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PICOBOTZ

PICOBOTZ

 

© iBOTZ (Ireland) Limited.2004.  

No part of this manual may be reproduced with express permission of iBOTZ (Ireland) Limited

17

 

 
To adjust the Timeout time, click the Event button to select the Event Programming page. Click 
and drag the mouse over the Timeout panel. 
 
The timer which measures the Timeout cannot count while the program is making Beeps so if the 
main program makes a lot of beeps, the Timeout Event will accur a little late. 
 
If you have a Short Noise Event then the robot repeatedly checks whether a Short Noise has 
occurred. If one does occur then the Event program is executed. In this program: 
 

 

 
The Beep instruction will never be executed. The Event will be triggered before the 'If Short 
Noise' instruction is executed. But in this program: 
 

 

 
The beep will be executed if a second short noise occurs while the Short Noise Event program is 
running. Remember, only Events to the right of the current Event can be triggered. 
 
The same rules apply to the 'Long Noise' Event. 
 
 

Summary of Contents for PICOBOTZ

Page 1: ...PICOBOTZ PICOBOTZ iBOTZ Ireland Limited 2004 No part of this manual may be reproduced with express permission of iBOTZ Ireland Limited 1 iBOTZ Ltd 2004 ...

Page 2: ...z whenever the Picobotz beeps and whenever the ResetTimeout instruction is executed see below Plugging in the programming cable Plug the programming cable into a spare COM port in the back of your PC The COM port should have 9 pins arranged like this If it has 25 pins then you will need a 25 way to 9 way convertor Plug the other end of the programming cable into the Picobotz and turn the Picobotz ...

Page 3: ...to run The robot will alternately spin left and right Press the stop button or switch the robot off then back on again with the cable still plugged in and you are ready for Activity 2 Activity 2 Simple Motor Instructions In this Activity you will learn how to control the robot s motors Select the File New menu command to clear any program that s in the PC s editor The program in the robot will not...

Page 4: ...peatedly Switch the robot off plug the cable in and switch the robot on again You are ready for Activity 3 If you want to save your program select the File Save menu command Activity 3 Making Sounds In this Activity you will learn how to program the robot to make different sounds Ensure that the robot is plugged in and switched on Select the Option Beeps menu command or click the Edit Beeps button...

Page 5: ...The robot will play the sounds you selected Switch the robot off make sure the cable is plugged in and switch the robot on again You are ready for Activity 4 Activity 4 Following a Line In this Activity you will learn how to program the robot to follow a line Click the Measure button to display the Measure dialog Watch the Line Chart Don t touch any of the controls at the moment Place the robot so...

Page 6: ...gram will look like this Click the Download button to download the program into the robot Switch the robot off unplug the cable and switch the robot on again The program in the Picobotz will be executed repeatedly Place the robot on a black line and check that it follows the line Switch the robot off plug the cable in and switch the robot on again You are ready for Activity 5 Activity 5 Reacting t...

Page 7: ...he rumble of its own wheels Adjust the Sound Level potentiometer so that it is less sensitive You can test it with the motors running by checking the Motors On checkbox The Picobotz can distinguish two kinds of sound a short noise such as a hand clap a long noise such as a whistle The length of the sound is the time during which it is above the threshold marked in red on the Sound Chart The maximu...

Page 8: ...hort noise that it has heard A long noise often has a ragged beginning which may look like several short noises The program can also test whether there hasn t been a noise If NOT Short Noise then instructions End If NOT Long Noise then instructions End Select the File New menu command to clear any program that s in the PC s editor Click the If button to select the If Programming page Click the If ...

Page 9: ... to sound It is reacting to the rumble of its own wheels Adjust the Sound Level potentiometer so that it is less sensitive The robot doesn t react to a hand clap immediately It waits until the end of the current Forward instruction before testing for a short sound You will learn how to change this behaviour in a later Activity The Spin Right instruction executes for the Motor Delay Time The motor ...

Page 10: ... the If and Motors Programming pages to write this program Click the Download button to download the program into the robot Switch the robot off unplug the cable and switch the robot on again Place the robot on the floor and watch its behaviour It should move in a straight line until it sees an obstacle It should then reverse and turn The robot doesn t always react to an obstacle immediately It wa...

Page 11: ... program On Off the motor is turned on or off the robot executes the next instruction of the program In On Off mode you can use the Delay instruction to make the program wait for the Motor Delay Time On the Motors Programming page select the On Off Motor Mode Use the If and Motors Programming pages to write this program Switch the robot off unplug the cable and switch the robot on again It should ...

Page 12: ... was last time you asked For instance If Light Prev then instructions End You learned about If instructions in Activity 5 The robot tests whether the current light level is greater than Prev its previous level It then sets Prev to the current light level Use the While and Motors Programming pages to write this program Set the Motor Mode to On del off Download and run the program The robot should s...

Page 13: ...iobutton The upper part of the page has instructions for a Repeat loop which repeats a fixed number of times Edit the program from Activity 8 so it is like this Download and run the program The robot should behave as it did before The robot has only three repeat counters so Repeat N times instructions may only be nested up to three deep Other blocks While Repeat If may be nested to any depth For i...

Page 14: ...ode Edit the program so it looks like this Download and run the program The robot moves forwards until it sees an obstacle then spins right until the obstacle has gone It then delays a little longer while spinning so that is definitely not pointing at the obstacle A Repeat Until loop differs from a While loop In a Repeat Until loop the test is done at the end so the instructions inside the loop ar...

Page 15: ...in program will then start running again from the beginning The Obstacle Event program will be run immediately that an obstacle is detected even while the Main program is waiting for the motors The If Short Noise instruction is only executed when the Forward instruction has finished Activity 11 Multiple Events In this activity you will learn about programs which react to more than one Event Edit t...

Page 16: ... an obstacle Short Noise the robot has heard a short noise Long Noise the robot has heard a long noise Line Left there is a dark line to the left of the robot Line Right there is a dark line to the right of the robot TimeOut the Timeout timer has reached its limit The Line Left and Line Right Events can be used to keep the robot inside or outside a dark area or a light area marked on the ground To...

Page 17: ... lot of beeps the Timeout Event will accur a little late If you have a Short Noise Event then the robot repeatedly checks whether a Short Noise has occurred If one does occur then the Event program is executed In this program The Beep instruction will never be executed The Event will be triggered before the If Short Noise instruction is executed But in this program The beep will be executed if a s...

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