RP6 ROBOT SYSTEM - 3. Hardware and Software Setup
3.2.5. RobotLoader
We created the RobotLoader to simplify the uploading process for new programs to
the RP6 and all expansion modules (as long as these modules provide a microcontrol-
ler with a compatible bootloader). Additionally we implemented a few useful functions,
e.g. a simple serial terminal program.
You do not have to install the RobotLoader – instead you may simply copy the pro-
gram somewhere to a new directory on your hard disk. The RobotLoader is located in
a ZIP-archive on the RP6 CD-ROM:
<CD-ROM-Drive>:\Software\RobotLoader\RobotLoader_20110616.zip
Please unzip the file somewhere on your disk – e.g. in a new directory
C:\RP6\Ro-
botLoader
(or similar). This directory contains the executable program RobotLoad-
er.exe.
In fact, the real RobotLoader is located in the Java Archive (JAR) RobotLoader_lib.jar.
Alternatively you would be able to start this RobotLoader from a command line win-
dow.
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 required to enable the JVM to locate all necessary libraries. Usu-
ally you will not need this option and you just start the .exe-file to run the program.
Linux uses a Shell Script “RobotLoader.sh”, which needs to be set executable by issu-
ing
chmod -x ./RobotLoader.sh
. This will allow you to start “./RobotLoader.sh” from a
terminal or in Desktop Environments.
We recommend to create a link to RobotLoader on the desktop or the start menu. To
do so, right click on RobotLoader.exe in Windows and select “Send to” --> “Desktop
(Create a link)”.
3.2.6. RP6 Library, RP6 CONTROL Library and Example programs
RP6Library and the corresponding example programs are located in a ZIP-archive on
the supplied CD:
<CD-ROM-Drive>:\Software\RP6Examples\RP6Examples.zip
Extract this archive to a directory of your choice on your harddisk. We suggest to use
a directory on a data partition. Alternatively you might use the “My Documents”-dir-
ectory and create a subdirectory “RP6\Examples\” or use the Home directory in Linux.
We will discuss the example programs in detail later on in this manual!
The archive also provides examples for the RP6 CONTROL M32 expansion module in-
cluding the corresponding library files!
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