RP6 ROBOT SYSTEM - 1. Introduction
1.4. Features and technical Data
This section provides an overview of the robot's features and an introduction of some
basic keywords, to make you familiar with the terminology used in this manual. Most
of these keywords will be explained in later chapters.
Features, components and technical data of the RP6 and RP6v2:
●
Powerful Atmel ATMEGA32 8-Bit Microcontroller
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Speed 8 MIPS (=8 Million Instructions per Second) at 8MHz clock frequency
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Memory: 32KB Flash ROM, 2KB SRAM, 1KB EEPROM
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Freely programmable in C (using WinAVR / avr-gcc)!
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... and many more features! Further details will be given in chapter 2.
●
Flexible expansion system, based on the I²C-Bus
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Only two signals required (TWI -> "Two Wire Interface")
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Transfer speed up to 400kBit/s
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Master->Slave architecture
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Up to 127 Slaves may be connected to the bus simultaneously
◊
Very popular bus system. The market provides a lot of standard ICs, sensors and
other components, which may often be connected directly.
●
Symmetrical mounting possibilities for expansion modules at front and rear
◊
Theoretically you may stack any number of expansion modules, but the supply
capability and the overall weight allows a maximum of about 6 to 8 modules (3
to 4 modules each at front and rear).
◊
The mainboard provides 22 free 3.2mm mounting holes and the chassis provides
another 16, summing up to 38 mounting holes in total – additionally the chassis
provides ample space for individual drills.
●
USB PC Interface
for program uploads from PC to microcontroller
◊
Wired connection for maximum transfer speed. Program upload will usually run at
500kBaud, filling the total free memory space (30KB, 2KB are reserved for the
Bootloader) within seconds.
◊
The interface may be used for programming all available expansion modules for
the RP6 with AVR Microcontrollers.
◊
It may be used for communication between the robot and expansion modules. For
example you can use this for debugging purposes by transferring measurement
data, text messages and other data to the PC.
◊
The interface driver provides a virtual comport (VCP) for all popular operating sys-
tems including Windows 2K/XP/Vista and Linux. The VCP can be used in standard
terminal programs and customized software.
◊
The
RobotLoader
Software (previous name was RP6Loader) for Windows and
Linux allows comfortable program uploads. It also contains a small terminal for
communicating with the robot through text messages.
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