Electronics Blog - Page 5 of 5 - Ramblings from the Labz

I have a rather large collection of files and documents pertaining to Eshed Robotec (Intelitek) Scorbot as well as other manufacturers’ robots. I’ve been collecting them as I was getting new robots, and although most came from or were referenced from the Yahoo Scorbot User Group, some came from sources I can no longer recall and some are no longer online. So, I thought it would make sense to make some (eventually, maybe all) of those files and documents available here, arranged by the robot / controller type.

This is my first stab at the task, I will be re-arranging the page as I have more documents and files to share.
So here we go:

the Robotics Resources page

Just wanted to post this pinout here because the question often comes up in the Yahoo Scorbot User Group which has its search function messed up and people cannot find older posts.
So, yes, the Scorbot ER4U (Scorpower ER4U is the name of the controller) USB connection cable is basically a straight-through USB-A to USB-A with +5V wire cut-off. Note that technically you should swap the “+” and the “-” signal wires, which is how I show it on the diagram but since USB signal pair is balanced, the polarity does not matter and so you can just splice two factory-made USB cables. Just don’t forget to remove the +5V (usually red but double check that!) wire at the splice point.

So, the pinout looks like this

1 – no connection +5V
2 to 2 (or 3) -DATA
3 to 3 (or 2) +DATA
4 – 4 GND

{adinserter Internal_left}I should have said “laser diode cutting” but did not want to spoil a great looking title 🙂 I had this CNC setup for about a year now and and have been tinkering with different setups for the laser diode but only recently have made any progress.

SAFETY FIRST!
Please make a note that if you are going to do this yourself, you owe it to yourself to buy a pair of nice ($35 or so) color filter safety glasses designed for the particular wavelength of the laser you are going to use. Mine is 650nm – red. I specifically wanted a laser in the visible part of the spectrum – if it’s going to burn my eye I want to at least know about it and give my reflexes a fighting chance to blink and shield my eye(s) from more damage. An infrared might have been more efficient and less picky about colors (with red laser forget about cutting any light colored material) but it requires more safety discipline.

The CNC machine it’s based on is Sable-2015 which I bought in the Summer of 2009 from eBay seller Luke-Chen in China. I have also bought the controller and the 24V DC power supply from Luke-Chen and had it running within hours after the package came in the mail. Read the rest of this entry »

{adinserter Internal_left}Let me make it perfectly clear: if you see these sold in Walmart or elsewhere, stay away! This horrible product’s UPC is 755277720037 and the full part number is 7200LEDBN3VP. These are 120V-60Hz 2.5W (35mA) white LED “under cabinet” lights (“luminairs” as the manufacturer calls them) made in China and marketed by Lights of America, Inc. of Walnut, CA.

The manufacturer touts these as saving energy, linkable and longer lasting accent lights. I agree with the first two points but the “longer lasting” is a very relative term here. Let me put it this way: some (not all) did actually last longer than I was unpacking them but none lasted longer than 10 hours. And a couple were simply DOA (dead on arrival). Below is my collection of broken “Lights of America” LED lights. Read the rest of this entry »

{adinserter Internal_left}No electronics lab can go for long without a robot eventually making its way in. Well, in my lab there is approx a dozen. Most are Scorbots by Eshed Robotec (Intelitek, Depco and there may be other names under which they were sold) These robots are usually rather old and by the time you get them they have been through a couple of generations of middle school students. But they were built solid and many survived, even if in need of repair. This is what this post is about Read the rest of this entry »

Well, this is the first post at Elabz.com. We plan on making this site a diary about electronics projects and a repository of tools and downloads for the fellow electronics enthusiasts. Please come back soon for more info.