BS2 from Sumo Bot

[jselph]

I recently acquired a Tab Sumo Bot kit, and a completed Sumo Bot, and have been led to believe that they are controlled by a Basic Stamp 2.  I have a couple of projects in mind and was wondering if the controller card from the bot could be used for holiday lighting purposes?  I have a computer related background with COBOL, BASIC, and VB experience, plus over 25 years of building, support, and hardware repair.
I would like to begin planning for next Halloween/Christmas lighting, and would appreciate information and suggestions on software and hardware options.  The only other hardware that I have is an older 8 channel, 5v, relay card that was given to me.
Any information, ideas, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
John

[bsnut]

First off welcome to the forums.

EFX-TEK products such as the Prop-2 has a Basic Stamp 2 mounted on the board the same as the Sumo Bot. The one thing that it differs from the Sumo Bot is that, it has header pins so you connect things as switches, PIR sensors and other devices that use 5 V TTL logic to its I/O pins. It also has a chip that is on the right side of the board, this is an ULN and it is use for connecting things like solenoids that can't connected directly to the I/O pins themselves. This ULN chip is connected straight to the I/O pins on the Prop-2 (Basic Stamp 2), which is also providing protection to the Basic Stamp I/O pins. The Sumo Bot, you have to build the circuits to run the Sumo Bot using the breadboard and normally you don't need to do any thing extra in the of building circuits via the breadboard.

The Halloween/Christmas lighting projects are normally base on what you plan to too. Meaning that some Halloween/Christmas lighting may go over the 16 I/O pin that the Prop-2 has or may go less than 16 I/O and can use the Prop-1 (Basic Stamp 1) which has 8 I/O pins but is less powerful that the Prop-2.

All you have to remember is to, tell us all the details what you are trying to do and we can help you by pointing you to the right controller to use for your project.     

[jselph]

bsnut,
Thanks for the reply.  I guess what I'm trying to do is use what I have to learn what I can do before dumping any cash into an impossible project.  I would like to be able to create a smaller version of the type of light shows on youtube, etc., that are set to music  Ultimately, I would like to move into being able to address lighting bulb by bulb, but know that, at this point, it is far ahead of my capabilities.  If there is a way to utilize the board from the sumo bot to experiment with various concepts and software, I figure I can gain experience and decide on the proper "expense" path to pursue, from a hardware standpoint.
Thanks again,
John

[JonnyMac]

John,

If you want to sync lights and motion and sound, the BS2 is probably not your best bet. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice little processor -- but it's horsepower and code space are limited. If your show will fit within the constraints of memory, great. The other limit you have to live with using the BS2 is that a light is either on or off -- no dimming.

If you want advanced capabilities like dimming and precise sync with music, the HC-8+ is something to consider. Until a year ago Legoland was hand-coding BS2 boards for their displays. They were never happy. We showed them how to build sophisticated shows using off-the-shelf software (Vixen) that could run servos, LEDs, and external DMX lighting, all in perfect sync with audio played by our AP-16+.

I suggest you continue to code your BS2; try to create some simple shows. The time spent is worthwhile because you'll develop show-control strategies that you can apply to anything.