Activ
Media Robotics
7
Figure 5. The P2ArmDemo lets you operate the
Pioneer 2 Arm quickly and easily.
And for safety, the Arm normally should ride on the moving robot in its home resting
position with servo power OFF, unless involved in manipulation activities. It only makes
good sense to protect the arm from damage and to conserve power; the servos draw
precious battery power while holding a position as well as while moving, and the Arm
can go dangerously limp if you carelessly withdraw power from it.
Software
The Pioneer 2 Arm’s controller is attached to and controlled through your Pioneer 2
robot’s onboard microcontroller AUX serial port. The Pioneer 2 microcontroller, on the
other hand, is connected with your robotics programs through its HOST serial port. This
means that your command and control software communicates with your Pioneer 2 Arm
through the Pioneer 2 microcontroller and its HOST serial port; not directly.
Generic versus P2OS Server Programming
We connect the Arm through the robot’s microcontroller for several reasons: It means
that you need only a single communication channel for all client-server communications
with your robot and its accessories, thereby obviating the need for additional wireless
modems or an expensive onboard PC with multiple serial ports. Perhaps more
importantly, we’ve included special servers in P2OS that provide control features and
watchdogs not available with the Arm’s generic control software and not easily
performed from a standard PC.
Even so, P2OS also supports “pass-through” servers that transfer serial communications to
and from the HOST and AUX ports directly, so that you may control your Pioneer 2 Arm
with its generic command set, if you prefer.
Demonstration and Development Software
A Pioneer 2 Arm control software
demonstration program, P2ArmDemo,
comes on the CD-ROM that accom-
panies the system. Use it with the
keyboard arrows or a joystick to select
and move the individual joints.
Also on the CD-ROM and available to
customers through the
http://robots.
activmedia.com
support website are
useful development libraries, demon-
stration programs, and source code for
ARIA-based Arm control software, as
well as a Saphira 6.2 plug-in that lets
develop your own Saphira C- and
Colbert-based Arm clients. See the
Programming
chapter for details.
P2ArmDemo
On startup, the P2ArmDemo program
automatically makes a client
connection with your Pioneer 2 robot
through the COM1 (/dev/ttyS0 with
