Updated 03/27/2008.

Safety first! Wear eye protection and never touch a powered robot!

Note: This tutorial applies to the SSC-32 v2 with Register Support.

Software:
  - BRAT Projects
   > minibipd.zip

I. BRAT Configuration: SSC-32 Registers

Step 2.
Type "ver" and press "enter". You should see "SSC32-V2.01XE" or higher returned. However, if you have the firmware v2.01XE, there is still one more test you have to do. Due to an error on our part, the early v2.01XE firmware did not include register support, and will need to be updated.

To test for register support on your 2.01XE firmware, click on "Reg.", then "Read", and enable "Initial Pulse Offset". Click on "Write", then click "Read".
 - If the option is still enabled, you have the proper version and can move on to Step 4.
 - If the option is now disabled, you need to update your firmware.

Figure 2.

Apply power to the SSC-32 again, make sure it's connected to the PC, and click on "Firmware" along the bottom of the LynxTerm screen.

Click on "Open" and browse to the firmware file you just downloaded.

Click on "Begin Update".

Figure 3.

Now repeat the ver test: type "ver" then press "Enter". You should see the proper firmware version returned.

Figure 4.

Figure 5.

Figure 5-2.

Figure 5-3.

Click on "Default" to initialize default values.

Figure 6.

Note, the mouse's scrollwheel or keyboard's arrow keys can be used to make fine adjustments.

Figure 7.

Figure 8.

Do the same for the robot's left side (servos 16, 17, and 18).

Figure 9.

Note, you can also check "Initial Pulse Width" to automatically enable the servos on power-up as an option. If you do, make sure you "Write" to save the changes. The next section of this tutorial allows Sequencer to enable the servos instead.

This completes the BRAT configuration process for the SSC-32 registers. Now, whenever the robot is turned on, the servos will automatically be aligned and/or enabled.

Figure 10.

II. BRAT Configuration: Sequencer

Click on "SSC-32" in the upper left corner. This process configures the software to the servos in your robotic assembly. To do this, the servos' min and max positions are defined and the actual angles each joint can achieve are entered.

Take time to do an accurate configuration! Your robot will only perform as well as the accuracy of the configuration file it's using. In other words, sloppy configuration will make a sloppy robot when sharing projects.

Figure 1.

You will enable the servos one at a time as you configure them.

Figure 2.

Right click on the slider and select "Set position as min" from the menu as shown in Figure 3-2.

Adjust the "Min Deg" box to say "-45°" as shown in Figure 3-3.

Figure 3-1.

Figure 3-2.

Figure 3-3.

Right click on the slider and select "Set position as max" from the menu as shown in Figure 4-2.

Adjust the "Max Deg" box to say "84°" as shown in Figure 4-3.

Move the slider back to 0° before going on to the next servo.

Figure 4-1.

Figure 4-2.

Figure 4-3.

Move the slider back to 0° before going on to the next servo.

Figure 5-1.

Figure 5-2.

Move the slider back to 0° before going on to the next servo.

Figure 6-1.

Figure 6-2.

Figure 7.

Download this zip file. It contains several projects. Unzip it into the SEQ install directory. By default, it is C:\Program Files\Sequencer_SSC-32\

Click on "Project" in the upper left corner.

Figure 8.

Enter a project name or leave the default, then click "OK." You should see an "Import success" message.

Click "Exit."

Figure 9.

Click on "Sequencer" as shown in Figure 10-1.

From the drop down menu in the project section, select "biped6-long stride."

In the Play menu, click on "Project Loop" as shown in Figure 10-3. Caution, the robot will start moving immediately. To stop the robot, click on the black "stop" or "pause" buttons.

If everything went well, your robot should have walked across the table. If it appears that the legs are moving in the same positions, you may have forgotten to reverse the servos on the robot's left side.

Figure 10-1.

Figure 10-2.

Figure 10-3.

After you're comfortable with playing projects, you can consult the Sequencer manual for more information on how to create your own. Remember to send us images and videos of your cool projects so we can publish them online!

III. Creating a Walking Sequence

Select the "empty" project from the Project drop down menu, and click on the black "+" to make a new project. Enter a name for your project. As we are making the robot walk, a name such as "BRAT-Walk" might be applicable.

Now just click on the servos that you need, which should be servos 0, 1, 2, 16, 17, and 18.

Figure 6.

Figure 7.

If you were successful, the robot should be walking now. If the robot doesn't walk in a straight line, try increasing the ankle degrees so that more weight is shifted.

Figure 11.

Figure 12.

Click on the Loop button to test your new speed. You can tweak the speed while the robot is moving to get it perfect.

If you click on the Apply button, the new speed will be applied to the project. 

Figure 13.