KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

JAZAN UNIVERSTY
College of Engineering
Electrical Engineering Department

Lab. Manual
Robotics (EngE425)
Robonova-AI

Prepared By
Dr. Emad Saeid
Eng. Hidayath Mirza

Contents
WHY ROBONOVA-AI? ......................................................................................................................................... 5
SOME OF THE PROMINENT FEATURES OF ROBONOVA-AI: ....................................................................................................... 6
SDRAM VS SRAM ...................................................................................................................................................... 11
4. CONNECTIONS AND WORKING OF ROBONOVA-AI WITH KROBO (BRAIN) USING IR CONTROLLER &
SPECIFICATIONS OF THE BOARDS. ..................................................................................................................... 12
AIM: .......................................................................................................................................................................... 17

Robotics Lab. EngE425

I can't define a robot, but I know one when I see one.

Joseph Engelberger
Robotics Lab. EngE425

1. Introduction to robotics.

Aim: The aim of this experiment is to create motivation and interest in the field
of robotics.

Figure 1. Robonova-AI
Table 1. List of videos from www.youtube.com and their links.

Serial
No.
1.

Video file and youtube link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww
2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2STTNYNF4lk
3.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiCFtmdrvHM
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2. Introduction to robonova-AI

AIM: To understand the basics and hardware of the robonova- AI.

Figure2a. Prototype of Robonova-AI with details

Why Robonova-AI?
HBE-ROBONOVA-AI is an intelligent 2-leg walking robot with 17 joints equipped
with the following:
1) Robot control board loaded with MR-C3024 controller that can control 24 servo
motors simultaneously.

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2) The brain board (HBE-KROBO) loaded with 520 Mhz PXA272 32 bit embedded
processor and FPGA for video processing and
3) CCD camera visual module.
4) This robot, equipped with brain board and visual module installed in addition to
traditional 2-legs walking robot.
5) It is able to perform not only the simple robot operations that were memorized in
PC in advance but also intelligent and autonomous actions.
6) HBE-ROBONOVA-AI is a platform that is mostly suitable for future intelligent
robot training environment.

Some of the prominent features of Robonova-AI:

Robust frame / High efficient motor technology grafted
Speed control by PWM technology / RC motor compatible
CCD camera (Robot eyes) / 32 bit embedded board (robot brain) installed
32 bit embedded system(Robot Brain) and Linux Environment
Real-time image processing using FPGA
Offers the convenient program environment using ROBOBASIC and ROBOSCRIPT
Robot Vision Experiment using Open CV Library.

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Figure 2b. Prototype of the Robonova-AIs motor controller

Figure 2c. Schematic diagram of Robonova-AI motor controller

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Specifications of the motor controller are as follows:

Simultaneous control of 24 servo motors
32 input/ output ports (I 3 PWM signal ports
8 channels A/D convertible
Serial control capability (VB, VC++ controllable)
Flash memory installed
Using programs of over ROBObasic V2.5
Serial I/F cable downloading
RC wireless regulator usable
Wireless remote controller supplied as standard
Bluetooth wireless regulation available (Option)
Tilt sensor applicable
Fig.2b and Fig.2c shows the diagram of Robonova-AI.

It consists of MR-3024

motor controller and two uni-directional sensors. Infra Red (IR) sensor receives
the signal from IR transmitter and a tilt sensor which helps the robonova-AI to
maintain balance. It also consists of UART module in it. The UART helps in the
interface between outer world and the robot.

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3. Introduction to KROBO

AIM: To understand the basics of the robonova- AIs KROBO (brain).

Figure.3(a). Top view of the KROBO and peri-ii

Figure 3(b). longitudinal view of the KROBO and peri-II

CPU Module
Peri-I Module

CPU module and Peri-1 module

constitutes the brain of the robonova

Peri-II Module
Figure 3(c).conceptualized longitudinal view of the KROBO and peri-II

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Figure 3(a), Figure 3(b) and Figure 3(c) depicts the top view, longitudinal and
conceptualized longitudinal view of KROBO and Peri-II. It consists of the
following things:
a)CPU Module:
PXA272 processor with 520-MHz.
b)Peri-1 (FPGA) Module :9 bit Video Image Processor.
CPU module and Peri-1 module is brain board.
c) The Peri-2 module is an extra module to help video and software processing.

Figure 3d.Schematic diagram of KROBO and peri-II

Specifications of the KROBO and Peri-II board are as follows:

CPU and Peri-1 module installed on HBE-KROBO robot brain platform
Offers HBE-KROBO Peri-2 Board as standard
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 (Base board for developing brain and visual functions)

Using FPGA for video processing and recognition
Offers composite video input port of external camera
Capable of convert analog video to digital video
Provides UART communication port for controlling robot
Provides switch for selecting adopter and battery power
WinCE 5.0 and Linux 2.6.12 adopted as operating system
Remote Control using Bluetooth.

FPGA chip receives video data from external input devices such as a CCD camera
to digitalize them through a video processor and serves to store required data in
SRAM through the video processing that meets user needs.

SDRAM Vs SRAM
SRAM or (Static Random Access Memory) is static (does not need powerrefreshing) while SDRAM is dynamic (needs power-refreshing periodically).

SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) access speed is clock

dependent while SRAM accesses directly.

SRAM uses the kind of memory called flip-flops which are used for digital data
storage. Its memory contents can be retained for as long as there
is D.C. power. While the SDRAM uses the kind of memory cell called capacitors
which needs to be refreshed periodically.

SRAM memory can pack several gigabits on a SRAM chip while the SDRAM
memory can only pack several tens of mega bits on its chip.

SRAMs power consumption is stable while SDRAMs is higher due to refreshing

cycles.

SRAM is more expensive than SDRAM due to faster speed.

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4. Connections and working of

Robonova-AI with KROBO (Brain)
using IR controller & Specifications of
the boards.
Aim: To understand the connections made with robonova-AI, the
KROBO using IR controller, to know the specifications of the Brain
board.

Fig. 4(a) HBE-KROBO Block Diagram with External interface

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Theory of connections:

1)

The cables J20 and J21 coming out from robonova-AI should be
connected to the J20 and J21 printed on the Peri-II; third board
(supporting board).

2) Connect the power supply of the KROBO.

Using IR remote control, press digit 1, 2 and etc to check the

pre-programmed activities such as greeting, walking, moving and
etc.

Table 4(a):Specifications of Peri-I Module

Items

Specifications

FPGA

Altera Cyclone-II EP2C8F256C8, LE

: 8,256
256Kx16 Bit SRAM
Philips SAA7113H
RS-232 2 Port
2 Port Composite Video Input
5V adapter or 6V-7.4V battery
95 x 60 x 1.6 mm (L x W x H)

Memory
Video Input Processor
UART
Video
Power
PCB Size

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Table 4(b): Specifications of Peri-II Module

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Items

Specifications

Ethernet

1 Port 10/100Base-T Ethernet

UART

RS-232 3 Port, TTL 1 Port

USB

1 Port USB 1.1 Host

Video

1 Port VGA OUT

2 Port Composite Video IN
1 Port Composite Video OUT

GPIO

CPU GPIO : 17 Port

FPGA I/O : 10 Port

Power

5V adapter or 6V-7.4V battery

PCB Size

160 x 125 x 2.0 mm (L x W x H)

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5. Connections of Robonova-AI for

Linux embedded system(LES).

Aim:To understand the connections made while dealing with the Linux embedded
sytem.

Figure 5(a). Connection Configuration between KROBO and Host PC

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Fig. 5a shows the connections of the robonoa-AI , KROBO and host PC. Apart
from this, components are also labeled with numbers. They are follows:
Table 5. List of components and their connection

Number assigned
1

Name and function

Bluetooth UART (wireless connection
between KROBO and host PC)
Ethernet port (it connects with a LAN cable
for high-speed transfer using an Ethernet)
JTAG port ( exclusive for FPGA and is
downloaded on FPGA using Byte Blaster; a
basic package)
JTAG (for boot loader fusing and file
transfer and connects with parallel cable
and a printer port)
Power supply port and connects with D.C. 5V
15 PIN D-sub port (which can be connected
with a PC monitor and displays controlled
images on the monitor)

2
3

5
6

Figure 5(b) Real time connection configuration between KROBO and Host PC

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6. Basic commands and how to locate

the directory of list of activities
performed by robonova-AI.
Aim: To know the basic commands/syntaxes used in LES.
Experiment: After making connection of robonova-AI, KROBO,Laptop and a display.
Follow the screen shots.
Table 6. syntaxes used in LES.
Syntax
>>$cd..
>>$cd folder name
>>$dir
>>$./file name

Function
Come out of the folder
Enter into the folder
List the folder and files present in the folder
Run/execute the file

Step 1:Click on the HyperTerminal icon and named the connection as seen above.

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Step 2:COM5 is the default setting, if not then make it COM5

Step 3 :COM5 default properties

Step 4: COM5 changed properties.

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Step 5: We get the blank screen; it means we have to restart the KROBO board.

Step 6: After that, the whole system starts booting as shown in the above screen shot.

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7. KROBO robottest

Aim: To execute the programs written in LES.

Experiment: Continuing the lab. number 6 and step6. Then follow from the step 7 to step
11.

Step 7: Come out of the root

Step 8:Enter into the jffs folder

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Table 2

Step 9:list of files and folders in jffs folder

Step 10: Enter into the robottest file

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Step 11: Finally, we see the list of the exercises performed by the robonova. Just follow
the instructions to start the exercise.

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8. Measurement, Tracking, Shape Detection and etc. using LES.

Aim: To run programs like measurement, tracking, shape-detection using

LES.
Experiment: start from step1 of the lab. number 6 to step 9 of lab. number 7 . Leave steps
10 and 11 then continue from step12 to step 13. The final result will look like as given in
step 14.

Step 12. Enter into Book_exam_exe folder as show above

Step 13. Select the programme from the list and execute/run it with the syntax given in
the figure.

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Step 14 depicts the measurement set up of brightness programme

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