4 Slave architecture for the Robonova MR-C3024 using the HMI protocol IRI Technical Report 2 Hardware Design The HMI interface used by digital servios requires a small interface circuit. For this a small electronic support board was designed that implements the serial TTL to HMI interface.
This is the new forum dedicated to RBONOVA and Hitec's line of robotics products. I'm anxiously waiting for my new ROBONOVA kit which will come from the first batch of 200 to be distributed in Europe starting December 15th. You can order one if you live in UK or Ireland. Like with KHR-1 last year, I plan to document the build process and software, make him do some cool stuff and publish it on this site. The kit has an overwhelming set of features. The following is taken from where you can also find some videos and other official promotional material. (Other official sites include and ).
The CONCEPT ROBOTICS - a fascinating new world which you can now experience at first-hand. With the help of detailed step-by-step instructions you assemble the kit components to produce a working humanoid robot of the kind only usually found in universities and research institutes. The set includes all the software required to allow you to bring the robot to purposeful life - even if you are a complete beginner. Simple to get started. ROBONOVA-1 means: robotics for the beginner. The robot is great fun - and the fun starts immediately. No special computer knowledge or programming experience required.
Catch & Play - move the robot and click: and you have produced the first movement! Carefully matched. The kit contains all the components required to operate this high-tech robot. Carefully matched mechanical systems and software Expandable. ROBONOVA-1 means: robotics for the expert. The ATMEL ATMega 128 microcontroller features ample performance reserves for a wide range of expansions. The mechanical system is of modular construction, and can be extended to cater for future applications.
ROBONOVA-1 can be considered as an open development platform Robust and attractive. Anodized aluminium brackets. Digital servos with Karbonite gearbox. Professional “look”!
The HARDWARE ROBONOVA-1 really is a “hard case”. Specially treated anodized aluminium parts provide the essential strength in the connecting elements, and give the ROBONOVA-1 its characteristic high-quality appearance.
The plastic components are made of an extremely high-quality material which provides all the robustness required for daily use. ROBONOVA-1 is capable of squaring up to any challenge, as its design and lay-out are based on the development team’s many years of experience in robotics competitions.The robot’s “muscles” take the form of servos, developed specifically for robotics by HiTEC: a world leader in servo manufacture. They offer the familiar strengths of HiTEC servos:. Torque. Transit speed.
Accuracy. Durability and have been modified to cope with the special requirements of robotics applications:. 180-degree angular travel. Innovative case design. Motion feedback function. Data feedback function: current, voltage Specification: HSR-8498HB servo. Dimensions: 40 x 20 x 47 mm.
Weight: 55 g. Operating voltage: 6 - 7.4 V. Max. Rotational angle: 180 degrees.
Torque: 7.4 kg / cm at 6.0 Volts (9.0 kg / cm at 7.4 Volts). Transit speed for 60 degrees: 0.2 sec.
At 6 Volts (0.18 sec. At 7.4 Volts). HMI (HiTEC Multi-protocol Interface). Data feedback: current, voltage, position. Optional: servo parameter adjustment (requires servo programmer kit). Daisy-chain serial interface for up to 128 servos.
PWM interface (RC standard) Power supply: the ROBONOVA-1 is operated from the 6 Volt / 1000 mAh NiMH battery supplied; a suitable battery charger can also act as buffer when the robot is operating. On a single battery charge the ROBONOVA-1 can be operated for around 60 minutes; the actual operating time varies according to the complexity of the movement processes. Specification: Robonova-1.
Dimensions: 310 x 180 x 90 mm. Weight with standard battery: approx. 1.3 kg.
Number of servos: 16 The SOFTWARE The software included in the set enables anyone to develop the movement processes of the ROBONOVA-1, and define its response to sensor events, using a PC running the Windows operating system (Windows 98 or later). Catch & Play makes robot programming easy to understand. For example, you move the robot arm to the start-point and end-point of a “simple action” (e.g. Raise arm), and confirm the start position and end position with a mouse-click. The robot then carries out the whole movement process.
Robo-Script and Robo-Remocon: The computer screen displays sliders for every individual servo (joint). Moving the sliders changes the position of the servos. Simple movements can then be assembled to produce complex movements simply by clicking the mouse. REMOCON provides a graphical user interface for calling up these movements. Robo-Basic: with Catch & Play function, convenient programming for complex tasks for advanced operators Robo-Basic is a dialect of Basic optimised for programming the ROBONOVA-1. It enables you to create complex applications designed to accomplish your own individual tasks:. Independent development environment including Editor and Compiler.
Robo-Basic includes commands for:. Synchronous servo movements.
Servo point-to-point movements. Servo motion feedback ROBONOVA-1 An open platform for the expert The hardware offers plenty of scope for expansion to cope with future applications. The Control Board The brain and heart of the ROBONOVA-1 is the well-known ATMEL ATMega 128L microcontroller, its internal memory supplemented by a 64K.8 EEPROM as storage for Robo-Script and Robo-Basic programs. Specification: MR C-3024. Dimensions approx. 61 x 50.5 mm.
I/O ports:. 40 ports on post connectors, of which 24 are servo ports and 8 A/D converters. RS232 interface.
Signal indicators. Supplementary memory: 64K.8 EEPROM. Controller: Atmel ATMega 128L. Operating voltage range: 6 - 8 Volts The ROBONOVA-1 can be fitted with an Infra-Red receiver and controlled using a standard IR remote control handset. The microcontroller in the ROBONOVA-1 offers a vast range of future expansion capacity; the full possibilities have yet to be exploited.
Accessories, replacement parts & service, set contents Replacement parts & service facilities The names HiTEC and MULTIPLEX are by-words for fast, comprehensive replacement parts, plus - if ever necessary - the repair of defective sub-assemblies within short turn-round times. Set contents The ROBONOVA-1 kit includes the following items:. MR C-3024 controller board. 16 special HiTEC HSR-8498HB robot servos. All aluminium and plastic parts. All small hardware items required. 6 Volt / 1000 mAh NiMH battery.
Fast charger for use with 230 Volts. Comprehensive software package on CD-ROM. RS-232 interface cable The robot can be programmed using 3 different software systems. You can download the 7mb file containing all 3 systems at Additional videos of RoboNova: (taken by our forum member ) (3 videos). This is the new forum dedicated to RBONOVA and Hitec's line of robotics products. I'm anxiously waiting for my new ROBONOVA kit which will come from the first batch of 200 to be distributed in Europe starting December 15th. You can order one if you live in UK or Ireland.
Like with KHR-1 last year, I plan to document the build process and software, make him do some cool stuff and publish it on this site. The kit has an overwhelming set of features. The following is taken from where you can also find some videos and other official promotional material. (Other official sites include and ). The CONCEPT ROBOTICS - a fascinating new world which you can now experience at first-hand. With the help of detailed step-by-step instructions you assemble the kit components to produce a working humanoid robot of the kind only usually found in universities and research institutes. The set includes all the software required to allow you to bring the robot to purposeful life - even if you are a complete beginner.
Simple to get started. ROBONOVA-1 means: robotics for the beginner.
The robot is great fun - and the fun starts immediately. No special computer knowledge or programming experience required. Catch & Play - move the robot and click: and you have produced the first movement!
Carefully matched. The kit contains all the components required to operate this high-tech robot. Carefully matched mechanical systems and software Expandable. ROBONOVA-1 means: robotics for the expert. The ATMEL ATMega 128 microcontroller features ample performance reserves for a wide range of expansions. The mechanical system is of modular construction, and can be extended to cater for future applications.
ROBONOVA-1 can be considered as an open development platform Robust and attractive. Anodized aluminium brackets.
Digital servos with Karbonite gearbox. Professional “look”! The HARDWARE ROBONOVA-1 really is a “hard case”. Specially treated anodized aluminium parts provide the essential strength in the connecting elements, and give the ROBONOVA-1 its characteristic high-quality appearance. The plastic components are made of an extremely high-quality material which provides all the robustness required for daily use. ROBONOVA-1 is capable of squaring up to any challenge, as its design and lay-out are based on the development team’s many years of experience in robotics competitions.The robot’s “muscles” take the form of servos, developed specifically for robotics by HiTEC: a world leader in servo manufacture.
They offer the familiar strengths of HiTEC servos:. Torque. Transit speed. Accuracy. Durability and have been modified to cope with the special requirements of robotics applications:.
180-degree angular travel. Innovative case design. Motion feedback function. Data feedback function: current, voltage Specification: HSR-8498HB servo.
Dimensions: 40 x 20 x 47 mm. Weight: 55 g. Operating voltage: 6 - 7.4 V. Max. Rotational angle: 180 degrees.
Torque: 7.4 kg / cm at 6.0 Volts (9.0 kg / cm at 7.4 Volts). Transit speed for 60 degrees: 0.2 sec. At 6 Volts (0.18 sec. At 7.4 Volts). HMI (HiTEC Multi-protocol Interface). Data feedback: current, voltage, position.
Optional: servo parameter adjustment (requires servo programmer kit). Daisy-chain serial interface for up to 128 servos. PWM interface (RC standard) Power supply: the ROBONOVA-1 is operated from the 6 Volt / 1000 mAh NiMH battery supplied; a suitable battery charger can also act as buffer when the robot is operating. On a single battery charge the ROBONOVA-1 can be operated for around 60 minutes; the actual operating time varies according to the complexity of the movement processes. Specification: Robonova-1. Dimensions: 310 x 180 x 90 mm.
Weight with standard battery: approx. 1.3 kg.
Number of servos: 16 The SOFTWARE The software included in the set enables anyone to develop the movement processes of the ROBONOVA-1, and define its response to sensor events, using a PC running the Windows operating system (Windows 98 or later). Catch & Play makes robot programming easy to understand. For example, you move the robot arm to the start-point and end-point of a “simple action” (e.g. Raise arm), and confirm the start position and end position with a mouse-click. The robot then carries out the whole movement process. Robo-Script and Robo-Remocon: The computer screen displays sliders for every individual servo (joint).
Moving the sliders changes the position of the servos. Simple movements can then be assembled to produce complex movements simply by clicking the mouse. REMOCON provides a graphical user interface for calling up these movements. Robo-Basic: with Catch & Play function, convenient programming for complex tasks for advanced operators Robo-Basic is a dialect of Basic optimised for programming the ROBONOVA-1. It enables you to create complex applications designed to accomplish your own individual tasks:. Independent development environment including Editor and Compiler. Robo-Basic includes commands for:.
Synchronous servo movements. Servo point-to-point movements. Servo motion feedback ROBONOVA-1 An open platform for the expert The hardware offers plenty of scope for expansion to cope with future applications. The Control Board The brain and heart of the ROBONOVA-1 is the well-known ATMEL ATMega 128L microcontroller, its internal memory supplemented by a 64K.8 EEPROM as storage for Robo-Script and Robo-Basic programs. Specification: MR C-3024. Dimensions approx. 61 x 50.5 mm.
I/O ports:. 40 ports on post connectors, of which 24 are servo ports and 8 A/D converters.
RS232 interface. Signal indicators.
Supplementary memory: 64K.8 EEPROM. Controller: Atmel ATMega 128L. Operating voltage range: 6 - 8 Volts The ROBONOVA-1 can be fitted with an Infra-Red receiver and controlled using a standard IR remote control handset. The microcontroller in the ROBONOVA-1 offers a vast range of future expansion capacity; the full possibilities have yet to be exploited. Accessories, replacement parts & service, set contents Replacement parts & service facilities The names HiTEC and MULTIPLEX are by-words for fast, comprehensive replacement parts, plus - if ever necessary - the repair of defective sub-assemblies within short turn-round times.
Set contents The ROBONOVA-1 kit includes the following items:. MR C-3024 controller board. 16 special HiTEC HSR-8498HB robot servos.
All aluminium and plastic parts. All small hardware items required. 6 Volt / 1000 mAh NiMH battery. Fast charger for use with 230 Volts. Comprehensive software package on CD-ROM. RS-232 interface cable The robot can be programmed using 3 different software systems. You can download the 7mb file containing all 3 systems at Additional videos of RoboNova: (taken by our forum member ) (3 videos) offline Savvy Roboteer Posts: 1845 Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 1:00 am Location: London, UK.
Inaki wrote:Apparently the Robonova is out of stock everywhere! When do you plan to make it available for the rest of Europe? By the way, Robonova.de will sell directly from his website if I am not wrong.
AFAIK Multiplex/Hitec don't plan to sell directly at first but use local RC-model dealers in every country to test the water and provide the technical support to the end users. This is the traditional hobby RC-model business model which is built around hobby shops doing repeat-sales to a local loyal technical community.
If I was to lauch a humanoid product like ROBONOVA I would try to ride the Robosapien wave by (1) setting the retail price down to a magical sub-$500 (like ) so that it is a bit more expensive than RobosapienV2 and (2) preparing for mass-production of at least 100k units in order to bring COGS down to about $150. The pros: it would be perceived as the first Robosapien competition and therefore will get $10m worth in media coverage and Robosapien's wholesellers who made a fortune from selling it, will be happy to store tens of thousands of peices of your Robosapien-killer. This could create a self-fulfilling prophecy and you may actually sell 100k units before Xmas. The cons: a few million $ are at stake over the production of the first 100k units. In any case, Hitec/Multiplex have my full admiration for daring to come out with such an amazing product at such a low price and for their belief in the viability of a substantial market for advanced humanoid robots outside of Japan/Korea. If you are seriously interested in getting ROBONOVA and you are not based in the UK, send an email. RoboSavvy may be able to help.
Inaki wrote:Apparently the Robonova is out of stock everywhere! When do you plan to make it available for the rest of Europe?
By the way, Robonova.de will sell directly from his website if I am not wrong. AFAIK Multiplex/Hitec don't plan to sell directly at first but use local RC-model dealers in every country to test the water and provide the technical support to the end users. This is the traditional hobby RC-model business model which is built around hobby shops doing repeat-sales to a local loyal technical community. If I was to lauch a humanoid product like ROBONOVA I would try to ride the Robosapien wave by (1) setting the retail price down to a magical sub-$500 (like ) so that it is a bit more expensive than RobosapienV2 and (2) preparing for mass-production of at least 100k units in order to bring COGS down to about $150. The pros: it would be perceived as the first Robosapien competition and therefore will get $10m worth in media coverage and Robosapien's wholesellers who made a fortune from selling it, will be happy to store tens of thousands of peices of your Robosapien-killer. This could create a self-fulfilling prophecy and you may actually sell 100k units before Xmas.
The cons: a few million $ are at stake over the production of the first 100k units. In any case, Hitec/Multiplex have my full admiration for daring to come out with such an amazing product at such a low price and for their belief in the viability of a substantial market for advanced humanoid robots outside of Japan/Korea.
If you are seriously interested in getting ROBONOVA and you are not based in the UK, send an email. RoboSavvy may be able to help. Offline Savvy Roboteer Posts: 1845 Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 1:00 am Location: London, UK.
The 6v regulator that I ordered does not accept the input voltage that the batteries give. I am going to need to order another one. Also, the RoboNova won't accept programming anymore. I'm not really quite sure what it is. I got the IR remote receiver hooked up, and it seems to be working better than expected, except without programming possibilities it is hard to test. Lately I have been thinking more and more that I should replace the control board. I just have to do some tests to make sure it would work.
![Robonova 1 for sale Robonova 1 for sale](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_hfQopI9JQLE/TNktaNFeV3I/AAAAAAAADXw/uBhZbmcOahA/s640/ro-nova.jpg)
Whether or not the RoboNova could take 7.0v doesn't really matter. After getting the batteries from Adafruit, I quickly wired them up and plugged them into the charger. Then, I wired them in series and plugged them in to the RoboNova.
The startup sound played but nothing happened. I tried it again. Not even the startup sound played. This made me worried that I had made an error and fried the RoboNova.
I hooked the RoboNova up to a 5v source I had lying around. Thankfully, it was not broken and it booted straight up. After that, I measured the voltage from the batteries: 8.4v.
7.0v was the voltage I was going for. I pulled a dumb and didn’t even think about the voltage before it reached its average after charging.
I decided to wire up a 5v regulator I had around but, it really wasn't a 5v regulator, it was a 3.3v regulator which lead to even more confusion. In the end, I'm again looking for a 6v regulator. After reading through many forums, blogs, and datasheets I have come to a new conclusion: the RoboNova can take 7.4 volts. The controller's 'Operating voltage range is 6 - 8 Volts' and the servos we knew could take 7.4 in the beginning. In fact, by using the max voltage for the servos, we will gain torque from the original design. Once deciding that 7.4 volts was okay with the RoboNova, I went looking for the perfect battery and went straight to my favorite guide on lithium batteries by Adafruit located. I settled on two of the by Adafruit.
I happen to really like Adafruit for many reasons, one being that their mission is not to be financially successful but to teach and mentor those who know less than they do. I am a huge fan of Adafruit Learn, and spend a good amount of my time there. I am also going to purchase their and a to go along with it. When I first measured the voltage on the controller for the RoboNova I found it to be hovering around 4.8 volts, this seemed normal to me as 5.0v is a normal level for most electronics and this was just under. After reading more documentation on the RoboNova I found that the normal operating voltage was supposed to be 6.0v! This is clearly a bad battery!
I was hoping to replace the old battery with a new lithium battery, one because I've never used them before and two because they would allow longer and more strenuous use of the RoboNova. Since lithium battery’s output 3.7v to 4.8v per cell I checked if the RoboNova could withstand such voltages and sadly, I found that it could not. So, probably just a normal rechargeable battery for the RoboNova it is. (EDIT FROM THE FUTURE: It turned out that the RoboNova ran acceptably well at 5v and the actual problem with the old battery pack was its low current capabilities). So, after running most of the template programs it came to my attention that my RoboNova could not stand up. At first I thought that this was a bad servo, and it certainly may still be, but now, I think it is a bad battery after reading a multitude of posts about how the RoboNova can't stand up after a bad battery charge. I brought out an oscilloscope and measured the output voltage of the controller board while it stood up without help and I came to the conclusion that the voltage was dropping so low that the controller board rebooted and tried again.
This cycle I hope to fix tomorrow with the help of someone I know that is much more knowledgeable in the field of robotics. I got to programming much faster than I had anticipated. I now have my new USB to serial converter and it worked pretty much out of the box, no driver issues or windows 8 compatibility issues which felt like a breath of fresh air. Since I'm not quite sure what I'm doing with the RoboNova yet, Programming it was really just to get a feel for what the robots like. The LED that supposed to reside in the 'head' of the RoboNova was not lighting up when I ran the default program or 'Overall template program' so I opened up the head and found that the wire from the board to the led had broken where it was soldered to the LED. A quick solder job fixed the obvious problem but the LED still did not light up.
At the moment, I'm thinking of adding a RGB LED to the head as that would allow for more function so I'm not too worried about the LED not lighting up. Low for more function so I'm not to worried about the LED not lighting up. Getting a RoboBasic install file was tricky as it is not a very common program, and seems to be discontinued.
Google jumps in by changing search results to RobotBasic instead of RoboBasic. It took me a while to figure out why I couldn't compile any code: It was because I was using the RobotBasic compiler instead of the RoboBasic compiler. After uninstalling RobotBasic, I went looking for RoboBasic. It was quite difficult to find, so I attached a copy of the files to this post.
After installing RoboBasic, I opened it up and found that the editor window was non-functional. This is a known bug on windows 7 and windows vista. I can confirm now that it is also a bug for windows 8.1. I found a fix online for windows 8.1, and I will attach both it and the other patch for the other operating systems.
I had to run both for it to work. After finally getting the IDE to work, I sat down to deploy the default code for the RoboNova.
Then windows 8.1 incompatibility showed its ugly head again: the USB to serial adapter I was using used a chipset that is incompatible with windows 8 and windows 8.1. I am now waiting for a different USB to serial converter and will continue working once it arrives. One of my projects is rehabilitating a RoboNova that was given to us. The RoboNova disk that came with the robot initially is missing and nobody knows where it could have gone. The goals for this project are to get the robot working and moving, another goal is to create a controller for this robot instead of having it just run autonomously from code and finally, the last goal is to think up something useful for this robot to do.
The robot does not have hands making it very limited in the things it can do. However, the customizability makes this robot a world of possibilities.