Is there a way to program a robot with python (ex, an electric motor, control it's speed, etc)

[Carlos Guerrero]

One "generic" way is using your parallel port for outputting voltages
that would control Relays [2] that would be conected to the motor.

Parapin [1] is the easiest way i know to work with parallel ports but
its for C++, the python binding is still being developed [2].


[1] http://parapin.sourceforge.net/
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relay
     http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rel%C3%A9 <- these graphics are kinda better
[3] http://pyserial.sourceforge.net/pyparallel.html

On 7/9/07, Carsten Haese <carsten at uniqsys.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 2007-07-08 at 19:18 -0700, socialanxiety at gmail.com wrote:
> > On Jul 8, 5:37 pm, Carsten Haese <cars... at uniqsys.com> wrote:
> > > On Sun, 2007-07-08 at 17:06 -0700, socialanxi... at gmail.com wrote:
> > > > i hope someone here can help me.
> > >
> > > > basically, me and my friend have a summer project.
> > >
> > > > in this project, we need something that would basically function as a
> > > > blender. we know we'll need to buy a motor that spins, but what we're
> > > > having trouble with is figuring out how to program it. we want to be
> > > > able to control the speed of the motor. how would we accomplish this?
> > >
> > > > i'm new to all of this, so i'm having a hard time wrapping my mind
> > > > around how it'd be possible to program one of those things :\
> > >
> > > > ex: what if i want the motor to turn for 10 seconds. stop for 5. then
> > > > turn the other direction.
> > >
> > > > would you program it the same way you would on a personal computer
> > > > (via c, python, etc)?
> > >
> > > The answers to your questions depend very much on what you're working
> > > with and how the motor is controlled. Is this supposed to be a
> > > self-contained machine, or is it supposed to be connected to a personal
> > > computer as a peripheral device?
> > > [...]
> > I would like the robot to be self contained. basically, I'd like to be
> > able to program functions in python, ex:
> >
> > while True:
> >     motor.rotate(1)
>
> Good luck with that. Your best bet IMHO is to find a single-board
> computer (commonly referred to as SBC) that is small enough to fit your
> form-factor, capable of running Linux, and equipped with a suitable I/O
> interface (e.g. serial or parallel port). In theory, this should allow
> you to put Linux and Python on it and control your motor in Python as if
> it were a peripheral device connected to a personal computer. In
> practice, I've never done anything like this, and the devil is in the
> details that you'll need to work out for yourself.
>
> --
> Carsten Haese
> http://informixdb.sourceforge.net
>
>
> --
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
>


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