R2 Electronics Build Part 3: Shadow+MD is Alive!
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- čas přidán 26. 02. 2022
- My R2 control system finally comes alive! I finish setting up the 24V/5V dual bus system to provide power to all the components. I then connect the signal wires between the micro controllers and motor controllers and configure the motor controllers to properly relay signals to the motors.
After settling on a hybrid 24V and 5V power system, the next step was to mount the components to my temporary board and route power and ground wires as needed. I placed 3 different ground bus bars around the board, knowing that it's OK to mix voltages on the same bar. Placement is more a matter of convenience than anything.
I picked up some inexpensive voltage displays that I connected to both the unregulated 24V and regulated 5V buses. Both the Sabertooth and Syren motor controllers are recommended to run from the raw, unregulated power, while my amplifier is the only 24V component that is fused.
On the 5V side, I placed the Arduino, Marcduino, and MP3 Trigger behind 5A fuses. That should be plenty. I will need to add another fuse for the CBI/DPL logic lights.
Once I verified that all items were getting the proper power, I could connect the signal wires. Pin 16 from the Arduino runs to S1 on the Sabertooth, which then piggybacks to S1 on the Syren (I also ran a corresponding signal ground). Pin 18 on the Arduino runs to the RX on the Dome Master Marcduino, then the MP3 signal from the Dome Master is run to the RX on the MP3 trigger.
The final step was to configure the dip switches on the motor controllers so they would properly relay signals to the drive and dome motors. The dip swich configuration is completely dependent on the control system used. If the dip switches are not set correctly, your motors will probably start running full speed as soon as everything is powered on. Ask me how I know this!
Finally, the moment of truth - everything was powered on, my controllers were paired and amazingly, the dome motor and drive motors worked perfectly! I did have to reverse the wires to the drive motors, as they were going the opposite direction to what I needed, but that is not uncommon.
Next steps:
- Wire slip ring and mag tag for dome connectivity.
- Add 24V to 5V converter in the dome
- Begin to plan the final board layout for inside the droid.
Some things that might be useful:
24V to 5V Converter: www.amazon.com/dp/B08CHMJM9J
Voltage Displays: www.amazon.com/dp/B0761MG9NS
3D print files available from Mr. Baddeley: / mrbaddeley
(R2 files are available for free, but become a Patron to access dozens of other fun, Star-Wars-inspired 3D-printable droids).
Best resource for droid building: astromech.net/forums/index.php
If you are considering undertaking your own droid electronics build, please watch this entire playlist before you start. Some of the components I use change as my system evolves. The videos explain the reasoning behind the changes. This is how I intended this video series to be - it’s a document of the process I undertook to learn and understand the WHY, rather than just focus on the HOW.
As always, product links that are provided may change over time. I will try to maintain them, but please feel free to leave a comment if you find something that is no longer available or that needs to be updated.
Thanks for watching and happy building!
Thank you for taking time to go through this build in depth. I plan on starting my electrical build soon and this takes away all the frustration!
You have a lot less smoke and cursing than I do when I'm working on electronics. Great job!
I’ve been fortunate not to fry anything so far. As for the cursing… that’s the magic of editing! 😁
Amazing and so neat
Thanks for taking the time to share your progress.
I'm super close behind you're uploads and the 24V to 5V converter tip came in handy. I've now changed my original plan of 24v to 12v to 5v 👍
I've already programmed my Arduino MDK and just waiting on Mowee when he can ship me two masters and slave Marcduino boards.
Programming the body master Marcduino looks like it could be a challenge, so will look forward to that video one day 😉
Awesome, and thanks for watching! I have a feeling I'll be replacing my Marcduino 1.5s with the newer v3 by the time I get around to adding the body master. That's definitely going to be a learning process.
I'm starting to work on my own shadow system and this is immensely helpful. I'm definitely not electronics savvy.
Glad to hear it's helping out. I kept finding excuses to put of starting the electronics because I was so intimidated. Taking it one step at a time really helped, though. Good luck with yours!
@@jasonsR2D2 I'm getting to the point I've just about got all my parts and I'm wondering about the code for the shadow system. How much altering did you have to do to it to make it work or is it pretty much plug and play? This video has been so incredibly helpful I can't thank you enough, I'm even giving you shout outs on my stupid tiktok account to let others know about how insanely useful this has all been.
Everything that you've seen so far has been "stock" code straight out of the box. All of the dome panel animations are preset and the interaction between the panel animations, lighting, and sounds is also pre-programmed - basically, I haven't done any custom programming yet. However, there is nothing in the stock code to handle ANY body servos (doors, utility arms, gripper/interface arm, etc.) - all of that will need to be custom-programmed. Additionally, there are things I would like to change in the dome code that I haven't gotten around to (I'd like to change the panel close speed so they don't "flap" shut, stuff like that). It's also worth noting that there is a newer version (3.0) of the Marcduino boards/code that has been released since I got mine - it has some nice enhancements like the ability to change servo directions (for each servo individually) and also to power servos from a separate power connection (so you can go up to 6V if you need to). I'm on the fence when it comes to replacing/upgrading mine. I might just keep what I have for now (no droid is ever "finished" anyway...) and upgrade later.
Also, thanks so much for your kind words. This is what I really love about the droid building community - no one gets to the finish line alone. We're all on this journey together and it's a constant learning process. Happy droid building!
@@jasonsR2D2 Beautiful, I was getting some compiling errors but didn't have all the libraries included. I'll shoot you a message on the boards since you're my sage guide and I can ask my dumb questions. I'm also gonna give your channel a shout on my TikTok account if that's ok with you. Apparently there's not a lot of us on there so I'm building quite a following, people are really interested in all this and I'm happy to share the resources I find with everyone.
Great Video any chance you have a link to the schematic or wiring diagram for the Shadow+MD system. Really like you wiring thanks so much for sharing. For the base board what did you use for mounting you components?
For detailed information related to Shadow+MD, start at the Astromech WIKI page: astromech.net/droidwiki/SHADOW_MD There you will find some high-level notes related to wiring as well as links to the various support/discussion threads. Since this control system has been around for a while, the threads are very lengthy, and will take some time to digest, but there's a ton of great info in them.
As for the electronics board, I'm simply using a cheap nylon cutting board that I think I picked up at Wal-Mart. In fact, I think there were two in the package. They are about a quarter inch thick and easy to cut down to size if needed. I also picked up some brass standoffs from Amazon for the various boards.
Thank you I read through you whole build log. Great Job! learn a lot there. Thanks for the link also I will read it.
Would you happen to have a detailed list of the components you used that you’d be willing to share? Your system is just what I’m looking to build..
The core components of the base SHADOW system are:
- Pair of PS3 Move controllers
- Arduino Mega SDK (or an Arduino Mega 2560 and separate USB shield)
- A Bluetooth 4.0 class 1 USB dongle
- Syren 10 dome motor controller
- Sabertooth 2x32 (or 2x25) drive motor controller
- Sparkfun MP3 trigger (with 32GB microSD card)
Then, to make it "SHADOW+MD", you add the CuriousMarc Marcduino boards - a master + slave for the dome and (optional) a second master for the body.
Finally, the rest of the components (fuse blocks, bus bars, voltage regulators, amplifier, speakers, ground loop isolator) can be whatever you want them to be - lots of options there.
Detailed threads for all of these can be found here:
SHADOW: astromech.net/forums/showthread.php?19298-S-H-A-D-O-W-Padawan-based-mini-PS3-Controller
SHADOW+MD: astromech.net/forums/showthread.php?21984-SHADOW-Marcduino-Update-Thread
Marcduino: astromech.net/forums/showthread.php?30724-Compact-Marcduino-v1-5-BC-Approved-Continuous-Various-(Jan-2017)-Open
Note: The Marcduinos shipping now are a generation newer than what I have.
Hi Jason is there a write up on what gage wires you used for each e.g battery to bus, bud to other items.
I don't have a full breakdown handy, but I will make a point to include details when the final board and all my wiring connections are done (and I hope that will be soon). I can say that I am running 12 gauge wire from the batteries to the bus bars and 24V fuse block. My rule of thumb has been to run the largest gauge wire that I can connect to the various components - in most cases that works out to 16 gauge. I have "test" ferrule and spade connectors of 14, 16, and 18 gauge and I see what will fit and go with that. The Dupont connectors are almost all 22 gauge - can't go much thicker than that.
Jason is your 24v to 5 v regulator the 20A version or the 30A version?
Mine is the 20A version. The 5v components like the Arduino and MP3 trigger don’t pull much current at all. Even after I add body servos and lights, the 20A will still provide plenty of headroom for future enhancements.
Hi
Just starting my R2D2 and was wondering where do I buy all the main boards from eg sabertooth, I’m from the uk so any help would be great.
Both the Syren and the Sabertooth motor controllers are manufactured by Dimension Engineering (www.dimensionengineering.com/) and they do ship internationally. Unfortunately, both products have been hard to come by recently - currently showing lead times of 3-4 months. As for the rest of the electronics components, they will usually be determined by the control system that you choose. I am running Shadow+MD (the MD meaning Marcduino) - the Shadow system requires an Arduino Mega, combined with the two motor controllers listed above, and the Marcduino boards. An overview can be found here: astromech.net/droidwiki/SHADOW_MD
There are many other control systems, a good summary of them, plus overviews can be found here: www.printed-droid.com/kbtopic/control-systems/
If you're early in your build, you probably don't have to make all of these decisions right away, but you should try to have a good idea of what you want your droid to do. Often times that will steer your control system decision.
@@jasonsR2D2 thanks for the link, I’ll check it out
Where did you download the sounds for R2-D2? Do you have any kind of think?
CuriousMarc (creator of the MarcDuino system) has a support page for the MP3 Trigger Sound System that includes some sound files. www.curiousmarc.com/r2-d2/mp3-trigger-sound-system. There are more to be found, but your best bet would be to search the electronics and software subforum over at astromech.net.
On the mp3 trigger the EXT/USB button,what settings you have it on?…
It's set to "USB" because I'm providing power via the VCC and GND pins of the FTDI header on the right side of the board. If you are powering via the barrel plug, the switch should be set to "EXT".
Ok thanks
Do you have to include any libraries before upload firmware to the board?
It's been a long time since I last had to deal with the Shadow sketch. There's a great wiki for the control system here: astromech.net/droidwiki/SHADOW_MD. According to that post, there are some libraries for PS3 Bluetooth, USBHub, and Sabertooth that are required. The second post in this thread: astromech.net/forums/showthread.php?19298-S-H-A-D-O-W-Padawan-based-mini-PS3-Controller&highlight=SHADOW includes links to the libraries used (Note that the PS3BT.h file is included in the USBHub library).
Lots of this is pretty old, and when I eventually get to the point where I need to customize things for the body animations, you can bet I'll do what I can to document the process.
Ok thanks.
Ok so if you would why exactly does the sabertooth and syren have their main ground then the daisy chained ground to the arduino then the arduino have the 2 grounds as well just curious if I need to have this on mine.
Well, the main reason is because Dimension Engineering says you should! Keep in mind, there is a difference between a signal ground and a power ground. Signal wires carry very small voltages (especially when compared with power) and the signal is measured by comparing the voltage in the signal wire to the reference "zero" in the signal ground. In theory, the signal chain should be isolated from the power chain to avoid ground loops. I am certain that Dimension Engineering would not suggest a signal ground unless everything was properly isolated.
Will do... redoing Mt electronics as we speak.
What is the black cylinder in the middle of the board and what is it for
That's a ground loop isolator that is placed between the MP3 trigger output and the amplifier input. Without one, you'll probably hear a lot of static and hiss in the audio. This will dramatically reduce the noise and in most cases eliminate it. The specific one I got appears to no longer be available, but there are tons available online for $10 or less. They typically use 3.5mm headphone-style jacks and if your amp has a similar input, you'll only need a short male/male patch cable to complete the connection.
Did you power the board when you upload the code??
Because the computer -> Arduino USB connection provides power, I've always done my code updates with R2 powered off. Once the code update is done, I disconnect the USB connection and power on R2 to test. I never really thought about updating the code while R2 is on - it just never occurred to me.
A search online suggests that the Arduino is smart enough to automatically select one power source over another, so if that's the case you ought to be able to connect USB to your computer, and power the Arduino via an external power supply at the same time. In my droid, I power my Arduino via the 5v in just downstream of the internal voltage regulator - I'm not 100% sure if that changes the calculus here or not, but I'd be curious to find out (but at the same time, not so curious that I want to try it on my only working ADK).
Do have a link for the amplifier also what is the correct name for the controller stick.
The amplifier I am currently using is a very inexpensive one from DROK (www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077M526SB). I might eventually replace/upgrade it, but it works for now. The controllers used by the Shadow system are two of the PS3 Move Navigation controllers. The Move "system" included two different controllers - the nav controller and the motion controller - which has a ping-pong ball looking thing on the top. They can be found at used video game places like GameStop, or on eBay, which I think is where I got mine.
Thanks for responding
Does the marcduino board come with the firmware code .
Yes the MDs are sold fully assembled and with the latest firmware installed (currently, they are up to Version 3 on the firmware). Mine are a couple of years old and have the Version 2 firmware. The best place for information would be the threads on astromech: astromech.net/forums/showthread.php?30724-Compact-Marcduino-v1-5-BC-Approved-Continuous-Various-(Jan-2017)-Open and astromech.net/forums/showthread.php?28414-Support-Thread-for-MarcDuino-v1-5-s
Why there is a ground from the arduino to the saber tooth?..?
It's recommended per the Shadow+MD wiki: astromech.net/droidwiki/SHADOW_MD
"NOTE: Pin 16 Serial 2 (TX) "daisy chains" from the Mega, to the Sabertooth S1, then to Syren S1. Both motor controllers share that serial port and are configured to do so. However, you should run a ground wire from V0 on both boards to a GND location on the Mega board."
I think this falls into the realm of "power ground" vs. "signal ground" or "reference ground". That gets a little beyond my level of expertise, but I haven't had any issues running R2 this way.
Ok thank you.
Could you use a master for the body and slave for the dome.
Not really. The dome master connects to the MP3 trigger and all of the panel servos (as well as the slave). The dome slave connects to the Teeces lights and the holoprojectors. I suppose if you aren't animating any panels, you could put the dome master in the body, but then you would still need to run the signal connection from the master up from the body, through the slip ring and to the slave. It might save you one slip ring connection. In this scenario, though, the Marcduino board is still a DOME master - not a body master. The body master is connected to the Arduino through a different serial connection, and will require custom programming to relay any commands it receives to the correct servos, etc. If you don't explicitly have a board desginated as the dome master, your dome slave won't get any commands, since they are all routed through the dome master.
Ok,because I bought a master & slave a wild back never use it.