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2. Exit Now all example projects are conveniently at hand if you want to refer to them at the beginning or look for functions in the Caterpillar Library etc Open the first example program on top of the list 01_Leds and select file D01_ Leds that appears on the left edge of the program window Just doubleclick on 01_Leds c A source text editor is displayed in a window inside the program An output area should appear on the bottom of the program window of PN2 If not you have to enable this area via the View menu gt Enable output OR if the area is too small increase the size by pulling the edges with the mouse the mouse cursor changes into a double arrow at the upper edge of the grey area marked output at the bottom of the program window You can take a quick look at the program that you just opened with the source text editor but you don t need to understand right now what is happening exactly However as a first info The green text are comments that are not part of the actual program They are only used for description documentation purposes We will explan this in detail a bit further down there is also a version of this program WITHOUT comments so that you can see how short the program is in fact The comments inflate it a lot but are necessary for the understanding The uncommented version is also useful to copy the code in your own programs Tools Window Help First of all we just wa
3. Se Global Model R500 Robotic Caterpillar ki A An y aa k T ni ON Ka ds Ta Y S d d deng ed 7 A OB BEE OS E a po ee an eee ee d a e SSS AS ge E A I ae do AS G i TO EY Y us ie 5 D el P a In bei Lin Blutt Sa ce q d gt A E lt 4 4 N Uz ee EN d e ii T e EN e dy f i d g 4 f Iw A o 4 i D ZS SAN globalspecialties com 800 572 1028 1 Table of Contents 1 Product description CATERPILLAR 5 2 Tools and parts 6 3 Assemblly instructions 8 4 Software 23 4 1 Java 29 4 2 Connection USB programmer Windows 30 4 3 Connection USB programmer LINUX 30 4 4 First hardware test EN 5 Programmer and loader 33 5 1 Testing the USB programmer and Robotloader 35 5 2 Selftest 36 6 Programming the CATERPILLAR 37 6 1 Open and compile a program 38 6 2 WHY C and what s GCC 40 7 Crash Course for beginners 41 7 1 First program 42 7 2 Basics 44 7 3 Functions 52 7 4 Caterpillar Library 58 APPENDIX A PCB S 72 B Circuits 74 CATERPILLAR Robot is a registered trademark O English translation March 2013 Global Specialties Yorba Linda CA This manual is protected by laws of Copyright Any full or partial reproduction of the contents are forbidden without prior written authorization by Global Specialties This manual is protected by the laws of Copyright It is 2013 Global Specialties forbidden to copy all or part of the contents without prior written authorization
4. Operation For 32 and 64 Bit Windows 7 8 XP Vista Server 2003 and 2000 systems lt CD ROM drive gt Software USB_DRIVER Win2k_XP FTDI_CDM2 For older Windows 98SE Me systems lt CD ROM drive gt Software USB_ DRIVER Win98SE_ME FTDIL D2XX After the installation of the driver a re start of the computer may be necessary with older versions like Win98SE PLEASE NOTE Under Win98 Me only one of both drivers is working Either Virtual Comport or the D2XX driver from FTDI Unfortunately there is no driver that offers both functions Normally there is no virtual comport available as the RobotLoader under Windows uses as a standard the D2XX drivers you can change this please contact our support team Check the Connection of the Device To check if the device has been correctly installed you can use the device manager as an alternative to the RobotLoader under Windows XP 7 8 or 2003 and 2000 Right click on My Computer gt Properties gt Hardware gt Device manager OR alternatively Start gt Settings gt Control panel gt Performance and Maintenance gt System gt Hardware gt Device manager and check there in the tree view under Connections COM and LPT if you find a USB Serial Port COMX the X replacing the port number or look under USB serial bus controller for a USB Serial Converter If you wish to uninstall the driver some day If ever you wish to uninstall the driver no
5. 0 0 On OO FP GO N RP This text output will only be performed if DEBUG has been defined you do not have to assign a value to it simply defining DEBUG is enough This is useful to activate several text outputs for debugging phases during program development whereas for normal compiling you can remove these outputs by outcommenting a single line Not defining DEBUG in the preceding sample program would prevent the preprocessor to pass the contents of program line 7 to the compiler The CaterpillarLibrary also provides macros which are defined by using a define statement Macros allow to process parameters similar to functions The following example shows a typical a macro definition define setStopwatchl VALUE stopwatches like this f e define setStopwatch1 VALUE stopwatches watch1 VALUE It can be called like a normal function setStopwatch1 100 An important detail You usually do not add semicolons after preprocessor definitions Makefiles The Make tool simplifies the compiling process by automatically executing a great number of jobs required to compile a C program The automated process is defined in a so called Makefile including all command sequences and informations for the compile process of a project We provide these makefiles for all Caterpillar example projects but of course you may create makefiles for your own projects as well We will not discuss a makefile s structure in all details
6. Selftapping screw Roundhead M2 6 x 10 Selftapping screw Countersunk head M2 6 x 6 Selftapping screw Roundhead with ring M2 x 8 globalspecialties com l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l al l l l l l l l l l l l l m l l l l l l l 4 4 l l l l A a AE a E USB Cable USB PROGRAMMER CD Programmer cable 2 1 Part List continued Tail PCB latcable for the LEDs eee ee eee E 4 pole connection cable cable set for the Miniature Servomotor 3 pole connection cable SHARP GP2D12 batteryholder NOT INCLUDED 3 Assembly instructions Step 1 Attach the lever arm for the servomotors to the body elements with a LED mounting Selftapping screw Roundhead M2 x 6 Y Body with LED holder Arm lever for the Servomotor NOTICE The shape of the body panel with a PCB mounting 1 panel in assembly step 2 is different from the body panels with a LED mounting 7 panel elements Step 2 Attach the lever arm for the servomotor to the body panel with a PCB mounting Selftap
7. You should check for the buffer size with this function uint8_t getBufferLength void before calling readChar otherwise you can t tell if a O is real data or not Several characters may be read with uint8_t readChars char but uint8 tnumberOfChars at once from the Buffer You need to pass a pointer to an Array and the number of chars to receive as parameters to this function It returns the actual number of chars that were written to the Array This is useful if the buffer contains less chars than specified with numberOfChars paramter If the Buffer is completely full any new received data will NOT overwrite data in the buffer Instead a status Variable uart_status will be set to signal a buffer overflow UART_BUFFER_OVERFLOW You should write your programs such that this can not happen Usually a buffer overflow occurs if the datarate gets to high or the program is busy with something else for too long and does not read the data from the buffer You should avoid using long mSleep delays If required you can increase the size of the circular buffer Predefined size of the Buffer is 32 chars In the file Caterpillaruart h you can change the definition UART_RECEIVE_BUFFER_SIZE A bigger example program can be found on the CD ROM Example_02_ UART_02 Delay and timer functions Microcontroller programs often have to be delayed completely for some time or need to wait a period of time before a specific action is performed The Ca
8. have to learn about what functions are in detail but right now we may accept the idea that the program starts at this line Line 8 and 12 gt In C so called blocks can be defined with curly brackets and A block combines several commands Line 9 initRobotBase A function from the CaterpillarLibrary gets called here It will initialize the AVR microcontroller and configure the AVR s hardware modules Most of the microcontroller s functions would not work as expected if we do not initialize them with initRobotBase so please do not forget to always call this function at the beginning of a program Line 10 writeString Hello World n This calls the function writeString from the Caterpillar Library with the parameter String Hello World n The function will output the text to the serial interface Line 11 return 0 Our program ends here We leave the main function and return zero A return code is usually used in larger systems with operating system as an error code or for similar functions but is not needed in a microcontroller system We only need to add this return value to meet the standard C conventions and as we will see later programs for microcontrollers will usually never terminate This tiny program gave you a first impression of C programming Now we have to discuss some other basics before we can go on with example programs 7 2 C basics As already mentioned before a C program is
9. not now this is just a hint if you need this some day If you have used the CD ROM installation program you can uninstall it directly via Start gt Settings gt Control panel gt Software In the displayed list you will find an item FTDI USB Serial Converter Drivers select it and click on uninstall If you have installed the driver manually you can execute the program FTUNIN exe in the directory dedicated to the USB driver for your system Warning USB gt RS232 adaptors with FTDI chip set often also use this driver 4 3 Connection of the USB programmer Linux Windows users can skip this section Linux systems with kernel 2 4 20 or higher already include the required driver at least for the compatible previous model FT232BM of the chip on our USB interface the FT232R The hardware is automatically recognized and you have nothing else to do In case of a problem you can get Linux drivers and support and maybe also newer drivers directly from FTDI http www ftdichip com Once the hardware has been connected you can check under Linux via cat proc tty driver usbserial if the USB serial port has been correctly installed This is normally all you have to do It is worth to mention that the RobotLoader uses under Windows D2XX drivers and the full USB designations appear in the port list e g USBO Robot USB Interface serialNumber Whereas under Linux the virtual comport designations appea
10. 22820 Savi Ranch Parkway Yorba Linda CA Product specifications and delivery contents are subject to 92887 changes The manual is subject to changes without prior notice Ph 800 572 1028 Fax 215 830 7370 You can find free updates of this manual on globalspecialties com E Mail info globalspecialties com Caterpillar Robot is a registered trademark All other trademark are the property of their owners We are not responsible for the contents of external web pages that are mentioned in this manual Information about limited warranty and responsibility The warranty granted by Global Specialties is limited to the replacement or repair of the Caterpillar and its accessories within the legal warranty period if the default has arisen from production errors such as mechanical damage or missing or wrong assembly of electronic components except for all components that are connected via plugs sockets The warranty does not apply directly or indirectly to damages due to the use of the robot This excludes claims that fall under the legal prescription of product responsibility The warranty does not apply in case of irreversible changes such as soldering of other components drilling of holes etc of the Caterpillar or its accessories or if the Caterpillar is damaged due to the neglect to the instructions of this manual The warranty is not applicable in case of neglect to follow this manual Please adhere above all to the Safety
11. We will start with the installation of WinAVR WinAVR is as the name says only available for Windows Linux users can skip to the next section WinAVR pronounce like the word whenever is a collection of many useful and necessary programs for the software development for AVR micro controllers in C language In addition to the GCC for AVR designated by the term AVR GCC more details later WinAVR includes the convenient source text editor Programmers Notepad 2 that we will also use for the program development of the Caterpillar 3 WIinAVR is a private project that is not supported by a company It is available for free in the internet You will find updated versions and more information at http winavr sourceforge net In the meantime the project gets the official support from ATMEL and the AVRGCC is available for AVRStudio the development environment for AVR s from ATMEL However we will not describe it in this manual as Programmers Notepad is much better suited for our purpose The WinAVR installation file is on the CD in the folder lt CD ROM gt Software AVR GCC Windows WinAVR The installation of WinAVR is simple and self explanatory Normally you don t need to change any settings So just click on Continue If you use Windows Vista or Windows 7 8 you must install the latest version of WinAVR It should also work perfectly with Windows 2K and XP If not you can try one of the older versions that are als
12. com Windows The JRE 1 6 for Windows is in following folder lt CD ROM drive gt Software Java JRE6 Windows Under Windows the installation of Java is very simple You just have to start the setup and follow the instructions on the screen that s it You can skip the next paragraph Linux Under Linux the installation doesn t present any major problems although some distributions require some manual work In the folder lt CD ROM drive gt Software Java JRE6 you will find the JRE1 6 as an RPM SuSE RedHat etc and as a self extracting archive bm Under Linux it is advisable to look for Java packages in the package manager of your distribution keywords e g java Sun jre j ava6 and use the packages of your distribution rather than those on the CD ROM However make sure to install Java 6 1 6 or a newer version but definitely not an older one Under Ubuntu or Debian the RPM archive doesn t work directly You will have to use the package manager of your distribution to find a suitable installation package The RPM should however work well with many other distributions like RedHat Fedora and SuSE If not you always have the solution to unpack the JRE e g to usr lib Java6 from the self extracting archive bin and setmanually the paths to the JRE PATH and JAVA_HOME etc Please refer to the installation instructions from Sun that you will find also in the above mentioned directory and on the J
13. how much experimenting you are going to invest into the control program You may use the existing movement functions or create new functions and programs For experiments you may add SHARPGP2D12 which enables Caterpillar to detect objects before contacting obstacles Installing a suitable transceiver transmitter receiver at the programming socket enables a serial communication between PC and the moving robot Three analog inputs are available to connect additional sensors including the distance sensor 5 Programmer and RobotLoader To load a HEX Caterpillar program from the PC into the Caterpillar Robot we will use the USB programming adaptor and our RobotLoader software The external USB port programmer transmitter receiver transceiver included in the package must be connected on one side to a USB port of the computer and on the other side to the Prog UART port of the Caterpillar PCB with a flat cable The program upload into the Caterpillar Robot erases automatically the previously existing program USB Progammer RPS Loader step 2 Add Select Hexfile D a category first T oO x Target Control _ Hold in Reset U E Reset Start WiFi Terminal RobotLoader software The RobotLoader has been developed to upload easily new programs into the Caterpillar and into several other Global Specialties robots provided that they contain a compatible bootloader There are a few very usefull addition
14. in Programmers Notepad 2 abbeviated hereafter by PN2 that is the source text editor that we will use ATTENTION Under Linux you need to use another editor that offers about the same functions as PN2 Usually several editors are pre installed e g kate gedit exmacs or similiar In addition to the highlighting of keywords and others called syntax highlighting it offers also a rudimentary project management This allows to organise several source text files in projects and to display in a list all files related to a project Moreover you can easily retrieve programs like the AVR GCC in PN2 and get the programs conveniently compiled via a menu item Normally the AVR GCC is a pure command line program without graphic interface You will find more recent versions of Programmers Notepad on the project homepage http www pnotepad org The newest versions of WINAVR don t require the setting up of menu items anymore PLEASE NOTE In this section we don t describe anymore how you have to set up menu items in PN2 as the newest WINAVR versions have done this already for you See on page 35 Open and compile an example project how you can open an example project If you have opened an example project it should look a bit like this on the Pn2 screen Programmer s Notepad Caterpillar_Leds c E la sl File Edit View Tools Window Help 218 x DOJae lo ae DQO lero a 5 Projects Caterpill
15. is displayed Open a port Linux Linux handles the USB serial adaptor like a normal comport The installation of the D2XX driver from FTDI would not be as simple as that under Linux and the normal virtual comport VCP drivers are included anyway in the current Linux kernels It works almost the same as under Windows You just need to find out the name of the Caterpillar USB interface and make sure that the USB port is not unplugged from the PC as long as the connection is open otherwise you might have to re start the RobotLoader to re connect Under Linux the names of the virtual comports are dev ttyUSBx x being a number e g dev ttyUSBO or dev ttyUSB1 The names of the normal comports under Linux are dev ttySO dev tty S1 etc They also show up in the port list as far as they exist The RobotLoader remembers if there are several ports which port you have used last time and selects this port automatically when you start the program in general most of the settings and selections are maintained Now you can click on the button Connect The RobotLoader will open the port and test if the communication with the bootloader on the robot is working The black field Status on the bottom should show the message Connected to CATERPILLAR or similiar together with an information about the currently measured voltage If not just try again If it still doesn t work there is a mistake Switch the robot off im
16. occupy RAM for the text void writeStringLength char data uint8_t length uint8_ t offset Whenever you need to output text with a predefined length and or offset you can use this function An example writeStringLength ABCDEFG 3 1 Output BCD writeStringLength ABCDEFG 2 4 Output EF This function however will occupy RAM for these strings as well and has been designed for handling dynamic texts This function is for example used by writelntegerLength void writeInteger int16_t number uint8_t base This very useful function will output integer values as ASCII Text From previous examples we remember that writeChar 65 outputs A instead of the number 65 Thus we need a function to output numbers as text strings Example writelnteger 139 DEC Output 120 writelnteger 25532 DEC Output 25532 The function allows you to output the complete range of 16bit signed integers between 32768 up to 32767 Anyone planning to use numbers beyond these limits will have to modify the function or alternatively write a special function from scratch Now you may wonder why we are using a second parameter DEC The answer is quite simple this parameter is controlling the output format for this number Of course instead of DECimal base 10 we may use several alternative output formats such as binary BIN base 2 octal OCT base 8 or hexadecimal HEX base 16 Some examples writeIn
17. one of the LEDs d e 9 E 5 09_Stand_Up i SetLeds 0b000001 would set only LED __ Caterpillar_stand_up c setLeds 0b000010 LED2 _ Makefile setLeds 0b000100 LED3 E 3 10_Demo 4 setLeds 0b101001 LED6 LED4 LED and so on MA msleep 1000 delay 1000ms 1s Makefile setLeds 0b000000 17 All LEDs off CL 11_Selftest mSleep 500 delay 500ms 0 55 y pr Cabrils LAOS 4 gt ED Text Cios El Teos Elos aie waa Output x 4 gt On the left hand side are shown all example projects on the right hand side the source text editor with the mentioned syntax highlighting and at the bottom the tools output in this case the output of the compiler You can convert many other things in PN2 and it offers many useful features 6 1 Open and compile an example project E ez Programmer s Notepad File View Tools Help Neu S Mc d d ek a Open Project s Let s test now if everything runs properly and open the example projects Select in the File menu the item Open Project s A normal file section dialogue appears Search the folder CaterpillarExamples in the folder into which you have saved the example programs Close Project s jects Open the CaterpillarExamples ppg file This is a project group for PN2 that uploads all example programs as well as the Caterpillar Library into the project list Projects Recent Files d Recent Projects d
18. period is 65535ms or 65 5 seconds Examples mSleep 1 Ims delay mSleep 100 100ms delay mSleep 1000 1000ms 1s delay mSleep 65535 65 5 Sekunden delay Stopwatches The problem with these standard delay functions is that they will stop the normal program flow completely This may be unacceptable if only a specific part of the program needs to wait for a period of time whereas other parts are supposed to continue with their tasks One of the main advantages in using hardware timers is independence from the normal program flow With these timers the CAterpillarLibrary implements universal so called Stopwatches The author has chosen this unusual title for similarity with ordinary Stopwatches These Stopwatches will simplify a great number of jobs Usually customised timer functions for each individual program would be required but the CaterpillarLibrary offers an universal module for general purpose usage Stopwatches allow you to handle a number of tasks simultaneously at least this is what you will see from your point of view outside of the microcontroller The Caterpillar provides eight 16bit Stopwatches Stopwatch1 to Stopwatch8 which may be started stopped set and read As for the mSleep function we have chosen a resolution of one millisecond which implies each of these timers will increment its counter in intervals of ims This method is not useable for very critical timing as chec
19. the previous example with an ifelse if else if else conditional structure but now we use case branches instead There is one main difference if one condition is true all the following case branches will be executed If you do not want that just add a break instruction and it will quit the switch case construct there The output of the example above would be for the default value x 3 x 3 Hello over there Setting x 1 would result in an output of x 1 n and x 5 would result in an output of over there You may now understand the break instruction will terminate the case branches If you omit the break instruction the program will be wading through any following instructions until either the end of the switch construct or another break is reached If we preset the value x 7 none of the branches will be true The program now executes the default branch resulting in an output of The value of x is something else n Of course the text output is only an example but real programs may be using these constructs to generate various different movements with the robot Several example programs use switch case constructs for finite state machines to implement a simple behaviour based robot Loops We need loops if operations need to be repeated a number of times Let s demonstrate the basic principle in an example 1 uint8 t i 0 2 while i lt 10 as long as iis l
20. thoroughly as possible Remove the batteries if the Caterpillar will not be used for more than one week 2 Required tools and parts TIP First read the complete manual before you start building the robot Failures and mistakes during building can damage the robot and create malfunction during operation Take special care when you connect all wires and the power Screwdriver set Hobby knife SL PLD E P Pliers Soldering iron and solder Selftapping Screws Selftapping screws behave like wood screws i e they cut a thread into the material in a rotating motion that functions like a nut To this end this type of screw has a larger thread and a sharper tip as a normal screw Selftapping screws have a cutout at the top that makes it easier to drill into the material The best way to fasten such a screw is 1 Drive the screw into the material 2 Slightly loosen the screw 3 Tighten the screw again bg CAREFUL Important If the screws are loosened and tightened too often the hole enlargens gradually and the screw will no longer fit properly 2 1 Partlist Base for the PCB mounting PCB Printed Circuit Board O 15St EVA pedestal feet Body panel with a Body panel with a PCB O 1 81 LED holder mounting Sensor ring Spiral winding Nut m3 O 3St O AG O 18St Se Screw Selftapping screw Selftapping screw Screw Roundhead M2 6 X 6 Roundhead M3 x 12 Flathead M3 X 10 a ee a a aa A A nn pep ne a
21. whole chapter thoroughly first and then start with the installation step by step The user must have basic knowledge of Windows or Linux based computers and be familiar with current programs such as file managers web browsers text editors file compression software WinZip WinRAR unzip and others and eventually Linux shell etc If your computer knowledge is very limited you should learn more about systems before you start using the Caterpillar This manual is not intended as an introduction to computers which would go beyond our scope It is only aimed at the Caterpillar its programming and the specific software required Caterpillar CD ROM You have probably already inserted the CD ROM into your computer drive if not please do it now In Windows the CD menu should appear shortly afterwards per autostart If not you can open the file start bim with a web browser as e g Firefox or Chrome in the main directory of the CD through file manager If you have never installed an updated web browser after the language selection you will find in the CD menu in addition to this manual that you can also download from our home page information data sheets and pictures also the menu item Software It contains all software tools USB drivers and example programs with source code for the Caterpillar Depending on the safety settings of your web browser you can start the installation programs directly from the CD WIinAVR for Windows
22. writelnteger and of course the main function Functions are extremely useful for using identical program sequences at several locations of a program the text output functions used in previous chapters are good examples for this Copying identical program code to all locations where it is used would be very unhandy Additionally we would unnecessarily waste a lot of program memory in doing something like this Using one single function allows us to modify program modules at a single central location instead of modifying a great number of copies Using functions will simplify the program flow and help us to keep the overview Therefore C allows us to combine program sequences to functions which are always structured as follows lt Return type gt lt Function lt Return type gt lt Function name gt lt Parameter 1 gt lt Parameter 2 gt lt Parameter n gt lt Program gt Let s explain the idea in a small example with two simple functions and the alerady known main function 8 void someLittleFunction void 9 10 writeString Function 1 n KL 12 13 void someOtherFunction void 14 15 writeString Function 2 something different 16 17 18 int main void 19 20 initRobotBase Always start an Caterpillar program by calling this function 21 27 A few function calls 23 someLittleFunction 24 someOtherFunction 25 someLittleFunction 26 someOtherFunction
23. 27 someOtherFunction 28 return 0 29 The program would display the following text at the output device Function 1 Function 2 something different Function 1 Function 2 something different Function 2 something different The main function serves as the entry point and any C program will start by calling this function Therefore each C program MUST provide a main function In the previous example the main function starts by calling the initRobotBase function from the RP6Library which will initializes the microcontrollers hardware Basically the initRobotBase function is structured similar to the two functions in this example In the main function the two previously defined functions get called several times and the program code of these functions is executed Apart from defining functions as described in the previous example we may also use parameters and return values The above example is using void as parameter and return value which means we do not use any parameters or return values here The parameter void always indicates functions without a return values respectively without parameters You may define a great number of parameters for a function and parameters are separated by commas An example will demonstrate the basic idea L void outputSomething uint8 t something 2 a writeString The following value was passed to this function 4 writeInteger something DEC 5 writeSt
24. 7 Program code 8 9 while true Infinite loop 10 return 0 11 A 12 Basically any Caterpillar Program should at least look like this The infinite loop in line 9 serves as a predefined end of the program Skipping the infinite loop may result in unexpected program behaviour Just to point out the idea of the infinite loop again usually the infinite loop will be used to execute your own program code So you will delete the semicolon at line 9 and replace it with your own program block surrounded by brackets You can define your own functions in the lines preceding the main function at line 2 in this case and you may call your functions anywhere from the main loop UART Functions serial interfaces A few of the CaterpillarLibrary s functions have been used in the previous C crash course already such as the UART functions These functions allow us to transfer text messages through the robot s serial interface to and from the PC or to another microcontroller Transmitting data void writeChar char ch This function transmits a single 8 Bit ASCII character via the serial interface Usage is simple writeChar A writeChar B writeChar C This would output ABC The function can also transfer ASCII codes directly e g writeChar 65 writeChar 66 writeChar 67 This would also result in an output of ABC because any ASCII character may be represented by a number The number 65 refe
25. C language Having read and understood something in this crash course you should try it out by yourself Of course we will have to discuss a few basics before but in order to give you an idea of what we are talking about let s just start with a simple C program ZS a small and simple Hello World C Program for the Caterpillar wi include CaterpillarRobotBaseLib h 5 int main void initRobotBase writeString Hello World n return 0 LO 0 0 OG GO N sch If you have never programmed in C before this source code may look like a foreign language but the basic concepts are easy to understand The tiny program above is already a complete functional program but it only initializes the microcontroller and writes the text Hello World Carriage Return Line Feed to the serial interface This is a typical programming example which may be found in most books of course not with the initRobotBase call at the beginning To get familiar with the new language you may copy this small program into a text editor by yourself and try to compile it Anyone feeling bored by the tiny sample program may find a more attractive Hello World program in the example directory including a running light with the LEDs and some more text outputs Now let s discuss the program in Listing 1 and explain it line by line Line 1 3 A small and simple Hello World C Program for the CATERPILLAR These are comment lin
26. ED5 and deactivate StatusLED2 but we do not modify the state of any other LED This simplifies LED control from different program parts Attention statusLEDs LED1 true will NOT directly activate LED1 This command will only set the corresponding bit in a variable The LED5 will be illuminated after executing updateStatusLEDs Two port pins of the LEDs are additionally used to check the antenna status In order to read the antenna the controller will quickly switch the pin direction to input mode and check if the connected springswitch is closed We provide two functions for checking the antenna The first function uint8_t getHeadLeft void will read the left antenna status whereas uint8_t getHeadRight void will read the right antenna switch uint8_ t getTail void will read the Tail antenna switch The Microcontroller executes these functions very fast and you will not see that the LEDs turn off although the Pin is set to input for a few instruction cycles Of course you should not call these functions frequently without a delay of a few ms in between The LED Portpins should be controlled with the predefined functions only There are resistors to protect the antenna ports but if the pins are set to low level output AND a antanna switch is closed at the same time the port terminal will conduct a bit more current Such unecessary currents should be avoided of course the AVRs have Tristate outputs to turn the LED off the
27. EEES EEE EEE TETERA ETE TEC SES SS SSS FEE ERRRR Main Menu PERA Advanced Menu IEA E z Run ALL Selitests 0 8 PowerLED Test LED Test ec Calibrate Caterpillar b Startposition Caterpillar t IV Remote Voltage Sensor Test Sensor Tail Test Poll Sensor Test Buzzer Test D we Io M P O Sensors Head Test E E z F F F F F F F Servo Test System voltage is 04 50V z FELPSLLSSSSESSSESS SSS SSH SS SS SS SESS SL SSSS ESS SP SSS ES SS SEES SPS ESSE SSSTS E Please enter your choice 1 8 c D ti FEESSESEEE SEES SESS EE EE E EE EE EE EE E EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE E bt hb k tk bb kb kb hb kb tt Now you can execute the selftest and the calibration of the Caterpillar Press the switch Start Stop Reset on the Caterpillar to start the program Later you can do this alternatively via the RobotLoader menu gt Start or the key combination CTRL S However this time you can test if the switch works properly It is recommended to start with the calibration Ifan error occurs in the selftest switch the robot off immediately and start searching for the mistake The Robot Loader is able to manage several categories of hex files This allows to sort the files in a clear way e g if several programmable extension modules are mounted on the robot or different program versions are used The list is automatically saved at the end of the program Of course only the paths to the he
28. J11 when you are using normal 1 5 Volt batteries Important pages Page 23 Software Installation Seite 21 First Test Page 35 Selftest IMPORTANT The old version of the RobotLoader can only measure 5 1 Volt maximum Step 30 Final assembly ga Having completed all wiring your Caterpillar will be looking as follows We will have to rearrange some cabling but take care to leave enough room for free movements of the robot s segments Join the wires as illustrated Do not join the cabling to tight The wires must have some room to move Carefully move the Caterpillar s segments into all directions Check to see that none of the wires will be stretched to tight See that cables will be ordered evenly at both sides of the roll sensor Use the spiral to neatly arrange the wiring cables Be careful with LED connectors and battery wiring If the wiring is arranged too tight the cabling may be stressed by metal fatigue and cause wiring interrupts in a permanently moving section of the Caterpillar Having completed the Caterpillar you may now program the robot Please install the software from CD or download the actual version from www globalspecialties com 4 Software Installation Let s do the software installation now A properly installed software is of paramount importance for all following chapters As you need administrator rights you have to log into your system as an administrator We recommend to read the
29. PURPOSE Size before AVR Memory Usage Device atmega16 Program 3074 bytes 4 7 Full text data bootloader Data 68 bytes 1 7 Full data bss noinit EEPROM 14 bytes 0 7 Full eeprom Compiling C Caterpillar Ledec avr gcc c mmcu atmega16 l gdwarf 2 DF_CPU 16000000UL Os funsigned char funsigned bitfields fpackstruct fshort enums Wall Wstrict prototypes Wa adhIns Caterpillar_Leds Ist std gnu99 MMD MP ME dep Caterpillar_Leds o d Caterpillar_Leds c o Caterpillar_Leds o Linking Caterpillar_Leds elf avr gcc mmcu atmega16 l gdwarf 2 DF_CPU 16000000UL Os funsigned char funsignedbitfields Creating load file for Flash Caterpillar_Leds hex Creating load file for EEPROM Caterpillar_Leds eep avr objcopy j eeprom set section flags eeprom alloc load change section Ima eeprom 0 no change warnings O ihex Caterpillar_Leds elf Caterpillar_Leds eep exit 0 Size after AVR Memory Usage Device atmega16 Program 3074 bytes 4 7 Full text data bootloader Data 68 bytes 1 7 Full data bss noinit EEPROM 14 bytes 0 7 Full eeprom Process Exit Code 0 The Process Exit Code 0 at the end is most important It means that no error occurred during compilation If another code appears there the sourcecode contains an error that must be corrected before it will work In this case the compiler will output various error messages that give s
30. Z 8 We previously used the data type char However in most cases we prefer standard data types in all RP6v2 programs As an example this int8_t x is identical to signed char x And this uint8_t x is identical to unsigned char x respectively for us this is also true for char only as our char is by default a signed one because of an compiler option Conditional statements Conditional statements using if else constructs play an important role in program flow They allow us to check whether a condition is true or false and decide if a specific program part is executed or not A small example uint8 t x 10 if x 10 writeString x is equal to 10 n ER ds Lo Ba Fa The declaration in line 1 defines an 8 Bit variable x and assigns the value 10 to it The succeeding if condition in line 2 checks whether the value of x is equal to 10 Obviously this condition will always be true and the program will execute the succeeding block It will output x is equal to 10 If we would initialize x with a value of 231 instead the program would not output anything Generally an if condition will always have the following syntax if lt condition X gt lt command block Y gt else lt command block Z gt Using plain English language we may also read If X then do Y else do 2 One more example uint16_ t myFavoriteVariable 16447 if tollevariable lt 16000 When myFavo
31. al functions integrated like a simple terminal program The Robot Loader can generate a warning in the status display when the voltage is to low The RobotLoader itself does not need any installation just copy it someware in an file or put it on your hard drive RobotLoader RobotLoader The RobotLoader has been developed to load easily new programs and all extension modules into the Caterpillar as long as the modules are fitted with a compatible bootloader Moreover it contains a few useful extra functions as e g a simple terminal program It is not necessary to install the RobotLoader Just copy the program somewhere in a new folder on the hard disk lt CD ROM drive gt Software RobotLoader RobotLoader zip Unpack the program somewhere on your hard disk e g in a new folder C Programme RobotLoader or similiar This folder contains the RobotLoader exe file that you can start with a double click The RobotLoader program itself is in the Java archive JAR RobotLoader lib jar Alternatively you can start this via the command line Under Windows java Djava library path lib jar RobotLoader_lib jar Linux java Djava library path lib jar RobotLoader_lib jar The long D option is necessary to enable the JVM to find all used libraries Windows doesn t require this and you can just start with the exe file Linux requires the shell script RobotLoader sh It might be necessary to make the script e
32. ar_Leds c 4 bx a New Project Group Main function The progr am starts ere A E Ca Calibrate_Caterpillar Calibrate_Caterpillar c a int main void E Maelo initRobotBase Always call this first The Processor will not work Ia 01_Leds i i correctly otherwise Caterpillar_Leds c Cree O tt Write messages to the Serial Interface a f 02_Uart_01 Caterpillar_Uart_01 c _ Makefile 3 03_Uart_02 Caterpillar_Uart_02 c _ Makefile 3 04_Move_Forward Caterpillar_Move_Forward c _ Makefile Ca 05_Move_Backward Caterpillar_Move_Backward c _ Makefile E F 06_Move_Right Caterpillar_Move_Right c writechar in writestring_P SEENEN n As writesString_P HHHHt t terpillar LED TEST O writestri ng_P d 0 AI neien wot IO ae of special chars d new ine II these are escape sequences for characters you can not use directly within strings i Write Hello world to the Serial Interface writestring_ PC Hello world My name is Caterpillar n writestring_P Let s go n Makefile LEDs a f 07_Move_Left 8 Caterpillar_Move_Left c SetLeds 0b111111 Turn all LEDs on Power LED Orange _ Makefile 0b111111 is a binary value and is the same as a f 08_Play_Head 63 in the decimal system Caterpillar_Play_Head c For this routine the pinay value is better to read because each bit Makefile Zi A E
33. as this would go far beyond the scope of this manual For all Caterpillar projects you can concentrate on the four following entries Other entries are not required for beginners and may be ignored TARGET programmName CATERPILLAR_LIB_PATH CaterpillarLib Caterpillar_LIB_PATH_OTHERS s Caterpillar_LIB_PATH Caterpillarbase Caterpillar_LIB_PATH Caterpillarcommon SRC s Caterpillar_LIB_PATH Caterpillarbase CaterpillarRobotBaseLib c SRC s Caterpillar_LIB_ PATH Caterpillarcommon Caterpillaruart c SRC s Caterpillar_LIB_PATH Caterpillarcommon Caterpillarl2CslaveT WI c Our makefiles contain some comment lines in between Makefile s comments always start with 4 and will be ignored in the make process Caterpillar s sample projects provide customized makefiles ready for use and you will not need any modifications unless you are planning to include new C files into the project s structure or if you start renaming files Start creating a makefile by specifying the program s file name containing the Main Function in the TARGET entry You must specify the name without extension so please never add the c extension here Unfortunately many other extensions will have to be specified and it might be a good idea to study existing examples of makefilesand details in the comments The second entry Caterpillar LIB PATH allows you to specify the pathname of the CaterpillarLibrary files Please specify a relative path na
34. ava website see above You can check if Java has been correctly installed by entering the command java version in a console The output should be approximately as follows java version 1 6 0 Java TM SE Runtime Environment build 1 6 0 b105 Java HotSpot TM Client VM build 1 6 0 b105 mixed mode sharing If the output is totally different you have either installed the wrong version or there is another Java VM installed in your system 4 2 Connection of the USB interface Windows Linux users can skip to the next section There are several options to install the USB interface the easiest being the installation of the driver BEFORE the first connection of the hardware The CD contains an installation program for the driver For 32 and 64 Bit Windows 7 8 XP Vista Server 2003 and 2000 systems lt CD ROM drive gt Software USB_ DRIVER Win2k_XP CDM_ Setup exe For old Win98SE Me systems such a handy program does unfortunately not exist You need to install an older driver manually after connecting the equipment see below Just execute the installation program There will just be a short note that the driver has ben installed and that s all Now you can connect the USB interfac to the PC PLEASE DO NOT CONNECT TO THE ROBOT YET Just connect to the PC via the USB lead Please touch the PCB of the USB interface only at the edges or at the USB plug or at the plastic shell of the programming plug see safety instruct
35. can do that via the package manager of your distribution by searching for avr start up and uninstall the three above mentioned packages as far as they exist in your computer You can find out easily if the avr gcc has already been installed or not via a console as e g gt which avr gcc If a path is displayed a version is already installed So just enter gt avr gcc version and look at the output If the displayed version is smaller than 3 4 6 you have to uninstall in any case this obsolete version lf the version number lies between 3 4 6 and 4 1 0 you can try to compile programs see following chapter If it fails you have to install the new tools We will install hereafter the currently most updated version 4 1 1 status March 2007 together with some important patches If the packages above do not appear in the package manager although an avr gcc has definitely been installed you need to erase manually the relevant binary files e search in all bin usr bin etc directories for files starting with avr and erase these of course ONLY these files and nothing else Eventually existing directories as usr avr or usr local avr must also be erased Important You have to make sure that the normal Linux development tools as GCC make binutils libc etc are installed prior to compiling and installing The best way to do so is via the package manager of your distribution Every Linux distribution should be supplied w
36. discussed and explained briefly in this section Basically the ISR is structured as follows ISR lt InterruptVector gt lt Command block gt e g for the left encoder connected to the external interrupt 0 ISR INTO_vect Here we increment two counters at each signal edge mleft _dist driven distance mleft_counter velocity measurement You can not call these ISRs directly Calling an ISR is done automatically and may happen at any time Any time and in any part of the program an interrupt call may stop normal program flow except inside an interrupt service routine or in case interrupts have been disabled At an interrupt event the apropriate ISR function will be executed and after termination of the ISR the program will continue execution at the after the last position in the normal program This behaviour requires inclusion of all time critical program parts into the ISR functions or disabling interrupts for a short time Otherwise delay periods calculated by processor instruction cycles may get too long if these delays are interrupted by interrupt events The RP6Library uses interrupts for generating the 36kHz modulation signals for infrared sensors and IR communication Additionally they are used for RC5 decoding timing and delay functions encoder measurement the TWI module 12C Bus and a few other applications The C Preprocessor In this chapter we will briefly discuss the C preprocess
37. eration always check it and its cables for damage If you have reason to believe that the device can no longer be operated safely disconnect it immediately and make sure it is not unintentionally operated Consult an expert if you are unsure as to the function safety or connection of the module Do not operate the module outdoors or under unfavourable conditions Do not overload the servos Do not assemble the robot in presence of small children Read all the warnings in this manual This module is equipped with highly sensitive components Electronic components are very sensitive to static electricity discharge Only touch the module by the edges and avoid direct contact with the components on the circuit board Normal use This product was developed as an experimental platform for all persons which are interested in robotics The main goal is to learn how you can program the device in C language This product is not a toy it is not suitable for children under 14 years of age The Caterpillar is also not an industrial robot with industrial specifications and preformance It may only be used indoors The product must not get damp or wet Also be careful with condensation When you take it from a cold to a warm room give it time to adapt to the new conditions before you use it Any use other than that described above can lead to damage to the product and may involve additional risks such as short circuits fire electrical
38. es and will not be interpreted by the compiler Comments are used for documenting the source code and they start with and end with Documentation will help understanding programs written by other people but it will also be helpful in understanding your own programs as well especially the source codes you have written years ago You may write comments with any length or comment out parts of your source code in order to test another program variant without having to delete the original code Apart from these standard multi line comments GCC also supports single line comments initiated by IL AFTER any text will be interpreted as a comment until the end of the line Line 5 include CaterpillarRobotBaseLib h This includes the caterpillar function library providing a great number of useful functions and predefined things for low level hardware control To include such a library we use so called header files with extension h to inform the compiler where to look for these functions Headers are used for all things in external C files that should be accessible in other C files Please take a look at the contents of CaterpillarRobotBaseLib h and CaterpillarRobotBaseLib c this should clarify the basic principle We will discuss more details of the include feature in the pre processor chapter Line 7 int main void This line defines the most important function in the sample program the main function We still
39. ess than 10 3 repeat the following code 4 writeString i i output 5 writeInteger i DEC output the DECimal value 6 ofiand f writeChar An aline break 8 i incrementi 9 Obviously the code snippet contains a while conditional loop generating the sequence i 0n i 1 n i 2 n i 9 n Following the while conditional header while i lt 10 the block surrounded by the brackets will be repeated as long as the condition is true In plain English this may be read as Repeat the following block as long as i is less than 10 As we have an initial value of i O and increment i at every loop cycle the program will be executing the loop body 10 times and output the numbers from O to 9 In the loop header you can use the same conditions as in if conditions Beneath the while loop we can use the for loop which provides similar functionality but offers extended features for the loop header definition A sample code snippet may illustrate the for loop uint8 t i but in the loop header for i 07 1 lt 107 144 writeString i writelnteger i DEC writeChar n JAU Es Gei Kho This for loop will generate output identical to the previous while loop However we could implement several things within the loop header Basically the for loop is structured as follows for lt initialize control variable gt lt terminatin
40. g condition gt lt modify the control variable gt lt command block gt b Working with microcontrollers you will often need infinite loops which virtually may be repeated eternally In fact most microcontroller programs contain at least one infinite loop either to put the program into a well know state for terminating the regular program flow or by endlessly performing operations until the device is switched off You may simply build endless loops with while or for loops while true or for In both cases the command block will be executed for ever respectively until the microcontroller receives an external reset signal or the program terminates the loop by executing the break instruction For the sake of completeness we finish this overview by describing the do while loop which may be considered as an alternative to the standard while loop In contrast to while loops the do while loop will at least execute the command block once even if the condition is false at the beginning The loop structure is as follows do lt command block gt while lt condition gt Please remember to place a terminating semicolon Of course standard while loops will not be terminated with a semicolon at the end 7 3 Functions Functions are a key element in programming languages In the previous chapters we already met and even used functions e g writeString
41. ge are a bit too large for small 8 bit microcontrollers The best example may be the printf function a must have on a PC The printf function is available for microcontrollers as well but it requires a lot of memory space and execution time so we do not prefer to use this function Instead we will show some more effective alternatives for our applications Some C Tutorials Online books just a very small selection http www its strath ac uk courses C http www eskimo com scs cclass notes top html http www iu hio no mark CTutorial CTutorial html http en wikibooks org wiki C http www le ac uk cc tutorials c http stuff mit edu iap c CrashCourseC html There are also lot of good textbooks in order to get an overview you can start by visiting a library or a bookshop However you do not need to buy a book if you just want to do a few experiments with the robot The major part of programming experience has to be acquired Learning by doing anyway All relevant information can be found on the mentioned websites The sample programs available on the Caterpillar and RP6v2 CD see www globalspecialties com are also quite extensive and show a lot of things The tutorial in this manual is also good enough for the first experiments An AVR specific tutorial for beginners can be found here http www avrtutor com for example This website also mentiones some tools programming equipment etc and other things wh
42. h the next Servomotor 8 and the feet pedestal to BASE a Selftapping screw s Flathead M2 6 x 10 Selftapping screw ie Roundhead with ring M2 X8 Selftapping screw x Roundhead M2 6 x 6 S SS panel with a LED mounting Step 19 Install the 4 pcs battery holders as sketched in the drawing the battery and the 2 pole switch wires to the switchbefore you build in the switch see step 20b Switch Wegen LUU Seftapping screw Flathead M2 6 x 6 n 1 Tail panel Selftapping screw Roundhead M2 6 x 6 Tailpanel with switch Step 20b Solder the wiring cables to the battery compartments as illustrated Red Black D battery at headside Shrinking tube 15mm Switch 2 pole Switch cable IMPORTANT Avoid short circuits and errors in this installation phase Step 21a Attach Servomotor 1 to the head panel Selftapping screw Roundhead M2 6 x 6 Step 21b Attach the head plate to the first body panel ndhead with ring M2 x 8 Selftapping screw Rou Step 22 Attach the 10 Pieces EVA pedestal feets to the feet panels ew Flathead M3 x 10 Selftapping scr Screw should be aligned with the Feetpanel RS Connect the EVA Feet with M3 x 10 screws as drawn in the picture EVA Feet Step 23a Attach the main PCB to the PCB mounting Bolt M3 x 12 Step 23b Solder the PCB for the roll sensor to the main PCB Step 24 Attach the anten
43. har else if short switch volatile const enum int signed typedef while continue extern Furthermore the types float and double are used for floating point numbers but we prefer to avoid usage of these data types on small AVR microcontroller Floating point numbers are very computation time and memory intensive and usually we are able to work perfectly well with integers Most RP6v2 programs will not require floating numbers Declaring variables is extremely simple which may be demonstrated by declaring a variable named x char x After its declaration the variable x is valid in the following program lines and may be used e g by assigning a value of 10 to it x 10 Alternatively we may assign a value to another variable y directly at declaration char y 53 Basic arithmetic operations may be used as usual signed char z please note the signed in front of char Zz X y z gets the value z x y 10 53 63 Z X y z gets the value z 10 53 43 z 10 1 2 5 z 8 Z 2 x z 2 10 20 Z x 2 2 10 2 5 The programming language also provides some useful abbreviations z 10 corresponds to z z 10 this means z 15 in this case Z 2 Z z 2 30 z 60 Z zZz 6 24 z l 4 z z 4 8 z abbreviation for z z 1 which implies z is now 9 Z z 10 z is called incrementing z Z zZ 11 Z z 10 z is called decrementing z Z Z 9 Z
44. he LEDs 4 3 Installation sequence for the LEDs o o OO Warning make sure the polarity is correct otherwise it will not function Shrinking tube e Use a scissor to cut the shrink tube into pieces of 15 mm length eRemove the isolation at the wiring cables ends Before soldering move the shrink tube over the wiring cable eSolder the wiring cables ends to the LEDs Take care to solder the positive poled wire to the anode Slightly heat the shrink tube with a cigarette lighter Cathode Anode Cathode Red Black gt Warning Do not heat the LED for more than 1 second Otherwise the LED may be damaged Panel Step 29a Connect the head plate and tail plate to the main PCB Connector for the 4 poled wiring cable The dotted line illustrates the cabling direction Wiring plan Black Red White Tail antenna Le eeel Head antenna EC YellowOrange Red Brown Dl y Connector for the 3 poled wiring cable Wiring plan Red White Step 29b Test the battery voltage O FIRST test the battery voltage at the connector before you connect it with the main PCB NOTICE Voltage on Power connector With 6 Volt Battery voltage do not forget to OPEN jumper J11 With 4 8 Volt Battery voltage do not forget to CLOSE jumper J11 Step 29c Test the wiring NOTICE First check all the wires on the main PCB Do not forget to open jumper
45. ich are not required for the Caterpillar Nevertheless it s worth to have a look at it IMPORTANT NOTICE A This crash course is made for the RP6v2 robot and described in the RP6v2 manual This means all explanations are specific for the RP6v2 robot and not for the Caterpillar We still think the explanantions are also meaningful for the Caterpillar users so we decided to put the RP6v2 manual chapter also in this Caterpillar manual A web search on c tutorial results in millions of hits Of course there are not really that many but there should be quite some good ones out there Source From the RP6v2 manual C Crash course for beginners Additional information can also be found on the WinAVR Homepage and in the WinAVR PDF documentation respectively http winavr sourceforge net http winavr sourceforge net install_config_WinAVR pdf and the AVR LibC Documentation http www nongnu org avr libc user manual index html Of course you do not have to read all these tutorials and books This list is only a guide for gathering more information Tutorials vary in size and details but t certainly helps to read more than one A general AVR community and info page is http www avrfreaks net Here you can find a very nice forum dedicated to AVR Microcontrollers lots of general infos projects tutorials and code snippets 7 1 First program As already said learning by doing is the most efficient way of learning the
46. iff gt patch p0 lt gcc patch newdevices diff gt patch p0 lt gcc patch zz atmega256x diff gt mkdir obj avr gt cd obj avr gt configure prefix PREFIX target avr enable languages c c disable nls disable libssp with dwarf2 gt make gt make install After the just press Enter and continue to write This way the command can be spread over several lines but you can also just drop it AVR Libc And last but not least the AVR libc gt cd Robot Arm gt bunzip2 c avr libc 1 4 5 tar bz2 tar xf gt cd avr libc 1 4 5 gt configure prefix PREFIX build config guess host avr gt make gt make install Important at build config guess make sure to put a backtick a lt the grave accent on the a and nota normal apostrophy or quotation marks as this wouldn t work Set the Path You must make sure now that the directory usr local avr bin is registered in the path variable otherwise it will be impossible to retrieve the avr gcc from the console or from the makefiles To that end you have to enter the path in the file etc profile or etc environment or similiar varies from one distribution to another separated by a colon 669 from the other already existing entries It could look in the file like PATH usr local bin usr bin bin usr X 11 R6 bin usr local avr bin Now enter in a console avr gcc version as described above If it
47. in loop frequently calls the function task_ACS Further evaluation will be performed automatically The acsStateChanged function gets called as soon as the ACS changes its state which happens if an obstacle is detected or if it disappears again The program will display the current ACS state with text messages in the terminal and with the LEDs d include RP6RobotBaseLib h 2 3 void acsStateChanged void 4 5 writeString P The ACS status has changed L 6 7 if obstacle left Obstacle links 8 writeChar o 9 else 10 writeChar 11 L2 writestring P Ss 13 14 if obstacle right Obstacle right 15 writeChar o 16 else 17 writeChar 18 19 if obstacle left amp amp obstacle right obstacle in the middle 20 writeString P t Middle 2l writeChar n 22 A3 statusLEDs LED6 obstacle left amp amp obstacle right Obstacle in the Middle 24 statusLEDs LED3 statusLEDs LEDO 25 statusLEDs LED5 obstacle left obstacle links 26 statusLEDs LED4 obstacle left LED5 inverted 27 statusLEDs LED2 obstacle right obstacle right 28 statusLEDs LED1 obstacle right LED2 inverted 29 updateStatusLEDs 30 31 32 int main void 33 34 initRobotBase 30 36 writestring P nRPG ACS Test programin Ee writeString P A ar 38 39 setLEDs 00111111 40 mSleep 1000 41 setLEDs 0b001001 42 43 Register the ACS Eve
48. ions on static discharges Please avoid touching any of the components on the PCB soldering points or contacts of the IDE connector unless absolutely necessary in order to prevent static discharges The previously installed driver will be used automatically for the device without any help from your side Under Windows XP 2k small speech bubbles appear at the bottom above the task bar The last message should be The device has been successfully installed and is ready for use If you have connected the USB interface before the installation or use Win98 Me it doesn t matter so much Windows will ask you for a driver This installation method is also possible The driver is also in unpacked format on the CD If you are in this situation a dialogue appears under Windows to install the new driver You have to indicate the path to the system where it can find the driver Under Windows 2k XP you need to select first the manual installation and not to look for a web service On our CD the driver is in the above mentioned directories So just indicate the directory for your Windows version and eventually a few other files that the system doesn t find automatically they are all in the directories mentioned below Under Windows XP and later versions there is often a message that the FTDI drivers are not signed verified by Microsoft normally not here as the FTDI drivers are signed This is irrelevant and can be confirmed without any problem
49. ith the LEDs lines 19 up to 26 with a refresh interval of 100ms We are using Stopwatch1 and Stopwatch2 here which get started at lines 9 and 10 respectively Afterwards the Stopwatch counters are running The infinite loop at lines 16 up to 37 constantly checks whether the Stopwatches exceed a predefined level The if condition in line 19 for example controls the running light and checks whether the stopwatch has been running for at least 100ms since the last reset to zero As soon as this gets true the next LED will be activated and the counter will be reset to zero line 25 in order to wait for another 100ms The same procedure is used for the other counter which in contrast checks for intervals of 1000ms respectively 1 second You will find a slightly extended version of this program on the CD It is just a small example but you may build rather complex systems with the Stopwatches and start or stop them at certain events The sample program on the CD also includes the running light and the counter we have even 3 counters in this program but they are implemented in separate functions which will be called from the infinite loop Seperating program code in functions will help you to keep an overview of complex programs and simplifies reusing program modules by Copy amp Paste E g the running light code can be used in other programs without big changes Several macros have been implemented for stopwatch control startStopwa
50. ith the required packages on the installation CD or updated packages are available in the internet Make sure that the texinfo program is installed If not please install the relevant package before you continue otherwise it will not work Having done that you can start with the installation itself Now you have tree options either you do everything manually or you use a very simple to use installation script and as last you can use an already compiled dep install package We recommend to try the installation script first If this doesn t work you can still install the compiler manually Latest versions see http www wrightflyer co uk avr gcc Attention You should have enough free disk space on your hard disk Temporarily more than 400Mb are required Over 300Mb can be erased after the installation but during the installation you need all the space Many of the following installation steps require ROOT RIGHTS so please log in with su as root or execute the critical commands with sudo or something similiar as you have to do it in Ubuntu e g the installation script mkdir in usr local directories and make install require root rights Please note in the following the EXACT spelling of all commands Every sign is important and even if some commands look a bit strange it is all correct and not a typing mistake lt CD ROM drive gt has of course to be replaced by the path of the CD ROM drive The folder
51. king the counter levels may not meet strict accuracy requirements The following example demonstrates the usage of the Stopwatches 1 include CaterpillarRobotBaseLib h 2 3 int main void 4 5 initRobotBase Initialize the micro controller 6 writeString P nRP6 Stopwatches Demo Programm n E writeString PO 11110 8 9 startStopwatenl Start Stopwatch 10 SstartsStopwatch2 Start Stopwateh2 Li 12 uint8 t counter 0 13 uint8 t runningLight 1 14 15 Main loop 16 while true fe 18 ZC A small LED running light 19 if getStopwatch1 gt 100 Did 100ms 0 18 pass by 20 21 setLEDs runningLight Set the LEDs 22 runningLight lt lt 1 Next LED shift Operation 23 if runninglight gt 32 Last LED 24 runningLight 1 yes Start again from the beginning LED 25 setStopwatchl 0 Reset Stopwatch to zero 26 21 28 Output a counter level in the terminal 29 if getStopwatch2 gt 1000 Did 100ms 1s pass by 30 31 Writectring PC NTs 32 writeInteger counter DEC Output counter level ES writeChar n 34 counter Increment the counter 35 setStopwatch2 0 Reset Stopwatch2 to zero 36 Sl 38 return 0 39 The program is quite simple Every second it outputs the counter level via the serial interface and increments the counter lines 29 up to 36 At the same time we execute a simple running light w
52. le the ACS which is very similar to use by calling an Event Handler for each status alteration of the object sensors With the RP6 and Caterpillar robot we also use an Event Handler for receiving RC5 Codes from remote controls Any reception of RC5 Coded signals initiates a call to a corresponding Event Handler function There is no need to use Event Handlers for these jobs of course you may simply use if conditions to check for changes but the Event Handlers simplify program design Consider it a matter of of taste Read ADC values Battery Motor current and Light sensors With the Caterpillar we read the ADC values in a different way Below is a sample of how we read the ADC value from the RP6v2 robot There are a lot of sensors connected to the ADC Analog to Digital Converter as described in chapter 2 Of course the Rp6v2 and Caterpillar Library provides a function to read the measured ADC values uintl6 treadADC uint8 tchannel This function returns a 10 Bit value 0 1023 and requires a 16 Bit variable for sensor values The following channels can be read ADC_BAT gt Battery voltage sensor ADC_ADCO gt Free ADC channel for your own sensor devices ADC_ADC1 gt Free ADC channel for your own sensor devices Example uint16_tubat readADC ADC_ BAT uint16_tadcO readADC ADC_ADCO uint16_tadc1 readADC ADC_ADC1 If ubat lt 580 writeString_P Warnung battery fast leer Basically the 5V sup
53. llowed to link to combine and nest these structures by using conjunctions and any number of bracket pairs 1 if x 0 amp amp x gt 10 y gt 200 2 writeString OK n 3 7 The previously listed conditional statement is true if x is not equal to zero x 0 AND x is not greater than 10 x gt 10 OR if y is greater than or equal to 200 y gt 200 If necessary we could add any number of other conditions as required in our program Switch Case Often we will have to compare a variable to a great number of different values and decide to execute further program code according to the result of these comparisons Of course we could use a great number of if then else conditional statements but the language provides a more elegant method by using a switch case construct A small example uint8_t x 3 switch x case 2 writeString x 2 n break case 3 writeString x 3 n At this point break is missing case 4 writeString Hallo n causing the program to proceed case 5 writeString du n with the next two lines 10 case 6 writeString da n break and stop here 11 case 44 writeString x 441n break 12 The program will jump to this line if none of the previous 13 conditions is met 14 default writeString x is something else n break 15 1 2 3 A 5 case 1 writeString x 1 n break 6 7 8 9 This code snippet works quite similar compared to
54. ltage do not forget to CLOSE jumper Jil Now you can connect the power to the Mainboard and switch on the Caterpillar The head LEDs and tail LED should be green now Normally at start the servos often make some movements The power LED Led 1 should blink for about 20 seconds and than go out When the voltage is to low the power LED will blink red orange and also the 4 red LEDs on the Caterpillar body After completion of the Caterpillar and an initial switch on you may observe the robot is not aligned in a straight line please continue with the software chapters now and start selftest and calibration Alignment will be corrected at the program s start by adjusting the central position of the servomotors A value 150 corresponds to the theoretically correct central position but the number may vary between 130 and 170 The required offset value depends on the individual servomotor and the assembly s accuracy With the proper software the Caterpillar now is expected to move like a caterpillar on the floor As soon as an antenna contacts an obstacle the Caterpillar should retreat from the object If the tail antenna contacts an object in a retraction phase the robot should rotate in order to inspect the situation If Caterpillar ends up in top down position the robot will come to its feet again If you use a universal remote control with a suitable Sony TV Code you may also control Caterpillar from a moderate distance Now it is up to you
55. me e g Caterpillarlib or Caterpillarlib in which is means one directory level up A third entry Caterpillar LIB PATH OTHERS is used to specify all other directories We splitted the CaterpillarLibrary in a number of subdirectories and you must name all of the required subdirectories for your project Finally you have to define all C files in the SRC entry do not include any header files with h extensions which will be automatically searched for in all specified directories that are used beneath the file containing the main function Additionally you will have to specify all CaterpillarLibrary s files you are using Now what does Caterpillar_ LIB PATH mean Well that s the way to use variables in makefiles We already defined a variable named Caterpillar LIB PATH Once a variable has been declared the variable s content may be used by writing lt Variable gt in the succeeding text of the makefile This useful feature will prevent a considerable amount of typing effort in makefiles Usually you will not have to modify anything else in the Caterpillar makefiles If you are looking for additional information on this topic you May look at the detailed manual http www gnu org software make manual 7 4 CATERPILLAR CaterpillarLibrary The Caterpillar function library abbr CaterpillarLibrary or CaterpillarLib provides a great number of lowlevel functions to control the Caterpillarha
56. mediately and start searching for the error If the voltage is too low a warning is displayed 9 2 SELFTEST The voltage LEDs lights up when the Caterpillar is switched on The status LED Blinks when a HEX file is uploaded If this worked you can execute a small selftest program to test the functioning of all robot systems Please click on the button Add on the bottom of the Robot Loader window and select the file CaterpillarExamples Example_11_SelftestiCaterpillar_Selftest hex in the example directory This file contains the selftest program in hexadecimal format that s why this kind of program file is called hex file The file just selected appears afterwards in the list This way you can add other hex files from your own programs and from the examples programs see screen shot where some hex files havealready been added Please select the Caterpillar_Selftest hex file in the list and click on the Upload button on the top right just below the progress bar The program will now be transferred into the MEGA16 processor on the Caterpillar This should not take more than a few seconds max 5 seconds for the selftest program Switch to the tab at the bottom of the window Terminal Alternatively you can also switch to terminal via the menu item View E FE th RobotLoader FELESLLLL ELSES ISLES SS LSE SSH ESSE ETRE EEE SL LESSEE ESS LISS SELES EEFEEEFETIEE FERRE Caterpillar Robot Sel test PEREA
57. mplete array these functions will only refer to the first element s address in the array The variable containing this first element s address is named Pointer We may generate a pointer to a given array element by writing amp MyFavouriteArray x in which x refers to the indexed element We may find a few of these statements in sample programs e g uint8_t PointerToAnElement amp aCharacterString 4 However at this stage you will not need these concepts to understand most of our programming Samples or to write your own programs Program flow and interrupts As discussed before a program will be executed basically instruction after instruction from the top to the bottom Apart from this standard behaviour there is flow control with conditional jumps loops and functions Beneath these usualy things there are so called interrupts They may be generated by several hardware modules Timer TWI UART external Interrupts etc and require the microcontrollers s immediate attention In order to respond as soon as possible the microcontroller will leave normal program flow and jump into a so called Interrupt Service Routine ISR This interrupt reaction is virtually independent from the program flow Don t worry All required ISRs have been prepared in the RP6Library and take care of all required events You will not have to implement your own ISRs All basic things you need to Know about these special interrupt functions will be
58. n for an anti collision systen f e Sharp GP2D12 The ACS detection range respectively transmitting power of both IR LEDs may be controlled by the following functions void setACSPwrOff void gt Deactivate the ACS IR LEDs void setACSPwrLow void gt Short range void setACSPwrMed void gt Medium range void setACSPwrHigh void gt Long range As the ACS is nearly completely implemented in software it is required to frequently call the following function within the main loop void task_ACS void This function completely controls the ACS Further processing can be done in a similar procedure as it has been demonstrated for the antenna s obstacle_left and obstacle_ right Each of which will be set to true as soon as the ACS detects an obstacle If both variables have been set to true the obstacle will be found located directly in front of the robot You may optionally use an Event Handler for the ACS void ACS_ setStateChangedHandler void acsHandler void This function registers the Event Handler which must have the following signature void acsStateChanged void However you may name the function whatever you like The next Rp6 robot sample program will demonstrate how to use this We start by registering the Event Handler line 44 then activate all sensors including the IR Receiver line 46 of course it does not work without this and setup the transmitting power for the ACS IR LEDs line 47 The ma
59. na IMPORTANT Be careful the spring may be very sharp Sensor ring Springantenna em em em om em em em em em em om em em om em em em em em em om em em em em em em om em em em em em em om em em om em em em om em em Assembly in the following order first solder the sensor rings to the PCB and complete the antenna as illustrated Adjust the the spring antenna as good as possible to the center of the sensor rings without contacting the ring After soldering of the antenna to the head PCB attach the head PCB to the head panel Selftapping screw Roundhead M2 6 x 6 Step 25 Now attach the tail antenna A Sensor ring IMPORTANT the spring may be very sharp Spring antenna Assembly in the following order first solder the sensor rings to the PCB and complete the antenna as illustrated Adjust the the spring antenna as good as possible to the center of Selftapping screw Roundhead M2 6 x 6 Bauphase 26 Attach the 4 pcs LED Step 27 Connect the servomotors to the main PCB Connect the servomotors 1 8 to the main PCB as illustrated Servomotor 1 1s to be mounted close to the front PCB for the roll sensor PCB pins 1 __ 2 Wiring schematic for the servomotors White Red Black Take care to install the white wiring cable for the servomotor next to the IC socket Step 28 Connect the LEDs by 8 poled flat cable to the main PCB Installation sequence for t
60. ng M2 x 8 E Weise A Body panel with a LED mounting Step 9 Attach the next body panel with a LED mounting to BASE Selftapping screw Roundhead M2 6 x 6 Selftapping screw Roundhead with ringf M2 x 8 body panel with a LED mounting Foot panel Selftapping screw Flathead M2 6 x 10 ee ee ee eS EEE SE eee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee Hh e e ee ee e A e e a a a a a a a a a a a a a a A A a a a a a a a a E E E E E E e e e e e e e e Selftapping screw Be s M2 6 x 6 er Miniature oe Servomotor ae LE rm em rm em rm em rm em rm rm rm rm rm rm wm rm wm rm rm rm rm rm rm em rm ye NOTICE i 7 Pa Ba Be sure that you are using the body panel with PCB mounting I 7 l Selftapping screw Roundhead wihina M coo Pan win PCB mounting SE Step 11 Attach the next body panel with a PCB mounting to BASE Step12 Attach the next Servomotor 6 and the feet pedestal to BASE Selftapping screw Roundhead M2 6 x 6 US Selftapping screw H Y Flathead M2 6 x 10 4 Miniature Servomotor Selftapping screw Roundhead with ring M2 x 8 body panel with a LED mounting Selftapping screw Roundhead M2 6 x 6 Selftapping screw Roundhead with ring M2 x 8 Step 16 Attac
61. nt Handler 44 ACS setStatechangedHandler acsStateChanged 45 46 powerON Activate the IR receiver incl encoders etc 47 setACSPwrMed setthe ACS medium transmit power 48 49 while true Sch 51 task ACS Frequently call the task_ACS function J2 SE return 0 54 This sample program also demonstrates once again how to activate and deactivate individual LEDs You should connect the Robot to the PC and look at the output in the terminal and also watch the LEDs And then just move your hand or an object directly in front of the robot Several sources of interference are known to affect the ACS Some types of fluorescent lamps and similar light sources may virtually blind the robot or at least decrease sensitivity If you encounter such problems you may start by deactivating all possible interfering sources of light Hint eventually you may have put the robot directly in front of a Flatscreen which also must be considered as a potential source for problems as most of the Flatscreens use a fluorescent lamp as backlight Of course the detection range heavily depends on the obstacle s surface Obviously black surfaces will not reflect the same amount of light as bright white surfaces The ACS may even ignore some of the dark colored objects In critical situations we might prefer to support the ACS by ultrasonic sensors or by improved IR sensors APPENDIX A PCB S B Circuits
62. nt to run the following to save disk space avrgcc_build and_install sh avrgcc_build and_install sh rm rf usr local avr source usr local avr build As suggested you can execute rm rf usr local avr source usr local avr build This erases all temporary files that you will not need anymore You can skip the next paragraph and set the path to the avr tools If the execution of the script failed you have to look attentively to the error message scroll the console up if necessary In most cases it is just a matter of missing programs that should have been installed earlier as e g the before mentioned texinfo file Before you continue after an error it is recommended to erase the already generated files in the standard installation directory lusr local avr preferably the whole directory If you don t know exactly what has gone wrong please save all command line outputs in a file and contact the technical support Please join always as much information as possible This makes it easier to help you GCC for AVR The GCC is patched compiled and installed a bit like the binutils gt cd Robot Arm gt bunzip2 c gcc 4 1 1 tar bz2 tar xf gt cd gcc 4 1 1 gt patch p0 lt gcc patch Ob constants diff gt patch p0 lt gcc patch attribute_alias diff gt patch p0 lt gcc patch bug256 72 diff gt patch p0 lt gcc patch dwarf diff gt patch p0 lt gcc patch libiberty Makefile in d
63. nt to test if the compilation of programs l l works properly Line Endings d In the Tools menu on top both freshly installed menu items e Use Tabs see fig should appear or the WinAVR inputs existing as a standard in PN whatever it works normally with both RPE MAKE ALL STRG M RPE MAKE CLEAN STRG N Please click now on MAKE ALL Stop Tools br Shitt K l Options Pn2 retrieves now the above mentioned make all bat batch file This will on its turn retrieve the program make More info about make will follow later The example program will now be compiled The generated hex file contains the program in the translated format for the microcontroller and can be uploaded and executed later The compilation process generates a lot of temporary files suffixes like o Ise map sym et dep Just ignore them The newly set up tool make clean will erase them all Only the hex file is of interest for us By the way the function make clean will not erase this file After the activation of the menu item MAKE ALL following output should display below in a considerably shortened version Some lines may look of course a bit different gt make all begin avr gcc WinAVR 20100110 4 3 3 Copyright C 2008 Free Software Foundation Inc This is free software see the source for copying conditions There is NO warranty not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
64. nternet and in literature allowing beginners to easily study the programming language But remember C is a rather complex language which cannot be learned within a few days without prior programming experience so please don t throw the robot out of the window if things aren t working straight away Luckily the basics are easily understood and programmers may continuously develop knowledge and experience It requires some initial effort You can not learn C automatically this could be compared to learning a foreign language But it s worth the effort as basic C knowledge will simplify learning other programming languages as the concepts are often very similar Just like for our other robots the Caterpillar requires a special version of the C compiler from the GNU Compiler Collection abbreviation GCC The GCC is a universal compiling system supporting a great variety of languages such as C C Java Ada and FORTRAN GCC s target support is not restricted to AVR It may be used for much bigger systems and knows a few dozen different targets The most prominent project using the GCC is the famous Linux project of course Most of the programs for Linux have been compiled by GCC Thus it can be considered as a very professional and stable tool which is being used by several big companies By the way If this manual is referring to GCC we do not necessarily mean the complete Compiler Collection but the C compiler only Originall
65. nts are stored in the following 16Bit Variables which can be used any time and anywhere in your programs ADC_BAT adcBat ADC_ADCO adcO ADC_ADC1 adc As soon as you have started using the task_ADC function you must use these variables instead of the readADC function Example from the RP6 robot 1 include RP6RobotBaseLib h 2 3 int main void 4 5 initRobotBasel 6 startStopwatchl 7 writeString P n Small ADC Measurement program 1nin 8 while true 9 10 if getStopwatchl gt 300 Alle 300ms 11 12 writestring P nADC Lichtse sor Links 13 writelnteger adcLSL DEC 14 writestring P nADC Lichtsensor Rechts TI 15 writelnteger adcLsL DEC 16 writestring P nADC Akku Th 17 writeInteger adcBat DEC 18 writeChar n 19 1f adcBat lt 600 20 writeString P Warning Accu will be empty soon n 21 setStopwatch1 0 set Stopwatchl back to 0 22 23 task ADC ADC evaluation this has to be called 24 permanently from the main loop 25 return 0 But then you can NOT use readADC anymore 20 This program will output measurement values of both light sensors and the battery voltage at intervals of 300ms The program will issue a warning as soon as the battery voltage drops below a level of approximately 6V ACS Anti Collision System There is NO standard anti collision system on the Caterpillar only the antenna s There is a good optio
66. number of bits for defining a storage location for a variable For the RP6 we will use the following data types Type Alternative Value range Remarks signed char int8_t 8 Bit 128 127 1 Byte char uint8_t 8 Bit 0 255 unsigned int int16 t 16 Bit 32768 32767 2 Bytes unsigned int uint16 t 16 Bit 0 65535 unsigned long int32_t 32 Bit 2147483648 2147483647 4 Bytes unsinged long uint32_t 32 Bit 0 4294967295 unsigned By a lack of standardisation there are several varying sizes defined on different platforms especially for the data type int for our microcontroller the size is 16 bits but its 32 bits for modern PC s For this reason we preferred the modern standard definition inti6_t These data types are always made up like u int N _tThese data types are always made up like u int N _t u unsigned int Integer N Number of bits e g 8 16 32 or 64 _t tfor type to prevent collisions to other symbols On a small microcontroller every single byte counts and clearly defined data types will help to keep track of memory consumption You can immediately identify a 16bit data type by the number 16 in the name The letter u at the beginning marks an unsigned data type whereas this letter is omitted for a signed data type For the normal classic datatypes we only used the signed for signed char in the table above as int and long are defined as signed
67. o on the CD before you make a new installation of WinAVR you have to uninstall the existing version first Officially Win x64 is not yet supported but the CD contains a patch for Win x64 systems if a problem arises You will find more information on the software page of the CD menu AVR GCC avr libc und avr binutils for Linux Windows users can skip this section Linux might require more effort Some distributions already contain the required packages but they are mostly obsolete versions Therefore you need to compile and install newer versions It is impossible to describe in detail the numerous Linux distributions as SUSE Ubuntu RedHat Fedora Debian Gentoo Slackware Mandriva etc that exist in many versions with their own particularities and we will keep here only to the general lines The same applies to all other Linux sections in this chapter The procedure described here must not necessarily work for you It is often helpful to search in the internet e g for lt LinuxDistribution gt avr gcc or similar Try different spellings The same applies to all other Linux sections of course with the suitable keywords If you encounter problems with the installation of the AVR GCC you can also take a look in our robot network forum or in one of the numerous Linux forums First of all you have to uninstall already installed versions of the avr gcc the avr binutils and the avr libc because as said these are mostly obsolete You
68. o the home directory Caterpillar gt cd Caterpillar gt bunzip2 c binutils 2 17 tar bz2 tar xf gt cd binutils 2 17 gt patch p0 lt binutils patch aa diff gt patch p0 lt binutils patch atmega256x diff gt patch p0 lt binutils patch coff avr diff gt patch p0 lt binutils patch newdevices diff gt patch p0 lt binutils patch avr size diff gt mkdir obj avr gt cd obj avr Now execute the configure script gt configure prefix PREFIX target avr disable nls This script detects what is available in your system and generates suitable makefiles Now the binutils can be compiled and installed gt make gt make install Depending on the computing power of your system this can take a few minutes That applies also to the next two sections especially to the GCC 4 1 Java 6 The RobotLoader see Info below has been developed for the Java platform and is suitable for Windows and Linux theoretically also for operating systems like OS X but Global Specialties is unfortunately not yet in a position to give official support To make it work you need to install an updated Java Runtime Environment JRA It is often already installed on the computer but it must be at least version 1 6 Java 6 If you have no JRE or JDK installed you must install the supplied JRE 1 6 from SUN Microsystems or alternatively download a newer version from http www java com or http java sun
69. ome more information Please note however that the Process Exit Code 0 is not a guarantee of a fully error free program The compiler will not find flawed thinking in your program and it can t prevent the robot from running into a wall IMPORTANT You might find warnings and other messages further above These are often very helpful and always indicate important problems That s why these always need to be solved PN2 highlights warnings and errors by colors to make the identification easier Even the line number is indicated that the compiler is criticizing If you click on the colored error message Pn2 skips in the relevant editor directly to the faulty line The indication at the end AVR Memory Usage is also very useful Size after AVR Memory Usage Device atmega16 Program 3074 bytes 4 7 Full text data bootloader Data 68 bytes 1 7 Full data bss noinit EEPROM 14 bytes 0 7 Full eeprom This means for the Atmega16 processor that our program has a size of 3074 bytes and that 68 bytes of RAM are reserved for static variables you have to add to this the dynamic ranges for heap and stack but this would go too far just keep always at least a few hundred bytes of memory free We dispose in total of 64kb 65536 bytes of Flash ROM and 2kb 2028 bytes of RAM On the 64kb 2k are occupied by the bootloader so we can only use 62kb Make always sure that the program fits into the available memor
70. on the CD lt CD ROM drive gt Software avr gcc Linux contains all relevant installation files for the avr gcc avr libc and binutils First of all you have to copy all installation files in a directory on your hard disk this applies for both installation methods We will use the Home directory usual abbreviation for the current home directory is the tilde gt mkdir Robot Arm gt cd lt CD ROM drive gt Software avr gce Linux gt cp Robot Arm After the successful installation you can erase the files to save space Automatic Installation Script Once you have made the script executable via chmod you can start immediately gt cd Robot Arm gt chmod x avrgcc_build_and_install sh gt lavrgcc_ build and _install sh DI 33 Answer y to the question if you want to install with this configuration or not PLEASE NOTE The compilation and installation will take some time depending on the computing power of your system e g about 15 min on a 2GHz Core Duo Notebook Slower systems will need longer The script will include also some patches These are all the diff files in the directory If the installation was successful following message will be displayed avrgcc_build and_install sh avrgcc_build_and_install sh installation of avr GNU tools complete avrgcc_ build _and_install sh add usr local avr bin to your path to use the avr GNU tools avrgcc_ build _and_install sh you might wa
71. or which has been used in the preceding programming samples already in the line include CaterpillarBaseLib h The preprocessor evaluates this command before starting the GCC compiling process The command line include file inserts the contents of the specified file at the include s position Our example program includes the file CaterpillarBaseLibrary h providing definitions of all user accessible functions of the CaterpillarLibrary to allow the compiler to find these functions and to control the compiling process However the preprocessor features a few other options and allows you to define constants which may be considered as fixed values to the system define THIS_IS_A_CONSTANT 123 This statement defines the text constant THIS IS A CONSTANT with a value of 123 The preprocessor simply replaces all references to it by the defined value Constants may be considered as text replacements In the following statement writelnteger THIS_IS_A_CONSTANT DEC THIS IS A CONSTANT will be replaced with 123 and is identical to writelnteger 123 DEC by the way the parameter DEC in writelnteger is just another constant in this case defining the constant base value 10 for the decimal numbering system The preprocessor also knows simple if conditions define DEBUG void someFunction void Now execute something ifdef DEBUG writestring P somerunction has been executed endif
72. ould like to give you an important advice most beginners do easily forget to terminate commands by a semicolon or use the semicolon at wrong locations and wonder about the strange program behaviour Forgetting to place one single semicolon at certain programming sections may result in a great number of error messages even if the real error is only one single error In fact the first error message will most likely identify the real error location Forgetting to close one of several bracket pairs or bad syntax in spelling commands belong to the common error patterns for beginners Compilers do not accept any syntax errors It takes time getting used to all this rules but you will quickly learn by trial and error Each and every C program starts in the main function Basically any following commands will be executed step by step sequentially from the beginning to the end The AVR Microcontroller is unable to execute several commands simultaneously This restriction is not causing any problems as we will have ample options to control the program flow and jump to other sections of the program this will be discussed in a later chapter Variables First we ll have a look at storing and reading data to and from RAM Data access is done through variables C knows several data types for variables Basically we will use 8 16 or 32 Bits integer data types which may be used either signed or unsigned The deserved value range determines the required
73. ping screw Roundhead M2 x 6 T y Body panel with a PCB mounting IMPORTANT Before mounting please position all servomotors into their central position IMPORTANT Parallel is Both sides must be positioned parallel Middle position NOTICE Be careful to rotate the servomotor in the central position before you attach this component to the lever arm for the servomotor Attach the servomotor exactly according to the drawing Step 4 Attach the pedestal foot panel to the body panel with a LED mounting Step 5 Attach as illustrated in the drawing the next body panel with a LED mounting to the BASE panell Selftapping screw eege Roundhead with ring M2 x 8 y S Selftapping screw Roundhead M2 6 x 6 ye sd O PI lt Selftapping screw Flathead M2 6 x 10 body panel with a LED mounting em Ye Is H iF A I NOTICE In the course of this description we will use the Feet panel motor number to indicate the servomotors in jour drawings at page 10 0 22222 From now we will name each completely prepared panel as a BASE panel Step 6 Attach the next servomotor 3 to BASE Step 7 Attach the next body panel with a LED mounting to BASE Miniature Servomotor On J Selftapping screw Roundhead M2 6 x 6 Step 8 Attach the next servomotor 4 and the Foot pedestal to BASE Ton O Selftapping screw Roundhead with ri
74. ply is used as reference voltage but the function could be modified such that the internal ATMEGA16 s 2 56V reference voltage is used instead see the MEGA16 data sheet The standard Catepillar sensors do not require this usually It makes sense to perform several ADC measurements subsequently to store the results in an array and to calculate the average and or Minimum Maximum value before processing the ADC output any further Processing several values can reduce measurement errors As an example where averaging methods are required we may consider the battery voltage measurement The Battery voltage will vary a lot under heavy load especially with alternating load conditions like caused by the servos In analogy to the bumper sensors we may automatically perform ADC measurements and simplify the main program by using a comfortable function void task_ADC void which will shorten the time required to evaluate all ADC channels in a program Calling this function will subsequentially read all ADC channels in background mode whenever there is some spare time the measurements are started read out and store the results in predefined variables The ADC requires some time for each measurement and the readADC function would block the program flow during that time The measurement itself does not require any program action so we can do something else during this time the ADC is a hardware module Individual channel measureme
75. r such as dev ttyUSBO dev ttyUSB1 etc The normal com ports are equally displayed as dev ttySO etc In this case you have to try which port is the correct one Unfortunately Linux doesn t have such a convenient driver that does both Therefore it made more sense to use the Virtual Comport drivers that are included in the kernel anyway The installation of a D2XX driver would require quite a lot of manual work Finalization of Software Installation Now the installation of the software and the USB interfaces is completed You just need to copy the most important files from the CD on a hard disk especially the complete Documentation folder and if it hasn t been done yet the example programs This avoids to look constantly for the CD if you need these files The folders on the CD are all named in such a way that they can be easily allocated to the relevant software packages or documentation If you lose the CD one day you can download the most important files as this manual the RobotLoader and the example programs from the Global Specialties home page You will find there also the links to the other software packages that you require 4 4 FIRST Hardware Test After completion of the Caterpillar and an initial switch on you may observe the robot is not aligned in a straight line NOTICE Check the voltage on Power connector With 6 Volt Battery voltage do not forget to OPEN jumper J11 With 4 8 Volt Battery vo
76. rdware With this library you usually don t have to care about all the hardware specific details of the Robot and the Microcontroller Of course you do not need to read the 300 pages long datasheet of the ATMEGA16 Microcontroller in order to be able to write programs for the Caterpillar However by reading some important parts of the data sheet you may gain insight of how the CaterpillarLibrary works in detail In fact we intentionally avoided perfect tuning for all CaterpillarLibrary functions in order to leave some work for you You are invited to add more functions and to optimize existing ones Please consider the CaterpillarLibrary as a good starting point but not as an optimal solution This chapter discusses the most important functions and shows short examples If you are interested in further details you can read the comments in the library files and study the functions and the provided examples Initializing the microcontroller void initRobotBase void ALWAYS start the main function block by calling this function It initialize the microcontroller s hardware modules The microcontroller may not be working properly if your program does not start with this Partially the hardware modules are already initialized by the Bootloader but not all Example 1 23 45 67 89 10 11 include 1 Finclude CaterpillarRobotBaseLib h 2 G int main void 4 5 initRobotBase Initialization ALWAYS CALL THIS FIRST 6
77. recommendations in the Caterpillar manual Please note the relevant license agreements on the CD ROM IMPORTANT Prior to using this robot arm for the first time please read this manual thoroughly up to the end They explain the correct use and inform you about potential dangers Moreover they contain important information that might not be obvious for all users Important safety recommendation This module is equipped with highly sensitive components Electronic components are very sensitive to static electricity discharge Only touch the module by the edges and avoid direct contact with the components on the circuit board Please never overload the servos and read all warnings carefully Symbols This manual provides the following symbols The Attention Symbol is used to mark important details Neglecting these precautions may damage or destroy the robot and or additional components and additionally you may risk your own health or the health of other persons The Information Symbol is used to mark useful tips and tricks or background information In this case the information is to be considered as useful but not necessary Safety recommendations Check the polarity of the batteries or power supply Keep all products dry when the product gets wet remove the batteries or power directly Remove the batteries or power when you are not using the product for a longer period Before taking the module into op
78. ring n 6 7 uint8 t calculate uint8_t parami uint8 t param2 8 9 writeString CALC n 10 return paraml param2 11 12 L3 14 int main void 15 16 initRobotBase 17 18 Now execute a few function calls with parameters 19 outputSomething 199 20 outputSomething 10 AL outputSomething 255 22 23 uint8 t result calculate 10 30 return value 24 outputSomething result 25 return 0 26 Output The following value was passed to this function 199 The following value was passed to this function 10 The following value was passed to this function 255 CALC The following value was passed to this function 40 The Caterpillar Library provides a great number of functions A quick look at the code of a few modules and example programs will clarify the basic principles of developing programs with functions Arrays Strings Pointers EA great number of further interesting C features are waiting to be discussed but for details we will have to refer to available literature Most of the program examples can be understood without further study In the remaining sections of this crash course we describe only a few examples and concepts in a short overview which of course is not very detailed First of all we will discuss arrays An array allows you to store a predefined number of elements of a the same data type The following sample array may be used to store 10 b
79. riteVariable lt 16000 Then writeString myFavoriteVariable is less than 16000 1n else else writeString myFavoriteVariable is greater than or equal to 16000 n 0 Pwo OD JO OB WN Ei myFavoriteVariable is set to 16447 which will result in an output myFavoriteVariable is greater than or equal to 16000 In this example the conditional statement is false and will cause the else branch to be executed As you can see on the name myFavoriteVariable you can use all names for your variables you can think of as long as they meet the naming conventions We may also use If then else constructs to create complex conditional branches 1 if x 1 writeString x is 1 n 2 else if x 5 writeString x is 5 n 3 else if x 244 writeString x is 244 n 4 else writeString x has a different value n Conditional statements may be using the following comparison operators x y Logical comparison for equality x y Logical comparison for inequality x lt y Logical comparison for less than x lt y Logical comparison for less than or equal to x gt y Logical comparison for greater than x gt y Logical comparison for greater than or equal to Additionally the language provides logical conjunctions x amp amp y true if x is true and y is true x y true if x is true and or y is true X true if x is false We are a
80. round Then start the RobotLoader Depending on which language you have selected the menus might have a bit different names The screen shots show the English version Via the menu item Options gt Preferences you can select under Language Sprache the required language English or German and then click on OK Once you have selected your language you have to re start the Robot Loader to validate the changes Open a port Windows Select the USB port As long as no other USB gt Serial Adaptor with FTDI controller is connected to the PC USB0 FT232R USB UART A900622h you will see only one single entry that you have to select If more ports exist you can identify the port via the name Robot USB Interface or FT232R USB UART Behind the port name the programmed serial number is displayed If no ports are displayed you can refresh the port list via the menu item RobotLoader gt Refresh Portlist Now you can click on the button Connect The RobotLoader will open the port and test if the communication with the bootloader on the robot is working The black field Status on the bottom should show the message Connected to Caterpillar or similiar together with an information about the currently measured voltage If not just try again If it still doesn t work there is a mistake Switch the robot off immediately and start searching for the error If the voltage is too low a warning
81. rs to the character A A special communication software can also directly interpret the binary values if necessary You will frequently need something like writeChar n to start a new line in the terminal software void writeString char string und writeString P STRING These functions are important for debugging programs as they allow transmitting any text messages to the PC Of course they may be useful for data transfers as well We will now have to explain the difference between writeString and writeString_P Working with writeString_P will cause the text strings to be stored in Flash ROM Program Memory only and of course we will have to read these strings back from Flash ROM for output In contrast for writeString the strings will get stored into RAM and the Flash ROM which requires a double amount of memory Please remember the relatively small 2KB RAM So if you have to output fixed text strings you should prefer using writeString_P Of course for transferring dynamic data which has to be available in RAM anyway writeString must be used Using the corresponding function is just as easy as using writeChar please note the double quotes instead of the apostrophe used for writeChar writeString ABCDEFG which will output ABCDEFG but as mentioned above this string will get stored in ROM and will be loaded into RAM at startup writeString_P ABCDEFG will equally output ABCDEFG but it does not
82. s command to make a long story short this function expects a pointer to a function as parameter We will explain this in a simple Rp6 robot example 1 include RP6RobotBaseLib h 2 3 Unsere Event Handler Funktion f r die Bumper 4 Die Funktion wird automatisch aus der RP6Library aufgerufen 5 void bumpersStateChanged void 6 7 writeString P nBumper Status hat sich geaendert n 8 9 if bumper left 10 writeString P Linker Bumper gedrueckt n 11 else 12 writestring P Linker Bumper nicht gedrneckt a L3 if bumper right 14 writeString BUT Rechter Bumper gedrueckt n 15 else 16 writestring P Rechter Bumper nicht gedrueckt n 17 18 19 int main void 20 21 initRobotBase 22 23 Event Handler registrieren 24 BUMPERS setStateChangedHandler bumpersStateChanged 25 26 while true 27 28 task Bumpers Bumper automatisch alle 50ms auswerten 29 30 return 0 31 The program will react on alterations of the bumper status once only by outputting the current status of both bumpers For example if you press down the right bumper the output would be Bumper Status has changed Left bumper has not been activated Right bumper has been activated Pressing down both bumper sensors will result in Bumper Status has changed Left bumper has been activated Right bumper has been activated You will hardly ever manage to acti
83. shock etc Please read all the safety instructions and warnings in this manual 1 Product description Thank you very much for choosing our Caterpillar with its eight servomotors various sensors electronic components hardware and metallic parts It is an excellent training tool in learning the fundamentals for programming and electronics Product Specification l Eight degrees of freedom DOF 2 User programmable 3 Additional input ports for a great variety of sensors Before you start the assembly phase we advise you to carefully read this manual Strictly follow the assembly instructions to avoid any problems Errors in the assembly phase may result in the robot s operations Specifications Power 5 2V to 6V 4 AAA batteries batteries are not included Processor ATMEGA16 Servo 8 pcs mini servo Power consumption ca 100 mA in rest and 3A with all servos working Height 90 mm Length 500 mm Width 89 mm A Warning The right of return does not apply after opening the plastic bags containing parts and components Read the manual thoroughly prior to assembling the unit Be careful when handling tools Do not assemble the robot in presence of small children They can get hurt with the tools or swallow small components and parts Check the correct polarity of the batteries Make sure that batteries and holder remain always dry If the Caterpillar gets wet remove the batteries and dry all parts as
84. tchX starts stopwatch X The command does not reset the Stopwatch and it will continue incrementing from the last counter level Examples startStopwatch1 startStopwatch2 stopStopwatchX stops Stopwatch X Examples stopStopwatch2 stopStopwatch1 uint8_tisStopwatchXRunning returns if stopwatch X is running Example if isStopwatch2Running Stopwatch lauft nicht also mache irgendwas j setStopwatchX uint16_t preset This macro sets the counter of stopwatch X to a given value Examples setStopwatch1 2324 setStopwatch2 0 setStopwatch3 2 setStopwatch4 43456 getStopwatchX Status LEDs and Bumpers Antenna void setLEDs uint8_t leds This function allows you to control the 4 Status LEDs Usage can be simplified with binary constants instead of usual decimal numbers Binary constants are formatted like Obxxxxxx The LEDs need 6 digits only Examples setLEDs 0b000000 Switches all LEDs off setLEDs 0b000001 switches StatusLED1 on all other off setLEDs 0b000010 StatusLED2 setLEDs 0b000100 StatusLED3 setLEDs 0b001010 StatusLED4 and StatusLED2 setLEDs 0b010111 StatusLED5 StatusLED3 StatusLED2 and StatusLED1 An alternative possibility the following statusLEDs LED51 true LED1im LED Register activation statusLEDs LED2 false LED2 im LED Register deactivation updateStatusLEDs commit the changes Here we activate StatusL
85. teger 255 DEC output 255 writeInteger 255 HEX Output EE writeInteger 255 OCT Output 377 writeInteger 255 BIN Output 411111111 These functions are extremely useful for lots of applicatins Especially to output integers in HEX or BIN format as these formats allow you to directly see how the bits are set in this integer void writeIntegerLength uint16_t number uint8_t base uint8_t length This function is a variant for writelnteger enabling you to specify the number of digits length to be displayed If the number s length is below the specified limit the function will add leading zeros If the number s length exceeds the specified limit the function will only display the trailing digits As usual we will demonstrate the function s behaviour by a few examples writelntegerLength 2340 DEC 5 Output 02340 writelntegerLength 2340 DEC 8 Output 00002340 writelntegerLength 2340 DEC 2 Output A0 writelntegerLength 254 BIN 12 Ausgabe 000011111110 Receiving data The reception of Data through the serial interface is completely interrupt based The received data is written to a so called circular buffer automatically in the background Single received bytes chars can be read out of the buffer with the function char readChar void It returns the next available character in the Buffer and deletes it from the Buffer If the circular buffer is empty O is returned
86. terpillarLibrary also provides functions for these purposes It uses one of the MEGA16 s timers to achieve relatively accurate delay control which is independent from other program flow or interrupts which could disturb delay routines You will have to carefully decide where you can use these functions Using these functions along with automatic speed control and ACS will be explained later may cause problems If you need to use automatic speed control or ACS please use very short delays of less than 10 milliseconds only Instead of blocking delays you may prefer the stopwatch functions instead which will be discussed in the following section void sleep uint8_t time This function will stop normal program execution for a predefined period of time The delay is specified with a resolution of 100us 100us 0 1ms 0 0001s which is extremely short for human perception The use of an 8 bit sized variable allows us to define delays up to 25500us 25 5ms While the normal program is sleeping interrupts will still be processed immediately This will only delay the normal program s execution As mentioned before it uses a hardware timer and is not influenced too bad by interrupt events Examples sleep 1 100Us delay sleep 10 1ms delay sleep 255 25 5ms delay void mSleep uint16_t time Whenever you need long delays you may prefer mSleep which allows to specify delay period in milliseconds The maximum delay
87. types anyway and char is unsigned even if you do not explicitly write this The reason for these definitions is an AVR GCC compiler option which is activated in most cases The data type char will be used for strings because an uint8_t definition would lead to a few incompatibilities with standard C libraries and char is a clear and logical name for a character string anyway We will explain details on this topic in the Caterpillar Library chapter for text outputs via the serial interface By now we simply note we always use char for characters and strings respectively uintN_t or intN_t for integers In order to use a variable in a program we have to declare it first by defining the data type a name and eventually an initial value for this variable The name must start with an alphabetic character including the underscore _ and may contain numbers However the variable s naming convention excludes a great number of special characters e g B 23 lt gt amp A Variable names are case sensitive which implies aBc and abC are different variables Traditionally programmers use lower case characters at least for the leading character of variable names The following keywords are already reserved and are NOT useable as variable names function names or any other symbols auto default float long sizeof union break do for register static unsigned case double goto return struct void c
88. vate both bumpers simultaneously and you might see an additional message in which only one of the bumpers is pressed down If you press them down fast enough it should show only one message This is because of the 50ms interval You may notice that the example program never directly calls the bumpersStateChanged function The Caterpillar or RP6Library manages this automatically at each bumper status alteration from the task_Bumpers function In fact task_Bumpers first does not know our bumpersStateChanged function and must be calling this function by using a pointer which will be set up properly in line 24 Of course the Event Handler may be extended beyond text outputs e g think of stopping the robot and driving back rotating However such things should not be peformed in the Event Handler itself but elsewhere in the program You might set a command variable s in the Event Handler which is then checked in the main program to identify which movement should be performed Always keep Event Handlers as short as possible You can use all Caterpillar RP6Library functions in Event Handlers but you must be careful with the rotate and move functions which are to be discussed in later chapters Do NEVER use the blocking mode of these functions in event handlers repeatedly activating the bumpers or antenna will not quite work as expected The basic idea of Event Handlers is used by a number of other functions too For examp
89. works the installation was successfull NEWER VERSIONS There are regular newer versions on internet please always check if you can find a newer version as we put on the CD now Manual Installation If you prefer to install the compiler manually or the installation via the script failed you can follow the instructions below The description is based on following article http www nongnu org avr libc user manual install_tools html that is also included on the CD in PDF format in the AVR Libc documentation lt CD ROM drive gt Software Documentation avr libc user manual 1 4 5 pdf Our description here is much shorter but includes a few important patches Without these some tings will not work properly First of all we have to create a directory in which we wil install all tools That should be usr local avr Also enter in a console AS A ROOT gt mkdir usr local avr gt mkdir usr local avr bin It must not necessarily be this directory We just create the variable PREFIX for this directory gt PREFIX usr local avr gt export PREFIX This must be added into the PATH variable gt PATH PATH PREFIX bin gt export PATH NEWER VERSIONS There are regular newer versions on internet please always check if you can find a newer version as we put on the CD now Binutils for AVR Now you must unpack the sourcecode of the binutils and add a few patches We suppose in our example that you have copied everything int
90. written in pure ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange text It is strictly case sensitive and if a function is named MyFavouriteFunction you will have to call the function by this exact name A function call for myfavouritefunction would not be recognized You can insert any number of spaces tabs and line breaks between all commands and symbols without interfering with the programming syntax As you may have seen in the sample program the commands have been indented by tabulators to improve the program s readability But that s not necessary You could write the program text from line 7 in listing 1 e g 1 int main void X initRobotBase writeString Hello World n return 0 This is an identical program but the text is rather confusing However we only deleted tabs spaces and line breaks The compiler does not care for formatting styles at all Of course we will need a Space as a separator between keywords and variables like int and main and we are not allowed to use a line break between two quotation marks at least not without an escape sequence The brackets allow us to combine several assignments and commands to blocks which will be needed for functions conditional statements and loops Each assignment is to be terminated by a semicolon to allow the compiler to identify individual commands Before you start typewriting and copying the program snippets from this tutorial we w
91. x files are saved not the hex files themselves If you work on a program you just need to add and select the hex file once Then you can load the new program into the microcontroller after every re compiling of the program you can also use the key combination CTRL D or CTRL Y to start the program directly after the transfer The path names are of course totally different under the various operating systems Nevertheless the RobotLoader suits both Windows and Linux without any changes as there is a separate list for Windows and Linux Either you continue now with the other example programs 6 Programming the CATERPILLAR Now we are gradually coming to the programming of the robot Setting up the source text editor First of all we need to set up a little development environment The so called source text also called sourcecode for our C program must be fed into our computer one way or the other To this end we will definitely not use programs like OpenOffice or Word As this might not be obvious for everybody we stress it here explicitly They are ideally suited to write manuals like this one but they are totally inappropriate for programming purposes Source text is pure text without any formatting The compiler is not interested in font size and color For a human being it is of course much clearer if some keywords or kinds of text are automatically highlighted by colors These functions and some more are contained
92. xecutable chmod x RobotLoader sh After that you can start it in a console with RobotLoader sh It is advisable to create a shortcut on the desktop or in the start menu to make the start of the RobotLoader more convenient Under Windows make a right click on the RobotLoader file exe and then click on Desktop create shortcut in the Send to menu Caterpillar Library Caterpillar CONTROL Library and Example Programs The Caterpillar Library and the related example programs are in a zip archive on the CD lt CD ROM drive gt Software Caterpillar Examples CaterpillarExamples zip Just unpack them directly into a directory at your convenience on the hard disk It is recommended to unpack the example programs into a folder on a data partition Or in the My files folder in a sub folder Caterpillar Examples or else under Linux into the Home directory It s entirely up to you The individual example programs will be discussed later in the software chapter 5 1 Testing the USB Interface and starting the RobotLoader The next step is a test of the program upload via the USB interface Connect the USB interface to the PC always connect the PC first and the other end of the 10 pin ribbon cable to the PROG UART connector on the Caterpillar CATERPILLAR MUST BE SWITCHED OFF The 10 pin ribbon cable is mechanically protected against polarity inversion As long as it is not forced it can t be connected the wrong way
93. y GCC had been in use as an abbreviation for GNU C Compiler the new meaning became necessary after adding some other languages If you would like to learn more about GCC we invite you to visit the official GCC website http gcc gnu org GCC does nat directly support the AVR target and must be adapted The adapted version of GCC is named AVR GCC The WinAVR distribution contains a ready to use version for Windows users Linux users will usually have to compile a version by themselves and we expect that you have completed this already 7 C Crash Course for beginners This chapter only provides a very short introduction to C programming discussing only the absolutely required minimum amount of things used for caterpillar This section has to be seen as an overview of general possibilities and methods of C We will present a few examples and basics but further investigation on these topics is up to the reader So this chapter is not more than a tiny crash course A complete introduction is far beyond the scope of this manual and would require rather thick textbooks Luckily the market provides a great number of good books on this topic A few may be viewed online free of charge Literature The following books and tutorials describe C programming mainly for PC and other large computers A lot of details in these tutorials do not apply to AVR microcontrollers the language is the same but most libraries for typical PC usa
94. y are set to floating Example if getHeadLeft amp amp getHeadRight Both antenna escape define your own function f e turn left or reset else if getHeadLeft Left escapeLeft Hier also turn or reset else if getHeadRight Right escapeRight turn left or reset mSleep 50 check the antenne 20 times per second 20Hz The antenne LED will always change color when activated this is because the mechanical construction C allows us to define pointers to functions and call these functions without pre defining the function in the library Usually a function needs to be defined in our Library at the time of compilation in order to be callable This method allows us to use self defined functions as so called Event Handlers Pressing down a bumper will automatically result in calling a predefined dedicated function within 50ms This special function must be registered as an Event Handler and will have to provide a specific signature the function must not return a value and has no parameter both return value and parameter must be void Therefore the function s signature will have to look like void bumpersStateChanged void For example you may register the Event Handler at the very beginning of the main function Registering the Event Handler can be done with the following function void BUMPERS_ setStateChangedHandler void bumperHandler void You do not have to exactly understand thi
95. y space The RobotLoader doesn t transfer the program if it is too big The just compiled program can now be uploaded via the RobotLoader into the robot To do that you have to add the newly generated hex file into the list in the RobotLoader via the button Add select it and click on the Upload button exactly as you did for the selftest program After that you can switch back to the terminal and look at the output of the program Of course you need to launch the execution of the program The easiest way to do it in the terminal is to press the key combination CTRL S on the keyboard or to use the menu or just to send an s after a reset you have to wait a little bit though until the message READY is displayed in the terminal The key combination CTRL Y is also very convenient as the currently selected program is uploaded into the Robot Arm and immediately started This avoids to click on the Flash Loader tab in the terminal or to use the menu 6 2 Why C And what s GCC The programming language C is widely being in use in fact C is the standard language which anyone interested in software development should have used at least once C compliers are available for nearly every microcontroller currently on the market and for this reason all recent robots by Global Specialties ASURO ROBOT ARMS and RP6v2 can be programmed in C The popularity of C leads to a vast amount of documentation on the i
96. ytes uint8_t myFavouriteArray 10 In one single line we declared 10 variables of identical data type which now may be addressed by an index myFavouriteArray 0 8 myFavouriteArray 2 234 myFavouriteArray 9 45 Each of these elements may be treated like a standard variable Attention the index always starts at O and declaring an array containing n elements will result in an index ranging from O up to n 1 The sample array provides 10 elements indexed from O up to 9 Arrays are extremely helpful for storing a great number of variables with identical data type and may easily be manipulated in a loop uint8_t i for i 0 i lt 10 i writeInteger myFavouriteArray i DEC The previous code snippet will output all array elements in this case without any separators of line breaks A quite similar loop may be used to fill an array with values In C strings are handled with by a very similar concept Standard strings will be coded by ASCII characters requiring one byte for each character Now C simply defines strings as arrays which may be considered as arrays of characters This concept allows us to define and store a predefined string abcdefghijklmno in memory uint8_t aSetOfCharacters 16 abcdefghijklmno The previously discussed programming samples already contained a few UART functions for outputting strings with the serial interface Basically these strings are arrays However instead of handling a co

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