Scon SB Products Description
Scon SB products are small microcontroller based PC boards specifically designed to drive RC
type servos for robotic applications. A SconScript language interpreter is built into the Scon SB’s
microcontroller. Scon SBs contain a generous flash memory space for program storage; various
inputs and additional outputs for non-servo devices. For programming, setup and download,
these products communicate with PCs or other devices using standard RS-232 serial ports. To
keep the size small, the serial connector may be a special type requiring a cable or adaptor to
connect to the PC.
Scon SB products are designed to be powered by batteries and require as little as 5.5 volts DC.
This allows the use of the same battery supply for both the servos and the controller. Scon SB
products’ separate power and servo connections may be tied together and powered from a single
source if it is of sufficient in capacity. Large high power servos and fast digital servos require
substantial short term current and in those cases, separate servo power is recommended.
The servo connectors are standard three pin with .1 inch spacing arranged with the ground
(common) on the outside of the PC board; center is the power pin; and the pulse pin on the
inside. On most Scon SBs the signal lead has a series resistor to protect the microcontroller in
case of reverse connection or short circuit. SB products generate standard RC PWM servo pulses
of 5 volts and a pulse width of between 0 and 6.5 milliseconds, specified in .1 microsecond units,
accuracy is better than 1/2 microsecond.
Non-servo inputs and outputs are addressed in the Scon language starting with input 1 and output
1. SB Devices may have none or several inputs and outputs. Inputs on a three input Scon SB
product will be inputs 1, 2 and 3. Scon language supports 254 inputs and 254 outputs. “Output 1
on” will enable output 1 and “Output 1 off”. “Output 15 on” will enable the onboard LED in
most Scon SB’s.
Scon SB setup and downloading of programs is done using PScon, a Windows XP based
program. PScon allows control of the Scon SB while it’s running, including enabling motors,
setting speed and position data.
SconScript programs are written with a text editor. PScon is then used to convert the text into the
required format, and download it to the Scon SB board. Once the program is downloaded, the SB
board can run the program without connection to the PC.
PScon also has other tools. The Position Manager allows live servo movement to facilitate
creating positions and motions. Once all servos are at the desired rotations, simply click to store
all the rotations in a Scon position memory element. After that, anytime that element is
referenced with a move, all servos will rotate to those rotations. The Position Manager also
allows stepping forward or backwards through position elements moving all or some servos to
the set rotations with just a mouse click. This makes building movements easy. The speed editor
allows viewing and changing speed elements. For the advanced user, the memory editor allows
access to the first 256 bytes of the processor ram and/or EEPROM.