Nuts & Volts - July 2004

Stamp

by using APPEND.

CONTROL TEXT
    ID
    STYLE
    FIXEDSTORE
    VARSTORE
    VALUE
    MAXCHARS
    APPEND

stat
FIXED
ROM
RAM
“OFF    “
8

Now, we get to the controls that we’ll actually change and will have an effect on our control program. The first is the temperature setpoint. The controller logic will use this setpoint — along with the operating mode and current temperature — to determine which control outputs, if any, are active.

CONTROL NUMBER
    ID
    STYLE
    OPTION
    FIXEDSTORE
    VARSTORE
    TITLE
    VALUE
    CTL_MIN
    CTL_MAX

setp
EDIT
SLIDER
ROM
RAM
“ Setpoint”
75
65
95

Notice that the setpoint is (logically) a NUMBER control, but this time it is formatted as a SLIDER and its STYLE is set to EDIT so we can change the value.

The next two controls mimic the slide switches on my home AC controller. Both are SELECTION controls that use the DROPDOWN option. This makes them look and behave like a standard Windows dropdown selector. The VALUE parameter selects the current position of the SELECTION control. The ITEM parameters provide strings for each available position in the control.

CONTROL SELECTION
    ID         mode
    OPTION     DROPDOWN
    FIXEDSTORE ROM
    VARSTORE   RAM
    VALUE      0
    TITLE      “Controls”
    ITEM       “System Off”
    ITEM       “Cool”
    ITEM       “Heat”

CONTROL SELECTION
    ID         fctl
    OPTION     DROPDOWN
    FIXEDSTORE ROM
    VARSTORE   RAM
    VALUE      0
    ITEM       “Fan - Auto”
    ITEM       “Fan - On”
    APPEND

Okay, now that we have a VCP script, it’s time to give it a run. Let me encourage you to test the VCP in a stand-alone manner before adding any host (BASIC

JULY 2004

Stamp) interaction with the FlexiPanel module. If you decide to make changes in your VCP script, be sure to remove the host program so that it doesn’t interfere with your FlexiPanel module reprogramming. This is not as tedious as it sounds and will save you a bit of trouble as you’re refining your FlexiPanel projects.

After connecting the circuit shown in Figure 3, make sure that the BASIC Stamp is “blank” — that is, there is no program running that attempts to access the FlexiPanel module. The easiest way to do this is to download the following single-line program:

END

After the circuit is powered up, bring it into range of your PC’s IrDA port. If you don’t have an IrDA port built into your PC, for about $30.00, you can get an IrDA adapter that plugs into a USB port — that’s what I did and it works great.

Once the PC acknowledges the presence of the FlexiPanel module, start the program called FlexiPanelConfig and then click the “Read Script” button. A standard File Open dialog will be displayed. Select the desired script (.rs file) and click the “Open” button. If all goes well and there are no errors in the script, you’ll see an