot on the docking platform and lose positive charging contact or if you remove power from the charger unit In all cases charging power is removed immediately from the docking platform wh
75. ect Disconnects AROScf from your robot s microcontroller Displays these commands and descriptions SAVE YOUR WORK While changing parameter values in AROScf Interactive Mode you are editing a temporary copy your changes are not put into effect in your robot s FLASH until you explicitly save them to the microcontroller Also use the AROScf save Command to save a copy of the parameters to a disk file for later upload We strongly recommend that you save each version of your robot s parameter values to disk for later retrieval should your microcontroller get damaged or its FLASH inadvertently erased Default parameter files come with each AROS distribution but it is tedious to reconstruct an individual robot s unique configuration PID PARAMETERS The AROS configuration parameters include settings for the PID motors controls for translation and rotation of the robot The translation values also are used for independent wheel mode The default values are for a moderately loaded robot Experiment with different values to improve the performance of your robot in its current environment 56 ActivMedia Robotics Table 17 AROS FLASH configuration parameters with values for Pioneer 3 DX KEYWORD CONSTANTS PTYPE PSTYPE SERNUM RNO PRV lt i NE ll WT l TOPTA PICKSMM BATTCONV VARIABLES NAME PWMMAX HOSTBAUD AUXBAUD1 AUXBAUD2 SONARCYCLE SONA ca H FU ojojo KK d O SONA SONA SONA L
76. eel differential with caster or four wheel skid steer reversible DC motors motor control and drive electronics high resolution motion encoders and long life hot swappable battery power all managed by an onboard microcontroller and mobile robot server software Besides the open systems ActivMedia Robotics Operating System AROS software onboard the robot controller every ActivMedia robot also comes with a host of advanced robot control client software applications and applications develooment environments Software development includes our own foundation ActivMedia Robotics Interface for Applications ARIA released under the GNU Public License and complete with fully documented C Java and Python libraries and source code SRI International s Saphira robotics development system with simulator and GUI as well as support for advanced localization and gradient based navigation comes bundled too Several third party robotics applications development environments also have emerged from the research community for ActivMedia robots including Aylu from Brandeis University Pyro from Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore Colleges Player from the University of Southem California and Carmen from Carnegie Mellon University Every ActivMedia robot also comes with a plethora of expansion options including built in hardware support for sonar and bump sensors and lift gripper effectors as well as serial port and server software support for a number of sensors
77. en not actively engaged by the robot Manual Operation Robot Power and Systems ON Because the automated docking charging system s charger and integrated circuitry actively adjusts to system loads it can run your robot s onboard systems while properly and optimally recharging its batteries And because the charging mechanism may be operated independently of your robot s systems power you may start up and shut down your robot and its onboard systems without disturbing the battery charging cycle if engaged For example with MAIN POWER on use joystick mode to position the robot onto the charging platform Then reset the robot controller and manually deploy the charging mechanism as described in the section above Thereafter switch MAIN POWER off or conversely start up and shut down other onboard systems including the PC camera laser and other accessories to proceed with development work without disturbing battery recharging The same conditions apply to remove charging power and retract the robot s charging mechanism with the robot s MAIN POWER on as well as off In addition engaging the motors such as when you press the white MoTORS button on the robot controller to engage joystick self tests mode also disengages recharging and retracts the charging 17 Specifications and Controls mechanism And the charging mechanism will not activate until you disengage the motors either manually or programmatically RADIO CON
78. ension cords To prevent fire or shock hazard do not expose the equipment to rain or moisture Refrain from opening the unit or any of its accessories Keep wheels away from long hair or fur Never access the interior of the robot with charger attached or batteries inserted Inappropriate Operation Inappropriate operation voids your warranty Inappropriate operation includes but is not limited to Y SNS NS Dropping the robot running it off a ledge or otherwise operating it in an irresponsible manner Overloading the robot above its payload capacity Getting the robot wet Continuing to run the robot after hair yarn string or any other items have become wound around the robot s axles or wheels Opening the robot with charger attached and or batteries inserted All other forms of inappropriate operation or care ill Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION aeree br sabe Fre vo Prato ina opinas o eU epe a2 SY AE eS RE aei ee Pe o UE ER RE VERRE dE SETTE Pre Deva ae QUY 1 ROBOT PACKAGE onerati nipa re e me n pecie Roe a Rd dea ede exe sede REEL Ede Te FU ea de FE ce e Ee Doa ve ERE 1 Basic Components all shipments eese eene eene entretient entrent 1 Optional Components and Attachments partial list seen eet 1 User Supplied Components System Requirements esee 2 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Eiji 2 Support Website i ete ocv i teen ur OE ERU YR Pea Ve du eue E E A E ee one edv eue
79. ers requests activmedia com From your return e mail address goes here gt Subject choose one command help returns instructions lists returns list of newsgroups subscribe unsubscribe Our SmartList based listserver will respond automatically After you subscribe send your email comments suggestions and questions intended for the worldwide community of Pioneer users To pioneer users activmedia com From your return e mail address goes here gt Subject something of interest to pioneer users Note Leave out the requests part of the email address when sending messages to the newsgroup 2 ActivMedia Robotics Access to the pioneer users newsilist is limited to subscribers so your address is safe from spam However the list currently is Unmoderated so please confine your comments and inquiries to issues concerning the operation and programming of Pioneer or PeopleBot robots Support Have a problem Can t find the answer in this or any of the accompanying manuals Or do you know a way that we might improve our robots Share your thoughts and questions with us from the online form at the support website http robots activmedia com techsupport or by email support activmedia com Please include your robot s serial number look for it beside the Main Power switch we often need to understand your robot s configuration to best answer your question Your message goes directly t
80. es the proper distances and headings adjust the related client side parameters in your robot s params p file so that your client responds accurately STALLVAL AND STALLCOUNT An AROS stall monitor maintains a running average of PWM values for each wheel over a 500 millisecond integration period PWM values get added to the sum if the wheel speed is below 100 mm sec The average is then compared with the stallval FLASH value If it exceeds that value in other words the motors are being given lots of power but are barely moving if at all a stall occurs Once stalled power is removed and the motors relax for the stallwait period after which power gets reapplied BUMPERS Introduced in AROS version 1 6 use the BumpStall FLASH parameter to set the default for the robots behavior when its front and or rear bumper gets triggered Normally BumpStall is engaged for both front and rear default value of 0 bumpers Reset it to 3 to disengage bump stalls altogether 1 to trigger stalls only when the rear bumpers engage or 2 for front bumps only You may over ride the BumpStal1 FLASH default with the bump stall client command number 44 although the command arguments are the reverse enabling versus disabling the various bumper stall combinations Your robot s BumpStall behavior reverts to the FLASH default on reset and up disconnection from the client Next generation client side software will need to know if you have bumpers or not and how
81. essory systems ARIA is the ideal platform for integration ArRobot Packet Receiver ArRobot Packet Sender of your own robot control software since it neatly handles the lowest level details of client server interactions ArRobot Device Connect including serial communications command and server information Robot Sim or Real packet processing cycle timing and multithreading as well as a variety of Figure 3 ARIA s architecture accessory controls such as for the PTZ robotic camera the P2 Gripper scanning laser range finder motion gyros among many others 3 Some software may come bundled with your robot Other packages require purchase for licensing Some software is also available for alternative operating systems such as Macintosh SunOS Solaris and BSD Unix 6 ActivMedia Robotics What s more it comes with source code so that you may examine the software and modify it for your own sensors and applications Saphira Saphira including the Colbert language is a full featured robotics control environment developed at SRI International s Artificial Intelligence Center Saphira and its ARIA foundation form the robotics control and applications development foundation for most ActivMedia robot owners and users The complete licensed Saphira robotics development environment including C C libraries GUI interface and Simulator comes bundled with your ActivMedia robot Laser Navigation and Localization Ether
82. expansion capabilities The Pioneer 3 and 2 Plus robots also have new more powerful motor power systems for better navigational control and payload 5 Software wise Pioneers all are compatible with all other ActivMedia robots including Pioneer 1 The new ActivMedia Robotics Operating System AROS software extends but does not replace the original PSOS and P2OS This means that even programs that interface at the lowest communication levels will work with all Pioneer 1 2 and 3 platforms This also means that the higher level clients and applications including Saphira ARIA and others including your own software will work with AROS and any host ActivMedia robot just as they had worked with PSOS or P2OS 6 Of course you will have to extend your client software as we have done with Saphira ARIA and others in order to take full advantage of AROS To the relief of those who have invested years in developing software for Pioneer 1 and 2 Pioneer 3 truly does combine the best of the new mobile robot technologies with ActivMedia s tried and true robot architecture 5 The interim Pioneer 2 DXf had the same more powerful motors as the DX8s and AT8 Plus The two time gold medal winners of the International RoboCup robot soccer competition used Pioneer 1s one year and quickly converted to Pioneer 2s in the next year What is Pioneer MODES OF OPERATION You may operate your Pioneer 2 and 3 robots in one of five modes Server Joydri
83. g tasks 26 cm swing radius 121 5 cm 18 5 cm Figure 8 Pioneer 3 DX s physical dimensions and swing radius PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS Weighing only 9 kg 20 pounds with one battery the basic Plate Hinges Pioneer 3 and 2 DX8 DX8 Plus mobile robots are lightweight but their strong aluminum body and solid construction make them virtually indestructible User Control amp These characteristics also permit Computer Access them to cary extraordinary g Panels payloads The new Pioneer 3 DX can carry up to 23 Kg 50 los additional weight the 3 AT can carry over 35 Kg 70 lbs more Yet Pioneer 2s and 3s are lightweight enough that it is also as easy to transport as a suitcase a task made even easier by the DX s built in handle 51cm Figure 9 Pioneer 3 AT s console and hinged deck 11 Specifications and Controls MAIN COMPONENTS ActivMedia robots are composed of several main parts Y Deck Y Motor Stop Button Y User Control Panel Y Body Nose and Accessory Panels Y Sonar Array s Y Motors Wheels and Encoders Y Batteries and Power Y Deck Control Panels a N Rear Sonar 73 Front Sonar 7 2 Access _ Accessory Ports Deck Caster Drive Wheel END Figure 10 Components of the Pioneer 3 The original Pioneer 2 DX CE and AT decks are one piece the top plate of the robot The newer DXe and AT and now the DX8 DX8 Plus AT8 AT8 P
84. g up your robot However on occasion you may need to get inside for instance to access the user power connections on the Motor Power board and attach your custom electronics Or you may need to get to your onboard computer and its accessories We describe here how to remove your robot s nose to get at the onboard computer And we describe how to access the contents of the body of your Pioneer 3 and 2 DX or AT robot Removing the Nose The Pioneer 3 and 2 DX and AT onboard computer sits just behind the robot s nose And you may have to remove the nose to access the front sonar array s gain adjustment pot Two screws hold the nose to the front sonar or blank array The AT also has a screw at the bottom of the nose that attaches to the body the DX s nose is hinged oat the bottom underneath Figure 21 Remove indicated screws to access front plate of Pioneer 2 and 3 DX and AT robots Remove all nose retaining screws with the 3mm hex wrench supplied with your robot Unlike earlier Pioneer 2 models you do not have to remove the Gripper or the front Bump Ring accessories Once loosened the DX nose pivots down on a hinge For the AT model four pins along the nose s back edges guide it onto the front of the robot Simply pry the nose out and away from the body 63 Maintenance and Repair o Figure 22 Remove indicated screws from Pioneer 2 or 3 DX or AT rear deck fo open plat
85. gle order Gateway 192 168 1 1 Subnet mask 255 255 255 0 Boot protocol static Serial Port S1 Disable console mode Disable flow control Serial port service AMR EW 1 S1 Disable queuing TCP port 8101 Disable NetWare Misc Network Disable AppleTalk Disable POP3 Disable SMTP LAN IP SETTINGS You need to modify your Ethernet to Serial device network setting in order to use it with your own LAN and Access Point You have two ways to change those settings From a serial console or from the device s support webpage Console mode Power off ActivMedia Robotics Attach a cross over serial cable between your PC and the serial port on th e device Start minicom Linux HyperTerminal Windows or comparable serial console on your PC Serial settings are 115 200 baud 8 bits one stop no parity and hardware handshaking Hold in the test button and power the device Press the Return key to get the Local prompt Type 8 set ip address aa bb cc dd 9 setip router aa bb cc dd 10 set ip subnet aa bb cc dd 11 save 12 init 13 exit 14 Restart the device Webpage epe p Start web browser and access http 192 168 1 11 The default password is access Select Configure TCP IP Change the fields for the IP address subnet mask and gateway Click submit Restart the device Peer to Peer Networking If you don t have an established LAN or access to the wireless network you may operate your robot wirelessly directly
86. h is proportional 0 500 for 0 10026 of the duty cycle The AROS drive servers recalculate and adjust your robot s trajectory and speed every five milliseconds based on feedback from the wheel encoders The default PID values for translation and rotation and maximum PWM are stored as FLASH parameters in your robot s H8S microcontroler and may be changed You also may temporarily update the PID values with the AROS client commands 84 through 87 On the fly changes persist until the controller is reset The translational PID values apply to independent wheel velocity mode The P term value Kp increases the overall gain of the system by amplifying the position error Large gains will have a tendency to overshoot the velocity goal small gains will limit the overshoot but cause the system to become sluggish 180 We ve found that a fully loaded robot works best with a Kp setting of around 15 Figure 18 Internal coordinate system to 20 whereas a lightly loaded robot may work best with Kp in the range of 20 to 30 The D term Kv provides a PID gain factor that is proportional to the output velocity It has the greatest effect on system damping and minimizing oscillations within the drive system The term usually is the first to be adjusted if you encounter unsatisfactory drive response Typically we find Kv to work best in the range of 600 to 800 for lightly to heavily loaded robots respectively The Term Ki moderates
87. he Computer Systems Documentation and the OS manufacturer s documentation for more detail ActivMedia Robotics software runs over either Microsoft Windows currently Windows 20008 or RedHat Linux currently version 7 Accordingly we prefer the latter in particular and support those OSes on the onboard PC When we perform the installation and configuration we install our robotics and accessory software typically in usr local on Linux systems or in C Program Files ActivMedia Robotics under Windows Of course we install the appropriate drivers for the various accessory expansion cards such as for a framegrabber or sound card Please consult the respective ActivMedia Robotics application software manuals such as the ActivMedia Color Tracking System ACTS for the video framegrabber or Festival for the sound card The first time you access the onboard PC we recommend that you put the robot up on blocks so that it cannot inadvertently move and wreak havoc with external connections Then attach a keyboard monitor and mouse to their respective sockets on the Computer Control Panel Switch Main Power and then the computer power switch on After boot up log in to the system We ve already created two users one with common systems and file read write permissions guest and one with full access to the PC software and OS root Linux or administrator Windows If there is a password usually not it s activmedia When connected directl
88. ications including features recognition and localization For other applications such as close in obstacle avoidance a shorter range but faster rate of update is better Hence we introduce in AROS v1 8 the SonarCycle FLASH parameter which lets you set through AROScf the default sonar cycle time in milliseconds Use the SONAR CYCLE client command 48 to change the cycle timing on the fly to the command integer s argument value in milliseconds STALLS AND EMERGENCIES With a robot equipped with forward and or rear bumpers by default AROS immediately stops the robot and notifies the client of a stall if any one or more of the contact sensors get triggered and the robot is going in the direction of the bump forward front or backward rear Send the BUMPSTALL command 44 with an integer argument of zero to disable that bump stall behavior Give the argument value of one to re enable BUMPSTALL only when a forward bump sensor gets triggered two for rear only BUMPSTALLs or three for both rear and forward bump contact activated stalls Change AROS bump stall behavior default with the BumpStall FLASH parameter In an emergency your client may want the robot to stop quickly not subject to normal deceleration In that case send the E STOP command 55 Table 7 The FLAGS bits in the standard SIP CONDITION IF SET Motors enabled Sonar array 1 enabled Sonar array 2 enabled Sonar array 3 enabled Sonar array 4 enab
89. ile the demo application or use a startup argument on the command line See Table 1 For example from the Windows Start Run dialog choose Browse and select the ARIA demo program C Program Files ActivMedia Robotics ARIA bin demo exe Then type a command line argument at the end of the text in the Run dialog as described in Table 1 To connect through the new Ethernet to serial radio device over the wireless network for example try the command C Program FilesNActivMedia RoboticsNARIANbinNdemo exe remoteHost 192 168 1 32 25 Quick Start A Successful Connection ARIA prints out lots of diagnostic text as it negotiates a connection with the robot If successful the client requests various AROS servers to start their activities including sonar polling position integration and so on The microcontroller Table 2 ARIA demo operation modes sounds an audible connection robot s sonar ping with a KEY distinctive and repetitive laser 1 Displays the closest and furthest readings clicking In addition the from the robot s laser range finder motors associated STATUS LED T Displays the state of the robot s digital on the User Control Panel should and analog to digital I O ports e ene ee Se position Displays the coordinates of the robot s So neca Note that es position relative to its starting location ARIA demo automatically ETC Displays the status of the robot s bumpers engages your robot s motors sonar s Displays th
90. illimeters per second and your client uses the SETV command 6 to reset the maximum velocity to 500 millimeters per second the maximum velocity automatically will revert back to 1000 after your client disconnects and then reconnects for a subsequent session MoTION COMMANDS The AROS motor control servers accept several different client motion commands of two mutually exclusive types either independent wheel or platform translational rotational movements The AROS servers automatically abandon any translational or rotational setpoints and switch to independent wheel velocity controls when your client issues the independent wheel VEL2 command 32 and vice versa Note that once connected ActivMedia robots motors are disabled regardless of their state when last connected Accordingly you must either enable the motors manually white MoTORS button on the User Control Panel or send the motors ENABLE client command 4 with the argument value of one Monitor the status of the motors with bit O of the Flags integer in the standard SIP When in independent wheel velocity mode VEL2 the robot s motion control servers do their best to maintain precise wheel velocities In practice wheel slippage and uneven terrain will cause the robot to change heading which your client must detect and compensate When in translational rotational TR motion control mode recommended your robot s servers work to maintain both platform speed an
91. io be sure you have a connection with a local access point or have a peer to peer radio Ethernet installed in your client computer Windows users may select the ARIA demo from the Start menu in the ActivMedia Robotics program group Otherwise start if from the ARIA bin directory Linux users will find the compiled demo in usr local Aria bin Orin examples Start it demo Demo Startup Options Table 1 ARIA demo command line arguments remoteHost Host Name or IP Connect with robot through a remote host over the network instead of a serial port requires special hardware or IPTHRU software mediation robotPort Serial Port Connect with robot through specified serial port name COM3 for example remoteRobotTcpPort Number Remote TCP host to robot connection port number default is 8080 laserPort Serial Port Connect with laser rangefinder through the specified serial port name dev ttyS3 for example remoteLaserTcpPort Number Remote TCP host to laser connection port number default is 8081 By default the ARIA demo program connects with the robot through the serial port COM1 under Windows or dev ttys0 under Linux And by default the demo connects with the laser rangefinder accessory through serial port COM3 or dev ttyS2 To change those connection options either modify the ARIA source code examples demo cpp and related files in src and recomp
92. ions Manual available through sales activmedia com or at our support website http robots activmedia com RoBOT PACKAGE Our experienced manufacturing staff put your mobile robot and accessories through a burn in period and carefully tested them before shipping the products to you In addition to the companion resources listed above we warranty your ActivMedia robot and our manufactured accessories against mechanical electronic and labor defects for one year Third party accessories are warranted by their manufacturers typically for 90 days Even though we ve made every effort to make your ActivMedia Robotics package complete please check the components carefully after you unpack them from the shipping crate Basic Components all shipments One fully assembled mobile robot with battery CD ROM containing licensed copies of ActivMedia software and documentation Hex wrenches and assorted replacement screws Replacement fuse Set of manuals Registration and Account Sheet NS AS Optional Components and Attachments partial list Battery charger some contain power receptacle and 220VAC adapters Automated dock and recharge station Onboard PC computer and accessories Radio Ethernet Supplementary and replacement batteries 3 Battery Charge Station 110 220 VAC Added sonar arrays 2 DOF Gripper 5 DOF P2 Arm with gripper ActivMedia Color Tracking System ACTS Stereo Vision Systems Pan Tilt Zoom Surveillance Cameras Custo
93. ividually activating deactivating the digital output ports such as with the AROS COMdigout 30 command However for best results we recommend using the automated charging control commands and systems we provide with the latest AROS Docking Charging Servers To use AROS docking charging system servers version 1 7 or later you must first enable the H8 microcontrollers automated charger servers through your robot s FLASH parameters Use the AROScf configuration tool and set the Charger parameter value to 1 0 to disable and save the value Thereafter for autonomous operation of the robot with the charging platform establish a client server connection between an ARIA or similar client enabled PC and the robot s controller Use the AROS CHARGE command 68 with an integer argument of 1 to automatically halt robot motion and deploy the docking mechanism The docking mechanism automatically retracts after five seconds if the robot does not engage with the docking platform during which time the robot s drive system is unresponsive So your client should wait at least that long before attempting to resume activity Although disengaged while recharging AROS remembers if your robot s motors were engaged just before deploying the docking mechanism This way your robot may discontinue charging retract the robot s charging mechanism and go on its merry way automatically by having the client send any motion command that normally would cause
94. lated AROS command the AROS server packages and sends one or a continuous stream of information packets to the client over the HOST serial communication line Extended packets get sent immediately after the standard SIP that AROS sends to your client every SIP milliseconds typically 100 22 The standard SIP takes priority and gets sent as soon as the communication port is free and the cycle timer expires So you may have to adjust the communications baud rate to accommodate all data packets in the allotted cycle time or some packets may never get sent Packet Processing Identical with the standard SIP all AROS server information packets get encapsulated with a header OxFA OxFB byte count packet type byte and trailing checksum It is up to the client to parse the packets sorted by type for content Please consult the respective client application programming manuals for details ARIA for example comes with a framework for packet parsing and has an internal parser for the PSOS P2OS AROS packet type Ox3S S 0 2 aka standard SIP as well as for some of the extended packets we describe in this section Table 8 CONFIGpac contents AROS v1 5 and later mami sam mcxeuo int IDs ENCODERpac 0x20 Antiquated 1 if AT with P20S int int int Maximum rotation de acceleration deg sec int Maximum translational de acceleration mm sec Maximum motor PWM 500 fully on byte byte Baud rate for client server HO
95. lect 4 ct J ct Cop Chip select 3 Chip select 2 Data write ata read hip select 6 or digital I O hip select 6 or digital I O ontroller reset igital I O Controller 5VDC 200ma Controller 5VDC 200ma Battery 12VDC lt 0 5A Q 67 Appendix A Ports and Connections Table 24 Bumper ports 10 pos latching IDC Fen srw esonero EII E 2 api Bumper bit i 2 4 4 ses Bumper bit 3 5 sea Bumper bita JM 6 srs Bumper bit 5 8 P Bumper bit 7 9 ena Gnd Bumper Ports Two 10 position latching IDC connectors provide general purpose digital inputs typically used for the robot s bumpers All inputs are buffered and pulled high digital 1 Motors Encoders and IR Sensors A 26 position latching IDC connector on the H8S microcontroller provides interface through an intermediate board to the Motor Power Board Appendix B Line descriptions also can be found in the following Motor Power Interface section Table 25 Motors encoders and IRs interface 26 pos latching IDC Pn sra esco O Left motors PWM 2 LDIR Left motors direction Right motors PWM RDIR Right motors direction MI RP Ral EE EA eft encoder channel A EA Right encoder channel A ight encoder channel B 12 eft encoder channel B 14 IR input bit 16 IR input bi IR input bi 20 IR input bi 22 Battery voltage detect 24 Gnd 26 AXI Ei
96. led STOP button pressed E stall engaged Far ledge detected IR Near ledge detected IR Joystick button 1 pressed Recharging power good Reserved Like BUMPSTALL use AROS built in E STALL feature to simulate a stall wnen someone presses the robot s STOP button An integrated switch in the STOP button toggles a dedicated digital I O port Port A bit 3 on the microcontroller thereby notifying AROS of the condition AROS stops the robot s motors puts on the brakes and throws continuous stalls Unlike other stalls E STALL also disables the motors You must either re enable the motors manually MOTORS button or programmatically ENABLE com mand 4 ojo ajo ua un o 3 1 Ra CA The E STALL server notifies your client software through the stall bytes and in bit 5 of the FLAGS byte in the standard so that your client may respond to a STOP E STALL differently than a regular stall Available only on some robots 42 ActivMedia Robotics Normally enabled default was disabled in P2OS change E STALL by sending the AROS command 56 With argument of zero E STALL gets disabled An argument value of one re enables E STALL ACCESSORY COMMANDS AND PACKETS Several types of alternative server information packets SIPs come with AROS to better support the ActivMedia Robotics community On request from the client by a re
97. ltage Conditions The User Control Panel has a bi color LED labeled BATTERY that visually indicates current battery voltage From approximately 12 5 volts and above the LED glows bright green The LED turns progressively orange and then red as the voltage drops to approximately 11 5 volts Aurally the User Control Panel s buzzer if active see the AROS SoundTog client command and FLASH parameter will sound a repetitive alarm if the battery voltage drops consistently below the FLASH LowBattery level If the battery voltage drops below 11 volts the microcontroller s watchdog server automatically shuts down a client connection and notifies the computer via the HOST RI ring indicator pin to shut down and thereby prevent data loss or systems corruption due to low batteries Recharging Typical battery recharge time using the recommended accessory 800 mA charger varies according to the discharge state it is roughly equal to three hours per volt per battery The Power Cube accessory allows simultaneous recharge of three swappable batteries outside the robot With the optional high speed 4A maximum current charger recharge time is greatly reduced It also supplies sufficient curent to continuously operate the robot and onboard accessories such as the onboard PC and radios But with the higher current charger care must be taken to charge at least two batteries at once A single battery may overcharge and thereby damage both itself
98. lus and Pioneer 3 models have hinged top plates which give you much easier access to the internal components of the robot See Chapter 8 Maintenance amp Repair for access details The robot s deck is simply the flat surface for mounting projects and accessories such as the PTZ Robotic Camera and the laser range finder Feed through slots on each side of the DX deck let you conveniently route cables to the accessory panels on the side panels of the robot A removable plug in the middle of the deck on all models gives you convenient access to the interior of the robot When mounting accessories you should try to center the robot s payload over the drive wheels If you must add a heavy accessory to the edge of the deck counterbalance the weight with a heavy object on the opposite end A full complement of batteries helps balance the robot too Motor Stop Button All new Pioneer 3 AT and upon request some new Pioneer 3 DX robots have a STOP button at the rear of the Deck Press and release it to immediately disengage the robot s motor power It will also cause a stall and result in incessant beeping from the onboard piezo speaker see User Controls below Press the STOP button in to re engage motor power and stop that incessant beeping noise Note that you may also have to re engage the motor controls wnen connected with a client either by manually pressing the MOTORS button on the User Control Panel or through a special client command
99. ly several times in a row because the turn increment is small The other modes of ARIA demo operation give you access to your robot s various sensors and accessories including encoders sonar laser Gripper a pan tilt zoom robotic camera I O port states bumpers and more Accordingly use the ARIA demo not only 26 ActivMedia Robotics as a demonstration tool but as a diagnostic one as well if you suspect a sensor or effector has failed or is working poorly Access each ARIA demo mode by pressing its related hot key t for instance to select teleoperation Each mode includes onscreen instructions and may have sub menus for operating of the respective device DISCONNECTING When you finish press the Esc key to disconnect the ARIA client from your robot server and exit the ARIA demonstration program Your ActivMedia robot should disengage its drive motors and stop moving and its sonar should stop firing You may now slide the robot s Main Power switch to OFF QUICKSTART TROUBLESHOOTING Most problems occur when attempting to connect the ARIA client with a robot for the first time The process can be daunting if you don t make the right connections and installations Proper Connections Make sure you have ARIA properly installed and that your robot and connections are correct A common mistake with Linux is not having the proper permissions on the connecting serial port Make sure your robot s batteries are full
100. m Vision System Range finding laser UNSKSKSKSKSKSNSKSSSSS Congratulations Global Positioning System Heading correction gyro Compass Bumper rings Serial cables for external connections Many more NS AS User Supplied Components System Requirements Y Client PC 586 class or later PC with Microsoft Windows or RedHat Linux OS Y One RS 232 compatible serial port or Ethernet Y Four megabytes of available hard disk storage ADDITIONAL RESOURCES New ActivMedia Robotics customers get three additional and valuable resources Y A private account on our support Internet website for downloading software updates and manuals Y Access fo private newsgroups Y Direct access to the ActivMedia Robotics technical support team Support Website We maintain a 24 hour seven day per week World Wide Web server where customers may obtain software and support materials http robots activmedia com Some areas of the website are restricted to licensed customers To gain access enter the username and password written on the Registration amp Account Sheet that accompanied your robot Newsgroups We maintain several email based newsgroups through which ActivMedia robot owners share ideas software and questions about the robot Visit the support http robots activmedia com website for more details To sign up for pioneer users for example send an e mail message to the requests automated newsgroup server To pioneer us
101. ment of 1 OxFA OxFB 0x06 0x04 Ox3B 0x01 Ox00 0x05 Ox3B Keeping the Beat PULSE A safety watchdog expects that once connected your robot s controller receives at least one communication packet from the client every watchdog seconds default is two Otherwise it assumes the client server connection is broken and stops the robot Some clients ARIA based ones for instance use the good practice of sending a PULSE command 0 no argument OxFA OxFB 0x03 0x00 Ox00 OxOO just after opening the AROS servers And if your client application will be otherwise distracted for some time periodically issue the PULSE command to let your robot server know that your client is indeed alive and well It has no other effect If the robot shuts down due to lack of communication with the client it will revive upon receipt of a client command and automatically accelerate to the last specified speed and heading setpoints Closing the Connection CLOSE To close the client server connection which automatically disables the motors and other server functions like sonar simply issue the client CLOSE command 2 no argument OxFA OxFB 0x03 0x02 OxOO 0x02 37 ActivMedia Robotics Operating System With AROS versions 1 3 and later many of the controller s operating parameters return to their FLASH based default values upon disconnection with the client 8 For example if the FLASH default for the maximum velocity is 1000 m
102. multiply by DistConvFactor to convert to millimeters AngleConvFactor for degrees Wheel velocities in mm sec VelConvFactor 1 0 STALL AND int Motor stall and bumper indicators Bit 0 is the left wheel stall BUMPERS indicator set to 1 1f stalled Bits 1 7 correspond to the first bumper I O digital input states accessory dependent Bit 8 is the right Wheel encoder integrated coordinates platform dependent units wheel stall and bits 9 15 correspond the second bumper I O states also accessory and application dependent AngleConvFactor for degrees FLAGS sint Bit 0 motors status bits 1 4 sonar array status bits 5 6 M STOP bits 7 8 ledge sense IRs bit 9 joystick button bit 10 auto charger power good REST OF THE SONAR READINGS Gripper state byte Selected analog port number 1 5 User Analog input 0 255 0 5 VDC reading on selected port Byte encoded User I O digital input Byte endcoded User I O digital output Packet integrity checksum Client side data conversion factor Consult the ARIA parameter file your robot t Explicitly a signed integer AROS also supports several additional SIP types These include an alternative SIP that currently is not supported by Saphira or ARIA 5 See following sections in this chapter for a description of the extended SIP types S Indeed if enabled the alternative SIP apparently will break the client software Read carefully 33 ActivMedia Robotics Operati
103. nd deploy output ports described earlier DIGIN bit 7 corresponding to the User I O connector digital input port ID7 pin 15 reflects the battery recharge cycle and with the Battery Voltage SIP value helps the autonomous robot client determine immediate battery life and operation times 31 ActivMedia Robotics Operating System The overcharge bit ID7 is set 1 when the batteries are well below full charge and the charger is at full charging current During this bulk charging period the battery voltage rises to around 13 8 14V The overcharge bit ID7 then drops to low 0 while the batteries charge from approximately 80 to 90 of full charge from 13 8 to 14 7V The charger then reverts to float mode maintaining full charge at much lower current and charger voltage 13 5V In float mode the overcharge bit ID7 is set Accordingly by monitoring the power good and overcharge bits as well as the battery voltage your client may make recharging strategy decisions The thing to remember is that lead acid batteries last longest when routinely charged into float mode typically once per day 52 ActivMedia Robotics chapter 7 Updating amp Reconfiguring AROS The AROS software and a set of operating parameters for your ActivMedia robot get stored in the H8S microcontroller s FLASH ROM With special upload and configuration software tools you change and update the FLASH memory image No hardware modification is required WHERE
104. nected with the server via a signal cable is much more reliable than over radios for example And don t expect to send a client command every millisecond if the HOST serial port s baud rate is set to 9 600 kbps Because of the real time nature of client server mobile robotics interactions we made a conscious decision to provide an unacknowledged communication packet interface Retransmitting server information or command packets would serve no useful purpose because old data would be virtually useless in maintaining responsive robot behaviors Nonetheless the client server interface provides a simple means for dealing with ignored command packets Most of the client commands alter state variables in the server By examining those values in respective SIPs client software may detect ignored commands and re issue them until achieving the correct state 32 ActivMedia Robotics SERVER INFORMATION PACKETS Like its PSOS and P2OS predecessors AROS automatically and repeatedly sends a packet of information over its HOST serial port to a connected client The standard AROS SIP informs the client about a number of operating states and readings using the order and data types described in the nearby Table Table 3 Standard Server Information Packet Exactly OxFA 0xFB BYTE COUNT byte Number of data bytes 2 checksum not including header or byte count bytes TYPE Motors stopped 3 3 Robomoving XPOS int pec
105. net Access Point P F Laptop Computer H Onboard Ethemet or Rado WOO Figure 4 ActivMedia s robot servers require a computer typically a Windows or RedHat Linux based PC to run client software for intelligent robotics command and control operations A separate Laser Navigation and Localization package is available as a Saphira add on It is a comprehensive suite of software tools and applications by which with your laser scanning range finder enabled robot you automatically create edit and use maps and floor plans for advanced robotics applications including localization and gradient navigation SUPPORTING SOFTWARE Simulator The SRIsim Simulator is a connection option that provides a virtual replacement for your ActivMedia robot By connecting to the simulator instead of a real robot you can test your client programs maps and so on when the real robot isn t practical or available Mapper Mapper provides the tools you need to construct a map of your robot s real operating space world THE PIONEER LEGACY Commercially introduced in Summer 1995 Pioneer 1 is the original platform It came with a single board 68HC11 based robot microcontroller and the Pioneer Server Operating System PSOS software Its low cost and high performance caused an explosion in the number of researchers and developers who now have access to a reall intelligent mobile robotic platform What is Pioneer Pioneer 1 and AT
106. ng Robot Funchons Sonar 1 0 Banging Control Figure 16 ActivMedia Robotics client server control architecture Experienced ActivMedia robot users can be assured that AROS is upwardly compatible with all ActivMedia robots implementing the same commands and information packets that first appeared in the Pioneer 1 based PSOS and in the original Pioneer 2 based P2OS AROS of course extends the servers to add new functionality improve performance and provide additional information about the robot s state and sensing CLIENT SERVER COMMUNICATION PACKET PROTOCOLS ActivMedia robots communicate with a control client using special client server communication packet protocols one for command packets from client to server and another for server information packets SIPs from the server to client Both protocols are bit streams consisting of five main elements a two byte header a one byte count of the number of subsequent packet bytes the client command or SIP packet type command data types and argument values or SIP data bytes and finally a two byte checksum Packets are limited to a maximum of 206 bytes each The two byte header which signals the start of a packet is the same for both client command packets and SIPs OxFA OxFB The byte count value counts the number of all subsequent bytes in the packet including the checksum but not including the byte count value itself or the header bytes Data types are simple and depend
107. ng System CLIENT COMMANDS AROS has a structured command format for receiving and responding to directions from a client for control and operation of your ActivMedia robot or the simulator Client commands are comprised of a one byte command number optionally followed if required by the command by a one byte description of the argument type and then the argument value Table 4 AROS P2OS PSOS client command packet protocol COMPONENT BYTES VALUE DESCRIPTION HEADER OxFA OxFB Packet header same for client and server BYTE COUNT 1 N Number of command argument bytes plus Checksum s two bytes but not including Byte Count itself or the header bytes Maximum of 249 NUMBER see Table 7 ARGUMENT 1 Required data type of command argument TYPE positive integer negative or absolute integer or string ARGSTR containing length prefix Packet integrity checksum Table 5 AROS P2OS PSOS command set DESCRIPTION A Before Client Connection pp ARAS SYNCO 0 none Start connection Send in sequence AROS echoes 1 0 1 0 3 x synchronization commands back to client and Md E d robot specific autosynchronization after SYNC2 pT After Established Connection PULSE 0 none Resets server watchdog 10 10 3x ENABLE 4 i 1 enable 0 disable the motors 1 0 1 0 A AA rie deceleration if negative mm sec sec t SETV 6 int Sets maximum translational velocity mm sec Resets local po
108. o engage AROS maintenance mode press and hold the white MOTORS button press and release the red RESET button then release MOTORS In the future the white MOTORS button may engage other modes such as when in AROS standalone mode Body Nose and Accessory Panels Your ActivMedia robot s sturdy but lightweight aluminum body houses the batteries drive motors electronics and other common components including the front and rear sonar arrays The body also has sufficient room with power and signal connectors to support a variety of robotics accessories inside including an A V wireless surveillance system radio modems or radio Ethernet onboard computer laser range finder and more On all models except the Pioneer 2 CE a hinged rear door gives you easy access to the batteries which you may quickly hot swap to refresh any of up to three batteries The nose is where we put the onboard PC The nose is readily removable for access Simply remove two screws from underneath the front sonar array A third screw holds the nose to the bottom of the AT s body The DX nose is hinged at the bottom Once the mounting screws are removed simply pull the nose away from the body This provides a quick and easy way to get to the accessory boards and disk drive of the onboard PC as well as to the sonar gain adjustment for the front sonar array The nose also is an ideal place for you to attach your own custom accessories and sensors All
109. o the ActivMedia Robotics technical support team There a staff member will help you or point you to a place where you can find help Because this is a support option not a general interest newsgroup like pioneer users we reserve the option to reply only to questions about problems with your robot or software See Chapter 8 Maintenance amp Repair for more details What is Pioneer Chapter 2 What Is Pioneer Pioneer is a family of mobile robots both two wheel and four wheel drive including the Pioneer 1 and Pioneer AT Pioneer 2 DX DXe DXf CE AT the Pioneer 2 DX8 Dx8 Plus and AT8 AT8 Plus and the newest Pioneer 3 DX and AT mobile robots These small research and development platforms share a common architecture and foundation software with all other ActivMedia robots including AmigoBot People Bot V Performance PeopleBot and PowerBot mobile robots All employ a common client server Figure 2 ActivMedia Robots robotics control architecture PIONEER REFERENCE PLATFORM ActivMedia robots set the standards for intelligent mobile platforms by containing all of the basic components for sensing and navigation in a real world environment They have become reference platforms in a wide variety of research projects including several US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA funded studies Every ActivMedia robot comes complete with a sturdy aluminum body balanced drive system two wh
110. omputer that invoke shutdown of the operating system in the event of a persistent low battery condition AROS versions 1 6 and later raises the HOST serial port s RI pin 9 to RS232 level high when the P2 H8 controller is operating normally but when your robot s battery power drops the The original Pioneer 2 Motor Power boards implemented a similar strategy in hardware 21 Specifications and Controls below safe operating level of 11 VDC 9 11 Genpowerd running on the onboard Linux system or ups exe running under Windows detects the change of state and initiates OS shutdown after a short wait during which the shutdown may be canceled by raising the battery voltage such as by attaching a charger Genpowerd monitors the HOST serial RI port on dev ttys0 Windows ups exe requires a dedicated serial port coM2 on current systems and prefers to monitor the CTS line Consequently we wire the onboard PC serial connector differently for Linux versus Windows PC Please consult the AROS chapters for more detail SAFETY AROS WATCHDOGS AROS contains a communications watchdog that wil halt the robot s motion if communications between a PC client and the robot server are disrupted for a set time interval nominally two seconds watchdog parameter The robot will automatically resume activity including motion as soon as communications are restored AROS also contains a stall monitor If the drive exerts a PWM pulse that equals or ex
111. on the element see descriptions below client commands SIP types and so on are single 8 bit bytes for example Command arguments and SIP values may be 2 byte integers ordered as least significant byte 3l ActivMedia Robotics Operating System always first Some data are strings of up to a maximum 200 bytes prefaced by a length byte Unlike common data integers the two byte checksum appears with its most significant byte first opposite order Packet Checksum Calculate the PSOS P2OS AROS client server packet checksum by successively adding data byte pairs high byte first to a running checksum initially zero disregarding sign and overflow If there are an odd number of data bytes the last byte is XORed to the low order byte of the checksum NOTE The checksum integer is placed at the end of the packet with its bytes in the reverse order of that used for data integers that is bo is the high byte and bi is the low byte Packet Errors AROS ignores a client command packet whose byte count exceeds 204 total packet size of 206 bytes or has an erroneous checksum The client should similarly ignore erroneous SIPs AROS does not acknowledge receipt of a command packet nor does it have any facility to handle client acknowledgment of a SIP Accordingly when designing client applications keep in mind serial communication limitations particularly data rates and physical linkage Communication between an onboard PC client con
112. ontroller directly from a remote client over the network without special hardware new radio Ethernet to serial device or alternatively special sofrware that runs on the onboard computer and converts IP packets into serial data 2 Otherwise you must run the client software on the robot s PC or on a PC that is connected to the robot s controller HOST serial port You may of course export the controls and display over the network from X windows or with special Windows software such as VNCserver To start the ARIA client demonstration program and connect with the robot we presume that you have completed the preparatory stages of this chapter by installing ARIA as 2 Look in the ARIA examples directory for a program called ipthru It converts IP to serial and back again for remote control clients connected through the onboard PC 24 ActivMedia Robotics needed by starting and testing the robot and by connecting the client PC with the AROS controller via a serial link Now it is time to connect the ARIA demonstration program with your robot If you are using radio modems or the new Low Speed Ethernet to serial device to communicate wirelessly from a desktop PC to the robot controller now is a good fime to power the units The RADIO power switch for the integrated radio is on the User Control Panel The other radio modem should be attached to your PC and powered via the module that came with the unit If using the Ethernet to serial rad
113. ovide an Access Point module Comes as an accessory with most units Attach the Access Point to one of your LAN hubs or switches with a standard CATS 100Base T cable No configuration required We use the default operating mode managed client server We ship installed PC systems preset and tested at a fixed IP address with Class C network configuration We allocate the same IP to both the wired and wireless Ethernet ports typically 192 168 1 32 Although you need not fuss with drivers or low level device settings before you may establish a network connection with the onboard PC not the robot s controller even if just through a cross over Ethernet cable to another PC you ll need to reconfigure the robot s PC network settings Please consult with your network systems administrator for networking details Briefly with Windows go to the Control Panel s Network and Dialup Connections wizard and choose the networking device s Properties to change the IP address and other details Under Linux there are similar GUl based tools under X Windows to help you set up the network such as netcfg but we prefer to edit emacs or vi the salient network settings in etc sysconfig network and in the specific device configuration fles found in etc sysconfig network scripts such as ifcfg ethO wired Ethernet and ifcfg eth1 orifcfg wvlanO wireless From Windows use the Control Panel Network and Dialup Connections tool to enable or disable a p
114. port initializes to low and goes high when the batteries discharge to below 11 VDC We use the genpowerd software under Linux to detect that low power signal and automatically shut down the PC Windows PCs are a bit more problematic The Windows genpowerd like ups exe program requires a dedicated serial port and prefers to use the CTS line to indicate low power Accordingly we jumper the RI signal of HOST com1 to the CTS signal pin of the adjacent coM2 port of the onboard PC for the feature For convenience the Versalogic VSBC8 PC found onboard most recent Pioneer 2s shares its 20 pin connector on the PC s motherboard with COM1 and COM2 So to implement Windows ups exe enabled low power shutdown we jumper pin 8 com1 RI to pin 16 coM2 CTS on that VSBC8 serial connector Use a similar strategy for other implementations the UPS configuration dialog lets you select COMI 4 Once the port is wired start up Windows and as Administrator go to the Start Settings Control Panel Power Options dialog and select the UPS tab Click Select and in the UPS Selection dialog select coM2 or other port Generic manufacturer and Custom model Then click Next In the UPS Interface Configuration On COM2 dialog check the Power Fail On Battery and its related Position options Uncheck to disable the Low Battery and UPS Shutdown options Then click Finish to save the settings and close the dialog Click OK or Apply to enable the UPS shutdown programs Chang
115. powered 5 VDC from RADIO switch All you need to do is attach the other radio modem to a free serial port on your PC and provide power no other setup is required You may examine and alter your radio modem settings such as to match a new baud rate Use Hyperterminal minicom or other simple terminal program Default settings are DCE for the host and DTE for the H8S based Pioneers and 9 600 baud 8 bits data 1 stop bit no parity Once connected all modem control commands begin with WM For example WMS2 at the host connects the host modem to the robot s modem Command Description WMBx Set up the default baud rate x 1 115200 2 57600 3 38400 4 19200 5 9600 WMD Disconnect the radio link established previously WMEx Set up echo and response function x A P WMEXXXX Set up the maximum frame length xxxx must be at most a 4 digit decimal number and ranging from 1 to 1024 WMIXXXXXX Set up the group identification code xxxxxx must be exactly a 6 digit hexadecimal number The group ID is used to ensure that each connection within the group can be created successfully only if the group ID is the same WMJXxxx Change the identification name to xxx The length of XXX cannot exceed 32 letters WML List current setting The format is as follows WMMxxx Set up my address xxx must be at mos
116. processing Analysis of the gyro data and subsequent 47 ActivMedia Robotics Operating System modifications to the robot s heading are done on the client side as supported in the latest versions 1 3 and later of ARIA To enable the gyro you must set the HasGyro FLASH parameter to 1 using the AROScf tool see next chapter Set it to O if the gyro isn t attached Then to acquire gyro data send the GYRO client command 58 with integer argument of one zero disables the gyro SIP The gyro SIP is stopped upon client disconnection or controller reset too AROS collects the gyro rate and temperature readings at the maximum rate of once every 25 milliseconds and reports each of these values to the client when enabled in the GYROpac SIP that gets sent just before the standard Server Information Packet every sInfoCycle typically every 100ms GYROpac consists of a count byte of the rate and temperature data pairs accumulated since the last cycle typically 4 for a 100ms cycle time followed by that number of rate temperature integer byte pairs Gyro rates are 10 bit integers of value 0 1023 When not moving the rate is centered around 512 or so depending on the gyro s temperature and other calibration factors which drift with use and should be corrected on the fly Values below that center point indicate counter clockwise rotational rates values above the resting center measure clockwise rotational rates Table 12 GYROpac SIP contents
117. put into the bin subdirectory For convenience you may access all these from the Start Menu s Programs option The demonstration program s source code and MSVC project and workspace files are in the examplesN subdirectory Linux users must have superuser root permissions in order to install ARIA It comes as an RPM installation archive rpm ihv aria and gets installed in usr local Aria The ARIA demonstration program and simulator get put into the bin subdirectory The demonstration sources and makefile are in the examples subdirectory Linux users should also be sure they have permission to read write through their PC s serial port that connects with the robot The default is dev ttySO ARIA is a terminal application that does not include a GUI so its programs do not require X Windows 23 Quick Start Install Batteries Out of the box your ActivMedia robot comes with its batteries fully charged although shipped separately unless you have the automated docking charging system For most models slide one or up to three batteries into robot s battery box through the back door Balance them one in the center if two then one on each side Client Server Communications Your robot requires a serial communication link with a client PC for operation The serial link may be Y Atether cable from the robot s 9 pin serial connector on the User Control Panel to a computer A piggyback laptop cabled to the User Control Panel
118. r alternative A D ports appear at the 40 position Expansion I O connector of the H8S microcontroller 2 Use the ADSEL client command number 35 to select and subsequently have the A D value from one of the alternative ports AN2 5 appear in the standard SIP The default port is ANO ADSEL argument value of zero the A D port also on the User I O connector DOCKING CHARGING SYSTEM I O The docking charging system s mechanism and associated charge management circuitry on the robot may be controlled from the robot s H8 microcontroller and AROS servers Digital Port Controls When set digital high 1 the inhibit port OD4 on pin 10 of the User I O connector see Appendix A causes the charging mechanism to disengage and retract from the charging platform and inhibits its future deployment The deploy port OD5 pin 12 when set high with port OD4 low deploys the charging mechanism with full force to seat it onto the charging platform 5 At the fully deployed position the mechanism is mechanically stabilized and requires much less force to maintain contact If in positive contact with the charger base the robot s onboard circuitry activates and thereafter maintains the actuated mechanism at that lower force as long as it receives power To minimize heat and eventual damage to the actuator the deploy line should be activated for only short periods maximally for 10 seconds at a time Your client software may run the charging mechanism by ind
119. ration such as if the robot is allowed to tumble or fall off a ledge or if it is overloaded with heavy objects The developers marketers and manufacturers of ActivMedia Robotics products shall bear no liabilities for operation and use of the robot or any accompanying software except that covered by the warranty and period The developers marketers or manufacturers shall not be held responsible for any injury to persons or property involving ActivMedia Robotics products in any way They shall bear no responsibilities or liabilities for any operation or application of the robot or for support of any of those activities And under no circumstances wil the developers marketers or manufacturers of ActivMedia Robotics product take responsibility for support of any special or custom modification to ActivMedia robots or their software 19 Columbia Drive Amherst NH 03031 603 881 7960 603 881 3818 fax http www mobilerobots com
120. s well as on the H8S controller board and is for AROS client server and maintenance connections 22 The internal HOST serial connector also has signal lines for detecting an attached device DTR pin 4 and for notifying the attached PC of low power condition HRNG pin 9 The HOST serial connectors are wired DCE for direct connection straight through cable not NULL modem to a standard PC serial port or to a radio modem set to DTE mode See the nearby Tables for details The AUXI and AUX2 serial ports are for RS232 compatible serial device connections such as for the TCM2 Modules or any of several pan tilt zoom robotic systems AROS operates the serial ports at any of the common data rates 9 600 19 200 38 400 57 800 or 115 200 bits per second and at eight data bits one stop bit no parity or hardware handshaking Table 20 HOST serial ports on H8S board and on User Control DSUB 9 socket PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION 1 nc 2 TXD output RCV Input 4 DTR Input detects attached device and switches TxD and RxD into the uC 5 GND Common 6 DSR Output when controller powered 7 ne May be jumpered to pin 8 8 nc Jumper to pin 7 for radio modem handshaking 9 RI Output lowered to signal PC shutdown t Shared on Motors interface Table 21 AUXI and AUX2 serial ports 5 pos microfit sockets PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTI
121. set See Chapter 7 Updating amp Reconfiguring AROS for much more detail We typically provide the maintenance utilities and AROS upgrades free for download from our website so be sure to sign up for the pioneer users email newslist That s where we notify our customers of the upgrades as well as where we provide access to ActivMedia robot users worldwide Joydrive and Self Test Modes Finally we provide onboard software and controller hardware that lets you drive the robot from a tethered joystick when not otherwise connected with a controlling client And we provide some self test programs that exercise your robot s hardware and software We examine these modes in some detail in Chapter 5 Joydrive and Self Tests 10 ActivMedia Robotics chapter 3 Specifications amp Controls ActivMedia s Pioneer robots may be smaller than most but they pack an impressive array of intelligent mobile robot capabilities that rival bigger and much more expensive machines For example the Pioneer 3 DX with onboard PC is a fully autonomous intelligent mobile robot Unlike other commercially available robots Pioneer s modest size lends itself very well to navigation in tight quarters and cluttered spaces such as classrooms laboratories and small offices At the same time the powerful AROS server with ActivMedia Robotics client software is fully capable of mapping its environment finding its way home and performing other sophisticated path plannin
122. sition to 0 0 0 origin Translate forward or back mm distance int ity t SETO MOVE ROTATE SETRV 10 EL 1 HEAD 12 13 15 1 1 2 2 48 3x i 4 8 sint Translate at mm sec forward or backward 3 x 4 2 sint Turn relative to current heading counter or 1 0 1 0 clockwise degrees increments tone half cycle pairs Request one 1 a continuous stream gt 1 or stop 0 encoder SIPs sint Rotate at counter or clockwise PRE degrees sec 1 0 DCHEAD Heading setpoint relative to last setpoint Rotate counter or clockwise degrees sec int Sets maximum rotational velocity degrees sec 1 0 sint SAY CONFIG ENCODER 5 7 1 8 9 1 n n n n RVEL za 8 E 10 11 12 DHEAD B gt 34 ActivMedia Robotics Heading setpoint relative to last setpoint pw dl degrees ccw cal asad ose ME deceleration in degrees sec sec SONAR 28 int 1 enable O disable all the sonar otherwise use 1 0 1 0 bit 0 to enable 1 or disable 0 a particular array 1 4 as specified in argument bits 1 4 sro 29 none Stops robot motors remain enabled 10 10 DIGOUT 30 2 Bits 8 15 is a byte mask that selects the output 1 7 1 2 4 2 bytes port s Bits 0 7 set 1 or reset 0 the selected port s VEL2 32 2 Independent wheel velocities Bits 0 7 for right bytes wheel Bits 8 15 for left wheel PSOS is in 4mm sec AROS
123. so has a set of O ohm resistor pads that may be configured to engage the analog to digital input ports ANT and AN2 By adding jumpers to R60 and R62 for example the board is configured to sense motor current draw on ANI and AN2 respectively Instead by jumpering R77 and R78 and by attaching temperature sensors to two motors via the Motor Temperature Sensors connector the AN1 and AN2 ports respectively may be used to protect against motor overheating This configuration is currently enabled in the new ATs but not yet supported in AROS 70 ActivMedia Robotics Table 28 Motor Temperature Sensors Connector 4 pos microfit PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION 1 Vcc 5 VDC 2 T2 To AN2 based temp sensor circuit 3 Tl To ANI based temp sensor circuit 4 GND Signal power common Otherwise a jumper across R76 connects the ANI port to the Fan Sensor system that is attached to the FET heat sink Note too that with or without attachment of AN1 via R76 but with the heat sensor in place a fan may be attached and activated whenever the motor driver FETs get overheated as implemented in all new AT systems Controller Power and Interface Individual 26 pos IDC connectors and cables provide signal for the new H8S based microcontroller or the legacy Cl166 based microcontrollers A separate cable and connector provides for the H8S microcontroller and sonar power Power and signal are shared on the C166 controller connector
124. spective Ticksmm and rotational Revcount FLASH parameters for proper operation We ship with the tires inflated to 23 psi each BATTERIES AND POWER Except when outfitted with the automated docking charging system see below Pioneer 2 and 3 robots may contain up to three hot swappable seven ampere hour 12 volts direct current VDC sealed lead acid batteries total of 252 watt hours accessible through a hinged and latched rear door We provide a suction cup tool to help grab 8 It s easier to remove the DXE s Nose with Gripper attached 15 Specifications and Controls and slide each battery out of its bay Spring contacts on the robot s battery power board alleviate the need for manually attaching and detaching power cables or connectors Balance the batteries in your robot Battery life of course depends on the configuration of accessories and motor activity AT charge life typically ranges from two to three hours The DX runs continuously for six hours or more up to four hours with onboard computer If you don t use the motors your robot s microcontroller will run for several days on a single battery charge IMPORTANT Batteries have a significant impact on the balance and operation of your robot Under most conditions we recommend operating with three batteries Otherwise a single battery should be mounted in the center or two batteries inserted on each side of the battery container Battery Indicators and Low Vo
125. ss and release the joystick fire button after AROS receives the command you engage self calibration mode see below Have your client send the AROS joydrive command 47 with an integer argument of O to disable the joystick drive override The joystick is self calibrating When you first enable joydrive mode either by the client command or when in self test joydrive mode AROS detects the joystick s center and extreme positions and saves these values to balance the driving action Accordingly rotate the joystick around its extreme limits and then let the joystick handle find its default centered position before pressing the fire button and starting to joydrive the robot Try exiting RESET or client command 47 depending on mode and restarting joydrive mode if the joystick doesn t seem to function well The joystick s fire button 1 acts as the joydrive deadman press it to start driving release it to stop the robot s motors The robot should drive forward and reverse and turn left or right in response and at speeds relative to the joystick s position When not connected with a client control program releasing the joystick fire button stops the robot However when connected with a client the client program resumes automatic operation of your robot s drive system So for example your robot may speed up or slow down and turn depending on the actions of your client program You may adjust the maximum translational and rotational speeds
126. stacle avoidance path planning features recognition localization gradient navigation and so on An important benefit of ActivMedia Robotics client server architecture is that different robot servers can be run using the same high level client For example we provide a robot simulator that runs on the host machine that can look and act just like your real robot With the Simulator you may conveniently perfect your application software and then run it without modification on any ActivMedia robot Several clients also may share responsibility for controlling a single mobile server which permits experimentation in distributed communication planning and control Currently available client software and development environments for the Microsoft Windows or Red HatO Linux based computing platform of your choice include 3 Y ActivMedia Robotics Interface for Applications ARIA Y SRlsim ActivMedia robot simulator Y SRI sSaphira client development suite with Colbert Versions and updates for supported computing platforms are available to password registered customers for download from our software website http robots activmedia com ARIA The ActivMedia Robotics Interface for Applications ARIA is a C based ME Direct ALS eum open source development environ WAZ lg Quos eit ores ment that provides a robust client side interface to a variety of intelligent robotics systems includin your ActivMedia robot s ast d and ArRobot acc
127. t a 3 digit decimal number and ranging from 1 to 255 WMN From command mode return to data mode WMOXxx Set up the partner PN code See WMP WMPXXX Older units have to set up your own PN codes XXX must be exactly a 32 digit hexadecimal number Newer units xxx is a number 1 23 match with pair modem WMOx Query remote setting WMRx Set up the remote output destination x P printer port x R RS 232 port WMSxxx Create a radio link with the partner addressed by xxx Xxx must be at most a 3 digit decimal number and ranging from 1 to 255 After establishing the link the async interface will enter data transmission mode until receiving ESCAPE sequence Th ESCAPE sequence consists of three contiguous characters and a CR After the reception of ESCAPE sequence the async interface will re enter into command mode Note that robot s modem xxx ig 24 From data mode escape to command mode A delay of 100 ms followed by is needed between th return and any following data lt CR gt key input 73 Appendix D Serial Ethernet Settings Appendix D SERIAL ETHERNET SETTINGS The Ethernet to Serial device settings are made at the factory and stored in FLASH Pressing and holding the test button for more than five seconds restores those settings Server name AMR EW 1 Wireless SSID WaveLAN Network Mode Infrastructure Speed 1 Mbps TCP IP Address 192 168 1 11 12 13 for successive units on a sin
128. t robots The client sends commands to the Gripper servers and gets Gripper status information from the standard SIP Please consult the respective manuals for details Table 10 GRIPPERpac packet contents HEADER int Exactly OxFA OxFB BYTE COUNT byte Number of data bytes 2 checksum TYPE byte Packet type OxEO HASGRIPPER byte Gripper type O none 1 User 2 PeopleBot GRIP STATE byte See nearby Table GRASP TIME byte MS time controls grasping pressure CHECKSUM integer Computed checksum AROS supports a GRIPPERpac type 224 OxEO packet type and related GRIPREQUEST P2OS command 37 to retrieve setup and status information from the servers Normally disabled your client program may request one or a continuous stream command argument gt one of Gripper packets Send GRIPREQUEST with the argument value zero to stop continuous packets 45 ActivMedia Robotics Operating System Table 11 GRIPPERpac state byte BIT FUNCTION STATE 0 Grip limit Paddles fully open when 0 otherwise between or closed 1 Lift limit Lift fully up or down when 0 otherwise in between 2 Outer breakbeam Obstructed when 0 nothing in between when 1 3 Inner breakbeam Obstructed when 0 nothing in between when 1 4 Left paddle Grasping when 0 5 Right paddle Grasping when 0 6 Lift Moving when 1 7 Gripper Moving when 1 Note th
129. the state of the corresponding bit in the second byte to set 1 or unset 0 the digital output port 23 Many of these ports are used by the Gripper accessory Alternative I O also is available 48 ActivMedia Robotics For example here s the AROS client command to set digital output ports one and three OD1 and oD3 reset port four 0D4 and leave all the rest alone hexadecimal notation OxFA OxFB 0x06 Ox1E 0x1B 0x19 0x09 0x37 0x24 Bumper and IR I O Two 10 position latching IDC connectors on the H8S controller provide 16 digital input ports normally used for the bumper accessory but also available for your own attachments See Appendix A for connector details Similarly the Motor Power connector on the H8S controller contains eight digital inputs that we normally use for IR sensors on the Performance PeopleBot and PowerBot and whose states are digitally mapped See Appendix B for connector details Normally pulled high digital 1 all the bumper and IR bit mapped switches go low digital 0 when the respective port gets triggered Bumper inputs also appear with the stall bits in the standard SIP but unlike in the IOpac are modified by the InvertBumps mask All the bumper and IR data bits appear in the IOpac packet IO packets Table 13 lOpac packet contents LABEL BYTES CURRENT VALUE DESCRIPTION HEADER 2 OxFA OxFB Common header BYTE COU
130. they are configured And new bumper hardware inverts the Pioneer 2 s bumper signal bits which confuses the client server software Moreover different AROS enabled robots have different numbers of bumper segments front and rear Accordingly the new AROS v1 6 implements three new FLASH parameters that specify states invert or not and numbers of front and rear bumper segments Unfortunately we have no way of knowing automatically what bumpers your robot may have if any so we are forced to assume you DON T have bumpers or that you have the old style non inverting bumpers Use AROScf to indicate the type and number of bumper segments Set the new InvertBump FLASH parameters value to 1 if you have new bumpers in front which signals need to be inverted 2 if in the rear or 3 if both front and rear bumper signals need inverting Set to the default 0 if your robot has no bumpers or has the original style non inverting bumpers 39 Updating and Reconfiguring AROS Set the FrontBump and RearBump parameters to the number of bumper segments for the front and rear bumpers repectively or to O if you don t have a particular bumper For pre AROS 1 6 robots you don t need to set these values to have them work with AROS 1 6 The number of segments is used to isolate the bumper bits if any and to apply InvertBump as needed so that a triggered bumper is reported as digital 1 regardless of the hardware and is reported as such in the standard SIP IOpac
131. time not as a method of keeping the robot on course with respect to a global map The orientation commands HEAD and DHEAD turn the robot with respect to its internal dead reckoned angle On start up the robot is at the origin 0 0 pointing toward the positive X axis at O degrees Absolute angles vary between 0 and 359 You may reset the internal coordinates to 0 0 0 with the SETO command 7 SONAR When connected with and opened by the client AROS automatically begins firing your robot s sonar one disc each simultaneously for each array as initially sequenced and enabled in your robot s FLASH parameters The sonar servers also begin sending the sonar ranging results to the client via the standard SIP Enable Disabling Sonar Use the SONAR client command 28 to enable or disable all or individual sonar arrays Set 1 bit zero of the SONAR argument to enable or reset it 0 to disable the sonar pinging Set argument bits two through four to an individual array number one through four to enable or disable only that array Array zero the form of the P2OS command affects all the arrays at once For example an argument value of one enables all the sonar arrays whereas an argument value of six silences array number three Monitor the status of the sonar arrays in the FLAGS integer of the standard SIP Polling Sequence and Rate Each array s sonar fire at a rate and in the sequence defined in your robot s FLASH parameters
132. ty to see small objects Under some circumstances that is desirable For instance attenuate the sonar if you are operating in a noisy environment or on uneven or highly reflective floor a heavy shag carpet for example If the sonar are too sensitive they will see the carpet immediately ahead of the robot as an obstacle Increase the sensitivity of the sonar by turning the gain adjustment screw clockwise making them more likely to see small objects or objects at a greater distance For instance increase the gain if you are operating in a relatively quiet and open environment with a smooth floor surface Motors Wheels and Position Encoders Pioneer 2 s and 3 s drive systems use high speed high torque reversible DC motors each equipped with a high resolution optical quadrature shaft encoder for precise position and speed sensing and advanced dead reckoning Motor gearhead ratios and encoder ticks per revolution vary by robot model However AROS converts most client commands and server information from platform independent distance units into platform dependent encoder ticks as expressed in the Ticksmm FLASH parameter calculated as the encoder counts 4 500 typically divided by the product of wheel circumference times gear ratio All Pioneer 3 robots now come with pneumatic tires so that you may configure your robot for differing terrains In any configuration however be careful to inflate the tires evenly and adjust the re
133. ve Self test Maintenance Standalone no i Server Mode The Pioneer H8S microcontroller comes with fully programmable 128K FLASH and 32K dynamic RAM included in its Hitachi 18 MHz H8S 2357 microprocessor An additional 512K of dynamic RAM or FLASH ROM is available as optional equipment But we don t recommend that you start learning H8S programming Rather the robot comes to you installed with the latest AROS robotics server software In conjunction with client software such as ARIA or Saphira running on an onboard or other user supplied computer AROS lets you take advantage of modern client server and robot control technologies to perform advanced robot tasks Most users run their ActivMedia robot in server mode because it gives them quick easy access to its robotics functionality while working with high level software on a familiar host computer Maintenance and Standalone Modes For experiments in microcontroller level operation of your robot s functions you may reprogram the onboard FLASH for direct and standalone operation of your ActivMedia robot We supply the means to download but not the microcontrollers programming software for you to work in standalone mode The utilities we provide for you to reprogram the H8S based controllers FLASH also may be used to update and upgrade your robot s AROS In a special Maintenance Mode you also adjust your robot s operating parameters that AROS uses as default values on startup or re
134. velocity 5 JOYRVELMAX Joydrive maximum rotational velocity The Proportional PID Kp values control the responsiveness of your robot Lower values make for a slower system higher values make the robot zippier but can lead to overshoot and oscillation 3 300 Translational deceleration mm sec 3 3 3 The Derivative PID Kv dampens oscillation and overshoot Increasing values gives better control of oscillation and overshoot but they also make the robot s movements more sluggish The Integral PID Ki adjusts residual error in turning and velocity Higher values make the robot correct increasingly smaller errors between its desired and actual angular position and speed TICKSMM AND REVCOUNT AROS uses the ticksmm and revcount parameters to convert your platform independent speed and rotation commands typically expressed in millimeters or degrees respectively into platform dependent units The ticksmm value is the number of encoder pulses ticks per millimeter of wheel rotation The value is of course dependent upon the wheel encoder s resolution the motor to wheel gear ratio and the wheel s diameter These don t normally change and so are considered constants and not editable for your robot The revcount value is the number of encoder ticks for one full revolution of the robot It depends on a number of factors principally the length of the wheel base which may change due to payload tire wear oper
135. with at least two of the standard batteries An alternative charger also should be voltage and current limited so that it cannot overcharge the Figure 19 Loosen the AT drive belt retainer batteries screws first TIGHTENING THE AT DRIVE BELT Occasionally particularly after heavy use the Pioneer 3 or 2 AT drive belts that mechanically Belt Tensioning Bolts link the front and rear motors on a each side will loosen and slip resulting in a load popping noise To start use a 3mm hex o key to loosen but not remove right the three screws on the side of the robot near the front wheel One screw is partly behind the wheel so with our parts kit we included a 3mm hex key with a shortened L section to fit behind the wheel D i e Figure 20 Locations of Pioneer 2 and 3 AT s belt tensioning bolts 62 ActivMedia Robotics Remove the small plastic plug which is near the hinge on the top plate and near the edge by the wheel Under it you will see the head of a large hex bolt This bolt tightens clockwise or loosens counter clockwise the drive belt for that side of the robot Turn it using a 5mm hex key probably not more than 1 full rotation Avoid over tightening Test to make sure that it is tight enough by holding the wheel while running the self test When adjusted satisfactorily re tighten the screws on the side and replace the plug GETTING INSIDE We normally discourage you from openin
136. y we recommend you log in with full access capabilities so that you can do systems set up and maintenance such as change passwords add users and set up the network Do note that with Linux systems you cannot log in remotely over the network as root you must log in as a common user and use the su command thereafter to attain superuser root status Once logged into a Windows system it s simply a matter of clicking the mouse to select programs and applications With Linux use the startx command to enable the X Windows desktop and GUI environment You might perform some of the QuickStart activities this way although motion is impractical because of the monitor mouse and keyboard tethers You may remove these while the system is active at your own risk Rather we suggest that you run the QuickStart activities from an offboard computer first onboard PC off and then tackle the networking issues to establish a remote preferably wireless connection with your robot PC Networking The RJ 45 connector on the Computer Control Panel provides wired 10 100Base T Ethernet networking directly with the onboard PC With the purchased option we also install a PCMCIA adaptor card on the PC s accessory stack and insert a 10GHz 11Mbps 20 ActivMedia Robotics 802 11b compatible wireless Ethernet card in one of its slots The wireless Ethernet antenna sits atop the top deck To complete the wireless installation you will need to pr
137. y charged battery LED green The robot servers shut down and won t allow a connection at under 10 5 volts If you are using the onboard PC or radios the serial connection is internal and established at the factory you should not have problems with those cables Simply make sure the RADIO switch is ON for example And remove any serial cable that is plugged into the User Control Panel as it may interfere with internal serial communication With other serial connections make sure to use the proper cable a pass through one minimally connecting pins 2 3 and 5 of your PC s serial port to the HOST radio modem of the pair or to the robot s serial port on the User Control Panel If you access the wrong serial port the ARIA demonstration program will display an error message If the robot server isn t listening or if the serial link is severed somewhere between the client and server cable loose or the radio is off for instance the client will attempt Syncing 0 several times and fail In that case RESET the robot and check your serial connections For instance if you are using radio modems the DCD lamp on the HOST unit next to your PC should light up If it doesn t it means it cannot find the one in the robot If for some reason communications get severed between the ARIA client and AROS server but both the client and server remain active you may revive the connection with little effort If you are using radio modems
138. ystem your Pioneer robot has a special battery harness and latched doors for easy access to the onboard batteries Simply unlatch the rear door swing it open and locate the one to three onboard batteries inside To remove a battery simply grasp it and pull out We provide a suction cup tool to help Spring loaded contacts eliminate the need to detach any connecting wires Similarly insert batteries by simply sliding each one into a battery box compartment Load the batteries so that their weight gets distributed evenly across the platform Center a single battery and place two batteries one on each side Hot Swapping the Batteries You may change the batteries on some of your ActivMedia robots without disrupting operation of the onboard systems except the motors of course Either connect the charger which powers the robot s systems while you change the battery or batteries Or if you have two or three batteries swap each with a freshly charged one individually so that at least one battery is in place and providing the necessary power Charging the Batteries If you have the standard charger accessory insert it into a standard 110 or 220 Europe South America Asia VAC wall power receptacle Some users may require a special power adapter Locate the round plug at the end of the cable that is attached 61 Maintenance and Repair to the charger and insert it into the charge socket that is just below your robot s Main Power switch

Pioneer 2TM Robotics User Manual

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