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Thanks, makes perfect sense explaining the twitching.

I have asked the magnet question on a different topic but I'm going to try again. I want to put a magnet rod about an inch long in place of a hand. I want to make it an electromagnet though so that I can pick a piece of metal, move it to a new location, and turn off the magnet and release the metal. Someone mentioned using the Battle Switch relay to do this..naturally I am asking, is there a cheaper way to achieve this using the ssc-32?

I guess the natural question would be if you have any experience wiring up parts on a breadboard? The SSC-32 output can be configured to give off/on rather than a servo pwm. This can be used to control a power MOSFET to switch your electro-magnet. There is another thread with a diagram and part numbers and discussion about this on the forum, try searching for MOSFET will probably get you close. So the answer to your question is yes, there is a cheaper alternative but the caveat is you have to have the ability to build it yourself.

It's a sticky in the general electronics category. Here it is.

http://www.lynxmotion.net/viewtopic.php?t=2463

_________________
Jim Frye, the Robot Guy
http://www.lynxmotion.com
I've always tried to do my best...

Alright. So I started purchasing the components to build the DIY link in the sticky discussion you linked me too. I was purchasing parts at radioshack and they didn't specifically have the MC14013B microcontroller or the BUZ11. Is there alternative components to these that can be purchased at radioshack. If someone could help with alternatives parts i would really appreciate it.

One more, can you use the ps2 controller with only the ssc-32 or do you need the bot board as well. Thanks.

No clue about the parts cross, but I can tell you the SSC-32 can not connect to the PS2 controller directly.

_________________
Jim Frye, the Robot Guy
http://www.lynxmotion.com
I've always tried to do my best...

Um... following the link: you see the big picture in the 2nd post, or the similar but smaller picture in the 5th post, either of those circuits will do the job. I mean it's great that you followed the link zoomkat provided in the 4th post and want to build those circuits but if you don't know that a MC14013 is a dual flip-flop and not some sort of microcontroller I think you may be reaching a bit on your electronics skill. Use the transistor circuits, parts can be purchased from Digikey, Mouser, Newark, Farnell, Jameco, JDR, Active, RS, lots of places. Then use the HI or LO commands to tell theSSC-32 to drive the pin to a state rather then send a servo pwm signal. It is that easy.

I am not very familiar with circuits and such. I am currently taking an electricity and magnetism physics class in school and so I am trying to inocorporate some of what we are learning. I'm guilty, I assumed "MC"14013 was an acronym for MicroControll but I guess I'm wrong. The reason I went with this one was because it had a parts list and somewhat detailed instructions. After looking at the 5th post, I was wondering, is there anyway you could explain this circuit to me. Thanks for the help and sorry for being ignorant on this subject.

I was a little surprised that you went for the most difficult to assemble option 1st, that's all.

If you look at posts 6 and 7 in the thread you will see zoomkat provided a list of the parts including radio shack catalog numbers and illustrated building the circuit. There are connections to the SSC-32 output, the battery (powering your electromagnet), and the load (your electromagnet.)

I would recommend buying a couple of the transistors as they can be destroyed by mis-handling or mis-wiring. I would also recommend upgrading the 1N4148 diode to a 1N4001 (RS cat number 276-1101) since your electro magnet will probably really abuse the smaller diode and if it fails the transistor goes next.

Alright so I built the HEXFET switch in the 5th post in the Relay switch discussion. My only question is what do you do with the VS from the servo lead? It shows no path for it. I thought maybe it would recieve voltage from the signal wire but when I plugged it in and executed, nothing happened?? If somebody could help me with this I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

The vs supplies power to a servo, so it is not needed for a switch. If you need help with the electronic construction, you may want to start a thread concerning it in the electronics section.