Hiwonder RoboSoul HS5 Humanoid Robot Demo

 

I have finally been able to run this robot.  I started the project about a year ago.  There was one bad servo that needed replacement.  Then I did not have the arm servos mounted correctly.  But he is up and running now.  You have to assign each servo a number with another interface board and different software before you can assemble the robot.

This is the back view of the robot.  The bus servo controller is not the correct one but it works anyway.

This is the front view of the robot.  I changed his head as the one that came with him was too angry looking.

This is the control screen.  The software was downloaded from hiwonder.

This is a link to the video of the robot working on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/gvBmzbqPedI

72 x 16 WS2812B Addressable LED sign with Arduino Nano

I rewired another of my signs to have all of the LED's wired in series.  They will work with an ESP8266 or newer processor wired that way.  However I have, after a couple of days playing with the programming, done it with an Arduino Nano.  FastLed and AdaFruit NeoMatrix all create a large array then output it. This uses a lot of memory and hence limits the use of older processors. 

My software creates the output directly, eliminating the array stage.  The biggest issue is keeping the software fast.  For instance the Arduino Output "digitalWrite" command cannot be used, it is too slow.  I have to use direct port manipulation.  In the past I have outputted 8 bits to 8 LED strips using that technique.  Hower, by adding some shifting commands to the software I have done the same thing but I am only using D8 to actually talk to the LED sign.

This is what the LED sign looks like from the back side.

Here are some pictures of the text once I got the sign working.

The youTube video is at: https://youtu.be/rKZ0HcD0yVk

Here is the code:

// For Color Text on 1wire, Series wired WS2812 strings
// Features: Bluetooth support, 2 Lines, 5x7 Font
// by: BOB Davis January 2022

// Uses Port B for faster output of data
// Displays 2 lines of text switching between them.
// PORTB is Digital Pins 8-13 (Uses D8 actually)
// Colors: R=Red, G=Green, B=Blue, W=White
// Colors: Y=Yellow, P=Purple, C=Cyan

#define PIN 8 // D0 of port B - Actual pin to send data on

// Variables for colors of letters and background

int red=1; int green=1; int blue=1;

// Format: R/G/B=Foreground then R/G/B=Background then 1/2=line then text
String text1="G1ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ ";
String text2="R21234567890!@#$%^&*()_+{}[] ";
String textn=" "; // New text

// Send the next row to the pin 8 times.
// The delay timing is for an Arduino UNO or Nano.

void sendBits( byte bits ) {
// setting the MSB to 0 reduces brightness + power consumption
PORTB=0x0F; // turn on
PORTB=0x0F; // delay
PORTB=0x0F; // delay
PORTB=0x0F; // delay (add more for faster processors)
PORTB=0x00; // send data
PORTB=0x00; // delay
PORTB=0x00; // delay
PORTB=0x00; // delay
PORTB=0x00; // Turn off
PORTB=0x00; // Turn off
PORTB=0x00; // Turn off

for (int b=0; b<7; b++) {
PORTB=0x0F; // turn on
PORTB=0x0F; // delay
PORTB=0x0F; // delay
PORTB=0x0F; // delay (add more for faster processors)
PORTB=bits; // send data
PORTB=bits; // delay
PORTB=bits; // delay
PORTB=bits; // delay
PORTB=0x00; // Turn off
PORTB=0x00; // Turn off
PORTB=0x00; // Turn off
}
}

// Send bytes to LED's, avoid loops for maximum speed!
void sendPixelCol(byte Col) {
if (green)sendBits(Col); else sendBits(0x00);
if (red)sendBits(Col); else sendBits(0x00);
if (blue)sendBits(Col); else sendBits(0x00);
}

byte font5x7[][6] = { // font from AdaFruit
0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, // Space
0x00, 0x00, 0x5F, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, // !
0x00, 0x07, 0x00, 0x07, 0x00, 0x00, //"
0x14, 0x7F, 0x14, 0x7F, 0x14, 0x00, //#
0x24, 0x2A, 0x7F, 0x2A, 0x12, 0x00,
0x23, 0x13, 0x08, 0x64, 0x62, 0x00,
0x36, 0x49, 0x56, 0x20, 0x50, 0x00,
0x00, 0x08, 0x07, 0x03, 0x00, 0x00, //'
0x00, 0x1C, 0x22, 0x41, 0x00, 0x00, //(
0x00, 0x41, 0x22, 0x1C, 0x00, 0x00, //)
0x2A, 0x1C, 0x7F, 0x1C, 0x2A, 0x00,
0x08, 0x08, 0x3E, 0x08, 0x08, 0x00,
0x00, 0x80, 0x70, 0x30, 0x00, 0x00,
0x08, 0x08, 0x08, 0x08, 0x08, 0x00,
0x00, 0x00, 0x60, 0x60, 0x00, 0x00,
0x20, 0x10, 0x08, 0x04, 0x02, 0x00, // /
0x3E, 0x51, 0x49, 0x45, 0x3E, 0x00, // 0
0x00, 0x42, 0x7F, 0x40, 0x00, 0x00, // 1
0x72, 0x49, 0x49, 0x49, 0x46, 0x00,
0x21, 0x41, 0x49, 0x4D, 0x33, 0x00,
0x18, 0x14, 0x12, 0x7F, 0x10, 0x00,
0x27, 0x45, 0x45, 0x45, 0x39, 0x00,
0x3C, 0x4A, 0x49, 0x49, 0x31, 0x00,
0x41, 0x21, 0x11, 0x09, 0x07, 0x00,
0x36, 0x49, 0x49, 0x49, 0x36, 0x00,
0x46, 0x49, 0x49, 0x29, 0x1E, 0x00, // 9
0x00, 0x00, 0x14, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, // :
0x00, 0x40, 0x34, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, // ;
0x00, 0x08, 0x14, 0x22, 0x41, 0x00,
0x14, 0x14, 0x14, 0x14, 0x14, 0x00,
0x00, 0x41, 0x22, 0x14, 0x08, 0x00,
0x02, 0x01, 0x59, 0x09, 0x06, 0x00,
0x3E, 0x41, 0x5D, 0x59, 0x4E, 0x00,
0x7C, 0x12, 0x11, 0x12, 0x7C, 0x00, //A
0x7F, 0x49, 0x49, 0x49, 0x36, 0x00,
0x3E, 0x41, 0x41, 0x41, 0x22, 0x00,
0x7F, 0x41, 0x41, 0x41, 0x3E, 0x00,
0x7F, 0x49, 0x49, 0x49, 0x41, 0x00,
0x7F, 0x09, 0x09, 0x09, 0x01, 0x00,
0x3E, 0x41, 0x41, 0x51, 0x73, 0x00,
0x7F, 0x08, 0x08, 0x08, 0x7F, 0x00,
0x00, 0x41, 0x7F, 0x41, 0x00, 0x00,
0x20, 0x40, 0x41, 0x3F, 0x01, 0x00,
0x7F, 0x08, 0x14, 0x22, 0x41, 0x00,
0x7F, 0x40, 0x40, 0x40, 0x40, 0x00,
0x7F, 0x02, 0x1C, 0x02, 0x7F, 0x00, //M
0x7F, 0x04, 0x08, 0x10, 0x7F, 0x00,
0x3E, 0x41, 0x41, 0x41, 0x3E, 0x00,
0x7F, 0x09, 0x09, 0x09, 0x06, 0x00,
0x3E, 0x41, 0x51, 0x21, 0x5E, 0x00,
0x7F, 0x09, 0x19, 0x29, 0x46, 0x00,
0x26, 0x49, 0x49, 0x49, 0x32, 0x00,
0x03, 0x01, 0x7F, 0x01, 0x03, 0x00,
0x3F, 0x40, 0x40, 0x40, 0x3F, 0x00,
0x1F, 0x20, 0x40, 0x20, 0x1F, 0x00,
0x3F, 0x40, 0x38, 0x40, 0x3F, 0x00,
0x63, 0x14, 0x08, 0x14, 0x63, 0x00,
0x03, 0x04, 0x78, 0x04, 0x03, 0x00,
0x61, 0x59, 0x49, 0x4D, 0x43, 0x00, //Z
0x00, 0x7F, 0x41, 0x41, 0x41, 0x00,
0x02, 0x04, 0x08, 0x10, 0x20, 0x00,
0x00, 0x41, 0x41, 0x41, 0x7F, 0x00,
0x04, 0x02, 0x01, 0x02, 0x04, 0x00,
0x40, 0x40, 0x40, 0x40, 0x40, 0x00,
0x00, 0x03, 0x07, 0x08, 0x00, 0x00,
0x20, 0x54, 0x54, 0x78, 0x40, 0x00, //a
0x7F, 0x28, 0x44, 0x44, 0x38, 0x00,
0x38, 0x44, 0x44, 0x44, 0x28, 0x00,
0x38, 0x44, 0x44, 0x28, 0x7F, 0x00,
0x38, 0x54, 0x54, 0x54, 0x18, 0x00,
0x00, 0x08, 0x7E, 0x09, 0x02, 0x00,
0x18, 0xA4, 0xA4, 0x9C, 0x78, 0x00,
0x7F, 0x08, 0x04, 0x04, 0x78, 0x00,
0x00, 0x44, 0x7D, 0x40, 0x00, 0x00,
0x20, 0x40, 0x40, 0x3D, 0x00, 0x00,
0x7F, 0x10, 0x28, 0x44, 0x00, 0x00,
0x00, 0x41, 0x7F, 0x40, 0x00, 0x00,
0x7C, 0x04, 0x78, 0x04, 0x78, 0x00, //m
0x7C, 0x08, 0x04, 0x04, 0x78, 0x00,
0x38, 0x44, 0x44, 0x44, 0x38, 0x00,
0xFC, 0x18, 0x24, 0x24, 0x18, 0x00,
0x18, 0x24, 0x24, 0x18, 0xFC, 0x00,
0x7C, 0x08, 0x04, 0x04, 0x08, 0x00,
0x48, 0x54, 0x54, 0x54, 0x24, 0x00,
0x04, 0x04, 0x3F, 0x44, 0x24, 0x00,
0x3C, 0x40, 0x40, 0x20, 0x7C, 0x00,
0x1C, 0x20, 0x40, 0x20, 0x1C, 0x00,
0x3C, 0x40, 0x30, 0x40, 0x3C, 0x00,
0x44, 0x28, 0x10, 0x28, 0x44, 0x00,
0x4C, 0x90, 0x90, 0x90, 0x7C, 0x00,
0x44, 0x64, 0x54, 0x4C, 0x44, 0x00, //z
0x00, 0x08, 0x36, 0x41, 0x00, 0x00,
0x00, 0x00, 0x77, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
0x00, 0x41, 0x36, 0x08, 0x00, 0x00,
0x02, 0x01, 0x02, 0x04, 0x02, 0x00,
0x3C, 0x26, 0x23, 0x26, 0x3C, 0x00,
0x1E, 0xA1, 0xA1, 0x61, 0x12, 0x00,
0x3A, 0x40, 0x40, 0x20, 0x7A, 0x00,
0x38, 0x54, 0x54, 0x55, 0x59, 0x00,
0x21, 0x55, 0x55, 0x79, 0x41, 0x00,
};

void sendline(String line) {
cli(); // No time for interruptions!
for (int c=0; c<8; c++){ // shift and send columns
for (int l=2; l<14; l++){ // Send characters
sendPixelCol((font5x7[(line)[l]-32][0])>>c);
sendPixelCol((font5x7[(line)[l]-32][1])>>c);
sendPixelCol((font5x7[(line)[l]-32][2])>>c);
sendPixelCol((font5x7[(line)[l]-32][3])>>c);
sendPixelCol((font5x7[(line)[l]-32][4])>>c);
sendPixelCol((font5x7[(line)[l]-32][5])>>c);
}
}
for (int c=0; c<8; c++){ // shift and send columns
for (int l=14; l<26; l++){ // Send characters
sendPixelCol((font5x7[(line)[l]-32][0])>>c);
sendPixelCol((font5x7[(line)[l]-32][1])>>c);
sendPixelCol((font5x7[(line)[l]-32][2])>>c);
sendPixelCol((font5x7[(line)[l]-32][3])>>c);
sendPixelCol((font5x7[(line)[l]-32][4])>>c);
sendPixelCol((font5x7[(line)[l]-32][5])>>c);
}
}
sei();
}

void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600); // opens serial port, data rate 9600 bps
pinMode(PIN, OUTPUT); // alternative set pin to output
}

void loop() {
if (Serial.available() > 0) {
textn=Serial.readString();
if ((textn[1])=='1') text1=textn;
if ((textn[1])=='2') text2=textn;
}
Serial.println(text1);
Serial.println(text2);

// Pad length to 40 characters
for(int i = text1.length(); i < 30; i++){ text1 += ' '; }
for(int i = text2.length(); i < 30; i++){ text2 += ' '; }

// Read colors from string,
if ((text1[0])=='R') red=1, green=0, blue=0;
if ((text1[0])=='G') red=0, green=1, blue=0;
if ((text1[0])=='B') red=0, green=0, blue=1;
if ((text1[0])=='W') red=1, green=1, blue=1;
if ((text1[0])=='Y') red=1, green=1, blue=0;
if ((text1[0])=='P') red=1, green=0, blue=1;
if ((text1[0])=='C') red=0, green=1, blue=1;

sendline(text1);
delay(4000); // Wait to display results

// Get New foreground and background colors
if ((text2[0])=='R') red=1, green=0, blue=0;
if ((text2[0])=='G') red=0, green=1, blue=0;
if ((text2[0])=='B') red=0, green=0, blue=1;
if ((text2[0])=='W') red=1, green=1, blue=1;
if ((text2[0])=='Y') red=1, green=1, blue=0;
if ((text2[0])=='P') red=1, green=0, blue=1;
if ((text2[0])=='C') red=0, green=1, blue=1;

sendline(text2);
delay(4000); // Wait to display results
return;
}

I have done some basic graphics, in this case a flag.  Basically its one byte per pixel.  Its easy to do as there is no math needed.  The big issue is the need for two 5 volt 15 amp power supplies to power it up.

DR-14830 LED Sign Modification to Arduino Interface

This summer I had purchased a LED sign.  On a closer observation I discovered that I cannot read the model number.  The sign contains two LED circuitboards with "DR-14830" on them.  Since I have been modifing LED signs to work with the Arduino for over 12 years now, this sign was another challenge for me to figure out.  It uses 74LS164 shift registers with ULN2003 drivers for the columns.  The rows are selected by a 74LS164 then a 74LS138 then a ULN2003 then TIP122 power transistors.  The power transistors go to the anodes of the LED arrays.  The row selecting 74LS164 was in the chain of shift registers so I removed it to make the software simpler to write.  

This is a picture of the back panel, as you can see the model number is not readable.

This is a wider view of the back.  It used to have two power sources of 9 VAC that were rectified and regulated to 9VDC for the TIP122 power transistors and 5 VDC for the logic IC's.  I changed it to run off a 5VDC at 10 amps switching power supply instead.

The 74LS138 pins 1, 2, 3 need to be jumpered to the unused 4 pins of the interconnecting jack. Pins 4 and 5 need to be connected to ground and pin 6 goes to 5 volts via another jumper wire.  Also you can see how I changed the power input to be only 5 VDC in this picture.

Before using the 4 unused pins cut the two wire runs that are running to them.  Pin 1 (and 5) is ground so skip that pin and use pins 2, 3, 4 to be connected to pins 1, 2, 3 of the 74LS138.  Existing Pin 7 is data and Pin 8 is clock.

I removed U7 and U8 as they were a phase locked loop (NE556) and a 74LS164 shift register for the 74138 address pins.  Then I cut a run (that was going to the 74LS138) and added the jumper wire in the picture to connect the buffered data to the first 74164 shift register instead of the now removed 74LS164 row selecting shift register.

After a couple hours of troubleshooting the sign started working.  I will eventually upload the software once I get it fine tuned.

Here is the code:

// 60x7 LED Sign driver

// Uses Some direct port writes

// 1/4/2022 by Bob Davis

//#define A   A0  74138 pin1

//#define B   A1  74138 pin2

//#define C   A2  74138 pin3

#define DAT 7 // 74LS164 Data 

#define CLK 8 // 74LS164 Clock 

#define ROW_PORT   PORTC  // Port the 74138 rows are connected to

String text1="ARDUINO UNO ";

// This font from http://sunge.awardspace.com/glcd-sd/node4.html

byte font[][7] = {

0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00, // ascii 32

0x00,0x00,0xfa,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00, // !

0x00,0xe0,0x00,0xe0,0x00,0x00,0x00, // "

0x28,0xfe,0x28,0xfe,0x28,0x00,0x00, // #

0x00,0x34,0xfe,0x58,0x00,0x00,0x00, // $

0xc4,0xc8,0x10,0x26,0x46,0x00,0x00, // %

0x6c,0x92,0xaa,0x44,0x0a,0x00,0x00, // &

0x00,0xa0,0xc0,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00, // '

0x00,0x38,0x44,0x82,0x00,0x00,0x00, // (

0x00,0x82,0x44,0x38,0x00,0x00,0x00, // )

0x10,0x54,0x38,0x54,0x10,0x00,0x00, // *

0x10,0x10,0x7c,0x10,0x10,0x00,0x00, // +

0x00,0x0a,0x0c,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00, // ,

0x10,0x10,0x10,0x10,0x10,0x00,0x00, // -

0x00,0x06,0x06,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00, // .

0x04,0x08,0x10,0x20,0x40,0x00,0x00, // /

0x7c,0x8a,0x92,0xa2,0x7c,0x00,0x00, // 0

0x00,0x42,0xfe,0x02,0x00,0x00,0x00, // 1

0x42,0x86,0x8a,0x92,0x62,0x00,0x00, // 2

0x84,0x82,0xa2,0xd2,0x8c,0x00,0x00, // 3

0x18,0x28,0x48,0xfe,0x08,0x00,0x00, // 4

0xe4,0xa2,0xa2,0xa2,0x9c,0x00,0x00, // 5

0x3c,0x52,0x92,0x92,0x0c,0x00,0x00, // 6

0x80,0x8e,0x90,0xa0,0xc0,0x00,0x00, // 7

0x6c,0x92,0x92,0x92,0x6c,0x00,0x00, // 8

0x60,0x92,0x92,0x94,0x78,0x00,0x00, // 9

0x00,0x6c,0x6c,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00, // :

0x00,0x6a,0x6c,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00, // ;

0x00,0x10,0x28,0x44,0x82,0x00,0x00, // <

0x28,0x28,0x28,0x28,0x28,0x00,0x00, // =

0x82,0x44,0x28,0x10,0x00,0x00,0x00, // >

0x40,0x80,0x8a,0x90,0x60,0x00,0x00, // ?

0x4c,0x92,0x9e,0x82,0x7c,0x00,0x00, // @

0x7e,0x90,0x90,0x90,0x7e,0x00,0x00, // A

0xfe,0x92,0x92,0x92,0x6c,0x00,0x00, // B

0x7c,0x82,0x82,0x82,0x44,0x00,0x00, // C

0xfe,0x82,0x82,0x82,0x7c,0x00,0x00, // D

0xfe,0x92,0x92,0x92,0x82,0x00,0x00, // E

0xfe,0x90,0x90,0x80,0x80,0x00,0x00, // F

0x7c,0x82,0x82,0x8a,0x4c,0x00,0x00, // G

0xfe,0x10,0x10,0x10,0xfe,0x00,0x00, // H

0x00,0x82,0xfe,0x82,0x00,0x00,0x00, // I

0x04,0x02,0x82,0xfc,0x80,0x00,0x00, // J

0xfe,0x10,0x28,0x44,0x82,0x00,0x00, // K

0xfe,0x02,0x02,0x02,0x02,0x00,0x00, // L

0xfe,0x40,0x20,0x40,0xfe,0x00,0x00, // M

0xfe,0x20,0x10,0x08,0xfe,0x00,0x00, // N

0x7c,0x82,0x82,0x82,0x7c,0x00,0x00, // O

0xfe,0x90,0x90,0x90,0x60,0x00,0x00, // P

0x7c,0x82,0x8a,0x84,0x7a,0x00,0x00, // Q

0xfe,0x90,0x98,0x94,0x62,0x00,0x00, // R

0x62,0x92,0x92,0x92,0x8c,0x00,0x00, // S

0x80,0x80,0xfe,0x80,0x80,0x00,0x00, // T

0xfc,0x02,0x02,0x02,0xfc,0x00,0x00, // U

0xf8,0x04,0x02,0x04,0xf8,0x00,0x00, // V

0xfe,0x04,0x18,0x04,0xfe,0x00,0x00, // W

0xc6,0x28,0x10,0x28,0xc6,0x00,0x00, // X

0xc0,0x20,0x1e,0x20,0xc0,0x00,0x00, // Y

0x86,0x8a,0x92,0xa2,0xc2,0x00,0x00,  // Z

};

void setup() {

  pinMode (DAT,OUTPUT);

  pinMode (CLK,OUTPUT);

  pinMode (A0,OUTPUT);

  pinMode (A1,OUTPUT);

  pinMode (A2,OUTPUT);

  Serial.begin(9600);    // opens serial port, data rate 9600 bps

}

     

void loop() {

    if (Serial.available() > 0) {

      text1=Serial.readString();

      }

    Serial.print(text1);

    for (int r=0; r<7; r++){         // Select the Row

      for (int ch=10; ch>-1; ch--){  // select the character

        for (int c=5; c>-1; c--){    // select the column within character

          PORTC=7;                   // Turn display off while shifting

          digitalWrite(DAT, LOW);    // Check of data high or low

            if ((font[text1[ch]-32][c] >> r+1) & 0x01==1) digitalWrite(DAT, HIGH);

          digitalWrite(CLK, HIGH); 

          digitalWrite(CLK, LOW);  // Toggle clock

        }

      }

      PORTC=(r);       // row is done so display it

      delay(1);        // increase to troubleshoot    

    }

  }

This is a picture of the complete sign running.  I am sorry it is out of focus as the LED's are so bright that it overloads the camera.

To daisy chain the sign modules together you will need to extend the 74LS138 address pins to the next assembly.  I added a 4 pin connector to do that but the pins are wired backwards in the picture.  I made a custom cable to reverse the order of pins back to their correct order.