Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #00814
To: beam beam@corp.sgi.com
From: Richard Piotter richfile@rconnect.com
Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 20:13:17 -0600
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: RoboArm
Hmm... $300 is alot! It's annoying isn't it! My recomendation is a BACIC Stamp
or BS II. They are what, $50? BASIC isn't to hard to learn. Far Easier than ASM!
If you must use a microcontroller, it's probably a good start. As for Mac
suport, too many things get made for one platform or the other, but often,
companies simply won't or on't want to put resources into two diferent software
products. It's real annoying. I still need to find out if my TI-Graph link cable
will be compatible witht he new iMacs and G3s. They have no serial ports, and
you need an adaptor that adds it through USB or PCI. I don't know if the
Graphlink will support it without a software update. At least TI is somewhat
decent when it comes to updates.
Also, doesn anyone know if neurons can be programed _easily_ into a BASIC Stamp?
And if so, how many? The body of that 78 neuron robot I'm working on won't be
too dificult, since the 36 neurons are each in seprate groups of 6.
Unfortunately, the head, 42 neurons, is a wiring jungle! There are a LOT of
connections, some neurons with over 8 connections! Any advice? I'm doing the
body in hardware, and will try the head, but it's quite complex, and doing it in
software might be the fastest and simplest route.
George Rix wrote:
>
> Yeah, I just gotta match the 300.00 price tag. I NEED A JOB!!!
> LEGO needs to get more Mac support, and they've been taking heat about that
> for a while, so maybe they'll wisen up a bit.
> I know a fair bit about the RCX and all that, and I'm telling you, I'd LOVE
> it! And I think I figured out how to connect the sensors like you say, but
> it is fairly complicated.
> Signing off,
> Rob Rix
> 'If anything can possibly go wrong, it probably already has'-Murphy's law
>
> ----------
> >From: Justin
> >To: beam@corp.sgi.com
> >Subject: Re: RoboArm
> >Date: Mon, Feb 22, 1999, 12:22 PM
> >
>
> > Perhaps the best option would be to buy the new lego mindstorms set. It
> > comes with two motors (among other things), and a (large) programmable
> > brick to control them. You write the program on your PC and send it to
> > the brick via IR. Unfortunately, it only has three sensor inputs, but if
> > you're clever, you can put a lot more than three sensors on them and
> > program it to work out what's doing what.
--
Richard Piotter
richfile@rconnect.com
The Richfiles Robotics & TI web page:
http://members.xoom.com/richfiles
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