Activ
Media Robotics
15
milliseconds. As it happens, the larger, heavier joints move best at slower speeds, and
speed-controlling delay times of 15 milliseconds and above are smoothest and plenty
fast for most manipulation applications.
ARM_HOME and ARM_PARK
As described earlier, home is a safe and stable position for when the Pioneer 2 Arm servo
motors come to rest. And, when switching servo power, the home position minimizes the
drop when the Arm goes limp when powered OFF, as well as the “snap-to-position” jump
characteristic of servo motors as each joint seeks its position when powered ON.
Indeed, P2OS
always
presumes that the Pioneer 2 Arm is stored in its home position
except when its servo motors power is ON.
Use the P2OS
ARM_HOME
command number 75 to send one (servo number 1-6 as
command parameter) or all (command parameter 255) of your Pioneer 2 Arm joints to
their home, default positions. Use the
ARM_PARK
command number 76 to send all the
joints to their home positions and shut power to the Arm OFF. The
ARM_HOME
command is
ignored if servo power is OFF, and does not disable the servos if their power is ON.
CAREFUL!
Put the Pioneer 2 Arm into its home position
BEFORE
cold-resetting P2OS.
ARM_INIT, ARM_CHECK, and Warm Reset Protocol
Upon Main Power start up or reset, the P2OS microcontroller automatically initializes the
Pioneer 2 Arm, setting its joints to their default home positions and their speeds to the
defaults also stored in FLASH. It does not apply power to the Arm’s servos.
Rather, initialization includes removing power from the Arm’s servo motors. Please be
careful to recognize the implications: Upon reset, the P2OS servers cannot know the
positions of Arm joints, and therefore presumes, upon initialization, that they are at or
