Baby Orangutan B-328 Robot Controller

SKU: POLOLU-1220 Brand: Pololu

The Baby Orangutan B-328 is a very compact but complete robot controller, packing a high-performance ATmega328P AVR microcontroller (with 32 KB of program memory and 2 KB of RAM) and two motor drive channels in the same 24-pin form factor as competing units that include just a microcontroller. You can connect your battery, sensors, and motors directly to this small module to make a miniature robot, or you can use the Baby Orangutan as an auxiliary controller in larger robots.

$42.95 AUD, inc GST

$39.05 AUD, exc GST

Available with a lead time
Expect dispatch between Apr 29 and May 02

Quantity Discounts:

10+ $37.48 (exc GST)
25+ $36.31 (exc GST)

The Baby Orangutan is a complete control solution for small robots, all packed into a tiny 1.2" x 0.7" 24-pin DIP package. Its compact design eliminates bulkier components such as the LCD and switches while retaining the most essential features of the Orangutan robot controller line: a programmable ATmega328P AVR microcontroller and a dual H-bridge for direct control of two DC motors. This integrated motor driver sets the Baby Orangutan B-328 apart from similarly-sized microcontroller boards from other manufacturers. Two on-board indicator LEDs, a trimmer potentiometer, a 20 MHz resonator, and reverse battery protection round out the basic hardware features of the Baby Orangutan.

The removal of the larger Orangutan components also allows for a significantly improved manufacturing process that allows Pololu to offer the Baby Orangutan at a very affordable price. Because the Orangutans are based on Atmel’s powerful AVR microcontrollers, the Orangutans deliver significantly higher performance than other similar controller boards. The availability of free development software, such as the Atmel Studio IDE and the WinAVR GCC C/C++ compiler, and low-cost programmers, such as the Pololu USB AVR Programmer v2.1, make the Baby Orangutan B-328 a truly outstanding value.

For those not necessarily interested in robotics, the Baby Orangutan is also a great introduction to the AVR microcontrollers because of its size and price. All you need to get started is a low-cost programmer and a power source. You can fit a substantial design even on a small breadboard since you won’t need the space for basic components such as the voltage regulator and resonator. The source code for several sample projects is available under Pololu's resources tab; these examples are intended to help you get up and running quickly with your new AVR-based controller.

Features

overall unit dimensions: 1.2" × 0.7"
input voltage: 5 V to 13.5 V (15 V absolute maximum)
two bidirectional motor ports can deliver ~1 A continuous (3 A peak) per channel
programmable 20 MHz Atmel ATmega328P AVR microcontroller (32 KB flash, 2 KB RAM, 1 KB EEPROM)
18 user I/O lines, 16 of which can be used for digital I/O and 8 of which can be used as analog input channels
1 user LED
user potentiometer tied to ADC7
20 MHz external resonator
pinout is compatible with the Orangutan SV-328 and 3pi robot, so the same code will generally work on all of these devices
comprehensive user’s guide

Included components

The compact module can be used as a DIP component on breadboards or prototyping boards, or the pin-less versions can be used for space-constrained installations in miniature robots. The 0.1" header pins are included with the Baby Orangutan but are not soldered in. Power pins, one of the motor outputs, and several I/O lines are all accessible from one side to enable use of the Baby Orangutan as a single in-line pin (SIP) package for applications that do not require all of the I/O lines. The small size and low cost of the Baby Orangutan makes it a perfect option for primary control of small robots or for auxiliary control on larger robots.

Baby Orangutan B with included 0.1" header pins.

Baby Orangutan B with included header pins soldered in for breadboard installation.

People often buy this product together with:

TB6612FNG Dual Motor Driver Carrier

QTR-8RC Reflectance Sensor Array

Pololu Micro Metal Gearmotor Bracket Pair - Black

Dimensions

Size:	1.20" x 0.70"
Weight:	1.5 g¹

General specifications

Processor:	ATmega328P @ 20 MHz
RAM size:	2048 bytes
Program memory size:	32 Kbytes
Motor driver:	TB6612FNG
Motor channels:	2
User I/O lines:	18²
Max current on a single I/O:	40 mA
Minimum operating voltage:	5 V
Maximum operating voltage:	13.5 V
Continuous output current per channel:	1 A
Peak output current per channel:	3 A
Maximum PWM frequency:	80 kHz
Reverse voltage protection?:	Y
External programmer required?:	Y
LCD included?:	N

Notes:

1: without headers
2: 16 can be used as digital I/Os and 8 can be used as analog inputs.

Documentation and other information

Pololu Baby Orangutan B User’s Guide (Printable PDF)

User’s guide for the Pololu Baby Orangutan B-48, B-168, and B-328 robot controllers.
Pololu AVR Programming Quick Start Guide (Printable PDF)

This guide explains how to get started programming your Orangutan or 3pi Robot in Windows, Linux or Mac OS X. It covers setting up an AVR development environment (Atmel Studio for Windows users), installing the Pololu AVR C/C++ Library, and setting up the Pololu USB AVR Programmer.
Pololu AVR C/C++ Library User’s Guide (Printable PDF)

Information about installing and using the C/C++ libraries provided for use with Pololu products.
Pololu AVR Library Command Reference (Printable PDF)

A reference to commands provided in the Pololu C/C++ and Arduino libraries for the AVR.
Programming Orangutans and the 3pi Robot from AVR Studio 4

Guide for programming Orangutans and the 3pi robot from the Atmel’s older AVR Studio 4 IDE. It covers installing the Pololu AVR C/C++ Library, and setting up the Pololu USB AVR Programmer.
Programming Orangutans and the 3pi Robot from the Arduino Environment (Printable PDF)

Guide to making the Arduino IDE compatible with the 3pi robot and the Orangutan SV-328, Orangutan LV-168, and Baby Orangutan B robot controllers, including Arduino libraries for interfacing with all of their on-board hardware.
Application Note: Using the Motor Driver on the 3pi Robot and Orangutan Robot Controllers (Printable PDF)

Detailed information about the 3pi Robot, Orangutan SV-328/168 and LV-168, and Baby Orangutan B motor drivers, including truth tables and sample code.
Application Note: MLX90614ESF SMBus Communication with Orangutan Robot Controllers (Printable PDF)

A guide for implementing the SMBus (I²C-compatible) protocol for the MLX90614ESF temperature sensor on the AVR-based Orangutan robot controller series. The guide includes sample code for taking temperature readings.

File downloads

Baby Orangutan B pinout and pin assignment table (285k pdf)
Pololu AVR Development Bundle for Windows (12MB exe)

This bundle contains all the Pololu software you need to get started programming AVRs in Windows: the Pololu AVR C/C++ Library, the Pololu USB AVR Programmer drivers and software, and the Pololu Orangutan SVP drivers. Pololu recommend installing Atmel Studio 7.0 before installing this bundle.
Toshiba TB6612FNG motor driver datasheet (308k pdf)
Sample AVR Studio 4 project for the ATmega48 to blink an LED (9k zip)

This is a sample AVR Studio 4 project that will blink an LED on a Baby Orangutan B-48.
Sample AVR Studio 4 project for the ATmega328P to blink an LED (9k zip)

This is a sample AVR Studio 4 project that will blink an LED on a Baby Orangutan B-328, 3pi robot, or Orangutan SV-328.
AVR Studio 4 demo project #1 for the Orangutan SV-168 and LV-168 (14k zip)

C code for the mega168: This project demonstrates the fundamentals of using I/O lines on a mega168. Each line of the source code is commented, and there is a short tutorial in comments at the start of main() on using AVR I/O and on C bit-logic. The program will alternately flash the two user LEDs until you ground the general-purpose I/O pin PD0 (the right-most of the eight user I/O lines at the top of the board). Grounding pin PD0 will cause the program to pulse the buzzer pin instead of the LED pins, causing the buzzer to play a note. While intended for use on the Orangutan SV-168 and LV-168, this program will run on the Baby Orangutan B-168 and can serve as a useful example on how to use the ATmega48/168 I/O lines. It will run on the Baby Orangutan B-328 with some minor modifications.
LSM303DLM Orangutan example project (5k zip)

This sample program shows how to use an LSM303DLM 3D compass and accelerometer carrier with an Orangutan robot controller to build a tilt-compensated digital compass. The AVR Studio project is set up for an ATmega328P microcontroller, but it will work on other Orangutans with simple changes to the project configuration.
Sample AVR Studio 4 project for the ATmega168 to blink an LED (9k zip)

This is a sample AVR Studio 4 project that will blink an LED on an Orangutan with an ATmega168 microcontroller: Orangutan mega168, Orangutan LV-168, Orangutan SV-168, Baby Orangutan mega168, and Baby Orangutan B-168.
Drill guide for Baby Orangutan B-328 Robot Controller (40k dxf)

This DXF drawing shows the locations of all of the board’s holes.

Recommended links

WinAVR

A free, open-source suite of development tools for the AVR family of microcontrollers, including the GNU GCC compiler for C/C++.
AVR Studio 4

The older version of Atmel’s free integrated development environment (IDE) for AVRs, which is no longer supported by Atmel.
ATmega328P documentation

Microchip’s product page for the ATmega328P.
ATmega168 documentation

Microchip’s product page for the ATmega168.
ATmega48 documentation

Microchip’s product page for the ATmega48.
AVR Libc Home Page

The web site for AVR Libc, which is the standard library of functions that you can use with C and C++ on the AVR.
GCC, the GNU Compiler Collection

Documentation for GCC, including the AVR GCC C/C++ compilers.
Pololu A-Star and Orangutan Forum Section

The A-Star and Orangutan discussion section of the Pololu Robotics Forum.
AVR Freaks

AVR community with forums, projects, and AVR news.
Orangutan-lib

An open-source C library for the Orangutan family of robot controllers. Note: this library was not created by and is not maintained by Pololu; it contains only limited support for the Orangutan X2 and does not directly support the Orangutan SV-168, Orangutan LV-168, or Baby Orangutan B revision.
Tutorial: AVR Programming on the Mac

Customer Michael Shimniok has written a guide to programming AVRs (the Orangutan LV-168, specifically) using the Mac.

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