Connections for RPi, BatBorg, UltraBorg, and PicoBorg Reverse

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Hi Everybody

My 11 yo daughter and I are building a robot. We are using Actobotic's Whippersnapper Runt Rover, Raspberry Pi B+, BattBorg, UltraBorg, and PicoBorg Reverse, with RasPi Cam, two servos (one is a standard with a claw, the other a micro), and an ultrasound sensor. I got the 8 AA battery pack for the BattBorg, and have an extra 6 AA battery pack. You can see all components in the attached image.
I have a few questions:
How do we connect all the boards? Is the connection arrangement in the picture correct? I am most concerned about the BattBorg
Do we need more than the 8 AA battery pack as power supply?
Do we need to give different addresses to the UltraBorg and PicoBorg? I know that is needed when cascading two UltraBorgs or two PicoBorgs, but it's not clear if it has to be done when connecting one of each.

Thanks in advance!

Ppyo
Rock Hill, USA

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piborg's picture

There are a few small things which need to be changed to make this all work.

  1. The UltraBorg connection to the Raspberry Pi needs all six pins
  2. Point 1 means the BattBorg cannot be connected directly to the Raspberry Pi
    Instead connect it to the spare 6-pin header on the PicoBorg Reverse
    This can be done either with the cable, or fitting the BattBorg so the post mounts directly into the mounting hole
  3. The center 2-pin screw terminal on the PicoBorg Reverse will also want to be connected to the main battery pack as the power supply for the motors
    You can do this with two cables between the BattBorg and PicoBorg Reverse power connections
  4. The UltraBorg will want an approximately 5V power supply to the 2-pin screw terminal for the servo motors
    A 4x AA battery pack with rechargables (4x 1.2V) will suffice for this job

Everything else looks good :)

ppyo's picture

Thank you! Much clearer now.
Just one question remained unanswered:
Do we need to give different addresses to the UltraBorg and PicoBorg? I know that is needed when cascading two UltraBorgs or two PicoBorgs, but I am not sure if it has to be done when connecting one of each.

piborg's picture

The default I2C addresses for UltraBorg and PicoBorg Reverse are different.

This means that if you only connect one of each you can use both of them without changing any addresses.

ppyo's picture

Thank you again.
I think I will add a few spacer standoffs to stack the boards on top of the RPi. 20mm should do the trick.

ppyo's picture

Here is the full assembly. Now on to test it.

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