First Few Functions & Exploring the Obstacle Detector |

Synchronize : This tutorial introduces you to the functionality from the Bot'n Roll Library. We will walk through the first few functions together, and you will work on some brief exercises to become more familiar with your robot.

Software Manual

The robot comes with a software manual that you may find helpful in this week’s adventure. You can find it here

Function List

Here’s a list of the functions from the Bot’n Roll Library, for your convenience.

Bot'n Roll Functions

You can find all of these functions in BnrOneA.h.

Tip: There are a handful of functions that you're simply unlikely to ever use on the robot. Most are documented in the Software Manual, though some are not, and are documented here. Some of those functions appear in the above list.

`led`

void led(boolean state)

This turns on and off the LED, based on whether it is passed true or false. It works exactly as in ex01_LED, so look there if you want to use the LED.

`lcd#`

You already saw the lcd# function in the “Hello World” exercise on the robot.

As you can see from the functions list, the lcd# function takes a variety of different arguments, to allow you to use it in various ways. The library does not come with a method for formatting text, though, as you become more advanced in your C++ programming, you will probably find that you are able to format a string without the assistance of the various methods provided.

Setup Routines

`spiConnect`

void spiConnect(byte sspin);

This initializes the connection between the Arduino microcontroller and the PIC microcontroller on the robot.

There really is no reason that you are likely to want to change this code during the camp.

`obstacleEmitters`

void obstacleEmitters(boolean state)

This turns on and off the LEDs which are used for obstacle detection.

Tip: If `void obstacleEmitters(true)` is not called at the start of your program, then using the obstacle sensors on your robot may not work.

`obstacleSensors`

byte obstacleSensors()

Tip: byte obstacleSensors()` uses binary in a very direct way, as some of you may have noticed. We will explore this more in-depth when we discuss the line following sensor.

obstacleSensors will return one of four values

Value	Means
0	Neither sensor is activated
1	The left sensor is activated
2	The right sensor is activated
3	Both sensors are activated

Additionally, when an obstacle sensor is activated, a corresponding LED will blink.

Exercise 4.2.1

Start by copying the “empty” program from “Robot Programming Introduction” into your Arduino IDE, and saving it in a sensible place.
Write a short program that will print “Left Sensor Activated” when the left sensor is activated, “Right Sensor Activated” when the right sensor is activated, and “Both Sensors Activated” when both sensors are activated on the LCD on the robot.

Tip: Remember that Arduino programs must have the same name as the directory that they are stored in.

Exercise 4.2.2

Add obstacleEmitters(false) to the setup function in your program, and run it again.
What happens?

Exercise 4.2.3

Comment out obstacleEmitters(false), and run it again.
What happens?

Exercise 4.2.4

Uncomment obstacleEmitters(false).
Change it to say obstacleEmitters(true).
What happens?

Exercise 4.2.5

Comment out obstacleEmitters(true), and run it again.
What happens?

Red Cup [Exercises 4.2.1 - 4.2.5]: Please flip your cup to red so a counselor can mark your progress.

Next Step

Proceed to “Move The Robot”