stef@joker.mil.ufl.edu (06/11/91)
In our lab we have an IBM 7565 hydraulic-actuated gantry robot. This robot is controlled by a wardrobe-sized computer called "Series/1" based upon a 20-years-technology which has at least these undesirable features: - low performance - somewhat unreliable electronics - no support for interconnection and networking. Does anyone know of a controller for the 7565 running on a different platform either supporting the same language (AML) or a different one ? Thanks. Stefano Caselli Francesco Zanichelli Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione Universita' di Parma -Italy E-mail: caselli@prsun0in.cineca.it zanichelli@prvxin.cineca.it
smith@sctc.com (Rick Smith) (06/11/91)
stef@joker.mil.ufl.edu writes: >In our lab we have an IBM 7565 hydraulic-actuated gantry robot. >This robot is controlled by a wardrobe-sized computer called "Series/1" >based upon a 20-years-technology which has at least these >undesirable features: >- low performance >- somewhat unreliable electronics >- no support for interconnection and networking. The last point overstates the situation. The 7565's have no support, period. IBM donated one to U. Minnesota about 5 years ago and refused to provide _any_ support about a year after it was delivered (it "only" broke down twice in that period). I used it for my dissertation research, and it suffered from a unrecoverable failure of some sort about 3 months after I finished. For connectivity, I established communications through the console serial port. Crude, but effective. You need to be able to interpret a handful of oddball IBM terminal escape codes. The Series/1 hampered performance, but I was trying for "intelligence" rather than speed. >Does anyone know of a controller for the 7565 running on a different >platform either supporting the same language (AML) or a different one ? My alma mater would probably also be interested in such a thing. They have other manipulators, but none of them had quite as nice a suite of sensors. Rick. smith@sctc.com Arden Hills, Minnesota.
ssridhar@pase60.Convergent.Com (Srinivasan Sridhar) (06/12/91)
In article <1991Jun10.170410.6368@eng.ufl.edu> stef@joker.mil.ufl.edu writes: >In our lab we have an IBM 7565 hydraulic-actuated gantry robot. >This robot is controlled by a wardrobe-sized computer called "Series/1" >based upon a 20-years-technology which has at least these >undesirable features: > >- low performance >- somewhat unreliable electronics >- no support for interconnection and networking. > >Does anyone know of a controller for the 7565 running on a different >platform either supporting the same language (AML) or a different one ? The IBM 7535 does run using a PC as the "software controller". But it too, does have it's own hardware controller that interfaces with the IBM PC. If it is just the user interface of AML, I should think that you could hook up a PC to the Series 1 and avoid the full/line editor of the Series 1. I think that while the compile time is rather heavy on the Series 1, the software interfaces of AML are rather good (not that you are complaining, I'm just expressing my satisfaction). We did several mods on the '65 when we had it at Kansas State. Also, since the machine pair (or triple ?) was gifted by IBM's research labs in Austin, we had a fair amount of hardware hooked up already. In fact had more features than we could ever use. Back to your question- I would try one of Amdhal's machines (if they make compatiable Series 1's, that is). My guess would be that AML (the '65 version is totally different than the PC version) for the Series 1 was made for the '65 only. It depends on many of the hardware features as well as the O/S features of the Series 1. IBM at Boca Raton or Austin might give you a different picture of this. Good Luck, we would be interested in how you did. --Sridhar ======================================================================== Srinivasan Sridhar ssridhar@convergent.com UNIX Systems Group, UNISYS NCG, San Jose, CA (408) 435-7660 ========================================================================
nagle@well.sf.ca.us (John Nagle) (06/14/91)
>stef@joker.mil.ufl.edu writes: >>In our lab we have an IBM 7565 hydraulic-actuated gantry robot. >>(query about alternative controller to original Series I). IBM gave out quite a number of those machines. There is one at Stanford, there were two at MIT at one time, one at Florida, and a few others. I've used the one at Stanford, but it is semi-retired now. Someone in Mark Cutkosky's lab has been building a new controller for the wrist. (The big motions are too powerful for experimental controller development, especially since the Series I provided all the limit stops in software.) For research work, I'd recommend getting a small, modern robot arm rather than putting a new controller on this large, hydraulic antique. I spent most of a summer overhauling and interfacing one, and it works well if properly maintained, but it isn't worth the effort. Contact Prof. Mark Cutkosky, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.