240-048

Motor Robot Kit (MRK) Reference Manual 1300 Henley Court, Suite 3 Pullman, WA 99163 (509) 334 6306 Voice | (509) 334 6300 Fax Revision: August 1, 2012 Overview The Digilent Motor Robot Kit (MRK) provides the perfect starting point for those new to robotics, but has the power to be used for advanced designs and applications as well. The MRK pairs our powerful Cerebot™ MX4cK microcontroller development board with a rugged steel platform and all the motors, wheels, and other parts needed to build a complete robot. This document demonstrates a simple design that will get your MRK up and running, advancing the robot forward at the press of a button. Using your MRK’s powerful Cerebot MX4cK microcontroller, you’ll be able to add all sorts of functionality to your robot. Add some of our extensive line of peripheral modules (Pmods™) and you can design almost anything! Your Cerebot MX4cK can be programmed with either Microchip MPLAB® IDE or chipKIT™ MPIDE. Microchip MPLAB IDE can be downloaded for free from microchip.com. chipKIT MPIDE can be downloaded for free from github.com/chipKIT32/chipKIT32-MAX/downloads. The demo project used in this design can be downloaded from the Motor Robot Kit product page at digilentinc.com. For more information on programming the Cerebot MX4cK with MPLAB or MPIDE, see the Cerebot MX4cK Reference Manual, available from the Cerebot MX4cK product page at digilentinc.com. Included parts: • • • • • Cerebot MX4cK Two PmodHB5 2A H-bridge motor amplifiers with attachment clips and 6-pin cables metal standoffs for microcontroller board rugged metal platform with holes on 1/2" center two 1/19 ratio motor/gearbox drives with ABS plastic wheels (1/53 gear ratio motors also available) • rugged plastic wheels and drag button • rugged metal motor mount • all wiring and assembly hardware included Functional Description The rugged steel components have holes on 1/2" centers so Digilent circuit boards and other vendors’ products can be easily attached. The following tools are recommended for robot assembly: • • • regular and small Phillips head screwdrivers adjustable wrench pliers Doc: 516-000 page 1 of 8 Copyright Digilent, Inc. All rights reserved. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners. MRK Reference Manual • wire stripper Example Assembly 1. Place the motor mount on the right side of the platform. Attach it with two screws. 2. Attach the motors to the motor mount with the miniature screws. www.digilentinc.com page 2 of 8 Copyright Digilent, Inc. All rights reserved. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners. MRK Reference Manual 3. Attach the battery holder to the platform (near the motor mount) using the shorter Velcro strip. 4. Attach the Pmod clips to the metal platform on both sides of the battery holder. www.digilentinc.com page 3 of 8 Copyright Digilent, Inc. All rights reserved. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners. MRK Reference Manual 5. Attach the drag button to the platform, below the battery holder. 6. Attach the two PmodHB5 modules to the Pmod clips and connect them to the motors. www.digilentinc.com page 4 of 8 Copyright Digilent, Inc. All rights reserved. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners. MRK Reference Manual 7. Get the two wheels and the rubber traction bands. Stretch the rubber band around the outside of the wheel. Attach the wheels to the motors. 8. Compare your Cerebot MX4cK board to the picture below. Note that the blue shorts are attached to each jumper as shown. Remove the rubber feet from the bottom of the corners of the Cerebot MX4cK. Attach the standoffs to the board using the mounting screws. Mount the Cerebot MX4cK board to the top side of the platform. Be careful not to cross thread the screws while mounting the Cerebot MX4cK board. www.digilentinc.com page 5 of 8 Copyright Digilent, Inc. All rights reserved. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners. MRK Reference Manual 9. Connect the two PmodHB5 modules to port JD on the Cerebot MX4cK board using the two 6pin cables. Using the PmodHB5s, connect the left motor to the bottom row of JD, and the right motor to the top row of JD. Use the marker on the cable connector to ensure that pin placements are in alignment when connecting the boards. See the pictures below. www.digilentinc.com page 6 of 8 Copyright Digilent, Inc. All rights reserved. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners. MRK Reference Manual 10. Strip ½” of insulation from both ends of all four 22-gauge power wires. 11. Route power wires from each PmodHB5 to the J18 power connector on the Cerebot MX4cK board, noting ground and voltage connections. www.digilentinc.com page 7 of 8 Copyright Digilent, Inc. All rights reserved. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners. MRK Reference Manual 12. When you are ready to power the board, add four AA batteries to the battery pack, and connect the power cable from the battery pack to the J14 battery power connector on the Cerebot MX4cK board. MPLAB or MPIDE can now be used to program the MotorRobot demo project to the board. Again, this demo project can be downloaded from the Motor Robot Kit product page at digilentinc.com. Note that running the reference design requires that the power select mode jumper J12 be shorted to External Power (EXT). Once the board has been programmed with the reference design, pressing BTN2 will cause the motors to turn while pressing BTN1 will cause them to stop. www.digilentinc.com page 8 of 8 Copyright Digilent, Inc. All rights reserved. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners.