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Valde Systems, Inc.
VS1000 Users Manual
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Disclaimer This document is to provide the customer with an overview of the operation of the
VS1000 development platform. Valde Systems, Inc. makes no claim as to the accuracy of
the information herein and is liable to update it at any time.
ESD
Devices within the VS1000 are susceptible to damage by static discharge. Please
use proper procedures if handling the circuit boards.
Copyright Portions of the VS1000 are assembled from smaller modules purchased from other
companies. In some cases, portions of their documentation have been copied into this
manual. This is done to provide a convenient place for the user to understand the
operation of the VS1000 and is not meant to imply ownership. References are given to
the original manufacturer for additional information. Copies of their original
documents are also included on the CDROM.
Compliance This product has not yet completed its FCC or CE compliance testing. It
therefore is intended for use in a laboratory test environment only. It
generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy. It has not been
certified for compliance with the limits of computing devices pursuant to
subpart J of part 15 of FCC rules, which are designed to provide reasonable protection
against radio frequency interference. Operation of this equipment in other
environments may cause interference with radio communications, in which case the user
at their own expense will be required to take whatever measures necessary to correct
this interference.
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Table of Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................. 1 2. Specifications ................................................................ 1 3. Block Diagram ................................................................. 2 4. Mechanical .................................................................... 2 5. Power ......................................................................... 3
5.1. Charging .................................................................. 4 5.2. Fuse ...................................................................... 5 5.3. DC-DC Converter ........................................................... 5 5.4. Distribution .............................................................. 5
6. Single Board Computer ......................................................... 5 6.1. Overview .................................................................. 6 6.2. Connectors ................................................................ 6 6.3. Processor ................................................................. 7 6.4. System Controllers ........................................................ 7 6.5. Memory .................................................................... 7 6.6. BIOS ...................................................................... 7 6.7. Direct Memory Access ...................................................... 7 6.8. Floppy Disk Support ....................................................... 7 6.9. EIDE Controller ........................................................... 7 6.10. Solid State Disk ......................................................... 8 6.11. Compact Flash ............................................................ 8 6.12. Ethernet Controllers ..................................................... 8 6.13. Video .................................................................... 8
6.13.1. CRT Video Interface .................................................. 8 6.13.2. Flat Panel Display ................................................... 9
6.14. LVDS ..................................................................... 9 6.15. USB ...................................................................... 9 6.16. Serial Communications .................................................... 9 6.17. 48-line Parallel I/O ..................................................... 9 6.18. Audio ................................................................... 10 6.19. Line Printer Port ....................................................... 10 6.20. Keyboard/Mouse Controller ............................................... 10 6.21. Interrupts .............................................................. 10 6.22. Status LED .............................................................. 10 6.23. Real Time Clock ......................................................... 10 6.24. Watchdog Timer .......................................................... 10 6.25. Timers .................................................................. 10 6.26. Power ................................................................... 10 6.27. Reset ................................................................... 10 6.28. Battery ................................................................. 11 6.29. PC/104 .................................................................. 11 6.30. Software Support ........................................................ 11 6.31. Audio ................................................................... 11
6.31.1. Input ............................................................... 11 6.31.2. Output .............................................................. 11
6. Vision System ................................................................ 12 6.1. Cameras .................................................................. 12
7. Drive System ................................................................. 13 7.1. Controller ............................................................... 13 7.2. Motors ................................................................... 13 7.3. Optical Encoders ......................................................... 13 7.4. Drive Configuration ...................................................... 14
8. Load Control ................................................................. 14 9. Pan and Tilt ................................................................. 15 10. Servo Control ............................................................... 15 11. Options ..................................................................... 16
11.1. Accelerometer ........................................................... 16 11.2. Battery Charger ......................................................... 17 11.3. Wireless Ethernet ....................................................... 17 11.4. Operating System ........................................................ 18 11.5. Hard Disk Drive ......................................................... 18
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12. Disassembly ................................................................. 18 13. Support ..................................................................... 20
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Index of Tables
Table 1: Load Controller Bit Mapping ............................................... 14 Table 2: Servo Controller Assignments .............................................. 15
Index of Figures Figure 1: Block Diagram ............................................................. 2 Figure 2: VS1000 .................................................................... 3 Figure 3: Power Distribution ........................................................ 4 Figure 4: Battery Charger Connector ................................................. 4 Figure 5: Charge/Run Switch ......................................................... 5 Figure 6: Single Board Computer ..................................................... 6 Figure 7: VS1000 Connectors ......................................................... 6 Figure 8: Microphone ............................................................... 11 Figure 9: Audio Amplifier .......................................................... 12 Figure 10: VS1501 .................................................................. 12 Figure 11: Motor Controller ........................................................ 13 Figure 12: Load Controller ......................................................... 14 Figure 13: Back EMF Diode .......................................................... 15 Figure 14: Servo Controller ........................................................ 16 Figure 15: Accelerometer ........................................................... 17 Figure 16: USB Wireless Ethernet Adapter ........................................... 17 Figure 17: Disassembly Step 1 ...................................................... 18 Figure 18: Disassembly Step 2 ...................................................... 18 Figure 19: Disassembly Step 3 ...................................................... 19 Figure 20: Disassembly Step 4 ...................................................... 19 Figure 21: Disassembly Step 5 ...................................................... 19 Figure 22: Disassembly Step 6 ...................................................... 20 Figure 23: Disassembly Step 7 ...................................................... 20
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1. Introduction This document is for the users of the VS1000 development platform. The platform is
designed to develop and test new algorithms for the VS15xx series of high performance
stereo image processors.
This family of image processors has a wide range of uses from inspection to
security, and motion control. The VS1000 was intended for the application of
autonomous robotics.
Research areas include navigation, object recognition, voice recognition, stereo
image processing, and when equipped with an optional wireless peer-to-peer Ethernet
capability, inter-robot team functions as well.
2. Specifications Below are some of the specifications of the VS1000:
• Mechanical
o 12 inches (30.48cm) round
o 7.61 inches (19.33cm) high
o Constructed of powder coated and anodized aluminum
• Power
o 12 Volt sealed gel cell 3.0AH battery
o 10 Watt 5 Volt DC-DC converter
o 3 Amp automotive ATO blade type fuse
o External connector and switch for battery charging
• Single Board Computer
o 733 MHz
o Connectors for external mouse, keyboard and monitor
o Type I and II compact flash card slot
o External audio amp and speaker
o External microphone
• Vision System
o Accepts VS15xx series stereo vision processors
o 4000-5760 MIPS
o Industry standard IEEE-1394 Firewire cameras
• Drive System
o 2 channel PID motor controller
o Onboard H-Bridge driver for up to 10 amps
o Directly drives the DC brush-type gear head motors
o 500CPR optical encoder feedback with index pulse
o Differential drive configuration
• Load Control
o Current sinking or sourcing for four 12 volt devices
o Up to 1.0 Amp from each output
o Directly drives solenoids or relays
• Pan and Tilt
o +/- 45 deg pan (restricted by camera size)
o +/- 45 deg tilt (restricted by camera size)
o Adjustable front/back up/down, and side/side
• Servo Control
o 8 channel RC servo control (three allocated)
• Options
o Solid state accelerometer tilt sensor
o Battery charger
o 802.11 wireless Ethernet via compact flash slot
o Windows XP Home operating system
o 80GB 2.5” Notebook Hard Disk Drive
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3. Block Diagram Below is a block diagram of the major components of the VS1000 development
platform. This is only an overview of the major components, and some details are
omitted for clarity.
Figure 1: Block Diagram
4. Mechanical The frame of the VS1000 is made from two 12-inch round powder coated aluminum
disks. Other pieces have been black anodized. The total height when the body or
cameras are not tilted is 7.61 inches.
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Components are mounted on the top and bottom of each disk. These components are
easy to modify using standard metalworking tools. An overall mechanical drawing is
shown in the figure below.
Figure 2: VS1000
5. Power Power for the VS1000 comes from a 12 Volt sealed 3.0AH battery. Some sections such
as the motors are fed directly from the battery. Additional devices may be hooked to
this power source, but be aware that this voltage is unregulated, will exhibit drops
as loads are activated, may contain switching noise from the motors, and will
gradually decrease in value as the battery drains. A block diagram of the power
section is shown in the figure below:
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Battery
Fuse
Power
Switch
Charger
Charge/Run
Switch
Vicor
DC-DC
+IN
-IN
Gate Out
Gate In
+OUT
+Sense
Trim
-Sense
-OUT
Figure 3: Power Distribution
5.1. Charging A switch and “Jones” type connector are provided for the connection of an external
battery charger. When in the “Charge” position, the battery terminals are routed to
the external connector for battery charging, and the VS1000 will not operate. When
charging is complete, the switch can be changed to the “Run” position for normal
operation.
If the optional charger will not be used, another charger approved for sealed gel
cell type batteries can be used. The pinout of the connector is shown in the figure
below:
Battery Negative
(-) Terminal
Pin 2
Battery Positive
(+) Terminal
Pin 1
Figure 4: Battery Charger Connector
ATTENTION:
Do not use chargers for automotive lead acid batteries.
The switch that selects between charging and running of the VS1000 is shown in the
picture below.
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Figure 5: Charge/Run Switch
5.2. Fuse The battery is protected against shorts by an in-line fuse. This fuse is a standard
5 amp automotive ATO “blade” type fuse that is available locally if replacement is
required.
ATTENTION:
Always replace fuse with the same size and type.
5.3. DC-DC Converter A 10-Watt DC-DC converter provides power for the computer and other components. The
converter changes the unregulated 12 Volts from the battery into a 5 Volt regulated
supply. The converter is mounted to the bottom plate near the terminal strips. The
bottom plate is used as a heat sink for the converter.
5.4. Distribution There are three terminal strips for power distribution. One strip is for the common
ground connections (black), another is for the unregulated 12 volts switched from the
battery (yellow), and the other is for the regulated 5 volts from the DC-DC converter
(red).
6. Single Board Computer The main computer in the VS1000 is a model EBC-C3 Single Board Computer (SBC) from
WinSystems. Not all the features described below are used by the VS1000, but are
available for expansion and customization possibilities. Refer to the WinSystems
manual for further details. This board is shown in the picture below.
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Figure 6: Single Board Computer
6.1. Overview The EBC-C3 is a full-featured, high-performance, EBX-compatible SBC based upon the
VIA Eden™ Processor. These processors have extremely low power dissipation, which
allows fan-less operation.
The board is configured with a 733 MHz or 1GHz MMX-compatible CPU with up to 512MB
of PC133 SDRAM plus a Compact Flash (CF) socket. Two 10/100 Ethernet controllers, USB,
video with 3D Now! support, four serial COM channels, 48 digital I/O lines, AC97
audio, and the standard AT peripheral feature set are on board. The EBC-C3 measures
only 5.75 x 8.0 inches and is EBX-compliant. It supports expansion with the PC/104 or
PC/104-Plus connectors or with USB. The board does not require a fan and will operate
over an industrial temperature range. Its x86 PC software compatibility ensures a wide
range of tools to aid in your application program development and checkout.
6.2. Connectors The Connectors of the VS1000 allow for connection of a standard keyboard, monitor
and mouse to the Single Board Computer. These connectors are shown in the picture
below.
Figure 7: VS1000 Connectors
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6.3. Processor The EBC-C3 is based upon the VIA Technologies Eden™ Embedded System Platform
Processor architecture. It is manufactured with 0.15/0.13-micron technology to give
high-performance and low power dissipation. The board ships with a 733 or 1GHz MMX-
compatible processor with a 133 MHz front side bus. The CPU includes two 4-way 64KB
Level 1 caches plus a unified 64KB Level 2 cache. The CPU and supporting chips are x86
compatible.
A separate 80-bit FPU executes x86 floating point instructions in parallel with
integer instructions. The CPU also includes a separate execution unit for MMX
instructions.
6.4. System Controllers A VIA VT8606 "Twister-T" is the Northbridge that provides control of the SDRAM and
implements the PCI rev. 2.2 bus controller. PCI is used for onboard peripherals and
for the PC/104-Plus bus. The VT8606 also integrates the Savage4 graphics core for
video. The video drives both CRT and flat panels and supports resolutions up to 1920 x
1440 with 64K colors.
A VIA VT82C6868 Southbridge provides the super I/O features and the PC/104 bus
controller. It contains the EIDE interface, floppy disk controller, USB root hub and 4
function ports, two COM channels, LPT, mouse, and keyboard interfaces plus AC97 audio
controller.
6.5. Memory Up to 512 Mbytes of Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM) can be installed on the board
by using a 168-pin DIMM. A PC-133 compatible part (non-registered, un-buffered) with
gold plated fingers is the recommended SDRAM. The user can either install and/or
upgrade the memory capacity in the field.
6.6. BIOS An industry-standard Award BIOS is on the board to provide configuration
flexibility, performance and AT-compatibility. It is set with a factory default that
can be modified by the user. The BIOS is located in an EEPROM that can be modified
without removing the storage device from the board. It will support disk-less,
keyboard-less, and video-less operation plus BIOS shadowing.
6.7. Direct Memory Access Seven DMA channels are supported with Channel 2 dedicated to the floppy disk
controller. The LPT is jumper selectable for ECP operation. The other DMA channels are
wired to the PC/104 connector.
6.8. Floppy Disk Support The CMOS 765B floppy disk controller supports up to two 3.5” or 5.25” drives with
360KB through 1.44MB formats. It has an enhanced advanced digital data separator for
different data rates, programmable pre-compensation rates, plus underflow and overflow
protection. Open drain, push-pull drivers are wired to a standard, single 34-pin
connector on 0.100-inch centers.
6.9. EIDE Controller The EBC-C3 incorporates a dual-channel master mode PCI controller supporting four
Enhanced IDE (EIDE) drives. PIO Mode 4 and Bus Master IDE transfers of up to 33
Mbytes/sec are supported. Also, it supports Ultra DMA-66 transfer protocols and UDMA-
100 mode 5. Both the Primary and Secondary interface channels are wired to a separate
40- pin header connector on 0.100-inch centers. The primary channel also is wired to a
44-pin 2mm connector for more connection options and flexibility. The secondary
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channel is also wired to the Compact Flash socket. Each channel has an LED that blinks
during data transfer to provide visual status information.
The VS1000 offers an optional standard 2.5” notebook size hard disk drive for
connection to the 44-pin 2mm connector. Different size hard disks are available.
Please contact Valde Systems, Inc. for more information.
6.10. Solid State Disk A JEDEC standard 32- pin, machine-tooled socket is provided to accept an M-Systems'
DiskOnChip® (DOC). The DOC offers from 16 Mbytes to 1 Gbyte storage capacities in a
single device. It includes an internal flash file system that provides hard disk
read/write compatibility, automatic bad block management, and wear-leveling. A
designer can use an onboard semiconductor device for applications where the
environment is too harsh for mechanical hard disks or floppy disk drives while
offering significant speed advantages.
6.11. Compact Flash Compact Flash cards offer small, inexpensive, removable solid-state disk storage
with capacities up to 1 GB. A connector is on the board that will accept Type I and II
CF cards. The connector is wired to the secondary EIDE controller.
6.12. Ethernet Controllers Two Intel 82551ERs are the 32- bit PCI Ethernet controller chips used for high-
speed data transfer. Each controller has auto negotiation capability for speed,
duplex, and flow control. It supports IEEE 802.3 10-BaseT and 100BaseT in either full
or half-duplex mode at both 10 and 100 Mbps. In full-duplex mode, it adheres to the
IEEE 802.x flow control specification.
Two large 3Kbyte transmit and receive FIFOs help prevent data underruns and
overruns. It has fast back-to-back transmission support with minimum interframe
spacing. It also has improved dynamic transmit chaining with multiple priorities
transmit queues. There are three LEDs on the board per controller that provide status
information. The red LED indicates 100BaseT, the yellow indicates Link, and the green
is the Rx/Tx packet data.
The 82551ER chip is very popular both in the commercial and industrial PC-
compatible market. This means that most PC-compatible drivers, utilities and 10/100
Ethernet supported operating systems will work directly with the EBC-C3. The
configuration information describing the device's architecture, address, interrupt,
etc, is stored in a serial EEPROM.
The EBC-C3 supports remote booting with an onboard EPROM socket for use as a
diskless network computer. There are also pads for a Flash device to be soldered to
the board to support the NetBoot protocol.
6.13. Video A ProSavage4 2D/3D video controller is standard on the EBC-C3. It is a 4X AGP,
high-performance PCI flat panel/CRT controller that provides a sophisticated graphics
accelerator video engine. It can support 2D/3D resolutions up to 1920 x 1440. The
video controller uses a shared memory architecture. The controller supports a wide
variety of monochrome and color LCD panel displays as well as standard CRTs.
6.13.1. CRT Video Interface The CRT video output signals are wired to a 14-pin dual-in-line connector at the
edge of the board. This connector is adapted to a standard female 15-pin "D-Sub" type
connector commonly used for VGA monitors, and brought out to a patch panel for easy
access. Simultaneous operation of the CRT and LCD is supported.
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6.13.2. Flat Panel Display The EBC-C3 supports most flat panel display technologies including plasma, electro-
luminescent (EL), active matrix TFT/MIM LCD, passive STN and single panel, Single
Drive (SS). It will support mono and color displays. The board properly sequences the
power for logic voltage and the backlight inverter to provide intelligent and safe
power sequencing to the panel.
Two, 50-pin, 2-mm connectors are used for the flat panel interface. Most
connections can be made directly with a modified cable, others will require a flat
panel adapter module.
6.14. LVDS The EBC-C3 supports a 2-channel, 110 MHz LVDS interface. It is wired to a 20-pin,
0.100" header.
6.15. USB This board has a root hub and four function ports. It supports USB v1.1 and Intel
Universal HCI v1.1. Each USB port is wired to a 4-pin connector at the edge of the
card.
6.16. Serial Communications Four independent, full-duplex, RS-232 serial asynchronous channels are onboard.
Both the send and receive registers of each channel have a 16- byte FIFO. Each UART is
a 16C550 compatible for software compatibility with PC-type driver programs.
Independent controls of transmit, receive, line-status and data-set interrupts are
on all channels. Each channel is set up to provide internal diagnostics such as
loopback and echo mode on the data stream. An independent on-chip software
programmable baud rate generator is selectable from 50 through 115.2 kbits/sec.
Individual modem handshake control signals are supported for all channels.
RS-232 interface levels are supported on all channels. The RS-232 drivers have an
on-chip charge pump to generate the plus and minus voltages. Also RS-422 and RS-485
electrical levels are supported on COM1 and COM2.
All serial channels are configured as Data Terminal Equipment (DTE). COM1 and COM2
are wired to a 50- pin connector at the edge of the board. COM3 and COM4 are wired to
a 20-pin connector on the board.
6.17. 48-line Parallel I/O The EBC-C3 contains a highly versatile WS16C48, 48-line digital I/O controller.
Each I/O line is individually programmable for input, output, or output with read-back
operation. Each output channel is latched and has an open collector driver (with a
pull-up resistor) capable of sinking 12mA of current.
The major feature of this controller is its ability to monitor 24 of the lines for
both rising and falling digital edge transitions, latch them, and then interrupt the
host processor notifying that a change-of-input status has occurred. Transition
polarity is programmable and enabled on a bit-by-bit basis. Each line's transition is
latched by the event so that even short duration pulses will be recognized. An
interrupt ID register is maintained for each line for writing more efficient Interrupt
Service Routines. This is an efficient way of signaling the CPU of real-time events
without the burden of polling the digital I/O points.
The WS16C48 has its I/O lines connected to two, 50-pin connectors. Twenty-four data
lines are alternated with 24 ground lines for reduced noise and crosstalk. Also +5
volts and ground are included in the cable.
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6.18. Audio The EBC-C3 board has an AC97 digital audio controller. It is SoundblasterPro™
compatible. Connectors provide Line Out, Audio In, Microphone In and CD Inputs.
6.19. Line Printer Port The EBC-C3 has a parallel port that may be operated in standard and bidirectional
as well as Extended Capabilities Port (ECP - IEEE-1284) and Enhanced Parallel Port
(EPP) modes.
The printer port can also be used as two additional general-purpose I/O ports if a
printer is not required. The first port is configured as 8 input or output only lines.
The other port is configured as 5 input and 3 output lines.
6.20. Keyboard/Mouse Controller An 80C42 equivalent controller supports a PC/AT-compatible keyboard. A standard
mouse controller is also on board. The mouse and keyboard connector headers are
brought out to a patch panel to standard PS/2 type connectors.
6.21. Interrupts Two 82C59A compatible interrupt controllers accept inputs from the onboard
peripherals and the PC/104 bus for a total of twelve selectable interrupt sources.
Also, four PCI interrupt sources are supported on the PC/104-Plus bus that are PnP
compliant.
6.22. Status LED A red status LED is also available to monitor system activity. Under a user's
program control, it can indicate error conditions or blink different patterns to
provide a visual indication of system status.
6.23. Real Time Clock A DS12885-compatible clock supports a number of features including periodic and
alarm interrupt capabilities. In addition to the time and date keeping functions, the
system configuration is kept in a 256 byte CMOS RAM contained within the clock
section.
6.24. Watchdog Timer A software/hardware enabled, re-triggerable watchdog timer is provided. The time
period can be 1.5 to 120 seconds. This circuit is important for use in remote and
unattended applications.
6.25. Timers Three, independent 82C54 compatible 16-bit timers are supported. Channel 0 is wired
to interrupt Channel 0; Channel 1 generates the DRAM refresh using DMA Channel 0; and
the speaker port uses Channel 2.
6.26. Power Power is supplied via a 9-pin connector. The board only requires +5 volts. However,
flat panels require +12 volts for the backlight inverter. Also, ±12V is wired to the
PC/104 connector.
6.27. Reset A precision voltage reference monitors the +5 Volt status. Upon detection of an
out-of-tolerance condition, the board is reset. This action detects brownout or power
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fail conditions. The reset circuit also ensures that the power is nominal before
executing a power-on reset.
6.28. Battery A 350 mAH battery supplies the EBC-C3 board with standby power for the real time
clock and CMOS setup RAM. A power supervisory circuit senses the off-board voltage and
automatically switches to internal power when it drops below normal.
6.29. PC/104 The EBC-C3 provides a common computer core from which engineers can add off-the-
shelf or user-designed, application-specific PC/104 modules. PC/104 modules are self-
stacking and plug together in a "piggy back" configuration to serve as a mezzanine
expansion bus. PC/104 modules are very compact, measuring only 3.6 x 3.8 inches.
The EBC-C3 has both a 16-bit PC/104 and a 32-bit PC/104-Plus interface and
connector. PC/104 is the ISA bus and PC/104-Plus is the PCI bus for I/O functions
requiring higher data transfer speeds.
6.30. Software Support The EBC-C3 is an x86-compatible, Pentium™III class single board computer. It is
designed to run both 16 and 32 bit x86 instruction set software and is compatible with
Microsoft's Windows operating systems as well as the applications that run on them. It
also supports Linux and other PC-compatible x86 operating systems such as QNX or
VxWorks. It will also run other real-time executives that require a "PC-AT" hardware
environment.
6.31. Audio
6.31.1. Input The VS1000 is equipped with audio in and out capabilities. The input consists of a
single channel microphone plugged directly into the MIC IN jack of the SBC through a
right angle adaptor. The microphone protrudes up through the top plate and has an
omnidirectional pattern. The microphone is shown in the picture below.
Figure 8: Microphone
Through software, it is easy to use this function for simple tasks such as
detecting a tone of a specific frequency or more advanced speech recognition for
issuing verbal commands.
6.31.2. Output Output audio comes from the line level output of the SBC. A small 1-watt single
channel audio amp amplifies the signal. This amplifier is equipped with a volume
control that should be adjusted so that when software volume controls are at maximum,
distortion is not heard. The output of the amp drives a small 0.5 x 1.0 inch oval
speaker mounted under the top plate. The amp is shown in the picture below.
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Figure 9: Audio Amplifier
6. Vision System The VS1000 is designed to accept VS15xx series stereo vision processors from Valde
Systems, Inc. This is shown in the figure below:
Figure 10: VS1501
This processor provides power directly to the cameras, as well as control and data.
Communication is provided through the standard Ethernet interface to the SBC board.
6.1. Cameras Industry standard IEEE-1394 Firewire cameras can be used that conform to the IIDC
DCAM V1.30 standard. Power is supplied to the cameras by the VS1501. The development
platform can be ordered with a number of different cameras depending upon the
application. For some applications, color is a requirement; other times monochrome is
used.
The cameras offered all have “square pixels” which means their vertical and
horizontal height are the same. Other differences include the resolution of the camera
(number of pixels) and the rate at which new frames are acquired. The lenses supplied
with the cameras can also vary by application but most likely include general-purpose
manual lenses.
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7. Drive System
7.1. Controller The onboard motor controller is a PC-104 form factor board plugged into the SBC
processor board. A photo of the board is shown below.
Figure 11: Motor Controller
The DC servo motor interface is implemented using two LM629 motor controller chips.
These versatile chips offer powerful features that will enable complex positioning
tasks with minimal host intervention.
The channels can be programmed to operate totally independently offering a complete
subsystem for two-axis motion control using standard DC motors with encoder feedback
(often called “servo motors”). The LM629 chips include a tunable PID filter,
trajectory control unit, and position counter. These parts perform the intensive real
time computational task required in high performance digital motion control.
A powerful onboard H-bridge is used to interface directly to the motors. Over
voltage and transient protection diodes ensure reliable operation. The H-bridges are
capable of driving either 24V or alternatively 48V DC motors. The current drive
capability is rated to 10A peak using the onboard terminal blocks. Power for the
motors of the VS1000 is supplied to the board from the battery.
7.2. Motors The drive motors are standard DC brush type, rated at 12 volts drawing 1.4amps
maximum at stall. They drive a reduction gearhead with a ratio of 100:1. The output
shaft speed is 57 RPM at maximum load. Stall torque is 11 Kg-cm (9.54 lb-in).
7.3. Optical Encoders The optical encoders are mechanically connected to the output shafts of the motors.
These encoders consist of a US Digital E2 optical encoder module. The code wheels are
rated at 512 Counts-Per-Revolution (CPR) and also provide an index pulse once per
revolution.
CAUTION:
Do not damage or knock the encoders out of alignment.
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The encoders are powered by the motor controller and are connected directly to the
encoder terminal blocks on it.
7.4. Drive Configuration The two motors are arranged in a differential drive configuration. This allows the
platform to spin in place by driving one wheel forward and the other in reverse. The
basic configuration includes an omni-directional ball-type caster for balance, with an
optional chassis tilt feature available.
The wheels are 4 inches in diameter (12.566 inch circumference) and are a made of
soft durometer rubber. With a motor output shaft speed of 57 RPM, this gives a maximum
speed of 11.938 inches-per-second or .678 MPH.
8. Load Control The VS1000 is equipped with an interface for driving high current loads. There are
four channels; each is capable of sinking or sourcing up to 1.0 amps. It is possible
to use two of the outputs in a bridge configuration, allowing polarity reversal of
current flow through the load.
Typically, the outputs would be used to drive outputs such as solenoids for
activating valves or electromagnets. A picture of the load controller is shown in the
figure below:
Figure 12: Load Controller
Control of the outputs is through the general-purpose I/O of the SBC. The enable
bits are “active high” and need to be set to a “1” to enable their associated outputs.
These bits are mapped as shown in the table below.
Address Port 0 Bit Use
0x0120 7 Not Used
0x0120 6 Not Used
0x0120 5 Enable Outputs 3A,4A
0x0120 4 Output 4A
0x0120 3 Output 3A
0x0120 2 Enable Outputs 1A,2A
0x0120 1 Output 2A
0x0120 0 Output 1A
Table 1: Load Controller Bit Mapping
In addition to the actual data bits, the I/O ports on the SBC must also be
configured for the proper direction and output type. Refer to the SCB manual for
further details.
When driving inductive loads such as motors, relays, or solenoids, a “back EMF”
diode should be used at the device to protect the driver from being damaged by the
voltage spike produced when the load is de-energized. A 1N4001 diode will work for
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most applications. Depending on how the load is driven, the diode should be wired as
shown in the figure below.
From Load
Controller
Current Sourcing
Inductive
Load
From Load
ControllerCurrent Sinking
Inductive
Load
+12 Volts
Figure 13: Back EMF Diode
9. Pan and Tilt The pan and tilt of the VS1000 is accomplished by standard RC servos controlled by
the servo controller. The camera head is mechanically capable of +/- 45 degrees of pan
and tilt; however, this can be restricted depending on the size of the camera used.
Different camera options are available.
CAUTION:
Avoid damaging the servos by driving them past the mechanical limitations
caused by camera size or position.
The head also has adjustment slots that allow the cameras to be individually moved
forward and back, as well as up and down. A setscrew is provided for this purpose. The
cameras can also be moved in and out and have the verge angle adjusted by using the
camera mounting bolt. When loosened, the camera can be moved right and left in the
slot or rotated for verge angle.
When adjusting the cameras, care must be taken to duplicate the same adjustments on
both sides of the camera head. Some image processing algorithms need to know the
“baseline,” or distance from the optical center of one camera to the other.
10. Servo Control The servo controller on the VS1000 is controlled through serial port COM2. The
eight ports of the servo controller are allocated as follows:
Channel Use
0 Camera tilt
1 Camera pan
2 Open
3 Open
4 Open
5 Open
6 Open
7 Open
Table 2: Servo Controller Assignments
To command a servo to a new position requires sending three bytes at the
appropriate serial rate of 9600 baud.
<255 (sync)> <servo#> <position>
The servo controller moves that servo to the specified position and keeps it there
until told to change the position. These bytes must be sent as individual byte values,
not as text representations of numbers as you might type at a keyboard. In some
BASICs, use the CHR$ function to convert numbers to bytes.
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The Sync LED on the board can help you debug your serial routines. It lights
steadily when power is first applied to the board and stays on until the first
complete three-byte instruction is received. Thereafter, the LED lights only after a
valid sync marker and servo address are received.
It stays on until a position byte is received, then turns off. If your program is
sending lots of data to the board, the LED will appear to light steadily but will
actually be blinking very rapidly.
A 32-bit Windows DLL is available from www.seetron.com/ssc_an1.htm. Documentation
includes a complete description of the DLL, plus program examples for Microsoft Visual
BASIC 6 and Borland Delphi 5. The DLL may be used with any Windows programming
environment that supports DLLs.
A picture of the servo controller and the connections for the servos is shown in
the figure below.
Figure 14: Servo Controller
For more Mini SSC program examples plus links to users’ Mini SSC projects see
www.seetron.com/ssc.htm.
11. Options Some parts of the VS1000 are optional and may or may not be installed on your
platform.
11.1. Accelerometer An optional accelerometer can be connected to the VS1000 through serial port COM1.
This board is mounted under the top plate and uses a solid-state accelerometer to
provide tilt information. A picture of the accelerometer board is shown below:
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Figure 15: Accelerometer
This board is controlled using RS232 visible ASCII commands. This means that it
outputs and responds to actual ASCII characters within a terminal program. Be sure to
set the communication speed to 115200 8-N-1 and disable Flow Control. Following boot-
up, you should get the following message:
Shizzle Build 2.0 w/ Boot Loader
Communication: 115200 bps
Press return to start dumping…
Shizzle is the firmware designed to operate the board. Press return and the board
will start to output the current acceleration readings.
X=-0.983 Y= 1.227
X=-0.987 Y= 1.223
X=-0.984 Y= 1.229
If you press enter and get no response, double check that Flow Control has been
turned off or set to none. For more information on data format modes, refer to the
datasheet at: www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Accelerometers/SerAccel-v2.pdf
11.2. Battery Charger An external battery charger can be purchased that comes equipped with the
appropriate Jones type connector for charging the internal battery.
11.3. Wireless Ethernet The SBC can use the USB connector for a wireless 802.11b connection. There are many
available, such as the one shown in the picture below.
Figure 16: USB Wireless Ethernet Adapter
Adapters such as this are capable of point-to-point and peer-to-peer
communications, allowing multiple VS1000s to communicate directly and work together.
This capability also simplifies application development and testing, as
applications can be developed on a desktop and easily downloaded and tested.
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It is also possible to stream live compressed video back from the VS1000 using this
connection. The feed could also include graphic overlays displaying the status of the
surroundings.
11.4. Operating System The VS1000 can come pre-loaded with the latest Version of Microsoft Windows XP
operating system. This can be deleted, if desired.
11.5. Hard Disk Drive If the local Disk-on-chip or compact flash are not sufficient for the intended
application, a standard 2.5” notebook hard disk drive can be installed. This will use
the 44 pin primary IDE connector on the EBC-C3.
12. Disassembly The VS1000 was designed to be a development platform for autonomous robotic stereo
vision application development; however it is open to customization. In order to
disassemble the VS1000, follow the steps shown in the figures below. If these steps
are not followed in the correct order, damage to the VS1000 can occur.
Remove the four nuts from the vertical supports.
Figure 17: Disassembly Step 1
Unplug the power connector from the SBC and the two optical encoders.
Figure 18: Disassembly Step 2
Unplug the power connector from the VS1501
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Figure 19: Disassembly Step 3
Unplug the connections to the Servo Controller, and the Load Controller.
Figure 20: Disassembly Step 4
Hold the top plate on the sides, and lift and rotate to the right.
Figure 21: Disassembly Step 5
Holding the top plate with right hand unplug the motor connector with the left.
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Figure 22: Disassembly Step 6
Rotate top plate upside down, and place next to bottom plate.
Figure 23: Disassembly Step 7
13. Support We hope your experience with the VS1000 is trouble-free. However, if you require
technical support, we can be reached at [email protected]. All requests for
technical support will be responded to within one business day. Valde Systems, Inc.
should be contacted before any defective units are returned for repair or exchange.
Contact us at:
Valde Systems, Inc.
26 Iron Works Lane
Brookline, NH 03033
http://www.valdesystems.com
(603) 465-2515
