Pioneer Module Mobile manual Gripper I/O, Gripper Programming, Direct Control via Digital Ports

Gripper Operation and Programming

4.3 Gripper I/O

The Gripper’s single drive motor is controlled through two digital output lines and under control of the microcontroller CPU: Output port OD0 controls the direction of rotation and OD1 enables/disables the motor.

The act of gripping and raising objects is mechanical and dependent on the Gripper’s position—you cannot independently operate the gripper paddles. Rather, you drive the motor in one direction or the other. The paddles automatically open when the Gripper is being lowered and reaches the bottom of the assembly. In reverse, the paddles automatically close upon themselves or an object and then rise.

Switches on top (“up”), inside at one end of the Bar (“open”), and behind the Bar (“carry”) indicate the various Gripper (G) positions (Table 3-1). In addition, bump switches on the tips of each paddle indicate collisions, and break beams (b-b) inside the paddles indicate the position of an object within the grasp. We identify the various I/O ports and connections by name in Table 3-1. Consult the Tables in Chapter 5 for their pin locations on the General and Nose I/O connectors.

Table 3-1. Gripper motor controls and state switches

Name	I/O port	Meanings
G.motor	OD0	rotate 1=down; 0=up
G.motor	OD1	1=enable
top	ID0	0= G at top
carry	ID1	0=paddles closed, G 4-5cm above floor
open	ID2	0=paddles fully open
inner b-b	ID3	1=object inside
outer b-b	ID4	1=object inside
bumps	ID5	0=paddle tip touching object

4.4 Gripper Programming

You can directly control the Gripper motor through the PSOS sfCOMDIGOUT command and byte parameters. PSOS also will accept a new state command, sfCOMGRIPPER, to achieve a gripper state, and sets the gripper motor bits appropriately. There also are some Saphira convenience functions defined for getting and setting the gripper state. For details on programming PSOS directly and through Saphira, consult the Saphira Software and Pioneer Operations and Software Manuals.

sfCOMDIGOUT control of Pioneer digital output ports has been

changed in PSOS version 4.2 and later.

4.4.1 Direct Control via Digital Ports

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