A few weeks ago I got a Raspberry Pi to run in B.E.T.H. I had been running it all strewn around on the desk, but yesterday I finally got it all packed inside the chassis. Here’s a run down of what I did.
Parts:
- Raspberry Pi Model B with yellow composite video connector removed
- Adafruit Pi Proto Plate
- Sparkfun Xbee Breakout Board
- Trossen Voltage Regulator Breakout Board
- Murata OKI-78SR-5/1.5-W36H-C 5V Switching Regulator
- Dynamixel Hub
- Powered Dynamixel Hub
- USB2AX USB Dynamixel Adapter
- D-Link DWA-131 USB Wifi Adapter
So as you can see, I mounted the Xbee breakout on the Pi Proto Plate. At first the Plate was sitting up too tall. It originally was the full length of the Raspberry Pi and spaced up enough using an extended header that it covered the ethernet and USB ports. I ended up cutting the board down and mounting it on a standard height header so it could sit lower. I mounted the Pi by glue gunning it to plastic standoffs which screw into the chassis.
As for power, I’m running the battery power into the regulator breakout board and using it as a distribution block to jumper battery power to the power Dynamixel hub. The 5V output of the regulator goes to the Raspberry Pi. I’m powering the Pi through the GPIO power pins accessed through the Pi Proto Plate.
I plan to order shorter Dynamixel cables and shorten up the battery/switch wires to clean things up, but as of now it looks like this:
Unfortunately the battery has to go on top of the robot. I now run the wifi adapter and USB2AX in the Pi’s USB ports. I then SSH and/or VNC in over the network to work on bot. If i have to I can reach in and plug a USB hub cable in in place of the wifi adapter.
Great work.
Really appreciate your sharing of the code and the pictures of your hardware setup.
I’ve posted a couple of power supply questions in your response on the Trossen forum.
Andrew
Thanks!
I actually spent last night integrating a Raspberry Pi 2. It’s a little more compact and fits a bit better. I’m using the same Dyanamixel hubs and 5V regulator, though. I’m also using a USB Bluetooth adapter to connect to a Sony DS4 controller so I no longer need the clunky Xbee interface.