2009

Isidore’s Revenge: Robot

Drummer – Electronic Assembly
Procedures

Neil MacMillan, Matthew Loisel

ENGR466 Integrated Design Project
8/20/2009
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Isidore’s Revenge: Robot Drummer – Electronic Assembly Procedures

Objective
To outline the procedure to assemble the electronic circuits for “Isidore’s Revenge,” the robot drummer
designed for George Tzanatakis as part of the ENGR466 Integrated Design Project.

Parts
The following list of parts contains all the machined and purchased parts, along with the fasteners
required to construct the robot drummer.

Table 1: List of Parts

Name Part Number Supplier Qnty
Stepper Motor1 23Y102S-LW8 Anaheim Automation 1
Stepper Motor Driver kit KCMD L298 Solarbotics 1
SMT Breakout Board 202-0006-01 Arctan 1
Solenoid2 527-1023-ND Digikey 1
Power Supply 271-2326-ND Digikey 1
Power Transistor1,2 IRFZ40PBF-ND Digikey 1
Photocoupler 425-2541-1-ND Digikey 1
Female MIDI connector CP-1250-ND Digikey 1
Power Supply o/p connector WM17404-ND Digikey 1
Power Supply Cover 271-2297-ND Digikey 1
AC power cord Q108-ND Digikey 1
Large Diode1,2 MUR420GOS-ND Digikey 1
Small Diode1 568-1617-1-ND Digikey 1
10k resistor 10KQBK-ND Digikey 5
300 resistor 300QBK-ND Digikey 5
220 resistor 220QBK-ND Digikey 5
9-pin female connector1 WM1250-ND Digikey 1
9-pin male connector1 WM1251-ND Digikey 1
Female connector pins1 WM1271-ND Digikey 20
Male connector pins1 WM1270-ND Digikey 10
Switch1 SW116-ND Digikey 1
Prototyping Board CB-168 RP Electronics 1

[1] These parts are not the same as on the current device. Substitutions have been made to simplify the ordering
process or to improve performance.
[2] Part quantities reflect the current device with the single drum striking assembly. These part quantities should
be tripled if building the additional assemblies.
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Required Equipment
 Soldering iron
 Solder
 Phillips head screwdriver
 Hot glue gun
 Needle nose pliers
 Wire cutters
 Various lengths of 22-gauge solid-core and stranded wire
 Multimeter
 5-15 Zap straps
 Exacto-knife or other sharp blade
 Various standoffs to mount components
 L-bracket with holes drilled for MIDI connector

Base Unit Circuitry

Figure 1 shows the assembled configuration of the base unit’s circuitry.

Figure 1: Picture of the Assembled Base Unit

On the next page, Figure 2 shows the wiring diagram for the base unit. Note that the power connections
for the MIDI interface board and microcontroller have been changed from the assembled configuration.
The MIDI board is now powered from the microcontroller and the microcontroller now receives power
with its VIN pin instead of with its external power port.
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Figure 2: Base Unit Wiring

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Procedure
1. Assemble the stepper motor driver:
a. Open the stepper motor driver kit and follow the included instructions to solder and test
the board. The board should look similar to Figure 3 when finished.

Figure 3: Finished stepper motor driver board

2. Assemble the MIDl interface board.

a. Solder the PC900 opto-isolator onto the SMT breakout board.
b. Solder the interface board circuit onto the SMT breakout board as shown in Figure 4 (do
not connect the MIDI+ and MIDI- pins to the MIDI connector yet). The diode shown is
the small diode as referenced in Table 1.
c. Test all of the soldered connections using the mulitmeter and fix any bad connections.
d. Insert the MIDI connector into the L-bracket and secure in place using screws.
e. Solder the MIDI+ and MIDI- outputs to pins 5 and 4 of the MIDI connector, respectively,
using 6 cm lengths of wire.

Interface Board

MIDI + 1
1
2
VCC
a1
6b1
220 Ω GND
PC900

5 4 MIDI - 1 2
2
a1 5b1
300 Ω

1 2
3
a1
4b1 VOUT

Figure 4: MIDI Interface Board Circuit Diagram

f. Solder a 10cm length of blue 22-gauge stranded wire to the VOUT terminal. Do not
connect the VCC and GND wires yet.
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Figure 5: MIDI Interface Board Photo

3. Assemble the power transistor circuit for controlling the solenoid.

a. Score a section on the prototyping board that contains three pads and at least two rows
of holes (as in Figure 6) on the edge using an exacto-knife or a sharp blade. Continue
until the section can be easily removed while being careful not to break the board. The
three pads will be referred to as “top”, “middle”, and “bottom” in this document using
Figure 6 as the reference.

Figure 6: Prototyping Board Section with Three Pads on the Right

b. Solder the IRFZ20 transistor into the closest holes to the edge of the removed section.
c. Solder the large diode anode to the middle pad on the prototype board. The line on the
diode should be facing away from the board.
d. Solder the 10 KΩ resistor to the lower pad on the prototype board.

GND 24 V
IRFZ20

Solenoid -
Solenoid +

SCTL
10 kΩ

Figure 7: Power Transistor Circuit

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Figure 8: Power Transistor Mounted on Prototype Board

4. Assemble the base unit and top unit wiring connectors.

a. Measure and cut seven lengths of stranded wire (at least 40cm long each) to reach from
the base unit connector to the base unit. It is recommended that each wire be a
different colour to make troubleshooting easier. See Table 2 for the wire colours that
are used in this manual.
b. Measure and cut seven lengths of stranded wire (at least 1m long each) to reach from
the top unit connector to the top unit. It is recommended that the colours used for
these wires match the wires created in the previous step.
c. Crimp a female connector pin onto one end of each of the shorter wires and insert the
pins into positions 1 to 7 of the base unit connector as shown in Figure 9. Do not
connect the other ends of the wires yet. Positions 8 and 9 should not have terminals
installed.
d. Crimp on a male connector pin onto one end of each of the longer wires and insert the
pins into positions 1 to 7 of the top unit connector as shown in Figure 10. Do not
connect the other ends of the wires yet. Positions 8 and 9 should not have terminals
installed. The terminals are crimped to the wires given in Table 2.

1 2 3 3 2 1

4 5 6 6 5 4

7 8 9 9 8 7

Figure 9: Female Base Unit Wiring Connector Figure 10: Male Top Unit Wiring Connector
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Table 2: Unit Connector Wiring

Pin Base Unit Device Top Unit Device Line Wire Colour
1 Power supply Solenoid + +24V red
2 MOSFET Solenoid - MOSFET drain grey
3 K CMD L298 Stepper motor M1+ orange
4 K CMD L298 Stepper motor M1- green
5 K CMD L298 Stepper motor M2+ blue
6 K CMD L298 Stepper motor M2- white
7 K CMD L298 Stepper motor ground black
8 NC NC - -
9 NC NC - -

5. Assemble the power supply.

a. Install the power supply case by placing the case onto the power supply and then
securing it using the included screws and a Phillips head screwdriver.
b. Solder the AC power cable’s power lines to the three input pins corresponding to the
left side of Figure 11 using Table 3 as a reference.

5 3 1 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Figure 11: Power Supply Input (Left 3) and Output (Right 13)

Table 3: Power supply pin connections

Pin Input Pin Output Connection
1 AC Ground 1 +5.1V NC
3 AC Neutral 2 +5.1V MIDI interface board
5 AC Line 3 +5.1V Power resistor
4 GRND NC
5 GRND MIDI interface board
6 GRND Power resistor
7 GRND Solenoid
8 +24V Solenoid
9 +24V NC
10 POWERFAIL NC
11 -12V NC
12 GRND Stepper motor driver/MCU
13 +12V Stepper motor driver/MCU

c. Place the power supply output connector over the 13 pin output bank.
d. Connect the 51 Ω power resistor to short leads (2 to 4 cm) and shield the leads with
heat-shrink tubing.
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e. Crimp female connectors onto the power resistor leads and insert the connectors onto
pins 3 and 6 of the power supply (it doesn’t matter which direction the resistor is
positioned). Tuck the power resistor underneath the power supply cover to keep it
covered as it tends to get hot.

6. Assemble the switch

a. Solder the blue wire (Vout) from the MIDI interface board onto one of the end
connections on the slider switch.

Figure 12: Switch

b. Solder a 6cm long piece of solid-core wire onto the middle pin of the switch which is on
the same side as the previously soldered blue wire.

7. Secure components onto the power supply.

a. Glue standoffs onto each of the components shown in Figure 13 (except the MIDI
connector L-bracket) using the hot glue gun. The standoffs should not contact any metal
on any of the boards and should provide enough clearance so that nothing on the
boards will touch the surface that the standoffs will rest on (i.e. the switch standoffs
should be at least 2cm long).

MCU Stepper Motor

Switch
Driver

Power Pins

MIDI Power
MIDI Interface Circuitry MOSFET
Connector

Figure 13: Base Unit Layout

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b. Glue the each component, using the hot glue gun, onto the top of the power supply in
the layout presented in Figure 13.

8. Connect base unit to top unit wires

c. Collect the 7 short wires of the base unit connector and lay them flat on the power
supply by the power supply and in between the stepper motor driver and transistor.
d. Ensure there is enough room for any wire to reach the far side of the stepper motor
driver and then zap-strap the wires into place by looping the zap strap through a hole
near the edge of the power supply cover.

9. Connect the power transistor.

a. Measure and cut a length of wire (black) from the top pad of the transistor mounting
board to pin 7 of the power supply with little slack. Solder one end of the wire onto the
top pad of the transistor mounting board. Crimp a female connector pin onto the other
end and insert it into pin 7 of the power supply.
b. Cut the wire from pin 2 of the connector (grey wire) so that it reaches the middle pad of
the transistor mount with little slack. Solder the wire onto the middle pad of the
transistor mount (labelled “Solenoid-” in Figure 7).
c. Measure and cut a length of stranded wire (red) from the top pad of the transistor
mounting board to pin 8 of the power supply with little slack.
d. Cut the wire from pin 1 of the connector (red wire) so that it reaches the cathode (the
side with the white line) of the power diode on the transistor mount with little slack.
Solder this wire and the wire cut in part c onto the middle pad of the transistor mount
(labelled “Solenoid+” in Figure 7). Crimp a female connector pin onto the other end of
the free wire an insert it into pin 8 of the power supply.
e. Solder a 15 cm length of purple solid-core wire to the exposed side of the 10KΩ resistor
(labelled “SCTL” in Figure 7).

10. Connect the L298 stepper motor driver.

a. Gather the wires connected to pins 3 through 7 on the base unit connector, and make
the following connections (while cutting the wires to length) to the screw terminals
labelled in Figure 14 (see also Table 2):
i. Pin 3 to M1+ (orange)
ii. Pin 4 to M1- (green)
iii. Pin 5 to M2+ (blue)
iv. Pin 6 to M2- (white)
v. Pin 7 to GND (black)
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M1 + M2 +

M1 - M2 -

I1 I2 EN1 I3 I4 EN2

GND +12 V
Figure 14: L298 Stepper Driver Layout

b. Measure and cut a length of stranded wire (orange) from power supply pin 13 to the
screw terminal labelled +12 V in Figure 14. Crimp a female connector pin onto one end
of the wire and insert it into pin 13 of the power supply and screw the other end into
the +12V terminal of the stepper motor driver.
c. Measure and cut a length of stranded wire (green) from power supply pin 12 to the
screw terminal labelled GND in Figure 14. Crimp a female connector pin onto one end of
the wire and insert it into pin 12 of the power supply and screw the other end into the
GND terminal of the stepper motor driver.

11. Connect the MIDI interface board and MIDI connector.

a. Measure and cut a length of solid-core wire (red) from the +5V pin on the
microcontroller to the VCC terminal on the MIDI interface board (see Figure 4). Solder
one end into the VCC terminal on the MIDI interface board. Insert the other end into the
+5V terminal of the microcontroller.
b. Measure and cut a length of solid-core wire (black) from a GND pin on the
microcontroller to the GND terminal on the MIDI interface board (see Figure 4). Solder
one end into the GND terminal on the MIDI interface board. Insert the other end into
the GND terminal of the microcontroller.
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12. Connect the microcontroller

a. Measure and cut a piece of solid-core wire from the +12V terminal of the stepper motor
driver to the VIN pin of the microcontroller. Insert this wire into both ends.
b. Measure and cut a piece of solid-core wire from the GND terminal of the stepper motor
driver to a GND pin of the microcontroller. Insert this wire into both ends.
c. Cut to length the middle wire from the switch and insert in into pin 0 of the
microcontroller.
d. Cut to length the purple SCTL wire from the transistor and insert in into pin 5 of the
microcontroller.
e. Measure and cut 6 lengths of solid-core wire (in a variety of colours) to run from the
stepper motor driver to the microcontroller using Table 4 as a reference. Insert the
wires into the appropriate locations.

Table 4: Microcontroller I/O connections

Pin Connection
0 (Rx) MIDI interface board output
5 (PWM) SCTL
141 K CMD L298 - EN0
151 K CMD L298 - EN1
161 K CMD L298 - L1
171 K CMD L298 - L2
181 K CMD L298 - L3
191 K CMD L298 - L4
[1] Pins 14 to 19 are labelled as analog input pins 0 to 5 on the microcontroller board

13. Connect the stepper motor

a. Mount the stepper motor to the top unit (see Mechanical Assembly Procedures).
b. Cut to size the 5 wires from the top unit connector to the wires on the stepper motor.
c. Solder the stepper motor connection using Table 5 as a reference and shrink wrap the
connections.
Table 5: Stepper motor connections
Line Wire Colour from Motor Wire Colour from Connector
M1+ black orange
M1- orange green
M2+ red blue
M2- yellow white
Ground white/black, white/orange, black
white/red, & white/yellow
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14. Connect the solenoid

a. Mount the solenoid to the top unit (see Mechanical Assembly Procedures).
b. Solder the wire (red) from pin 1 of the top unit connector to one of the wires (it does
not matter which wire) and shrink wrap the connection.
c. Solder the wire (grey) from pin 2 of the top unit connector to the other wire from the
solenoid and shrink wrap the connection.

15. Test/Run the system

a. Place the top unit above a drum head and place the base unit on the ground at the base
of the stand.
b. Connect the base unit and top unit wiring connector.
c. Plug the AC power cord into the wall.
d. Connect the microcontroller USB cord to the microcontroller and a computer.
e. Move the slider switch so that it is towards the edge of the base unit (code load mode).
f. Load the control code onto the microcontroller.
g. Move the slider switch so that it is towards the middle of the base unit (run mode).
h. Connect a MIDI-capable device to the MIDI input of the base unit.
i. Operate the MIDI enabled device and the stepper motor and solenoid should play along
with what is being played. If this is not the case, perform appropriate troubleshooting.

16. Move the system

a. Disconnect the power supply from the wall.
b. Disconnect any cables (USB, MIDI) connected to the base unit.
c. Disconnect the top unit from the base unit.
d. OPTIONAL: Disconnect the top unit from the stand.
e. Move the system. To setup the system again, perform steps a-d in reverse order.