ROBO-ROMP

ROBO-ROMP

(while, for, if-else)

The C++ programming language had its beginnings as the C programming language. The "++" part of the language is rather recent. For CSC126 students, most of what we have learned so far can be implemented in both C and C++. The only C++ statements we have actually used are the cout, cin statements, and the //comment style.

Robot C (RC) is a version of the C language that runs on the Lego Mindstorms NXT robot. We use the NXT brick to control our Lego robots. RC does not support all of the C++ instruction set. To use all the RC instructions and libraries we need to download these onto the NXT brick. Click on the hyperlink below to get the instructions on how to download the RC firmware onto the NXT brick. The Robot C website has many video tutorials on how to work with the NXT brick.

To see the video on how to download firmware CLICK HERE Then click on the Setup Button, NXT Setup, and then choose the Download Firmware video.

Now download the Robot C firmware onto your NXT.

Download and print the robocheckoff sheet by clicking here.

Robot C comes with many sample programs. Let's open one and download it into our robot. WATCH the Download Sample Program video. Download and run the MotorCForward.c program. MAKE SURE YOUR ROBOT IS ON THE FLOOR WHEN YOU RUN THE PROGRAM!!!!!

Let's look at the code in this program a little closer.

The left pain in the Robot C IDE (interactive development environment) contains a list of the basic Robot C program commands. The right hand pane contains the program listing. Notice that the data type of the main program is a task. This is a user defined data type used only for the NXT brick. We will learn in a later computer science class how to define our own data types.

The motor array controls the NXT motors. The array position, motorC gets assigned a value of 100. The range of values for the motors, is from -100 to 100. Negative values run the motors in reverse, positive values run the motors forward and a value of 0 will stop the motor. If you look at the top of your robot, you will notice that the motors are plugged into motor ports B and C. The motor command is persistent. That means it continues to execute until we tell it to stop or the program ends, whichever comes first.

The wait1Msec function waits the integer parameter multiplied by 1 millisecond amount of time before proceeding to the next statement. For this program the motor command executes for 3 seconds.

Save the MotorCForward.c program as MotorCandBForward.C RC saves the programs with a .c extension. DO NOT save the file as a .cpp file.

Modify the program so that your program contains the same code as below.

What behavior do you expect your robot to exhibit? What did your robot do? How can you explain what happened?

Modify your program so that it twirls in a forward direction clockwise for 2 second, stops for about a half second (this allows the motors to catch up with the processor) and then twirls counter clockwise for 2 seconds. (Hint: remember a value of 0 will stop the motor.

Demonstrate your program to the instructor so that they can initial your robocheckoff sheet.

Robo-Rumba!!!

To make the robot turn right, the motor that controls the left wheel runs while the right motor is off. . Do the opposite to turn left. If you slow the robot down by adjusting the power to the motor, you have much more control over how your robot moves

Write an RC program that will have the NXT robot continuously (while loop) -

turn 45^o right
go straight for 3 seconds
turn 45^o left
go straight for 3 seconds
then right …
In essence your robot will move forward in a zig zag pattern

Once you have this working modify your program so that the NXT root will continuously (while loop) -

turn 45^o right
go straight for 3 seconds
turn 45^o left
go straight for 3 seconds
does the above backwards.

Your robot has learned to rumba ;-))))

Demonstrate and have your instructor initialize your robocheckoff sheet

Robo-Rap!

If we can't use cout, then how do we print in RC? Where do we print to???

The NXT brick has an eight line LCD screen. The nxtDisplayCenteredTextLine(nLineNumber, sString); statement contains the funciion nxtDisplayCenteredTextLine( ); The function takes two parameters. The first parameter specifies the line number at which printing will start, and the second parameter, sString, is the character string that will get printed.

Close the MotorCandBForward.c program

Open a new file.

Save the file as roborap.c.

One of the nice things about the Robot C IDE is that the statement templates can be dragged from the functions library to the program editor. Expand the C Constructs and Tasks/Subroutines sub menus. Drag the task taskname()\{\body template into the editor

Your program should look like this:

Edit the text so that you program appears as so.

Decide on a name for your robot. Modify the body of your main function to use the display the statement "Hi, my name is Roboname" on lines 3 and 4 of the LCD display. Use the nxtDisplayCenteredTextLine(nLineNumber, sString); statement. You need to follow the statement with the wait1Msec command so the brick has time to display the text before the program ends.

The NXT brick has sound capabilities. It can beep!!

Add the statement PlaySound(soundBeepBeep); followed by a 1 second wait.

Modify the RC program that will "BeepBeep", wait 1 second, "BeepBeep" again, wait one second, and then "BeepBeep" again.

Modify your program, using a for loop, so that after the robot displays its name, it will "BeepBeep" 10 times. Demonstrate to your instructor so that he/she can initialize your robocheckoff sheet.

Tickle Me Robot!!

Above is a picture of the robot's "touch bumper". The touch sensor is connected into NXT brick sensor port 1 (S1).

RC has a built-in function that will read the sensor port's value.

Close the Roborap program and open a new file. Call this program touch.c

In order to use the touch bumper on your NXT robot, we must configure the sensor. To do this:

1. Click on Robot then on Motor and Sensors Setup

2. Select the Sensors tab

Our touch sensor is attached to sensor port 1 (S1). We will call the sensor touch. Type this into the box next to S1. Select from the touch type from the drop down menu.

Click on OK to save this sensor information. Notice that by doing this, code is automatically generated by the Robot C configuration wizard and placed at the top of your program.

The SensorValue()function returns the value of the current sensor reading. Touch sensors are digital and thus return either a value of 0 when not depressed and a value of 1 when they are depressed.

Modify your program to include the following code:

Now push the bumper in and, keep it depressed. Run the program. What was displayed in the LCD window?

Now don't push the bumper in and keep it depressed. Run the program. What was displayed in the LCD window?

If we want to test the bumper while the program continuously runs, enclose your code inside a while loop. This is when an infinite loop is a good thing!!

To stop a running NXT program, if the robot is tethered to the computer, you can click on the stop box in the debug window. If the robot is not tethered, you can stop a program by pressing the rectangular grey button. Notice we have lowered the wait time to 50 milliseconds. Why?

The ultrasonic sensor sends out a sound wave and then calculates the time it takes for the sound to bounce back. This works in the same way as a bat or a submarine's sonar. The sensor measures distance in centimeters. Thus if the SensorValue is 25, that means that the object is 25 centimeters away. Let's modify our program to read from the ultrasonic sensor. Save your program as ultrasonic.c.

We are now going to work with the ultrasonic sensor. To watch the video about the sensor CLICK HERE. Click on the sensing button, and then select the Wall Detection (Ultrasonic) video.

Obviously, we have to configure our ultrasonic sensor. Open the Motors and Sensors Setup Window. Our ultrasonic sensor is plugged into sensor port 4 (S4). Configure the sensor appropriately and click on OK.

Change the code so that when the robot detects something closer than 25 centimeters, it prints the statement, "Too Close". If something is greater than or equal to 25 centimenters it prints the statement, "Far Enough".

Let's combine all that we have learned into our first "real" Robo-program!! Close the ultrasonic program and open a new file. Save this program as tickle.c

Write an RC program that will:

Continuously (infinite while loop) read the touch and ultrasonic sensors
If the touch sensor is pressed, we print to the LCD display the message:

Hee! Hee!

You tickled me!!!

The robot waits 1 second before proceeding to the next instruction.

If the ultrasonic sensor reads less than 25, we print to the LCD display the message:

Please don't

Tickle me!!!

The robot waits 1 second before proceeding to the next instruction.

Save your program.
Run the program. Now you have to be pretty sneaky to tickle your robot!!
When it works show the instructor so that he/she can initial your robocheckoff sheet.

Robo-Ruckus!!!!

Now we will write an RC program that will use all that we have learned. We are now going to program the robot to avoid obstacles. Close the tickle program and open a new file and save it as ruckus.c.

Write an RC program that will have the NXT robot continuously:

Move forward until it senses an object is within 25 cm.
If this is true, have the robot move backwards for half a second, turn right about 45 degrees and then continue to move backwards..
The NXT robot beeps as it moves backward! It DOES NOT beep when it moves forward.
Move backward until the touch sensor is depressed.
If this is true, have the robot move forwards for half a second, turn right about 45 degrees and then continue to move forwards..
Keep the motor power at 50% so the robot doesn't move too fast.
Demonstrate and have your instructor initialize your robocheckoff sheet.

HAVE FUN!!!!!!

Written by Dr. Susan P. Imberman