CURRENT ISSUE Contests
Feature Article
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Issue #212 March 2008
Robotics with Ada95
by Daniel Ramirez
Start | Why Use Ada95 For Robotics? | GNAT Ada95 Tools | Debugging Ada95 Applications | Ada95 Coding Style |Wireless Sensor Controller | Wireless Messages | The Glove In Action | XYZ Accelerometers | XBee-PRO Wireless UART | Controller Range | USB 2.0 Interface | Ethernet | The Kernel | Ada95 vs. Other Languages | Future Applications | Sources & PDF
USB 2.0 INTERFACE
A Microchip Technology PIC18F4550 USB 2.0 controller provides a convenient method to directly connect embedded controllers to Ada95-based applications running on a laptop or PC by using the USB interface with USB 2.0. This is accomplished by taking advantage of a virtual COM port (VCP), as described in Microchip’s USB application notes. It communicates with the dsPIC30F6014 Vex Power Glove controller via the 8-bit SPI bus. You can also purchase a complete USB 2.0 development kit, a PIC18F4550 USB 2.0 controller (PICDEM full-speed USB demonstration board DM163025) that includes a board and all the necessary firmware. I used this board for some of my other USB applications, including a USB high-performance DC motor controller.
The Vex Power Glove can also be directly connected to a PC or laptop as a motion-input device. Of course, this requires the glove to be tethered to a PC or laptop with a USB cable. Doing so provides a convenient way to calibrate, evaluate, and test the glove with resources such as MATLAB and Excel for visualizing the data and analyzing it. You can use GNAT Ada95, Microsoft Visual Basic, or Microsoft Visual C++ for laptop-based glove applications.
