Hello, I would like to be able to control the Mini Maestro 18 with an Amiga Computer, the problem is that it does not have a USB port. It however does have a standard RS232 port, can I connect the Transmit and Receive lines from the Amiga serial port to the RX and TX pins on the Mini Maestro 18?
Would I need to connect the ground as well. Which protocol should I use I gather mini SSC would be best.
Thanks
Leo
Hello, Leo.
The Maestro does not accept RS-232 signals directly, but you could use an RS-232 to TTL Serial adapter. I think the Amiga’s serial port uses a DB25 connector; the closest thing we have is this DB9 serial port adapter, but you might be able to use something like that that with a DB25 to DB9 cable. Then, you would connect the TX from the serial port to the RX on the Maestro, the RX from the serial port to the TX on the Maestro, and a common ground.
Which protocol you use is up to you, and since the Maestro does not need to be configured for a specific one, you can even switch between sending commands in all three protocols (Compact, Pololu, and MiniSSC) on the fly. The benefit of Mini SSC is that it only takes 3 bytes to set a target position for the specified servo, but it cannot be used to send any of the other commands to adjust settings like speed or acceleration, or to read back information like the current position, moving state, or errors. The Compact and Pololu protocols can also be used to interact with scripts on the Maestro. You can find more information about the various commands available in the Serial Servo Commands and Serial Script Commands sections of the Maestro user’s guide.
By the way, your project sounds really neat; you might consider sharing about it on the Share Your Projects section of the forum once it is finished!
Brandon