Libraries and sketches related to the DynamixShield for the Arduino microcontroller. DynamixShield is a shield for the Arduino Due, Zero, and Mega that allows you to directly control Dynamixel smart servos from your Arduino. It also has numerous Grove connectors for adding other sensors and controllers. Grove is a modular connector system that has lots of different hardware plug-ins available for purchase. This makes it easy to quickly get a new robot up and running with just a few connections.

• Able to write to Dynamixel servos and read from them quickly using a 3.3V signal.
• Uses the second serial port on the Due and Mega and leave the first one alone for normal serial operations.
• Have a separate power jack to power servos, but it should also have the ability to control whether power is applied to the servos from the board or not. This will make it possible to use servo hubs with distributed power.
• Be able to power the Arduino board from the power connector on the shield board. This means you only need one connection from the battery. A jumper allows the user to configure this.
• Have as many standard servo connectors as possible that are level shifted to 5V.
• Have all of the analog signals broken out into standard 3-pin connectors with power and ground connections.
• Have as many standardized Grove connectors as I could fit on it, and ensure that they are all 5V level shifted.

There are several very useful libraries included for use with the DynamixShield. Here is a list of them with descriptions for each. You can find these located in the libraries folder.

• BioloidDynamixSerial: This is an interface used by the autogenerated PyPose/Nuke code that loads and plays pose information.
• CommanderHS: A library that communicates to the Arbotix Commander joystick using one of the hardware serial lines.
• CommanderSS: A library that communicates to the Arbotix Commander joystick using one of the software serial lines.
• DynamixelSerial: Performs the communications between the DynamixShield and Dynamixel servos. It allows you to set target positions/velocities, and to query servos for important data.

The BioloidDynamixSerial is derived from the BioloidController library in the Arbotix repository found here https://github.com/Interbotix/arbotix. The CommanderHS and CommanderSS libraries are derived from the Commander library in the same Arbotix repo. The DynamixSerial library is originally from this repo http://sourceforge.net/projects/dynamixelforarduino/files/?source=navbar. I have modified it extensively though to add new features.

You can install the libraries manually by copying the directories from the libraries folder into the libraries directory for Arduino on your computer. For windows this is in Documents/arduino/libraries. You can also follow the instructions laid out on the arduino website for installing libraries: https://www.arduino.cc/en/guide/libraries. Use the install from zip file option and load in the zip file for the library you are interested in that is located in the libraries folder of this repo.