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You're reading from  Raspberry Pi Robotic Projects - Third Edition

Product typeBook
Published inOct 2016
Reading LevelBeginner
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ISBN-139781786467966
Edition3rd Edition
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Authors (2):
Richard Grimmett
Richard Grimmett
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Richard Grimmett

Dr. Richard Grimmett has been fascinated by computers and electronics from his very first programming project, which used Fortran on punch cards. He has bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering and a PhD in leadership studies. He also has 26 years of experience in the radar and telecommunications industries, and even has one of the original brick phones. He now teaches computer science and electrical engineering at Brigham Young University, Idaho, where his office is filled with his many robotics projects.
Read more about Richard Grimmett

Jon Witts
Jon Witts
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Jon Witts

Jon Witts has been working within the IT industry since 2002 and specifically within Educational IT since 2004. He was introduced to Linux back in 2001 through his collaboration with two German artists who were visiting the arts organisation he was then working with. Having studied Fine Arts and Educational Technology and sought to innovate with open and accessible digital technologies within his creative practice, Jon is happiest when deconstructing technology and finding its limits. Jon has embedded within his school the use of Raspberry Pi computers, as an integral part of the delivery of the school's Computer Science curriculum as well as to run various school clubs and projects. Jon is a Raspberry Pi Certified Educator and also helps to organise and run the Hull Raspberry Jam events. I would like to thank my wife, Sally and our three daughters for putting up with all the cables and compoents around the house, and not least for being so tolerant of the need to dodge the robots racing round the kitchen floor!
Read more about Jon Witts

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Communicating between the servo controller and a PC


Now that the servo controller is connected ,you can use some software provided by Pololu to control the servos. This is done just to make sure you have everything hooked up correctly, and to set the controller's setting. Unfortunately, the software won't run on the Raspberry Pi; you'll need to do this using your personal computer. First, download the Pololu Software from www.pololu.com/docs/0J40/3.a and install it according to the instructions on the website.

Once it is installed, run the software, and you should see this screen:

You will first need to change the configuration on Serial Settings, so select the Serial Settings tab, and you should see this:

Make sure that the USB Chained is selected; this will allow you to connect and control the motor controller over USB. Now go back to the main screen by selecting the Status tab, and now you can actually turn on the 12 servos. The screen should look like this:

Now you can use the sliders...

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Raspberry Pi Robotic Projects - Third Edition
Published in: Oct 2016Publisher: ISBN-13: 9781786467966

Authors (2)

author image
Richard Grimmett

Dr. Richard Grimmett has been fascinated by computers and electronics from his very first programming project, which used Fortran on punch cards. He has bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering and a PhD in leadership studies. He also has 26 years of experience in the radar and telecommunications industries, and even has one of the original brick phones. He now teaches computer science and electrical engineering at Brigham Young University, Idaho, where his office is filled with his many robotics projects.
Read more about Richard Grimmett

author image
Jon Witts

Jon Witts has been working within the IT industry since 2002 and specifically within Educational IT since 2004. He was introduced to Linux back in 2001 through his collaboration with two German artists who were visiting the arts organisation he was then working with. Having studied Fine Arts and Educational Technology and sought to innovate with open and accessible digital technologies within his creative practice, Jon is happiest when deconstructing technology and finding its limits. Jon has embedded within his school the use of Raspberry Pi computers, as an integral part of the delivery of the school's Computer Science curriculum as well as to run various school clubs and projects. Jon is a Raspberry Pi Certified Educator and also helps to organise and run the Hull Raspberry Jam events. I would like to thank my wife, Sally and our three daughters for putting up with all the cables and compoents around the house, and not least for being so tolerant of the need to dodge the robots racing round the kitchen floor!
Read more about Jon Witts