Last modified by Eric Nantel on 2026/04/06 11:03
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Eric Nantel 5.1 1 {{html wiki="false" clean="false"}}
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20 <!-- Header -->
21 <div style="padding: 0.5rem 0 1rem 0;">
22 <h1 class="asm">Controlling an Arm with the Bot Board (Basic Atom) and the SSC-32</h1>
23 </div>
24
25 <!-- Section 1: Make the connection -->
26 <div class="asm-step">
27 <div class="asm-step-header">
28 <div class="asm-step-name">Make the Connection</div>
29 <div class="asm-step-num">&nbsp;</div>
30 </div>
31 <div class="asm-step-body">
32 <div class="asm-step-text">
33 <p>Before writing a program to control the arm, the serial data connection must be made. The SSC-32 includes a short two-conductor cable assembly. The black wire goes to ground and the yellow wire carries the signal.</p>
34 <p>The .1" spaced end connects to the SSC-32 at the pins marked RX and ground. Make sure the SSC-32 is set for <b>38.4k baud</b>. Remove the DB9 enable jumpers if present. Yellow goes to RX, black goes to ground.</p>
35 <p>The .2" spaced end connects to Bot Board I/O <b>pin 15</b>. The black wire goes closer to the outside edge of the board; the yellow wire goes closer to the IC. Note: the nylon standoff has been removed for this photo.</p>
36 </div>
37 <div class="asm-step-figure">
38 <img src="https://wiki.lynxmotion.com/info/wiki/lynxmotion/download/servo-erector-set-robots-kits/ses-v1-robots/ses-v1-arms/controlling-arm-bot-board-basic-atom-ssc-32/WebHome/bbssc32.jpg">
39 <span>Figure 1.</span>
40 </div>
41 </div>
42 </div>
43
44 <!-- Section 2: Enabling the servos -->
45 <div class="asm-step">
46 <div class="asm-step-header">
47 <div class="asm-step-name">Enabling the Servos</div>
48 <div class="asm-step-num">&nbsp;</div>
49 </div>
50 <div class="asm-step-body">
51 <div class="asm-step-text" style="flex: 1 1 100%;">
52 <p>The SSC-32 will not send servo pulses until it receives the proper command. The program below enables channels 10 through 15, moving all servos to their mid positions (1500µs). Note: all <code>serout</code> commands must be one continuous line — if you copy and paste, remove any line breaks. You can substitute the 1500 values with other starting positions to prevent the arm from jumping.</p>
53 <div class="code-block">serout p15,i38400,["#10 P1500 #11 P1500 #12 P1500 #13 P1500 #14 P1500 #15 P1500",13]
54
55 start:
56 goto start 'loop</div>
57 </div>
58 </div>
59 </div>
60
61 <!-- Section 3: Move the arm smoothly -->
62 <div class="asm-step">
63 <div class="asm-step-header">
64 <div class="asm-step-name">Move the Arm Smoothly</div>
65 <div class="asm-step-num">&nbsp;</div>
66 </div>
67 <div class="asm-step-body">
68 <div class="asm-step-text" style="flex: 1 1 100%;">
69 <p>The program below moves the arm from an initial position to a new position, then to another, then cycles back and forth. Each move takes 2 seconds to complete. These servo values are arbitrary — replace them with the actual positions you want the arm to move to.</p>
70 <div class="code-block">serout p15,i38400,["#10 P1500 #11 P1500 #12 P1500 #13 P1500 #14 P1500 #15 P1500",13]
71
72 start:
73 serout p15,i38400,["#10 P1400 #11 P1400 #12 P1400 #13 P1400 #14 P1400 #15 P1400 T2000",13]
74 pause 2000
75 serout p15,i38400,["#10 P1600 #11 P1600 #12 P1600 #13 P1600 #14 P1600 #15 P1600 T2000",13]
76 pause 2000
77 goto start 'repeat</div>
78 </div>
79 </div>
80 </div>
81
82 <!-- Section 4: Code specific to the arm -->
83 <div class="asm-step">
84 <div class="asm-step-header">
85 <div class="asm-step-name">Code Specific to the Arm</div>
86 <div class="asm-step-num">&nbsp;</div>
87 </div>
88 <div class="asm-step-body">
89 <div class="asm-step-text" style="flex: 1 1 100%;">
90 <p>Using variables and the <code>gosub</code> command makes the code easier to read. This program accomplishes the same thing as the previous one, but lets you set positions by name instead of raw numbers. The first <code>serout</code> still uses servo channel numbers directly.</p>
91 <div class="code-block">base var word 'Base rotate
92 shld var word 'Shoulder pivot
93 elbo var word 'Elbow pivot
94 wrst var word 'Wrist pivot
95 grip var word 'Gripper open/close
96 grpr var word 'Gripper rotate (L6 only)
97 ttm var word 'Amount of time to take to move
98
99 serout p15,i38400,["#10 P1500 #11 P1500 #12 P1500 #13 P1500 #14 P1500 #15 P1500",13]
100
101 start:
102 'first move...
103 base=1400: shld=1400: elbo=1400:
104 wrst=1400: grip=1400: grpr=1400:
105 ttm=2000
106 gosub send_data
107
108 'second move...
109 base=1600: shld=1600: elbo=1600:
110 wrst=1600: grip=1600: grpr=1600:
111 ttm=2000
112 gosub send_data
113
114 'add more moves here...
115 goto start
116
117 send_data:
118 serout p15,i38400,["#10P", DEC base, "#11P", DEC shld, "#12P", DEC elbo, "#13P", DEC wrst, "#14P", DEC grip, "#15P", DEC grpr, "T", DEC ttm, 13]
119 pause ttm
120 return</div>
121 </div>
122 </div>
123 </div>
124
125 <!-- Conclusion -->
126 <div class="asm-step">
127 <div class="asm-step-header">
128 <div class="asm-step-name">In Conclusion</div>
129 <div class="asm-step-num">&nbsp;</div>
130 </div>
131 <div class="asm-step-body">
132 <div class="asm-step-text">
133 <p>I hope you find this simple tutorial helpful. More content will be added in the future. You can now control the Lynx arms easily and eloquently from a BASIC Atom / SSC-32.</p>
134 <p>Happy Roboting,<br><b>Jim Frye</b></p>
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Eric Nantel 1.1 140 {{/html}}
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