Instruction Manual for BE-SP3 Circuit. 10/21/07

Page 1 of 54 Instruction Manual for BE-SP3 Circuit. 10/21/07 Page 1 Index: Page 2 BE-SP3 Circuit Specifications. Page 3-4 Intro to the BE-SP3. Page 5 Basics of serial to parallel. Page 6-7 ASCII Code. Page 8 What does the BE-SP3 circuit do? Page 9 Load chart to determine what can or can t be connected to the BE-SP3. Page 10-11 Pictures and Pin definitions for the connectors. Page 12 Connections you need to know about. Page 13 How to run onboard LED s and external devices with the BE-SP3. Page 14 How to run 2 Stepper motors. Page 15 How to run 4 DC motors. Page 16 How to read 4 analog voltages. Page 17 How to read 5 digital bits. Page 18 How to latch 8 output data bits. Page 19 How to make a Marquee. Page 20-23 Running Bob s Terminal program. Page 24 Explanation of each Mode. Page 25 More on Parallel Mode. Page 26-33 Running Andy s Custom program. Page 34 RS232 communication setup. Page 35 Keyboard Commands for Stepper Mode. Page 36 Keyboard Commands for Bit Motor Mode. Page 37 Keyboard Commands for Read Input Mode. Analog ( 50Volt DC ). Page 38 Keyboard Commands for Read Input Mode. Analog ( 5Volt DC ). Page 39 Keyboard Commands for Read Input Mode. 5 bit Digital ( 5Volt DC ). Page 40 How to Use a VOM. Page 41 Connector type Pictures. Page 42 Add on Options for the BE-SP3. Page 43 BE-SP6 Circuit Specifications. Page 44-45 External or Stand-alone Stepper Driver Circuit. Page 46-48 How a Stepper Motor works. Page 49 More on RELAYS. Page 50 How to run 1 to 8 Power Relays for Car Lights. (ADULT PROJECT) Page 51 How to run 1 to 8 Power Relays for 110 VAC. (ADULT PROJECT) Page 52 Do s and Don ts. Page 53 Disclaimer. Page 54 Pictures. Copyright Robert D. Roan 2007 Colorado USA

Page 2 of 54 BE-SP3 Circuit Specifications: Recommended operating conditions: POWER: BE-SP3 control Input Voltage BE-SP3 control Input Current @ 9VDC BE-SP3 Power Driver Input Voltage BE-SP3 Power Driver Input Current ** BE-SP3 Output +5 volts. Output Data speed for Steppers. Stepper(s) run in ½ step mode. 7 to 18 VDC. ( 9V is best ). With reverse protection diode. 128mA = 10 Leds on, (65mA = 2 on). No external loads. 5 to 46 VDC (8A) 4 Amps per package or 2 Amp on 2 channels (<25W). 5V under 100 ma (used only for auxiliary circuit power). Avg 3.23 ms (309 Hz) = (45 RPM with 1.8 deg Stepper). (309 Hz or Pulses per second, running in ½ step mode). Each delay adds ~0.24ms = (Subtract ~15 Pulses per sec). A stepper in ½ step mode needs 400 pulses for 1 full turn. Output Data speed for Bit Motor. Norm 6.0 ms (166 Hz ) = (50 to 25 RPM ). (166 Hz, Pulses per second, 50 full or 25 in half step mode). Each delay adds ~0.24ms = (Subtract ~15 Pulses per sec). Output Strobe (Clock) width. Output Power Driver Channels Output Power Driver Source or Sink ** 0.43 ms (Low High Low). Strobes when Data changes. 8 (with high speed clamp diodes) 46 VDC or 2 Amps max and <(25 Watts per Driver). Operating temperature. 0c to 70c ( Open air ). SIGNALS: Analog Input Voltage range. (Factory default) 0-50 VDC V = 0.000 x 10 ( i.e. 49.99V = 4.999 display ). Analog Input Voltage range. (Modified) 0-5 VDC V = 0.000 x 1 ( i.e. 3.456V = 3.456 display ). Analog voltage Sample rate. 11 ms per channel (90 Hz) = (~90 samples per second). Analog Input Channels. 4 Digital Input Voltage range. 0-5 VDC (TTL). Digital Input Sample rate. 20 ms (50 Hz) = (~50 samples per second). Digital Input Channels. 5 Digital Data Display Sent to Computer = (11111 31) Bits 1 to 5 and Decimal. RS232 Baud rate. 19200 RS232 Communication. 1 8 none 2 RS232 Flow Control. Hardware CTS and DSR USB to RS232 cable input connector. Has on board jumper for USB 5V power connection. ** Driver IC s ( 2 on board) will drive up to 25 watts per IC, or up to 1 Amp continuous per channel. Use fan and/or add Appropriate heatsink(s) when needed. Max Driver Volts = 50. (Recommended Volts = 46). One (4 channel Driver) IC can drive: 2 channels with 2 Amps each or 4 channels with 1 Amp each. Do not exceed power ratings, see load chart for more details. Copyright Robert D. Roan 2007 Colorado USA

Page 3 of 54 Introduction to the BE-SP3 Circuit: This Project is for robotics students and anyone wanting to understand basic electronics. What you need: BE-SP3 Instruction Manual. BE-SP3 Circuit board from, with software CD. 7 to 18VDC Power supply to run BE-SP3 Circuit. 25 pin Male Dsub connector to connect your wires to. We can supply. 9 pin RS232 Cable. We can supply. ** Optional USB to RS232 cable. We can supply. Computer that has a RS232 connector (also known as a serial port), or USB. Computer Port set to 19200 baud (1 8 n 2) flow control = hardware. ** Optional 2 or 4 Stepper Motor(s), 4 BE-SP6 stepper driver circuits & Power Supply. Ok now, on to the good stuff. BE-SP3 Circuit runs 5 tasks. Not just one or two. With this circuit you can run 2 Steppers or 4 DC motors, turn 8 lights or relays on and off, read sensors, read volts, read switches and binary code. You can learn what ASCII code is, understand what serial and parallel data is. With no end to robotic projects or more. This BE-SP3 Circuit will listen and talk to your Computer using serial communication. This Manual will help you understand what how to the BE-SP3 and BE-SP6 circuits. This is a picture of the BE-SP3 Circuit Board Power Connector 1 2.1 MM type (Center +) Power Connection 3 Solder wire in type. Standard Heatsink 5V Regulator Programmed Micro Processor 17 Protection Diodes on back Solder cups for your wires + 5 Volt Power LED Input for RS232 9 pin cable connector BE-SP3 Busy LED Power Connector 2 Wire type. Input / Output Solder cup connector. 8 bit TTL output connector Optional USB to RS232 adapter cable connector. Black wire goes to Square pad. 8 LED s to display Data 2 Dual H bridge Power Drivers 2 to 4 Amps* Optional USB to RS232 adapter cable. When using this cable you can power the 5volts from USB. Note: You Must remove Q1 from BE-SP3. Copyright Robert D. Roan 2007 Colorado USA 5 TTL inputs 4 Analog inputs 8 Power outputs 2 Power inputs. Strobe output Reset input 5V Power output Ground

Page 4 of 54 9 to 18 VDC Power Supply 5V to 46V 8A Power Supply 5 bits as Digital Inputs BE-SP3 Circuit 8 LED s 4 bits as Analog Inputs 8 bits as Power/ Digital Outputs 5 bits as Digital Inputs 5 Switches as Digital Inputs Or 5 Buttons as Digital Inputs 8 bits as Power/ Digital Outputs Run 8 Lights or Relays as Digital Outputs Or run 2 Stepper Motors Or run 4 DC Motors 4 bits as Analog Inputs 4 Analog Inputs Copyright Robert D. Roan 2007 Colorado USA

Page 5 of 54 Basics of Serial to Parallel: In this experiment you will send a number ( 0 to 255 ) to another person behind wall. If you can t talk to, or see them, but you need to get (your) number to them, how can you do this? Picture a pipe with 8 loading tubes on top left. Add side holes so you can see balls inside pipe. Picture 8 black and white balls that will fit inside pipe, ok now mix the balls up so you get 8 total, with some white and some black, they represent (8 Bits that are high or low) that s computer talk for a BYTE. How would you get that black white pattern to another place without losing the pattern? Load the 8 balls in ( Parallel ) that means put all 8 in the loading tubes at same time. Wall 1 2 4 8163264128 Pipe You now have balls ready to send down the pipe. But how do you know what number you are sending? Add the numbers under the Black balls, you get 35. 1+2+32 = 35 Wall 1 2 4 8163264128 Pipe Tip pipe so balls roll to right side and show in windows. You just ( Transmitted ) 8 bits of serial information. Now the other person can (receive) the number 35. Wall One bit at a time, just like a Computer does. Just like the BE-SP3 Circuit does. Pipe 1 2 4 8163264128 Wall This is what the BE-SP3 Circuit is doing inside, plus lots more. FYI: Computers work by using things called bits, they are on/off, Hi/Low, 5v/0v, 1/0, H/L it all means the same. Bit 1 = Nibble 4 = Byte 8 = Word 16 = Pipe 1 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 Copyright Robert D. Roan 2007 Colorado USA

Page 6 of 54 ASCII Code: Ok, so big deal you say? What s it good for? The BE-SP3 Circuit listens to the Serial data sent by the Computer and understands what you want it to do. You need to send certain numbers that it knows about so it will do what you asked. Remember the computer only sends Numbers through the cable, its up to the BE-SP3 to understand what the computer sent. The BE-SP3 does not care that the bit pattern happens to represent a number or letter. When the computer sends it is only sending the Number 116 One way to make the computer send 116 is by pressing the t key, when you are using a program. When the BE-SP3 gets the it will look for that bit pattern in its table of commands then do what that command tells it to do. It has no idea the pattern represents a t in ASCII code. It thinks when it sees it should go to toggle mode, only because that s what s in its table of commands. And that s what it s program tells it to do. How do you know what numbers (pattern) are sent when you press a key? You go look it up in the ASCII Table. See next page. So sending Hello through the pipe, would be like this: H = 72 = Goes into the pipe first. e = 101 = Goes into the pipe Next. l = 108 = l = 108 = o = 111 = 1 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 Goes into the pipe Last. The computer sends 72 101 108 108 111. The BE-SP3 won t know what hello means because those bit patterns are not in it s table of commands. It will send back Error when you send anything that s not in it s instruction table. Well how do you send the right Number or keyboard Letter to make the BE-SP3 do something? Here are the Main Menu commands that the BE-SP3 will respond to, there are more commands that become active when you get into the Sub Menus. Main Menu p Parallel out default Converts RS232 to Parallel Output t Toggle Toggles 8 power output pins ON/OFF s Steppers Runs 2 Stepper Motors CCW or CW b Bit motor Runs drivers for 4 Stepper Motors CCW or CW i read Input Reads 4 analog or 5 Digital Inputs ESC Main Menu Prints Main Menu So we need to understand what it is we are going to send. Is it just 8 bits in some random order? Naw, Somebody came up with a code for that stuff its called ASCII. Copyright Robert D. Roan 2007 Colorado USA

Page 7 of 54 ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. Go here for full list of ASCII codes (http://www.asciitable.com) Every number from 0 to 255 has Something assigned to it, like numbers or letters. But only the first 126 of them ( Keyboard Keys known as ASCII characters) can be sent with your keyboard. The others are used for talking in code to printers or other things. Numbers below 32 are reserved for keys like ESC and keys that don t print to the screen like Enter. Here is a list of some of the ASCII codes: 32 = Space 65 = A 97 = a 33 =! 66 = B 98 = b 34 = 67 = C 99 = c 35 = # 68 = D 100 = d 36 = $ 69 = E 101 = e 37 = % 70 = F 102 = f 38 = & 71 = G 103 = g 39 = 72 = H 104 = h 40 = ( 73 = I 105 = i 41 = ) 74 = J 106 = j 42 = * 75 = K 107 = k 43 = + 76 = L 108 = l 44 =, 77 = M 109 = m 45 = - 78 = N 110 = n 46 =. 79 = O 111 = o 47 = / 80 = P 112 = p 48 = 0 81 = Q 113 = q 49 = 1 82 = R 114 = r 50 = 2 83 = S 115 = s 51 = 3 84 = T 116 = t 52 = 4 85 = U 117 = u 53 = 5 86 = V 118 = v 54 = 6 87 = W 119 = w 55 = 7 88 = X 120 = x 56 = 8 89 = Y 121 = y 57 = 9 90 = Z 122 = z 58 = : 91 = [ 123 = { 59 = ; 92 = \ 123 = 60 = < 93 = ] 125 = } 61 = = 94 = ^ 126 = ~ 62 = > 95 = _ 63 =? 96 = ` 64 = @ You can send more codes from the Keyboard by holding the Ctrl or Alt key down and pressing other keys. Be carefull what you send, your computer might not like some key combinations. Note: Press Shift Cntl @ to clear all 8 of the leds, that puts a binary zero out. Copyright Robert D. Roan 2007 Colorado USA

Page 8 of 54 What does the BE-SP3 Circuit do? The BE-SP3 listens to the computer commands and uses them to tell its little brain what to do. Depending on what you send it, you can run DC or Stepper motors, turn lights on and off, read volts, read switches,read sensors, and lots lots more. So if you make the computer send a t, (binary 116) the BE-SP3 brain will think you want to get into the toggle mode, so you can toggle the 8 LED s (and output bits) on and off by pressing keys 1-8. See Explanation of each Mode page for a complete list of commands. Connect BE-SP3 Circuit up with its small Serial cable connected to the computer Comm port 1. Plug in power to the BE-SP3 Circuit. (7 to 12VDC) Plug in the 25 pin connector, wired to your steppers or relays or switches or whatever you have. 25 pin Male Dsub (Solder cup) Connector. More on connections later. Pin 1 Location Your computer can talk to the BE-SP3 Circuit, in 3 different ways. 1 Run our Custom Program from Andy s Automation and type in or push buttons on screen. 2 Run our BobsTerminal.exe 3 Create your own program to send serial bytes. Running our Custom Program you can make BE-SP3 Circuit do the following: Toggle any 8 LED lights on and off. Internal LED s are on the (BE-SP3 Circuit Board) Send ASCII or binary code from data you typed into program windows. Send data to a Marquee sign. Directly Power 8 outputs. Up to 46 volts or 2 amps, See Motor or "Load" Resistance Chart. Directly run 2 Stepper Motors. Up to 46 volts or 2 amps Directly run 4 DC motors. Up to 46 volts or 2 amps Full speed or off. Send signals to 4 Stepper Motors if you have BE-SP6 stepper drivers for them. Sends TTL signals Saves the Stepper Motor directions and steps that you typed, into a file so you can Play it back. Saves all your commands into a file, you can edit or read from the file and run it later. Read 5 (Digital) input bits to see if they are high or low. Read 4 (Analog) input bits and see what voltage is on them. Andy s Automation Custom Program Example: If you wanted to run the LED s in a pattern for a color light show on a stage. Just hit the toggle tab on screen, and then press Button 1 through 8 to Toggle the LED s on or off. Pressing button 1, three times will turn LED 1, on, off, on. That s what Toggle means. The Custom Program will keep track of what you did. It can send all of it to a file when you press the save file button on screen. Refer to the (Custom Program) commands and connections section for more info. Copyright Robert D. Roan 2007 Colorado USA

Page 9 of 54 Load Chart: Motor or Load [Ohms] 105 100 95 90 85 80 75 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Eg. 30 Oh m M oto r Pow ered w ith 24 Volts. M otor or "Load" Resistance Chart Safe Operating Area. Eg. 20 Oh m M o tor Po w e re d w ith 24 V o lts. Ove rhe ats Drive r IC Overheat Area 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0 40.0 45.0 50.0 Pow er Supply [Volts] Ok, so you found some old Steppers, DC Motors, BIG Lights, Solonoids or Relays and you want to know if you can control them with the BE-SP3 board? First Read the info on the motor or relay if you have it? Note: if something is rated with a Maximum or running Voltage, it s not good to go over it. The motor or relay resistance in ohms should be more than the ohms shown on the (Motor or "Load" Resistance Chart) when you power it with the volts you want. i.e. You have a 36 volt power supply, look at the bottom scale on chart then go up from the 36 untill you get out of the dark area, now go Left. You will see the 50 ohms on the left scale. So you see, you can only run a motor that has 50 ohms or more restance at 36 volts. So if your motor has 40 ohms? You will over heat the drivers, and the Motor can get too hot.!!!! Well here is how you find out for sure and not use the burned fingers on the hot driver chip test. First you need a VOM (volt ohm meter) Refer to the ( How to use a VOM page ) Set it to measure resistance (100 or 200 ohms scale) Inside the Stepper you will find 2 coils, that will be the 4 or 6 wire kind of stepper. Some steppers have 5 or 6 wires some have only 4. Measure between all the wires. Lets say you found the following: 1 4 1 to 2 = 25 ohms Coil 1 1 to 3 = 50 ohms ** N Coil 2 2 to 3 = 25 ohms 2 5 4 to 5 = 25 ohms S 4 to 6 = 50 ohms ** 3 6 5 to 6 = 25 ohms All other combinations = open (same as not connecting the VOM wires to anything) 1 2 3 4 5 6 This would be a 50 Ohm (6 wire Stepper Motor). You can run it at or under 36 volts Use wires 1,3,4 and 6. Not 2 and 5. (2 and 5 are called Center taps). In a 4 wire Motor (Bi-polar) you would not have wires coming out from 2 and 5. In a 5 wire Motor (Uni-polar) 2 and 5 are tied together inside, and come out on just one wire. Copyright Robert D. Roan 2007 Colorado USA

Page 10 of 54 Connector Pictures: You need to solder wires into your connector. The one that fits into this one. Pin One on our BE-SP3 Connector It s Not a good idea to push wires into these holes as wires can break off inside and plug holes. DSUB25 for BE-SP3 Driver Power Supply Inputs 5 to 46 Volts DC Important Note: See Power chart Input 4 (Analog 3) 1 Input 1 (Analog 0) 2 Input 2 (Analog 1) 3 (+) Driver Power 4 (-) Driver Ground 5 Output 8 (Bit 8) 6 Output 7 (Bit 7) 7 Output 6 (Bit 6) 8 Output 5 (Bit 5) 9 Output 4 (Bit 4) 10 Output 3 (Bit 3) 11 Output 2 (Bit 2) 12 Output 1 (Bit 1) 13 14 Input 3 (Analog 2) 15 Reset ( Pull Low ) 16 (+) Main Power In (+7 to +18VDC) 17 (-) Main Ground 18 Open 19 Internal +5 100mA Out 20 Strobe Signal Out 21 Input 1 (port C 3 w pullup) Digital 22 Input 2 (port C 4 w pullup) Digital 23 Input 3 (port C 5 w pullup) Digital 24 Input 4 (port C 6 w pullup) Digital 25 Input 5 (port C 7 w pullup) Digital BE-SP3 Power Supply Inputs If powering from this Connector. ( 9VDC is best) DSUB9 for BE-SP3 Open 1 Data In 2 Data Out 3 Open 4 Ground 5 6 Data Set Ready 7 Open 8 Clear To Send 9 Open Pin One Location on Your Connector Solder wires into the solder cups Copyright Robert D. Roan 2007 Colorado USA