GertBOT Robotics Add-on Board for Raspberry Pi

e14-publisher — Fri, 05 May 2023 15:54:37 GMT

Current Revision posted to Documents by e14-publisher on 5/5/2023 3:54:37 PM

GertBOT Robotics Add-on Board for Raspberry Pi

Manufactured By:GERTBOARD

Part Number:GERTBOT

Buy Now

GERTBOT offers a simple entry in to robotics with Raspberry Pi. While full robotics capability, like motor feedback, is not available on GERTBOT, its price point makes it an attractive and useful plug and play introduction to robotic controls. GERTBOT works with Raspberry Pi Model A, B and B.

The Gertbot is a motor/power controller board for the Raspberry-Pi. The strength of the board is that it has its own CPU which frees up the Raspberry-Pi from a lot of intense computations and will take care of all the real time requirements. All you have to do is give it high level commands. Like: Board 2, Motor 1, take 2432 steps at 67 Hz. Even giving those commands is done for you using the free GUI which comes with it!

Specific Applications: Walking Robot, Robotic Arms, Balancing Robots

Features

Hardware features:

Four H-bridges 8V-30V, 2.5A
Bridges can be re-configured for 2x 5A or 1x 10A
Two open drain outputs 30V, 3A
Power full 64MHZ ARM Cortex-M3 processor
RS232 connects direct to the Raspberry-Pi or other serial interface
Cascade port to control up to four boards at a time
20-pin connector programmable for:
- Automatic motor end-stop
- Four 12-Bit ADC ports
- Two 12-bit DAC ports
- 8-16 general purpose I/O

Software controllable features:

Brushed motors:
- Control direction
- Speed control PWM 10Hz-10KHz, 0-100%
- Soft start 0.1sec .. 5 seconds prevents in-rush current
- Stop on switch hit
Stepper motors:
- Take X-steps in either direction
- Step speed 0.06 Hz .. 5KHz
- Stop on switch hit
Digital Command Control (model train control):
- Can send any DCC command 3..6 bytes
- Programmable pre-amble length and repeat count
Short-circuit or high temperature error detection
On error, keep running, stop motor, stop board or stop all boards
I/O pins programmable functions
Emergency stop, halts whole system

Ships With

GERTBOT Add-on Board

Required Tools

Accessory Tools

Documents

User Manual/Guide

GERTBOT User Manual (pdf)

GERTBOT GUI Manual (pdf)

Gertbot Advanced Manual (pdf)

Downloads

Applications Library

Utilities (Raspberry-Pi only) Executable to enable the uart (tgz)

gb_upload: allows uploading new code to the Gertbot (zip)

Design Package

DLLs for Windows QT4 applications (zip)

Drivers

Drivers for C or C programs (.c) (zip)

Drivers for Python 3 (.py)

Source Code

Gertbot debug GUI, source code, QT4.8 (.tgz)

Gertbot debug GUI, source code, QT4.8 (zip)

Example DCC (train) controller GUI, source code, QT4.8 (.tgz)

Example DCC (train) controller GUI, source code, QT4.8 (zip)

Gertbot debug GUI, executable for Rasbian

Example DCC (train) controller GUI executable for Rasbian

Gertbot Debug GUI executable win64 (zip)

Example DCC (train) controller GUI executable win64 (zip)

C-source code for two brushed motor vehicle on/off control

C-source code for two stepper motor vehicle on/off control

Python source code for two brushed motor vehicle on/off control

Utilities (Raspberry-Pi only) Source code to enable UART (tgz)

FAQs

What can be controlled by the Gertbot?

A single Gertbot can handle 4 dc brushed motors, 2 stepper motors, or anything requiring 8 to 30 volts and up to 10A (2.5A per channel). It can even generate Digital Command Control signals (or DCC) from all 4 channels for model railroad applications.

Can the Gertbot be connected to an RS232 port?

The Gertbot can't be connected directly to RS232 as the voltage allowed on RS232 will damage the board. You will need to use an adapter or voltage level converter.

How do I connect multiple boards to my Raspberry Pi?

You will need to make a "Cascade cable" using an 8 position ribbon cable with up to 4 connectors. The length of the cable will depend on how much space you allow between the boards. Only the first board will connect to the Raspberry Pi. The other boards will connect via your cascade cable. Please see the Advanced guide for full details.

Can the the 4 control channels be reconfigured to operate in parallel?

Yes, the Gertbot can be reconfigured to have 2 channels operating in parallel or all 4 channels in parallel . Reconfiguring will require desoldering and moving some of the control resistors. The procedure to do this would differ depending upon your application. Please see the advanced guide for full details and instructions.

Can I use a debugger and then re-program the Gertbot for my own purposes?

A debugger will not work with the Gertbot right out of the box, but you can re-program the board for your own application. To do this you will need to perform a "board erase" to wipe the existing program off of the Gertbot. After that is complete, you can use an Atmel JTAG debugger to re-program the board.

What other features does the Gertbot have?

20 pin header with: 4 x 12-bit ADC ports, 2 x 12-bit DAC ports, & 8 to 18 general purpose I/O ports. 2 x N type open drain MOSFET outputs rated for 30V 3A. A 64MHz ARM Cortex-M3 controller. The board can also be programed to shut down or keep going if one motor fails. The I/O ports can also be connected to switches or voltage-free contact sensors to operate as end stops or serve as an E-stop function.

Tags: robotics, raspberry pi, mcu, daughter_addon_boards, development_platforms_kits, gertbot, gertboard

GertBOT Robotics Add-on Board for Raspberry Pi

e14-publisher — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 23:27:16 GMT

Revision 3 posted to Documents by e14-publisher on 12/16/2021 11:27:16 PM

GertBOT Robotics Add-on Board for Raspberry Pi

Manufactured By:GERTBOARD

Part Number:GERTBOT

Buy Now

Specific Applications: Walking Robot, Robotic Arms, Balancing Robots

Features

Hardware features:

Four H-bridges 8V-30V, 2.5A
Bridges can be re-configured for 2x 5A or 1x 10A
Two open drain outputs 30V, 3A
Power full 64MHZ ARM Cortex-M3 processor
RS232 connects direct to the Raspberry-Pi or other serial interface
Cascade port to control up to four boards at a time
20-pin connector programmable for:
- Automatic motor end-stop
- Four 12-Bit ADC ports
- Two 12-bit DAC ports
- 8-16 general purpose I/O

Software controllable features:

Brushed motors:
- Control direction
- Speed control PWM 10Hz-10KHz, 0-100%
- Soft start 0.1sec .. 5 seconds prevents in-rush current
- Stop on switch hit
Stepper motors:
- Take X-steps in either direction
- Step speed 0.06 Hz .. 5KHz
- Stop on switch hit
Digital Command Control (model train control):
- Can send any DCC command 3..6 bytes
- Programmable pre-amble length and repeat count
Short-circuit or high temperature error detection
On error, keep running, stop motor, stop board or stop all boards
I/O pins programmable functions
Emergency stop, halts whole system

Ships With

GERTBOT Add-on Board

Required Tools

Accessory Tools

Documents

User Manual/Guide

GERTBOT User Manual (pdf)

GERTBOT GUI Manual (pdf)

Gertbot Advanced Manual (pdf)

Downloads

Applications Library

Utilities (Raspberry-Pi only) Executable to enable the uart (tgz)

gb_upload: allows uploading new code to the Gertbot (zip)

Design Package

DLLs for Windows QT4 applications (zip)

Drivers

Drivers for C or C programs (.c) (zip)

Drivers for Python 3 (.py)

Source Code

Gertbot debug GUI, source code, QT4.8 (.tgz)

Gertbot debug GUI, source code, QT4.8 (zip)

Example DCC (train) controller GUI, source code, QT4.8 (.tgz)

Example DCC (train) controller GUI, source code, QT4.8 (zip)

Gertbot debug GUI, executable for Rasbian

Example DCC (train) controller GUI executable for Rasbian

Gertbot Debug GUI executable win64 (zip)

Example DCC (train) controller GUI executable win64 (zip)

C-source code for two brushed motor vehicle on/off control

C-source code for two stepper motor vehicle on/off control

Python source code for two brushed motor vehicle on/off control

Utilities (Raspberry-Pi only) Source code to enable UART (tgz)

FAQs

What can be controlled by the Gertbot?

Can the Gertbot be connected to an RS232 port?

The Gertbot can't be connected directly to RS232 as the voltage allowed on RS232 will damage the board. You will need to use an adapter or voltage level converter.

How do I connect multiple boards to my Raspberry Pi?

Can the the 4 control channels be reconfigured to operate in parallel?

Can I use a debugger and then re-program the Gertbot for my own purposes?

What other features does the Gertbot have?

Tags: robotics, raspberry pi, mcu, daughter_addon_boards, development_platforms_kits, gertbot, gertboard

GertBOT Robotics Add-on Board for Raspberry Pi

e14-publisher — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 03:14:12 GMT

Revision 2 posted to Documents by e14-publisher on 12/16/2021 3:14:12 AM

GertBOT Robotics Add-on Board for Raspberry Pi

Manufactured By:GERTBOARD

Part Number:GERTBOT

Buy Now

Specific Applications: Walking Robot, Robotic Arms, Balancing Robots

Features

Hardware features:

Four H-bridges 8V-30V, 2.5A
Bridges can be re-configured for 2x 5A or 1x 10A
Two open drain outputs 30V, 3A
Power full 64MHZ ARM Cortex-M3 processor
RS232 connects direct to the Raspberry-Pi or other serial interface
Cascade port to control up to four boards at a time
20-pin connector programmable for:
- Automatic motor end-stop
- Four 12-Bit ADC ports
- Two 12-bit DAC ports
- 8-16 general purpose I/O

Software controllable features:

Brushed motors:
- Control direction
- Speed control PWM 10Hz-10KHz, 0-100%
- Soft start 0.1sec .. 5 seconds prevents in-rush current
- Stop on switch hit
Stepper motors:
- Take X-steps in either direction
- Step speed 0.06 Hz .. 5KHz
- Stop on switch hit
Digital Command Control (model train control):
- Can send any DCC command 3..6 bytes
- Programmable pre-amble length and repeat count
Short-circuit or high temperature error detection
On error, keep running, stop motor, stop board or stop all boards
I/O pins programmable functions
Emergency stop, halts whole system

Ships With

GERTBOT Add-on Board

Required Tools

Accessory Tools

Documents

User Manual/Guide

GERTBOT User Manual (pdf)

GERTBOT GUI Manual (pdf)

Gertbot Advanced Manual (pdf)

Downloads

Applications Library

Utilities (Raspberry-Pi only) Executable to enable the uart (tgz)

gb_upload: allows uploading new code to the Gertbot (zip)

Design Package

DLLs for Windows QT4 applications (zip)

Drivers

Drivers for C or C programs (.c) (zip)

Drivers for Python 3 (.py)

Source Code

Gertbot debug GUI, source code, QT4.8 (.tgz)

Gertbot debug GUI, source code, QT4.8 (zip)

Example DCC (train) controller GUI, source code, QT4.8 (.tgz)

Example DCC (train) controller GUI, source code, QT4.8 (zip)

Gertbot debug GUI, executable for Rasbian

Example DCC (train) controller GUI executable for Rasbian

Gertbot Debug GUI executable win64 (zip)

Example DCC (train) controller GUI executable win64 (zip)

C-source code for two brushed motor vehicle on/off control

C-source code for two stepper motor vehicle on/off control

Python source code for two brushed motor vehicle on/off control

Utilities (Raspberry-Pi only) Source code to enable UART (tgz)

FAQs

What can be controlled by the Gertbot?

Can the Gertbot be connected to an RS232 port?

The Gertbot can't be connected directly to RS232 as the voltage allowed on RS232 will damage the board. You will need to use an adapter or voltage level converter.

How do I connect multiple boards to my Raspberry Pi?

Can the the 4 control channels be reconfigured to operate in parallel?

Can I use a debugger and then re-program the Gertbot for my own purposes?

What other features does the Gertbot have?

Tags: robotics, raspberry pi, mcu, daughter_addon_boards, development_platforms_kits, gertbot, gertboard

GertBOT Robotics Add-on Board for Raspberry Pi

e14-publisher — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 20:19:26 GMT

Revision 1 posted to Documents by e14-publisher on 10/18/2021 8:19:26 PM

GertBOT Robotics Add-on Board for Raspberry Pi

Manufactured By:GERTBOARD

Part Number:GERTBOT

Buy Now

Specific Applications: Walking Robot, Robotic Arms, Balancing Robots

Features

Hardware features:

Four H-bridges 8V-30V, 2.5A
Bridges can be re-configured for 2x 5A or 1x 10A
Two open drain outputs 30V, 3A
Power full 64MHZ ARM Cortex-M3 processor
RS232 connects direct to the Raspberry-Pi or other serial interface
Cascade port to control up to four boards at a time
20-pin connector programmable for:
- Automatic motor end-stop
- Four 12-Bit ADC ports
- Two 12-bit DAC ports
- 8-16 general purpose I/O

Software controllable features:

Brushed motors:
- Control direction
- Speed control PWM 10Hz-10KHz, 0-100%
- Soft start 0.1sec .. 5 seconds prevents in-rush current
- Stop on switch hit
Stepper motors:
- Take X-steps in either direction
- Step speed 0.06 Hz .. 5KHz
- Stop on switch hit
Digital Command Control (model train control):
- Can send any DCC command 3..6 bytes
- Programmable pre-amble length and repeat count
Short-circuit or high temperature error detection
On error, keep running, stop motor, stop board or stop all boards
I/O pins programmable functions
Emergency stop, halts whole system

Ships With

GERTBOT Add-on Board

Required Tools

Accessory Tools

Documents

User Manual/Guide

GERTBOT User Manual (pdf)

GERTBOT GUI Manual (pdf)

Gertbot Advanced Manual (pdf)

Downloads

Applications Library

Utilities (Raspberry-Pi only) Executable to enable the uart (tgz)

gb_upload: allows uploading new code to the Gertbot (zip)

Design Package

DLLs for Windows QT4 applications (zip)

Drivers

Drivers for C or C programs (.c) (zip)

Drivers for Python 3 (.py)

Source Code

Gertbot debug GUI, source code, QT4.8 (.tgz)

Gertbot debug GUI, source code, QT4.8 (zip)

Example DCC (train) controller GUI, source code, QT4.8 (.tgz)

Example DCC (train) controller GUI, source code, QT4.8 (zip)

Gertbot debug GUI, executable for Rasbian

Example DCC (train) controller GUI executable for Rasbian

Gertbot Debug GUI executable win64 (zip)

Example DCC (train) controller GUI executable win64 (zip)

C-source code for two brushed motor vehicle on/off control

C-source code for two stepper motor vehicle on/off control

Python source code for two brushed motor vehicle on/off control

Utilities (Raspberry-Pi only) Source code to enable UART (tgz)

FAQs

What can be controlled by the Gertbot?

Can the Gertbot be connected to an RS232 port?

The Gertbot can't be connected directly to RS232 as the voltage allowed on RS232 will damage the board. You will need to use an adapter or voltage level converter.

How do I connect multiple boards to my Raspberry Pi?

Can the the 4 control channels be reconfigured to operate in parallel?

Can I use a debugger and then re-program the Gertbot for my own purposes?

What other features does the Gertbot have?

Tags: robotics, raspberry pi, mcu, daughter_addon_boards, development_platforms_kits, gertbot, gertboard