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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : MicroMite robot boat autopilot ?
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Robin Lovelock Regular Member  Joined: 12/02/2017 Location: United KingdomPosts: 45 |
G'Day All ! Some of you may like Peter's video I've just put up near the top of my "MicroMite" page www.gpss.co.uk/micromit.htm - I'm still open to offers :-) Robin www.gpss.co.u k - me :-) www.gpss.co.uk/autop.htm - Snoopy's Robot Boat page - see MicroMite at top www.gpss.co.uk/micromit.htm - the nitty gritty :-) Robin on www.gpss.co.uk and www.gpss.co.uk/micromit.htm |
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CaptainBoing Guru  Joined: 07/09/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1985 |
Hello Robin, I followed your robotic sailing boats with interest - I loved the 10(?) days on the lake. I am curious though - what is it you want in your "offers"? |
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| Robin Lovelock Regular Member Joined: 12/02/2017 Location: United KingdomPosts: 45 |
Thanks CaptainBoeing. Not sure what you meant by the 10 day thing. Just back from Bray Lake in baking heat, more like Sicily than UK, and have started to put details up in Snoopy's "Blog6" on www.gpss.co.uk/rbblog6.htm - gives you a flavour of what takes time and why I can't spend much time on MicroMite stuff (yet). To answer your question: "what offers am I looking for": ANYTHING that's relevant which will save time. Best illustrated by those small boards on my "MicroMite" page, in Snoopy's boats ( but using Picaxe computers ) and what Roy and Peter have done - a bit smaller if possible. The most important thing is rising pins, of 0.1" and Futaba servo style - to those pin connections on my page. i.e. software compatible with stuff written by Roy, myself, and now Peter. If someone gets interested in this robot boat stuff - that might be the key. They might go ahead and spend ~ 25 GBP on a Globalsat BR355-S2 ( or identical SiRF based product ), strip it out of it's plastic case with magnets, and mount it on the board. They might even go on to work out those binary bytes to switch off static nav - all in my Blog pages :-) Things like 3 pin groups coming up for at least one (rudder) servo, and maybe for a Devantech CMPS10 or CMPS11 compass might be nice. You will see Peter has added an SD card. I use those horrible (to program) Picaxe 08M2 or 28X2 because, over the years, their supply does not dry up, and the technical support is excellent: not just on the chips and software, but on the many board level products they offer - at sensible prices. They have the business resources, but no apparent interest in taking the MicroMite under their wing. Robin www.gpss.co.uk Robin on www.gpss.co.uk and www.gpss.co.uk/micromit.htm |
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| CaptainBoing Guru Joined: 07/09/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1985 |
OK, I think I see what you are getting at. From the Micromite perspective, you can think of it as a replacement for the PicAxe. You'll still have to bolt everything together to make one of your boat-brains from bits. In your place I would just get stuck in. There are a lot of people here that do produce their own controller boards but that is the limit - all the specialist stuff you'll do yourself. As you are UK based, try looking through http://micromite.org/shop/ the explore 28 is a small board and if that is still too big, take a look at http://www.thebackshed.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7193&PN=44 you can't get much smaller than that! (you can buy them in UK for £10 from Micromite.org - currently 4 in stock read the manual before buying - it is a cut-down micromite. It has only 6 IO pins but you could extend that - but that is getting a bit hardcore) TBH, I don't see much of a problem with the boards you have already knocked up and any small run project is going to look fairly similar - it just isn't worth gearing up production for something that only appeals to a miniscule market. There is scope for miniaturizing the board you have in the pics on your site - prototypes tend to be generous with the perfboard. If you, Roy and Peter got this far, the next steps are easily achievable. Don't sit around waiting for some one here to do a build get stuck in - One chap here does something similar with balloons - he builds his own controllers and sends them across europe to see how far he can get - not a million miles from what you are doing. http://www.thebackshed.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7517 those two mites above are all fully featured and the only compromise might be number of available I/O pins - you'll have to suck it and see. They will all be software compatible with what you have already as they all run MMBasic. You should be able to find something that matches/beats the picaxe in size/power/program-ability and none of them are expensive That tiny MuP Mini (nka NanoMite) is AU$15-ish assembled! Then just get your hardware together and assemble it up. I doubt you will find an absolutely perfect solution - or someone to make it for you - not impossible (and there are certainly capable members of this forum), but I doubt it. purely because it is soooo bespoke. Build it from bits just like you did with the picaxe. This is "big-boys lego" the bricks are available, you just put it together how you want it to look. hope this helps |
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| Robin Lovelock Regular Member Joined: 12/02/2017 Location: United KingdomPosts: 45 |
Thanks CaptainBoeing. I'll give this link to some of my Team-Joker friends and it may be of use. We started years ago soldering up Picaxe 08M2 kits, but in recent years the Picaxe 28X2 comes as a ready assembled module, and not much more in cost than a MicroMite chip. I hope the picture from my "MicroMite" page appears here. See end of Blog7 updated today and why there is no time for me to research this... BUT if my friends do, like Roy and Peter - that's another matter :-) Robin www.gpss.co.uk  Robin on www.gpss.co.uk and www.gpss.co.uk/micromit.htm |
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