■ PHOTO 6. Console searching for a bot.
■ PHOTO 7. Console indicating it is
ready and the number of parameters
uploaded.
■ PHOTO 8. Console displaying an
uploaded float parameter.
When the console is first
switched on, its first function is to
search for the bot. It does this by
having the Bluetooth module look for
the address of the bot which I have
currently hard coded in. Future
versions should display the addresses
of bots found and let you choose
from the list.
Having found the bot, the
console requests that the bot
respond with the list of parameters.
At this point, the console displays
the name of the bot associated with ■ PHOTO 9. Console displaying an
the address (the Bluetooth modules uploaded int parameter.
allow you to change their ‘name’)
and the number of parameters
uploaded. See Photo 7.
The parameter information that
we are currently maintaining is:
• Parameter name
• Parameter type (i.e., int, float)
• Default value
• Current value
■ PHOTO 11. Console confirming
parameter change.
■ PHOTO 10. Console
ready for input.
RESOURCES
■ Matrix Orbital LCD —
www.matrixorbital.com
■ EmbeddedBlue —
www.parallax.com
■ EmbeddedBlue —
www.a7eng.com
By toggling the first momentary
switch, the console is designed to
scroll through all of the uploaded
parameters displaying the above
details of each, as shown in Photo 8.
Toggling the first switch switches to
the next parameter and then by
toggling the second momentary
switch, the console will allow the user
to change the value of the parameter
currently displayed. Please see Photos
9 and 10.
The user now has the ability to
key a new value using the keypad and,
when complete, toggles the second
momentary switch again. This tells the
console to send the changed parameter to the bot and wait for a response.
14 May 2007
■ FreeRTOS — www.freertos.org/
■ WinAVR — http://winavr.source
forge.net/
When the bot responds that the
change is complete, the console
displays the final message of the series
confirming the edit. See Photo 11.
So, that’s it. Using the console,
you can flip through the various
parameters you have set up to allow
modification and change them on-the-fly. This is not designed to remotely
control your robot, but rather to make
it easier to program and set up.
■ AVRstudio —
www.atmel.com/dyn/products/tools
_card.asp?tool_id=2725
■ Rutherford Robotics can laser-cut
the console for you — http://ruther
ford-robotics.com/laser.html
■ Parallax — www.parallax.com
■ Phil Davis — phild2@charter.net
SUMMARY
I think this is one of the more
useful tools I have developed for my
personal robots. It has the potential
to save lots of time in the future and
certainly makes it easier to fine-tune
your robots behavior. NV
