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You can't actually do this the way you describe. You can't pulse the motor
outputs as required to drive the FOS with the standard firmware. The FOS
has only one LED, and the VLL signal is a bit more complicated than on/off.
You can use the scout VLL output to switch a phototransitor hooked up in
series on one side of a battery cable. The transistor will switch power
quickly enough to the FOS to recreate the VLL signal.
SCOUT
/\
Batterybox --- phototranny --- FOS --- uScout1
Batterybox ------------------------- FOS --- uScout2
FOS --- uScout3
FOS --- Etc.
By using a motor output (and a touch sensor and gearing) on the Scout to
control FOS rotation, you could drive 8 uScouts this way. You would need
to do some programming though, so add back in the computer and the IR
tower.
Jeff
Jeffrey Hazen
North Mill Technology
jeffrey.hazen@northmill.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Miles Gentry [SMTP:gentrym@gte.net]
Sent: Friday, February 02, 2001 8:10 AM
To: lugnet.technic@lugnet.com; lugnet.robotics.scout@lugnet.com;
lugnet.robotics.microscout@lugnet.com
Subject: Fiber Optics System controlling multiple motors
You can build a Technic mechanical and optical system to control Mindstorms
Scouts and Micro Scouts. The lights and optic cables from the FOS (Fiber
Optic System) rotary LED assembly can provide the light sources and
channels
to the light sensors on the Scout and Micro Scout. No PC, no programming,
no IR tower, and no RCX communication needed.
The FOS (Fiber Optic System) generates light with 8 LED's. Axle rotation
selects one of the LED's at a time. One FOS could control several Scouts
and Micro Scouts sequentially. Electrical power causes the selected LED to
glow. Pulsed power can signal the Scout or Micro Scout with light codes
corresponding to their built-in programs. Several types of Technic-built
mechanical switches could allow manual control of the signals. The rotary
FOS switches power off between each of the 8 LED's. Gearing or leveraging
the axle to the FOS can allow enough manual control to select an LED and
then pulse power to create the light signals. The flexible fiber optic
cables carry the light to the light sensors on the Scout or Micro Scout.
A Scout runs 2 external motors. A Micro Scout runs 1 built-in motor.
For parts availability and more info about building a sturdy 2-cables-long
conduit for Fiber Optic Cables, see
http://news.lugnet.com/robotics/scout/?n=121.
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