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 ATmega48 or ATmega168 AVR microcontroller and a dual H-bridge for direct control of two DC motors. This integrated motor driver sets the Baby Orangutan B 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 B 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 Atmel’s AVR Studio IDE and the WinAVR GCC C/C++ compiler, and low-cost programmers, such as the Orangutan USB programmer, make the Baby Orangutan B a truly outstanding value.

For those not necessarily interested in robotics, the Baby Orangutan B 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 our resources tab; these examples are intended to help you get up and running quickly with your new AVR-based controller.

Improvements over the original Baby Orangutan

The Baby Orangutan B revision has introduced a number of substantial improvements over the original Baby Orangutan, the most significant of which is the replacement of the original Sanyo LB1836M motor driver by the higher-performance Toshiba TB6612FNG drivers, which allow the Baby Orangutan B to support input voltages as high as 15 V (meaning you can power the Baby Orangutan B from a 12 V battery). The following list details all of the changes:

• TB6612FNG motor driver delivers higher current with higher-frequency PWM and decreased power consumption.
• Input voltage can now be as high as 15 V.
• The pin-out has changed to match that of the Orangutan LV-168, so the same code will work on both devices.
• Reverse battery protection is now achieved using a MOSFET instead of a diode, so the input voltage no longer experiences a diode drop.
• An LC-filter was added to the AVR’s analog voltage reference pin to provide more reliable analog-to-digital conversions.

Specifications & on-board hardware

• overall unit dimensions: 1.2" x 0.7"
• input voltage: 5-13.5 V (15 V absolute maximum)
• 2 bidirectional motor ports (3 A peak per channel; ~1 A continuous per channel)
• programmable 20 MHz Atmel ATmega48 AVR microcontroller (4 kB flash, 512 bytes SRAM, 256 bytes EEPROM) or Atmel ATmega168 AVR microcontroller (16 kB flash, 1 KB RAM, 512 bytes 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 LV-168, so the same code will work on both devices

ATmega48 and ATmega168 comparison

The Baby Orangutan B is available with either the ATmega48 or ATmega168 AVR microcontroller. The mega48 and mega168 differ only in memory sizes, boot loader support, and interrupt vector sizes.

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 B 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-168 with included 0.1" header pins.

Baby Orangutan B-48/168 with included header pins soldered in for breadboard installation.