Comments Off on USB adapter to 4x Serial COM(TTL), Dynamixel, JTAG, SPI, I2C

USB adapter to 4x Serial COM(TTL), Dynamixel, JTAG, SPI, I2C

Posted March 18th, 2010 in Adapters, Products by Victor D

P/N: USB-AD43

USB adapter

The universal adapter USB-AD43 allows your PC to communicate with Dynamixel / Bioloid bus devices (AX-12, AX-S1, IMU, etc), provides 4 serial(COM) ports with TTL levels(0-5V), I2C standard interface, SPI interface, JTAG interface, an Enhanced Bit-Bang Mode interface and a Pony Programmer adapter (the famous memory / microcontroler programmer), with complete driver support across Windows, Mac OS X (including both Intel and PPC), Linux and many other operating systems.


$39.95





or buy from DISTRIBUTORS



 

Description

The USB to 4 serial ports adapter is great for connecting micro controller projects to a personal computer. It can be used also as a Dynamixel controller in projects that involve driving a servo and/or collecting signals from different modules such as a Sonar Range Finder, Compass, GPS modules, Barcode scanners, RFID readers, etc. used in a large variety of applications from robotics to industrial and medical.

The USB adapter’s drivers make it seem like a standard serial port to the operating system, allowing you to connect to all of your existing software, such as servo controller interface programs via USB port. Drivers are available for Windows 98 through Windows 7, Linux, and Mac OSX.

 

The USB-AD43 adapter is based on the FT4232H USB Hi-Speed(480Mb/s) Four Channel USB-UART IC (can be configured in several different modes depending on the application):

  • USB to 4 channels UART(RS232/COM serial ports with TTL levels) or Bit-Bang interfaces.
  • USB to Dynamixel adapter – in this mode the COM4/forth channel is configured as a Dynamixel interface(3 pins).
  • USB to SPI interface – in this mode the COM2/second channel is configured as a SPI interface(5V levels).
  • USB to JTAG interface – in this mode the COM2/second channel is configured as a JTAG interface(5V levels).
  • USB to I2C interface – in this mode the COM1(3.3V levels) or/and COM2(5V levels) are configured as an I2C standard interface.
  • USB to PonyProg adapter – in this mode the COM2/second channel is configured as a Pony Programmer interface.

(the other remaining channels can be used independently in various modes, and the same port can only be used for one interface at the time)

USB-AD43 adapter – Connections

The Dynamix. Power will be connected to the external power supply (see servo manufacturer recommendations).



The Dynamix. Servos will be connected to the 3 pin (white) connector. NOTE: in this case COM 4 (Serial TTL port) will be occupied by the Dynamix. interface.




COM ports 1-4 (Serial TTL ports) are available for use, except when the port is used by other interfaces.




The I2C(TWI) interface (corresponding to COM 1) and the JTAG, SPI, Pony Programmer interface (corresponding to COM 2) are available for use, only if not simultaneously used by the corresponding Serial TTL port(COM1 or COM 2).

 

Specifications

  • PCB size: 2″ x 2″ (50mm x 50mm)
  • USB standard: USB 2.0 (full speed)
  • Connector: USB mini-B
  • Serial ports (COM): 4 (TTL levels)
  • Data In voltage levels: 3.3 V (5 V tolerant)
  • Maximum data rate: 12 Mbaud
  • Power supply: USB powered(No external power required)
  • Supply current(from USB port): 500 mA / 3.3V or 5V (see USB port limitations)
  • Buffered outputs(TTL) current: 25 mA / each port (50 mA/total)

 

Pictures

USB-AD43-SYSCONE-Serial-COM-TTL-JTAG-I2C-SPI-Pony-Programmer-Dynamixel-adapter

USB-AD43 Connections

USB-AD43 Serial COM adapter

Dynamixel adapter

USB-AD43 Dynamixel adapter

I2C adapter

USB-AD43 I2C interface

USB-AD43-SPI-adapter

USB-AD43 SPI adapter

JTAG adapter

USB-AD43 JTAG interface

PonyProg adapter

USB-AD43 PonyProg adapter

USB-AD43-dimensions

USB AD43 Dimensions

 

Downloads

User Manual: USB-AD43.pdf
Drivers can be found at FTDI’s virtual COM port driver page: www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm
For JTAG .dll example/Source code: www.ftdichip.com/Projects/MPSSE/FTCJTAG.htm
For I2C .dll example/Source code click here: www.ftdichip.com/Projects/MPSSE/FTCI2C.htm
For SPI .dll example/Source code: www.ftdichip.com/Projects/MPSSE/FTCSPI.htm

This product or any variant of it is not intended for use in devices in which the failure of the product might reasonably be expected to result in personal injury.

Comments Off on 20-Channel Serial Servo Controller

20-Channel Serial Servo Controller

Posted March 15th, 2010 in Controlers, Products by Victor D

P/N: COM-SRV20

USB adapter

The COM-SRV20 servo controller is a very compact solution for controlling up to 20 radio control (RC) servos from a computer or microcontroller. The controller measures just 2.1in x 1.3in, it incorporates a 5V servo powered voltage regulator (no need for external power supply, it can provide up to 150mA power for an external microprocessor), and yet it is one of the most robust servo controllers available. Each servo range can be controlled independently, including any standard RC servos or the giant 1/4-scale servos.


$17.95





or buy from DISTRIBUTORS



 

Description

The communication protocol used is similar (compatible) with the MiniSSC II servo controller and any software written for it. The COM-SRV20 servo controller is less than half the size and price of similar servo controllers. This means that the servo controller is an ideal solution even if you need to control few or more servos. The interface to the servo controller is a standard RS-232 serial port with +/-15V levels or TTL-levels (5V or 3.3V Logic Levels), using 9600b/s baud rate.

The COM-SRV20 uses a very simple protocol(like the Mini SSC II)

    Byte 1                                       Byte 2                               Byte 3

[ sync marker “FF” (255) ]               [ servo # (0-19) ]               [ position (0-200) ]

To command a servo to a new position requires sending three bytes at the serial rate of 9600b/s baud, no parity check, and 1 stop bit (known as 9600N1).

These must be sent as individual byte values, not as text representations of numbers as you might type at a keyboard.

The Power/Activity LED on the COM-SRV20 board it lights steadily when power is applied to the board and stays on until data is received, when the data is received the LED will start blinking.

 

Specifications

  • PCB size: 2.1″ x 1.3″ (55mm x 33mm)
  • Controls up to 20 servos
  • Serial interface (RS-232 and TTL @ 9600)
  • Data In voltage levels: 5V (TTL) or +/-15V (from RS-232 connector)
  • Accepts 3.3V Data In from 0-3.3V (Logic) Interfaces (no 3.3V to 5V conversion needed)
  • Servo type supported: Futaba, Hitec, T-pro, EXI, etc.
  • Power supply: Servo powered(min. 5V) or external power(min. 5V to 12V)
  • Servo travel range: 0 – 180°
  • Servo resolution:1uS, .09° (200 steps / 180°)
  • Low power consumption: 15mA

 

Pictures

20 Ch Serial
Servo Controller

4 Servo Controller – Example

20 Ch Serial Servo Controller – Connections

20 Ch Serial Servo Controller – Utility

 

Downloads

User Manual: COM-SRV20 Serial servo controller.pdf
Servo Controller Utility: SYSCONE 20-Channel Serial Servo Controller-Utility.exe

Comments Off on USB-HDCAM camera, Low noise, Low light conditions

USB-HDCAM camera, Low noise, Low light conditions

Posted March 10th, 2010 in Cameras, Products by Victor D

P/N: USB-HDCAM

USB camera

The high sensitivity “USB-CAM480” camera is dedicated for the Robotic Vision application such as “Open CV”, using a high performance CMOS Sensor(low noise in normal and low light conditions), 640 x 480 pixels resolution, automatic white balance and gain control. The low noise feature is specially required for Objects/Face recognition, in low light the noise(grain) will strongly interfere with the actual image causing errors or misinterpretations.





Not in production yet! Coming soon…


 

Description

The USB Camera is great for Robotic Vision applications/projects where it require a High Quality image, Automatic control and a Higher integration/compatibility with the current Operating Systems(no need to install drivers – UVC standard). The USB-CAM480 measures just 1.1? x 1?, it incorporates a Color CMOS sensor 1/4″ diagonal(most of the cameras/webcams have a much smaller sensor, resulting in a noisy/grainy picture), Full automatic control, and it can be used also as a Webcam, Camera(pictures) or Video capture.

 

Specifications

  • Standard resolution: 640×480 pixels
  • Sensor type: Color CMOS 1/4″
  • Low-light gain technique, strong low-light compensation
  • High sensitivity for low-light operation
  • Flicker (50/60 Hz) auto detection
  • automatic exposure control (AEC)
  • automatic gain control (AGC)
  • automatic white balance (AWB)
  • PCB size: 1.1″ x 1″ (28mm x 25mm)
  • USB standard: USB 2.0 (full speed)
  • Power supply: USB powerd(No external power required)

The USB cameras’s drivers make it look like a standard UVC(USB video class) to the operating system, allowing you to connect to all of your existing software, such as video interface programs(Open CV), through a USB port.

 

Supported Operating Systems

Linux
USB video class support for Linux is provided by the Linux UVC driver.
Since Linux 2.6.26 the driver is included in kernel source distribution.

Apple Mac OS X
Mac OS X ships with a UVC driver included since version 10.4.3, updated in
10.4.9 to work with iChat.

FreeBSD
Not implemented yet, there are patches available which make Linux kernel USB
mediadrivers work in userspace by using an asynchronous USB interface. It's the
first OS allowing to have an entire highspeed USB driver in userland.

NetBSD
NetBSD added the uvideo driver for UVC devices in September, 2008; added in the
5.0 release.

OpenBSD
OpenBSD added the uvideo driver for UVC devices in April, 2008; it appears in
the 4.4 release.

Sony PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 added support for UVC compatible webcams in firmware version
1.54 (only works for video chat, not games.)

Sun Solaris
Solaris includes support for UVC webcams in the form of the usbvc driver for
OpenSolaris. The driver ships with Solaris Express build 56 and later.

Microsoft Windows
Windows XP has a class driver for USB video class devices since Service Pack 2,
as does Windows Vista and Windows 7. A post-service pack 2 update that adds more
capabilities is also available.

 

Pictures

USB-CAM480 Camera

USB Camera Board

Regular USB Camera in low-light

 

Downloads

No downloads/drivers need it.
(standard UVC drivers will be used)

USB-CAM480 Camera, Low noise, High sensitivity

Posted February 1st, 2010 in Cameras, Products by Victor D

P/N: USB-CAM480

USB camera

The high sensitivity “USB-CAM480” camera is dedicated for the Robotic Vision application such as “Open CV”, using a high performance CMOS Sensor(low noise in normal and low light conditions), 640 x 480 pixels resolution, automatic white balance and gain control. The low noise feature is specially required for Objects/Face recognition, in low light the noise(grain) will strongly interfere with the actual image causing errors or misinterpretations.





Not in production yet! Coming soon…

 

Description

The USB Camera is great for Robotic Vision applications/projects where it require a High Quality image, Automatic control and a Higher integration/compatibility with the current Operating Systems(no need to install drivers – UVC standard). The USB-CAM480 measures just 1.1? x 1?, it incorporates a Color CMOS sensor 1/4″ diagonal(most of the cameras/webcams have a much smaller sensor, resulting in a noisy/grainy picture), Full automatic control, and it can be used also as a Webcam, Camera(pictures) or Video capture.

 

Specifications

  • Standard resolution: 640×480 pixels
  • Sensor type: Color CMOS 1/4″
  • Low-light gain technique, strong low-light compensation
  • High sensitivity for low-light operation
  • Flicker (50/60 Hz) auto detection
  • automatic exposure control (AEC)
  • automatic gain control (AGC)
  • automatic white balance (AWB)
  • PCB size: 1.1″ x 1″ (28mm x 25mm)
  • USB standard: USB 2.0 (full speed)
  • Power supply: USB powerd(No external power required)

The USB cameras’s drivers make it look like a standard UVC(USB video class) to the operating system, allowing you to connect to all of your existing software, such as video interface programs(Open CV), through a USB port.

 

Supported Operating Systems

Linux
USB video class support for Linux is provided by the Linux UVC driver.
Since Linux 2.6.26 the driver is included in kernel source distribution.

Apple Mac OS X
Mac OS X ships with a UVC driver included since version 10.4.3, updated in
10.4.9 to work with iChat.

FreeBSD
Not implemented yet, there are patches available which make Linux kernel USB
mediadrivers work in userspace by using an asynchronous USB interface. It's the
first OS allowing to have an entire highspeed USB driver in userland.

NetBSD
NetBSD added the uvideo driver for UVC devices in September, 2008; added in the
5.0 release.

OpenBSD
OpenBSD added the uvideo driver for UVC devices in April, 2008; it appears in
the 4.4 release.

Sony PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 added support for UVC compatible webcams in firmware version
1.54 (only works for video chat, not games.)

Sun Solaris
Solaris includes support for UVC webcams in the form of the usbvc driver for
OpenSolaris. The driver ships with Solaris Express build 56 and later.

Microsoft Windows
Windows XP has a class driver for USB video class devices since Service Pack 2,
as does Windows Vista and Windows 7. A post-service pack 2 update that adds more
capabilities is also available.

 

Pictures

USB-CAM480 Camera

USB Camera Board

Regular USB Camera in low-light

 

Downloads

No downloads/drivers need it.
(standard UVC drivers will be used)