Introduction
2
the tip of its closed fingers. The Pioneer 2 Arm’s reach, therefore, lets you pick up objects
from the floor in front of your Pioneer 2 robot and place them on its back.
Control Hardware and Software
The Pioneer 2 Arm comes with its manufacturer’s PIC-based controller and servo-driver
hardware and software. These are housed inside the DX/DXE on top of the battery box
or inside a special “backpack” accessory that is mounted at the rear of the Pioneer 2-AT
robot’s top-plate. The backpack also holds two 12 volts, direct-current (VDC) batteries
for additional power to the Arm and the AT’s systems.
The Pioneer 2 Arm’s controller is attached to the Pioneer 2 microcontroller’s AUX serial
port and supported by generic (“pass-through”), as well as custom Pioneer 2 Operating
System (P2OS) servers. Your client software communicates with and controls the Arm
through these P2OS servers.
Arm Package
Your Pioneer 2 Arm is factory installed. Our experienced manufacturing staff put your
Pioneer 2 Arm and its support accessories through a “burn in” period and carefully tested
them before shipping the products to you. We detach the Arm itself from the robot and
ship them separately for safety.
Even though we’ve made every effort to make your Arm package complete, please
check the components carefully after you unpack them from the shipping crate.
Basic Components (all shipments)
!
This manual
!
One fully assembled Pioneer 2 5-DOF Arm
!
Arm control electronics, signal and power cabling installed in your robot
!
Arm power “backpack” installed on the Pioneer 2-AT
!
Mounting hardware and cabling
!
CD-ROM containing P2OS updated for Arm support, Arm demonstration and
development software, and documentation
Figure 2. The Pioneer 2 Arm’s horizontal reach
