I host a community robotics club and we want to make the Pixy Pet Robot, which technically calls for the Zumo Robot for Arduino, v1.2.
However, it looks like the Zumo 32U4 Robot is a superior platform for doing other projects. So, I’m leaning towards the 32U4.
QUESTION: Can the Zumo 32U4 Robot be used to make the Pixy Pet Robot? Is it hardware compatible? And software compatible?
I’m nervous because Polulu’s page for the 32U4 says this: “Some of the pin mappings and software libraries differ between the Zumo 32U4 and Zumo robot for Arduino, so programs written for one robot generally need to be modified to work on the other.”
We have not used the Pixy with a Zumo32U4, but we have seen other people use the two together. In that video, it looks like they are mounting the pan/tilt bracket to the existing holes on the Zumo chassis and the video uploader identifies in the comments that the two devices communicate over I2C. Adafruit’s code uses SPI communication between the image sensor and the Zumo Robot for Arduino, which isn’t practical for the Zumo 32U4 because its SPI pins are used for other purposes like controlling the motors. So, you probably won’t be able to use that code. However, you could modify or rewrite it to get similar functionality using the I2C interface (Arduino Wire) and using the Zumo32U4 Arduino library instead of the ZumoShield Arduino library. You should also consider looking at the code in the YouTube comment.
In the Zumo 32U4 documentation, it says the intertial sensors us the I2C and that they “are connected to the SDA (digital pin 2, or PD1) and SCL (digital pin 3, or PD0) pins on the AVR by default, but they can be disconnected by cutting the surface-mount jumpers labeled “2 = SDA” and “3 = SCL” on the board to allow those pins to be used for other purposes.”
Is this this only way to access I2C in order to connect the Pixy? Do I have to cut the surface mount jumpers?
Or, can I just tie into the PD0 and PD1 pins and leave the inertial sensors connected?
You do not need to cut the surface-mount jumpers to disconnect the inertial sensors from the I2C bus on the Zumo 32U4. As long as the Pixy’s slave address does not conflict with the address of the inertial sensors, you can keep the inertial sensors attached to the I2C bus. This is mentioned under “Freeing up I/O pins” in the “Adding electronics” section of the Zumo 32U4 user’s guide.
@MikeyWetzel did you have any luck completing the Pixy pet project? I’m interested in the same thing… and the customizations needed are making me hesitate to order this.
