qfix crash-bobby User manual

www.qfix.de
Instructions
Document No. D0305005R3

Contents
1 Introduction 4
1.1 Components supplied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2 Additionally required components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3 Interesting extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4 Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2 Building the Crash Bobby 7
2.1 Step 1 - Assembling the wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 Step 2 - Assembling the motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3 Step 3 - Assembling the support wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.4 Step 4 - Assembling the sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.5 Step 5 - Fitting the controller board supports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.6 Step 6 - Mounting the wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.7 Step 7 - Mounting the support wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.8 Step 8 - Mounting the sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.9 Step 9 - Attaching the controller board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.10 Step 10 - Connecting motors and sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.11 Preparing the robot for operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3 Software installation 21
3.1 Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.2 Content of the CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.3 Installation of the WinAVR software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.4 Installation of the qfix sample software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4 First steps 25
4.1 Putting the controller into operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2

CONTENTS 3
4.2 Editing a program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.3 Compiling a program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.4 Downloading the program into the controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.5 Creating your own programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
A Controller circuitry 29
B Standard Programm 30
C Command Overview 31
C.1 Class BobbyBoard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
C.2 Class LCD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
D Demo programs 34

Chapter 1
Introduction
Congratulation on your purchase of the Crash Bobby kit!
The qfix kits are specially designed so that you can gain experience in the mechatronic
fields of mechanics, electronics and software. They are equally suited for educational
purposes in schools, universities or industry, as they are for the advanced hobby modeler
who wishes to become involved in the exciting area of robotics.
In order to keep yourself informed about the latest developments or to obtain spare parts
and extension sets or to exchange items with other qfix users, be sure to regularly visit the
qfix homepage at www.qfix.de.
We wish you many hours of enjoyment with Crash Bobby!
The qfix team
4

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 5
1.1 Components supplied
Please check the contents of the pack. If, despite our comprehensive quality control
checks, you find that individual parts are missing, please contact us immediately. The
missing parts will, of course, be dispatched to you without delay.
The Crash Bobby kit contains the following individual parts:
Mechanics
1x base plate, blue
3x sensor mount
3x distance piece
2x motor mount
1x plate1 20x20x5
1x plate2 25x20x5
2x wheel bush
4x controller board support
1x steel wire (for pennant)
1x holder for steel wire
2x wheel, diameter 50mm
1x caster wheel incl. threaded pin
11x screw M6x10
3x screw M6x20
10x screw M3x6 (for controller board and sensors)
4x screw M2x6 (for motor)
2x countersunk screw M4 (for wheel)
2x setscrew (for wheel)
2x washer (for caster wheel)
Electronic components
1x controller board
2x motor
3x distance sensor
3x sensor cable
1x download cable for parallel port
Software
1x CD with qfix software
Tools
1x hexagonal wrench, size 1.5
1x hexagonal wrench, size 2.0
1x hexagonal wrench, size 2.5
1x hexagonal wrench, size 4.0
Miscellaneous
1x “pennant” sticker

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 6
1.2 Additionally required components
For Crash Bobby, a standard model-making rechargeable battery of 7.2, 9.6 or 12 volts can
be used. However, the qfix rechargeable battery pack (order No. QAAC000) is especially
suited to this use since it already contains the required adapter cable and Velcro strips for
simple mounting of the batteries.
For charging the battery, a standard battery charger can be used or, alternatively, the qfix
plug-in battery charger (order No. RBAD000) is available.
1.3 Interesting extensions
The following extensions to the Crash-Bobby kit bring even more fun into your robotics
adventure:
•Line sensor set (No. QAAAB000) for moving along a line.
•Bumper set (No. QAAB005) to react to contact with obstacles.
•LC-display board (No. QAAF001) for displaying arbitrary information.
For beginners in computer programming the graphical programming environment “Grape”
(No. QAAH000) is an interesting tool.
1.4 Reference
This manual refers to software version 1.2.

Chapter 2
Building the Crash Bobby
2.1 Step 1 - Assembling the wheels
For assembly of the wheels, the components shown in the following picture are required:
First of all, the small setscrew should be screwed into the side of the wheel bush. Next, the
wheel bushes should be pushed as far as possible into the wheels, so that the countersunk
screw M4 can be inserted from the other side. This is then tightened with the appropriate
hexagonal wrench.
The assembled wheels are shown in the next picture:
7

CHAPTER 2. BUILDING THE CRASH BOBBY 8
2.2 Step 2 - Assembling the motors
In order that the motors can subsequently be screwed on to the base plate, they must first
of all be assembled on the motor mounts. The required components are shown in the next
picture:
The motors are located in the large recess of the motor mounts and tightened using the
small screws M2x6. Take care with plastic threads – do not overtighten the screws!
Finally, the pre-assembled wheels are placed on to the motor axles and the setscrew is
tightened:

CHAPTER 2. BUILDING THE CRASH BOBBY 9
2.3 Step 3 - Assembling the support wheel
For assembly of the support wheel on the rectangular mounting plate, the components
shown in the following picture are required:
The washers are used as distance spacers and are simply placed on to the threaded pin.
Afterwards, the threaded pin is then screwed firmly into the single threaded hole located
in the rectangular plate.

CHAPTER 2. BUILDING THE CRASH BOBBY 10
2.4 Step 4 - Assembling the sensors
In order that the sensors can subsequently be screwed on to the base plate, they must
first of all be assembled on the sensor mounts. The necessary components are shown in
the following picture:
The three sensors are each screwed to the mounts using two screws. The next picture
shows the assembled sensors:

CHAPTER 2. BUILDING THE CRASH BOBBY 11
2.5 Step 5 - Fitting the controller board supports
The controller board supports are now screwed into the base plate. The base plate and
four controller board supports are required:
As shown in the following picture, two of the supports are screwed into the corner locations
of the outermost row of threaded holes. The two further supports are then fixed in an offset
position using two threaded holes of the intermediate area.

CHAPTER 2. BUILDING THE CRASH BOBBY 12
2.6 Step 6 - Mounting the wheels
In this step, the pre-assembled wheels can be mounted on the base plate. The following
components are required:
The wheel supports are located directly next to the controller board supports and screwed
from above with the screws M6x10.
Caution: The wheels must be mounted in such a way that the wheel axles protrude from
the bottom of the support, so that the “ground clearance” is therefore as large as possible.

CHAPTER 2. BUILDING THE CRASH BOBBY 13
2.7 Step 7 - Mounting the support wheel
Two screws are also required for mounting the pre-assembled support wheel:
The mounting plate is placed on the base plate from above and then screwed on from
below using the screws M6x10.

CHAPTER 2. BUILDING THE CRASH BOBBY 14
2.8 Step 8 - Mounting the sensors
Now, the square mounting plate is required, to which the middle distance sensor will sub-
sequently be screwed.
First, one of the three screws M6x10 is screwed firmly into the single threaded hole located
in the plate. Then, in the same way as for the support wheel, the plate is placed on top of
the base plate and screwed on from below:
Next, the three distance pieces and two further screws M6x10 are required:

CHAPTER 2. BUILDING THE CRASH BOBBY 15
The distance piece for the middle sensor is fitted on the screw which projects upwards in
the square plate. The two further distance pieces are placed on the front right and left
corner holes of the base plate and screwed on from below:
The longer M6x20 screws are now required in order to screw the pre-assembled sensors
on to the distance pieces:
The sensors are screwed firmly on to the mounts with the connection facing downwards.
The middle sensor should point exactly straight ahead, while the side sensors should point
outwards at a slight angle:

CHAPTER 2. BUILDING THE CRASH BOBBY 16
2.9 Step 9 - Attaching the controller board
For the attachment of the controller board, 4 screws M3x6 are required:
With these, the controller board should be screwed on to the four supports so that the
connections for the sensors are located at the front and, therefore, lie close to the sensors.

CHAPTER 2. BUILDING THE CRASH BOBBY 17
2.10 Step 10 - Connecting motors and sensors
As the last step, it now remains to connect the motors and sensors to the controller board.
For this, the three sensor cables are required:
The sensors are connected to the connections An0 to An3; the motors are connected to
the connections Mot0 and Mot1. In order that the supplied software will run without any
changes being required, the connection configuration should be as follows:
An0=left sensor, An1=middle sensor, An2=right sensor
Mot0=left motor, Mot1=right motor
Finally, the cables should now be “concealed” below the controller board:

CHAPTER 2. BUILDING THE CRASH BOBBY 18

CHAPTER 2. BUILDING THE CRASH BOBBY 19
In order to give Crash Bobby the finishing touch, its pennant must of course be attached.
For this, the following parts are required:
The holder for the steel wire is screwed on to the screw of the support wheel, which
projects upwards. Then, the pennant sticker can be detached and the steel wire laid
exactly on the center line, so that the two points of the pennant are brought together in
precise alignment. Now, the finished pennant is pushed into the holder complete!

CHAPTER 2. BUILDING THE CRASH BOBBY 20
2.11 Preparing the robot for operation
In order to put the robot into operation, a rechargeable battery is required. The following
picture shows the qfix rechargeable battery pack with its components:
The Velcro strip is simply fixed to the base plate with adhesive; the velour strip is positioned
on the underside of the battery pack. One piece of adhesive tape helps to secure the
cable to the battery without being disturbing. After plugging in the adapter cable, the robot
is ready for operation.