I have started creating some sounds for my robot for use with a BS2. You can find a sound clip, and the code at the following link:
http://www.esnips.com/web/Robot-Stuff
Friday, February 23, 2007
ZX-24a
It has been a while since my last post so I figured I better get adding stuff to this site. I have been messing with my Parallax BS2 microcontroller for a few weeks now and have realized is has some serious limitations. For example, it is not capable of multi-tasking. As a result of this and it's archaic/clunky programming language I have decided to look elsewhere.
I came across a different, which uses a subset of Visual Basic. The stamp is a ZX-24a. It has some serious capabilities compared to the BS2 and is well worth the extra few dollars. I ordered one and it will be here next week sometime.
The website of the manufacturer is ZBasic.net. The language is very different than pbasic. It is well worth looking into and I think I will be very glad I got one for my robot.
Oh the ZX-24a is 100% compatible with the BS2, meaning it will work in a BS2 socket without any modifications.
I came across a different, which uses a subset of Visual Basic. The stamp is a ZX-24a. It has some serious capabilities compared to the BS2 and is well worth the extra few dollars. I ordered one and it will be here next week sometime.
The website of the manufacturer is ZBasic.net. The language is very different than pbasic. It is well worth looking into and I think I will be very glad I got one for my robot.
Oh the ZX-24a is 100% compatible with the BS2, meaning it will work in a BS2 socket without any modifications.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Lessons Learned
Here are a few lessons I have learned. This list will grow as I continue to build more robots.
1) If you robot starts acting strange and doesn't do what it's programmed to do, or if it keeps rebooting it's program, check the batteries. My bot was acting very odd so I decided to check the batteries and they were toast. Once I replaced them the bot was operating fine again.
2) Test each component on your bot individually before assembling it. This could save you a great deal of time and troubleshooting in the future.
3) Be extremely careful when inserting your microcontroller into it's spot on your board, the pins can bend very easily.
4) Your EEPROM has a limitation on the number of times it can be written to. This means you can where it out with excessive writing.
1) If you robot starts acting strange and doesn't do what it's programmed to do, or if it keeps rebooting it's program, check the batteries. My bot was acting very odd so I decided to check the batteries and they were toast. Once I replaced them the bot was operating fine again.
2) Test each component on your bot individually before assembling it. This could save you a great deal of time and troubleshooting in the future.
3) Be extremely careful when inserting your microcontroller into it's spot on your board, the pins can bend very easily.
4) Your EEPROM has a limitation on the number of times it can be written to. This means you can where it out with excessive writing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
