Testing the Dynamixel SDK

While I am working on milling the leg’s frames for my DARwIn-OP clone (I’ll come later on this), I decided to test the Dynamixel SDK for Linux on a PC with Ubuntu 12.04. Since I am interested in using the smaller USB2AX adapter to control the servos, I did a simple install:

  • I unzipped the SDK Zip file to a new folder.
  • As instructed in the USB2AX FAQ page, I replaced the DXL_SDK_LINUX_v1_01/src/dxl_hal.c file from the SDK with this version that correctly communicates with the USB2AX adapter.
  • I ran make in the DXL_SDK_LINUX_v1_01/src folder to compile the libraries.
  • I ran make in DXL_SDK_LINUX_v1_01/example/ReadWrite to compile a simple test example.
  • I connected a Dynamixel MX-28T servo with ID 1 and Baud Rate 1 mbps to the PC via the USB2AX (the USB2AX adapter only communicates at 1 mbps, and the ReadWrite example expects a servo with ID 1 with 1 mbps).
  • I powered up the servo.
  • I added my linux user to the dailout group to have RW access to the USB2AX device (/dev/ttyACM*).
  • I ran the ReadWrite example and it worked!

The C source code of the ReadWrite example is quite tiny and shows the basics of the API which is simple to use.

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