Robotex AVATAR III User manual

2014Edition
AVATAR®III 
UserManual






www.robotex.com 

 
 
2Avatar®IIIUserManualRevD12/2015

TableofContents
SafetyInformation3
Avatar®IIIOverview4
BasicSetup5‐8
Pre‐useSetup5‐7
SettinguptheFlippers5
InstallingtheBattery5
AttachingtheAntennas6
PoweringOntheRobotandController7
Post‐UseMaintenance8
ChargingtheRobotBattery8
ChargingtheControllerBattery8
FoldingintheFlippers8
HandheldControllerOverview9‐19
BasicAvatar®Controls10
ControllerTouchscreenFunctionsandDisplay12‐19
VideoRecording16
PTZControls17
MaintenanceChecklist21
Troubleshooting22‐25
CustomerCare26
WarrantyandMaintenance27
WarrantyContact27
MaintenanceOptions27
ProtectYourRobot28

 
 
3Avatar®IIIUserManualRevD12/2015


SafetyInformation

ReadthismanualcarefullybeforeoperatingtheAvatar®III.

CarefullyinspecttheAvatar®IIIbeforeeachuse.

Ensurethatallpartsaresecuredinplaceandproperlyinstalled.Donottrytomakerepairs
yourself.Partsmaynotworkproperlyiftheyhavebeenrepairedbyapartyotherthan
RoboteX,Inc.

Donotmodifyanycomponentsontherobotyourself.Doingsomaycausepermanent
damagenotcoveredbyyourwarranty.

Donotplacefingersinbetweenthetracksorflipperswhentheunitispoweredon.Keep
fingersandotherbodypartsawayfrommovingpartsatalltimes.

CareshouldbetakenwhenrunningtheAvatar®IIInearpedestrians,smallchildren,or
objectsthatcanbeharmed.Beawareofyourandtherobot’ssurroundingsatalltimes.

ACAdapterHandling:
UseonlythesuppliedACadapter.DonotuseanyotherunauthorizedACadapters.
DamagetorobotandbatterymayoccurfromuseofalternateACadapters.

FCCCaution:Thisequipmentgeneratesandusesradiofrequencyenergyandmaycause
interferencetoexternalreceptionifnotinstalledandusedproperlyinstrictaccordance
withthemanufacturer’sinstructions.

Beforeswitchingpayloads/accessoriesontherobot,makesurethebatteryisunplugged
andtheunitispowereddown.







 
 
4Avatar®IIIUserManualRevD12/2015

Avatar®IIIOverview
TheAvatar®IIIisacompact,lightweightroboticplatformthatispartof
theRoboteXAvatar®Series.Designedfromthegroundupfor
portability,expandability,andease‐of‐use,theAvatar®IIIservesasa
usefultoolforavarietyofusers.

TheAvatar®IIIcanbecustomizedwithavarietyofplug‐and‐play
accessories.Theseaccessoriesfacilitateuseoftherobotinavarietyof
scenarios,includingTactical,CBRNE,EOD,K9,andpersonalsecurity
settings.Visitwww.robotex.comorcontactyourAccountManagerfor
moreinformation.

 
 
5Avatar®IIIUserManualRevD12/2015

BasicSetupandMaintenance

1) Pre‐UseSetup
A) SettinguptheFlippers
Beforedrivingtherobot,pleasemakesurethatbothsetsofflippersareunfoldedand
lockedinplace.Iftherobotisbeingtakenoutofacase,itislikelythatbothsetsofflippers
willbefoldedin.
Straightenoutthefrontsetandbacksetofflippersseparately.Whenunfoldingasetof
flippers(frontorback),makesuretogripbothflippersandmovethetwoflippersineach
pair(frontpairorbackpair)atthesametime.Pushoutward(awayfrompayloadports‐
it’sOKtoapplysomeforce)tostraightenouttheflippers.
Bothsetsofflippersshouldlockintoplace.Wheninusethebackflippersshouldbeflat
againstthegroundandremainstationary.Thefrontflipperscanbemovedupanddown
withthecontroller.
B) InstallingtheBattery

1) Thebatterybayislocatedonthesideoftherobot.Toopenthebatterybay,gripthe
“ClosingKnob”andpushin,turningtheknobincounter‐clockwisedirection.You
shouldfeelaslight“pop”or“click,”indicatingthedoorisopen.Pullthelatchoutward
andpulloutthebatteryejectorbartoopenthebatterybay.

2) Toinstalltherobotbattery,lineuptheconnectorsonthebatterywiththeslotsinside
thebatterybay.Next,gentlyslidethebatteryintothebay.Aproperlyinstalledbattery
willslideentirelyintotherobot–ifanypartofthebatteryisstickingout,remove
battery,checkalignmentofconnectorwithbatterybay,andreinsert.

 
 
6Avatar®IIIUserManualRevD12/2015

3) Closethebatterybaydoorbyreturningthe
doortoitsclosedposition,makingsurethe
foldingbarisfoldedoverthebatteryandthe
upperlipofthebatterydoortucksunderneath
thetopstripofthebatterybay.Shutthelatch
andturnthe“ClosingKnob”clockwise.You
shouldfeela“pop”orclick”whenthebattery
doorhasclosed.
IFFLIPPERSAREBLOCKINGTHEBATTERY
DOOR,MOVEFRONTFLIPPERSANDBACK
FLIPPERS.FRONTANDBACKFLIPPERSMUST
BEMOVEDINPAIRS.DONOTMOVEONE
FLIPPERATATIME.

C) AttachingtheAntennas
Makesurethatthecontrollerantennaisattachedbeforepoweringtheuniton.(Also
makesureyoudon’tpowerontherobotwithouttherobotradioinstalled)
Thecontrollerantennaattachestothe
silverportonthetopleftofthecontroller.
DONOTplugitintothecoveredblackport
onthetoprightsideofthecontroller.If
youhavemorethanoneradio,makesure
youareattachingtheappropriateantenna
fortheradioyouhaveinstalled.The
controllerantennawillbecolor
coordinatedwiththerobotradioantenna.

DONOTPUTANTENNAONRIGHT
PORT(COVEREDBYBLACKCASING).
DOINGSOWILLPERMANENTLYDAMAGE
YOURCONTROLLER.


Whenclosingthebatterydoor,
makesurethelipatthetopstrip
ofthebatterydoortucks
underneaththetopofthebattery
bay.


 
 
7Avatar®IIIUserManualRevD12/2015

D) PoweringOntheRobotandController
Robot
Thereisnoon/offswitchontherobotitself.Therobotispoweredonandoffbyinserting
andremovingthebattery.

PowerOn:Therobotispoweredonwheneverthebatteryisinstalled.
PowerOff:Therobotispoweredoffwheneverthebatteryisremoved.

Thereisathirdoptionwherethebatterymaybestoredintherobotandtherobotremains
poweredoff.Todothis,presstheredbuttonontheoppositesideoftherobotfromthe
batterybayandholduntilthebatterydoorisclosed.Ifthefansdidn’tturnon,therobotis
poweredoff.Ifyoupressthebuttonwhentherobotisalreadyonwiththebattery
installed,itdoesnothing.

Ifyou’veusedtheredbutton,simplyremovethebatteryandputitbackintopoweronthe
robot.







Controller
TheControllerhasasmallblackpowerbuttonlocatedinthetoprightcornerofthe
controller(justabovethescreen).

PowerOn:TheControllerispoweredonbypressingtheblackroundpowerbutton.
PowerOff:TheControllerispoweredoffbypressingandholdingtheblackroundpower
buttondownuntiltheLEDlightturnsoff.





 
 
8Avatar®IIIUserManualRevD12/2015

2)Post‐UseMaintenance
A) ChargingtheRobotBattery
AfterremovingthebatteryfromtheAvatar®III,alignthechargerandbattery
connectorsandplugtheadapterintoanACwalloutlet.
Batteryisfullychargedwhentheindicatoronthetopofthebatteryshows5full
blackbars,orwhentheindicatorlightonthetopofthechargerturnsgreen(ifyou
chooseto,itisalrighttoleavethebatteryonthecharger).
Tocheckchargelevels,youcanrefertothechargeindicatoronthebatteryitself,
whichwilltellyouhowmuchchargeisleft.Youcanalsolookattheon‐screen
controllerindicators(seepage12).





B) ChargingtheControllerBattery
PlugtheadapterintoanACwalloutlet.
Plugtheroundadapterplugintotheroundchargingportonthebottomofthe
controller.
ThecontrollerisfullychargedwhentheLEDlightonthecontrollerturnsoffor
flashesred.IftheLEDlightissolidred,thecontrollerischarging.Youshouldleave
thecontrolleronthechargerwhennotinuse.

C) FoldingtheFlippersIn
Ifyouwishtoputtherobotinitscase,youwillhavetofolditsfrontandbackflippersin.To
doso,itisnecessaryto“smack”theflippersagainstthegroundwithsomeforceto
disengagethemfromtheirlockedposition(makesuretheHighAngleStabilizershavebeen
removedbeforedisengagingbackflippers).Therecommendedmethodistogripthe
robot’sfrontwithonehandandthebackhandlewiththeother,holdingtherobotatan
angletohittheflippersagainsttheground.NOTE:Besuretoapplyequalpressuretoboth
flippers.DoNOTtrytomovethemoneatatime.
Thesearetheindicatorbars.Thedark
barsreflecttheamountofchargein
thebattery.Fiveblackbarsmeanthe
batteryisfullycharged.Whenno
blackbarsarepresent,thebatteryis
empty.Thebatteryinthispicture
showsabatterywithjustunderafull
charge.

 
 
9Avatar®IIIUserManualRevD12/2015

HandheldControllerOverview
TheRoboteXAvatar®IIIcomeswithaportablehandheldcontrollerfor
straightforward,easyoperation.Thecontrollerisequippedwitha
simplebuttonlayoutandatouchscreenforenhancedfunctionalityand
ease‐of‐usewithallrobotaccessories.Theimagebelowdisplaysbasic
robotandPTZcameracontrols.



 
 
10Avatar®IIIUserManualRevD12/2015

1)BasicAvatar®IIIControls
PleaserefertoFigure1onpage11forcontrollerbuttondiagramandlabels.
A) PoweringOn/Off,AudioVolume,andRobotMovement
PowerOn/OffButton:
Powersthecontrolleronandoff.
IncomingVolumeControlKnob:
Pushup=incomingaudiovolumeincreases
Pushdown=incomingaudiovolumedecreases
RobotControlJoystick(LeftJoystick):
Theleftjoystickcontrolsrobotmovement(left/rightandforward/reverse).
Therobotrespondstoarangeofinput–thefurtheryoupushthestick,thefaster
therobotwillmove.Forslowmovement,pushlightlyonthejoystick.Thereare
twospeedmodes,highandlowthatwillbediscussedonpage14.

B) FlipperControl,IR/LEDLight,andPush‐to‐TalkAudio
FlipperControlKnob(RightKnob):
Pushup=flippersgoup
Pushdown=flippersgodown
Note:Whenpushingtheflippercontrolknobdown,theflippersthemselveswill
stopautomaticallyoncetheyareflatontheground.Topositiontheflippersbelow
thisposition,releasetheflippercontrolknobandthenpushdownagain.
LEDLightSwitch(YellowButton):
Switchestherobot’sfrontLEDLightON/OFF.
Two‐WayAudio“PushtoTalk”Button(BlueButton):
Holddownforoutgoingaudio–toprojectyourvoicefromtherobot.
Releasetohearincomingaudio–tohearwhattherobothears.
Note:Unlessthebluebuttonispressed,incomingaudioisonbydefault.Thereis
noincomingaudiowhiletherobotisinmotion.


