SmartServoFramework is a C++ multiplatform framework used to drive "smart servo" devices like Dynamixel or HerkuleX actuators. It has been developped at Inria Grenoble research center.
Linux, Mac OS X and Windows operating systems are supported. All you need to begin moving stuff around is at least one servo, a serial port adapter and a modern C++ compiler! SmartServoFramework works well on Raspberry Pi or other similar boards, but will not work on arduinos nor any other microcontrollers.
Dynamixel devices from Robotis and HerkuleX devices from Dongbu Robot are high-performance networked actuators for robots available in wide range of sizes and strengths.
They have adjustable torque, speed, angle limits, and provide various feedback like position, load, voltage and temperature...
This framework can be used with any Dynamixel or HerkuleX devices. Please note that the Dynamixel PRO devices should work, but are not supported, as no test devices are available.
Support for other devices or brand may be added in the futur...
- Direct API: Use this mode to get or set a value to a servo by sending simple and direct instructions, then waiting for the answers.
- Controller API: Setup a controller and attach servo instances to it. Manipulate servo objects and let the controller synchronize its "virtual" register values with the real servo hardware in a background thread with a fixed frequency.
You can dynamically generate an API documentation from the source code using Doxygen. The documentation will be generated inside the "doc" directory. If you are running a Linux system you can easily generate the documentation from a terminal:
$ cd SmartServoFramework/
$ doxygen Doxyfile
Various examples programs are available:
- ex_basic_test: Very simple example that move the servo at ID 0 with the 'UP' and 'DOWN' keys.
- ex_simple: Control four servos with your keyboard using the 'Simple API'.
- ex_simple_threaded: Control four servos with your keyboard using the 'Simple API', with servos actions and keyboard handled in two separate threads.
- ex_controller: Control four servos with your keyboard using the 'Controller API'.
- ex_sinus_control: Control a servo with sinusoid curve for both speed and position.
- ex_advance_scanner: Scan serial ports for Dynamixel servos, for all IDs and all (but configurable) serial port speeds.
SmartServoGui is a fully featured Qt GUI application that helps you discover devices on available serial links, get an overview of all of their registers, and easily changes their settings!
$ cd SmartServoFramework/gui/
$ qmake-qt${4-5}
$ make
$ ./build/SmartServoGui
You will need a modern C++/11 capable compiler:
- GCC >= 4.6
- LLVM >= 3.0
- MSVC >= 2012
This framework can be used with any combination of RS-232 ports, USB to TTL adapters, USB to RS-485 adapters, half or full duplex... but you'll need the right link for the right device.
First make sure that you can access your serial port:
- If you are running Linux, you will need special permissions from the
uucpand/ordialoutgroups in order to access serial ports. You can add your user account to these groups with this command:# useradd -G uucp,dialout $USER(you'll need root credentials for this operation). - If you are running Mac OS X, depending on your adapter, you may need to install the FTDI driver, or the CP210x driver.
- If you are running Windows, you will need to install the FTDI driver for the USB2Dynamixel device. You may also need other drivers depending on your adapter (like the USB2AX driver, the CP210x driver, or the official FTDI driver).
Latency over the serial port will limit the number of instructions you can send each second even more than bandwidth limitations. To minimize traffic on your serial port:
- Make sure you have set the "Status Return Level" / "Ack Policy" to '1' to minimize the number of status packets (if you do not need them), or even '2' to disable them all.
- If you are using Dynamixel devices, you may want to reduce the "Return Delay Time" value to a minimum, from the default of '250' to something like '10'.
- You can also use these tips to reduce latency on serial ports adapter using FTDI chips!
- USB2Dynamixel: Official device that can manage regular RS232, RS485 and TTL communications.
- USB2AX: Unofficial device designed to manage TTL communication only.
- "Home made" TTL half-duplex device: (LINK?)
Note: Regular "full-duplex" TTL converters will NOT do the trick for "half-duplex TTL" Dynamixel servos (AX series, MX "T" series, XL-320, ...).
You need a serial port with a regular "full-duplex" TTL converter to use HerkuleX devices.
You can help us finding bugs, proposing new functionalities and more directly on this website! Click on the "New issue" button in the menu to do that.
You can browse the git repository here on GitHub, submit patches and push requests!
SmartServoFramework is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. Consult the licence on the FSF website.
Copyright (c) 2015, INRIA, All rights reserved.
Emeric Grange [email protected]
Dominique Vaufreydaz [email protected]