replying to RogerN , passerby wrote:
regor wrote:
A Scorbot III with controller came up on eBay with a reasonable "Buy it
now"
so I bought it.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Scorbotics!
Be sure to sign up for
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ScorbotUserGroup/ if you haven't
already. Some manuals and old DOS software are here
http://elabz.com/resources/robotics-resources/ I also tried using FreeDOS
instead of XP - works like a champ on FreeDOS so no need to use MS,
especially if you have LinuxCNC in sights.
http://www.freedos.org/
The robot should be on the way soon, I have a tracking
number but no tracking information yet. I tried out the software in a
laptop with Windows XP, it seems to run fine.
When it comes, calibrate it first. ERIII are the oldest (late 80s - early
90s) and most of the time come with cams out of whack. Petals of the
optical encoders are often broken, too. I have a few spares in case you
need it.
I found a serial port monitor
program that lets me know the communications on the serial port so I hope
to
reverse engineer the PC commands to the controller.
There is really no need to reverse engineer anything with an ERIII. The
box received commands in text mode right through that serial. All the
commands are described in the manual, at least in the 6th edition I've got
from elabz.com, it's all there. If you really wanted to ditch Scorbase
software, you'll just have to make sure that yours produces the same
commands and sends over serial.
My idea is to be able
to write programs and run them on the PC, the PC would then send move
commands to the Scorbot, read I/O, etc. So the program would actually be
running in the PC, allowing for very large programs, image processing, and
so forth. If this works out, I can try to find information on ABB and
Fanuc
programming and write a program to execute files written for different
makes
of robots. I should be able to do get it to work with G-Code too, at
least
the basic moves, G00, 01, 02, 03.
ERIII uses DC servo motors with two channel quadrature output encoders
with three interrupter petals, so it's only 12TPR (on a 65.5:1 gearbox,
and two of the motors on 128:1 if memory serves). It's not a speedy robot,
in theory you can even feed that signal right back to LinuxCNC via
Parallel port (you will have to provide H-Bridge and PWM for speed
control). I've been meaning to mess with that for years now, always
putting off for one reason or another ...
I have seen some Scorbot 4pc's for sale on eBay but so far none come with
the ISA controller card. I don't know the detail about the drive yet but
it
might be compatible with some of the hardware available for LinuxCNC. I
saw
other brands of educational robot arms on eBay but so far I have been able
to find the most information on the Scorbot's.
Don't get ER4PC robot unless you can also find an ER4U Scorpower (the
control box has it's own name) and ditch the PC Scorpower. The robot
itself is exactly the same, will work with USB control box. The PC servo
card that PC version needs is a real PITA. Intelitek still sells it for
$600 (and I believe it's refurbished) but it requires a computer with full
length AT ISA bus - I haven't seen a monster like this in 15 years, will
be a whole project in and of itself just to find a PC to stick it into.
I like the Amatrol Pegasus,
roller chain drive looks heavy duty, but from what I hear, Amatrol isn't
very helpful to hobbyists.
I love Pegasus too, maybe will get one at some point. The control
principals of almost all of the educational robots of this size designed
in the golden era of educational robotics (mid 80s through mid 90s) -
Scorbot, LabVolt2000, Mentor, Pegasus, Rhino, etc. - are the same - geared
DC motors with optical encoders, so it it possible to have them all work
(or at least make them move) despite the fact that people usually throw
controller boxes away. They resemble old dilapidated PCs too much...
Anyway, thanks for forcing my trip down the memory lane, good luck with
your ERIII. Post here or in the robotics groups (here or Yahoo) if you
need help.
--
posted from
http://www.polytechforum.com/metalwo...ts-580710-.htm
using PolytechForum's Web, RSS and Social Media Interface to
rec.crafts.metalworking and other engineering groups