K-Team KILOBOT, User Manual

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4. USAGE
18 Kilobot User Manual
4.3 Usage
4.3.1 Programming online (kilobotics.com)
An easy way to program the robots is to use the Web-based Editor . To start, you need to have an
account with Dropbox and you need to install the Dropbox software on your computer. The first
time you open the Editor, will be asked to sign into Dropbox. Then use the editor to create a new
file by clicking on +New. This will create an example file
untitled.c
with the basic loop and
setup definitions in place. Rename this file to something you like, and then use the edit icon on
the right hand side to open the file for editing. You can also now compile the file, by clicking on
the green Compile button. This will produce a
yourfilename.hex
file. Both code and compiled
files are stored in
Dropbox/Apps/KiloEdit
. Now use the KiloGUI to upload the hex file to your
kilobots.
Here are some resources on writing programs
1. The manual for C programming language and the AVR specific functions (TBA)
2. Kilobot Library API: All the robot functions and their usage
(
http://www.kilobotics.com/docs ).
3. Labs: A tutorial will step by step example programs; great for a class or to get new
students started (
http://www.kilobotics.com/labs ).
Note that you do not need to use the editor to modify your programs; you can open your code in
any editor of choice (like emacs or vi) and then use the KiloEditor just for compiling. You can
also bypass the editor all together by installing the AVR-C compiler directly on your machine; as
explain in chapter 4.3.2.
The default factory firmware can be found on the CD (“software\source_code\Kilobot
VERSION/Online Source Code/Kilobot2_test.c”). You can add this file to your dropbox
directory if you want to modify it. Another demo program can be found on the Kilobotics
website (
https://github.com/SSR-Harvard/kilobotics-labs ).