AX-12 Administration

One of the first things I am doing right now is building a user interface to allow me to configure a single servo. I'm assuming the CM-5 module that comes with the Bioloid kit comes with something like this, but I don't have one, so I need to make it. The way this application works is by connecting my laptop directly to the robostix in place of the gumstix, using a USB -> TTL serial converter I bought from HVWTech. My laptop is talking to the robostix at 115,200 baud, and of course since the same code runs on my gumstix also runs on my laptop, I didn't have to do any more work to use my command infrastructure, other than change which serial port the program is opening.

Right now I can query a single servo attached to the bus to find out what its ID is, and then retrieve all its parameters. You can use the little servo widget to drag the servo arm around in real time, and the real servo follows. The parameters that are read only show up in gray, and the editable ones have a white background. You can double-click on the editable ones to change them, and the servo is updated.

This will allow me to experiment with changing various parameters like compliance, and seeing how they affect the servo operation and feel. One thing that I am going to add to this window shortly is the ability to export the set of servo parameters to a file, so once I get something I like I can easily apply it to all the servos.