Tried Soldering the USB Connector to the PCDuino

I did not post this right away but about two weeks ago, I attempted to re-attach the USB port to the pcDuino that I am working on.  The USB port got disconnected soon after I started working with the pcDuino.  The design of the board is such that a USB cable does not fit correctly when an HDMI cable is plugged in.  The first picture below shows the USB port separated from the board.

The picture below is me trying to solder the USB port back onto the board.  I used a microscope at the Milwaukee Makerspace to see the work since the connections were so small.  I tried to take my time to do it right.  The USB port was solidly connected to the board when I was done and it looked like a decent job but the board still does not power up when I plug a USB cable into it.

Motorshield Assembled for pcDuino v2

Today, I continued working on the Wifi Enabled, Remote Controlled, pcDuino Powered, Video Surveillance Robot.  I bought a MotorShield v2.3 from Adafruit.  It came mostly assembled for some reason.  I simply had to solder on the connector pins.  That was pretty easy.  (See the pictures below.)

The next step is to test an Arduino script to run a motor.  The problem is that I need to run a GUI interface on the pcDuino.  This means that I need to have both a keyboard and mouse plugged in to the one USB port on the pcDuino at the same time.  I do not have a USB hub and I could not find one at the Makerspace.  I thought about making one but it looks like I would have to make my own PCB.  Probably not worth it.

So, I will have to put off testing the motor shield until I get a USB hub.  In the meantime, I downloaded the Arduino script files for the board from Adafruit.  The files were in a zip format, that I downloaded to my laptop.

In order to get the zip file to the pcDuino, I installed FTP server on the pcDuino by executing sudo apt-get install vsftpd.  Then, I used FileZilla to move the zip file to the pcDuino.

Whenever I get a USB hub, I will be ready to test the motor.

Unassembled motor shield.

Bottom view of shield with pins soldered on.

Top view of shield with pins soldered on.

The shield attached to the pcDuinoV2.

Setting up the pcDuinoV2 -- Wireless and xWindows

I spent some more time working on the basic setup of the pcDuinoV2 that Pete from the Milwaukee Makerspace asked me to play with.

First of all, the board was booting up into xWindows on startup.  I thought I disabled that feature using the configuration program that is in the OS but apparantly not.  I managed to get xWindows to stop loading by creating a file named lightdm.override in the /etc/init folder.  The only line it had was one word: 'manual'.  

Now, the device boots to a text-based screen but the resolution looks like it is 1024x768.  In order to fix that, I had to run the configuration program from the command line by typing 

sudo board-config.sh

 and then setting the screen resolution back to 1152x864-75.  Rebooted.   The screen still came up in the lower resolution.  Maybe there is a permanent fix for this but I don't have time to research it.  It is pretty easy to set the screen resolution after bootup.

Next, I worked on the wireless network card.  There are some pretty good instructions about enabling a wireless NIC in Ubuntu at this website: http://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/374514-control-wireless-on-the-linux-desktop-with-these-tools

First, I created a file named wpa_supplicant.conf in the /etc folder.  It had these lines in it:

network={    ssid="MilwaukeeMaker"    psk="secretPassword"}

Next, I put these commands in /etc/network/interfaces

auto wlan3iface wlan3 inet dhcp    pre-up wpa_supplicant -B -Dwext -i wlan3 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf    post-down killall -q wpa_supplicant

That's it.  The initial setup of the pcDuino is done.  

• it boots to the command line
• can connect to it at pcDuinoV2.local on any network because of Avahi
• all upgrades are done (updates still don't seem to work)
• wireless networking works

The next phase in this project is to build the robot base and control it with the

pcDuino.  In order to keep things moving, I ordered a Motor/Stepper/Servo Shield for Arduino v2 Kit from Adafruit.  

Since the pcDuino has Arduino compatible pins on it, shields made for the Arduino will work with the pcDuino.  I can use the motor shield to learn how to control motors with the pcDuino.  That should take a few weeks.  In the meantime, I will try to find parts for the base.  I'd like to find or make as many parts as possible at the Makerspace.  

Finally, I think I would like to make a robot that looks like Wall-E.  This means, I will need treads instead of wheels.  I did a bit of research into treads and they are not cheap.  Maybe I can 3D print something. 

Fun With The pcDuino V2 -- First Looks

Pete from the Milwaukee Makerspace asked me to play around with a pcDuinoV2 that the 'space had sitting around.  I am tasked with making something awesome with it.  One idea I had was to make a  wifi enabled, remote controlled video surveillance robot.

At first, I was thinking that the robot could roam around the Makerspace, controlled by curious people on the internet.  On second thought, that would be a bit creepy.  Plus, the robot would get under people's feet or stuck on stuff.  Maybe the robot would be more accepted by the Makerspace members if it looked like a Dalek.  Think about it.  A five foot high Dalek driving around the Makerspace, controlled by someone on the internet.  That is not at all creepy.  Also, it would probably be pretty easy to add a speech synthesizer to the robot.  The person on the internet could type in some text and the synthesizer would speak it -- in a Dalek voice.  "Exterminate!  Exterminate!"  Awesome!

Another idea would be to combine the robot with the elevated train project that was discussed on the Makerspace's Google Group a year or so ago.  The original idea was to have an elevated train track that ran near the ceiling in every room of the Makerspace.  The track would be a big loop around the 'space.  In this case, instead of a train, the remote controlled robot would be on the track.  People could make it move around and point the camera at interesting things.  The robot would not get in anyone's way and possibly be less creepy.

Okay.  Enough daydreaming.  First things first: I need to make sure that the pcDuino works and get familiar with it.

The pcDuino has a USB port as a power input. That port is on the bottom of the board right next to the DVI port. I don't have a monitor with a DVI input. I have a DVI to HDMI converter that I can plug an HDMI cable in to.  The problem is that both a USB cable and the converter can not be plugged in at the same time. I was hoping that I could get both things plugged in at the same time if I applied a little pressure. Unfortunately, the extra force caused the USB port to separate from the board, i.e., I broke it off.  See the picture to the right. (Note to self: stupid decisions are made when tired.) 

The components on the pcDuino are surface mounted. I suppose it is possible to reattach the USB connector to the board but someone with better soldering skills than I would have to do it. 

Thankfully, the pcDuino has another USB port (labeled USB OTG) on the other end of the board.  It will also act as a power input port.  I used an external power supply that puts out 4.5V and 0.5A.  That is not enough to power the pcDuino when it runs xWindows.  Every time it started running xWindows, the screen would shutoff and I could not do anything.  I put the device away for a day or so.

Yesternight, I worked on the pcDuino some more at the Milwaukee Makerspace.  Again, I started out by using an external power supply for power through the USB OTG port.  The device would power up and start booting.  As soon as it started xwindows, the monitor shut off.  The power light was on and both RX and TX lights were on steady.

Next, I plugged the USB cable that supplied power into my PC's USB port and rebooted the device.  This time the screen stayed on in xwindows.  I guess my PC provides more Amps than the external power supplies I was using.  One problem solved.

Next, I plugged a USB keyboard into the USB A port and rebooted the device.  Pressing F8 during POST got me into the configuration menu.  Using the configuration menu, I changed the screen resolution to 1152x864-75.  Note: the default user is ubuntu with a password of ubuntu.

I tried running apt-get update to update the Linux operating system.  It ran for a few minutes then gave an error saying, "W: Conflicting distribution: http://www.wiimu.com pcduino Release (expected pcduino but got  )".  Not sure what is wrong.

Next, I ran apt-get upgrade.  It ran for about an hour and installed a bunch of upgrades.  Re-trying apt-get update yielded the same results as before.

I wanted an easier-to-use text editor, so I installed nano.

Also, I installed avahi.  (Full instructions are here.)  Then, I changed the host name to pcDuinoV2 in /etc/hosts and /etc/hostname.  Now, it is possible to use ssh to connect to the device at pcDuinoV2.local on any network.  There is not need to determine the IP address assigned to the device.

Finally, I tried to get the wireless network card working but I could not figure it out.  There is a website that has some information about this: http://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/374514-control-wireless-on-the-linux-desktop-with-these-tools.  Obviously, there has to be a better way.

One last thing, the device still boots into xwindows.  I need to figure out how to turn that off.

Well, that was enough work for one night.  Next time, I'll get the wireless network card working.  I also need to find a powered USB hub so I can use a keyboard and mouse at the same time, if needed.