Servo - November 2008

Surveyor’s Travels

Even Robots can have Dog Day Afternoons

After our international adventure, we were even more excited to tackle our SRV-1Q. Even with the SRV-1Q in pre-built form, there is some minimal assembly required. All you need to do it attach the antenna to the bot, and while this might sound like a trivial task it turned into something much more dramatic. Normally, the antenna should just screw into place near the stern of the robot, but our parts had a bit of a compatibility problem (Figure 6). The connector on the antenna and the connector on the bot were both male, with the connector pins to prove it. It was only a minor setback, and after a quick trip to our favorite electronics shack we were ready to proceed. We acquired a male-to-male connector (Figure 7), but we hoped that the extended length of the connection wouldn’t interfere with the bot’s nifty treads.

To begin the process, we screwed the new connector into the one on the antenna. When we weren’t sure if it was fitting nicely, we unscrewed the male-to-male connector, and we were surprised to see the pin from the antenna come with it.

And with that, our problem had been solved, and the antenna screwed onto the robot just as it should have. We were assured by the folks at Surveyor labs that this mix-up only occurred in a small number of kits, but if you were to run across one of

them you can perform a much quicker fix than the one we did. The pin in the connector on the antenna came out so easily because the connector was socketed and it wasn’t soldered to a wire. Since this is the case, some needle-nosed pliers can be used to simply extract the pin with no ill effects. With the assembly of the robot finally finished, we let the little bot charge up its Li-poly battery pack before we made our first attempt at teleoperation.

Smooth Teleoperator

Don’t be fooled into thinking that the SRV-1Q doesn’t come with any goodies just because it doesn’t come with a CD. The bot comes equipped with some handy firmware that makes wireless operation over the computer a snap. To get everything fully configured, you’ll have to visit the Surveyor website ( www.surveyor.com). The Surveyor website provides clear and concise instructions on how to get started with your bot. There are a plethora of software applications to choose from, but we went with the highly recommended Java console. The Java console can be downloaded for free, and after the generic installation procedure you’ll have a screen pop up as in Figure 8.

After opening the console, the next task was to connect to the robot’s wireless network (Figure 9). An “SRV1” network conveniently popped up, and connecting was no

problem. After we were connected, the mysterious purple smear on the Java console was replaced by an image of our dorm room desk. While this might seem random, it was because the robot was looking at our desk. Before we could officially get to playtime, we had to configure the Matchport connection for easy access. This actually involves a somewhat lengthy process, but roboticists are carefully guided through the steps with generous screenshots and clear directions.

With all of the network nuts and bolts taken care of, we were ready to get going (Figure 10). Some of the controls on the Java console are pretty straightforward. Directional arrows control the basic movements, while a familiar red octagon causes the bot to freeze in its tracks. Some controls, however, are a bit more enigmatic. Buttons labeled fast and slow can control the motor speed of the robot, and the different sized rectangles on the right side of the console can change the resolution of the screen. Don’t think that you could get a huge screen for nothing though – there’s a corresponding trade-off in frame rate. In addition to the screen with the mysterious button, the command prompt window also pops up with the Java console (Figure 11), and it provides even more enigmatic feedback that is sure to delight programmers.