Posted with permission from Alex as it is commercial in nature.
Howdy,
I have been working on a new serial servo board project that has some cool features. It can control upto 12 servos, has 3 switchable digital I/O, and the best bit... On Board RAM for storing and playing back sequences without a host computer attached.
You can initiate playback via the on board button, or an external trigger. This can be another computer, a micro controller such as an Arduino or any thing else that can act as a switch. You could have a display that plays back a sequence of movements when the user presses a button or activates a sensor, great for education and entertainment applications.
The Board also interfaces to a computer over a serial port (USB optional or Dsub), plus you can control it from any other TTL serial device such as an Arduino. Control 12 servos and 3 outputs from one pin!
One last thing, it is easy to use - no tricky protocols to decypher. Plus there is a comprehensive software suite available if you don't fancy writing your own code.
Here are a few videos of it doing it's stuff (I will be posting full tutorials on the iPhone interface - it is easier then you think!).
iPhone / iPod controlled Dalek! using the accelerometer.
Pan & tilt Camera tracking with RoboRealm and a Serial Servo Board.
iPhone controlled labyrinth game - accelerometer controlled.
iPhone Ipod Touch control of a servo robot using the accelerometer
An easy to use protocol for talking to the board has been developed so you can easily write your own control software if needed. Here is a brief example of how to move a servo to a position:
123a This will move the servo on channel A 123 degrees.
To Program a sequence of movements to the on board RAM, you send: p123a56b34c# This initiates the programming, sends the sequence and then ends the program. The board is even polite enough to tell you the programming is finished, with "program done"
You can also move servos in uS, just append the position with a '$' eg b$1500 will move the servo on channel b 1500uS which is center.
Other features include setting the serial port speed, usefull for older hardware, fancy controlling servos with a commodore Amiga 500?
A full protocol instruction set is documented with each board. If you don't want to write your own control software and just want to control servos, then there is a software suite.
It will be available in kit form (really easy to put together), or ready built.
There are some interesting developments with the board probably being supported directly by some leading robot software :-)
The biggest plus point is that it is not expensive - pricing is yet to be decided, but I do know it will be cheaper then the popular models out there.
So as soon as I get the boards back from the factory, and write all the documentation, they will be available.
http://www.botbuilder.co.uk/ssb.html for all the info.
A few screen shots
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