I am a high school student and am thinking of making a robot that draws using different colored markers. I would like some guidance as to where I should start with this program.
What I want to do is to construct a program on the computer where you could draw the path you want the robot to draw and then using the bluetooth dongle and the bluetooth developer kit I would send the command to the robot to draw the path for real.
Well, that isn't exactly easy. But, I would presume the easiest way to do this is with the Mindstorm's kit. I have seen that you can code for the Mindstorm using C++, but I don't know the kit that well to say what or where to get the libraries. I only played with it a long time ago. Then, I assume what it would do is setup a virtual COM port on your computer through bluetooth that you could use to communicate with the kit.
At least, that is in theory.
Another option is to have a program on the PC (written in a language of your choice) that generates a text file containing details about each line segment. This could then be sent to the robot via a USB cable.
A program on the brick could then parse the text file, and move accordingly.
There's no real need to use bluetooth here.
Related
I'm using the same code that is still working for a new version of equipment the company the bought.
I can't communicate with the equipment in vb in visual studio (the language of the last code I wrote). But I can make a simple code in LabVIEW to see if the equipment is communicating and it is.
So, my question is what code is labview sending to the equipment?
The only thing I see from the LabVIEW GUI is *IDN?\n
Is that the same as what I writing?
mySerialport.WriteLine("*idn?" + Chr(10))
*IDN?\n
is not the same as :
mySerialport.WriteLine("*idn?" + Chr(10))
The former is capitalized while the later is not and it may cause an issue depending on the instrument.
You are using the serial port, so the most important thing to consider is the baud rate. It is possible that the later model equipment your company purchased has a different baud rate to the one that was used previously.
If you want to see exactly the data that LabVIEW is sending, you can use NI IO Trace or a non NI serial port monitor such as listed here
The question isn’t what language LabVIEW uses. LabVIEW is a programming environment with library APIs to speak to lots of hardware and the ability for anyone to write code to speak to even more hardware. The question is “what language does the HARDWARE speak?” To answer that, you’d post what kind of hardware it is and probably go to the manufacturer’s website for a spec sheet.
“*IDN?/n” looks like a GPIB command, which is just a framework serial protocol. You’d need the spec sheet of the hardware to know the particular commands that your hardware understands.
PS: LabVIEW doesn’t have a GUI showing anything about hardware communication. You have an application written in LabVIEW that has a GUI that is displaying information. You can edit the program to print out more info if you want, just like you could in VB. Complaining about the “LabVIEW GUI” in this case is equivalent to complaining about the Visual Studio GUI when the problem is with the program you’ve written in VS!
"The only thing I see from the labview GUI is *IDN?/n"
That sounds more like you are using the VISA Test Panel in MAX (Measurement and Automation eXplorer). It is related to LabVIEW in that it is also a tool developed by National Instruments (NI). But it does not sound like you have actually touched LabVIEW itself.
As was already stated, *IDN?\n is a typical command that an instrument that follows the SCPI messaging standard. On a Windows system, that is usually the same as "*idn?" + Chr(13) + Chr(10).
As SeanJ pointed out *IDN?\n is not the same as "idn?". Further, make sure that space character in your calling method is visible. Sometimes machines require you to manually type "\r\n" for complete carriage return.
I'm using STM32Cube to generate simple USB MSC project. I'm using STM32F417VG.
So I'm selecting USB_OTG_FS - Device_only and USB_DEVICE - Class For FS IP - Mass Storage Class.
Then I'm generating source code, compile it and download to board, put it's USB cable to PC and nothing happens.
What am I doing wrong?
The STM32Cube application helps you get started on developing an application, but does not do the work for you. The generated code will include all the libraries necessary and initialize the hardware so that all the functions you selected are available and ready to go, and then begin an empty infinite loop. It will not show any outward behavior or respond to any external stimulus.
You will need to add some of your own code for the microcontroller to actually do anything.
If you are unsure what you need to do to make the USB functions work, take a look at the example projects that come with STM32Cube and the documentation comments in the library files it included in your project.
However, even a "simple" USB project can be relatively complex, and an unresponsive microcontroller can be mystifying. You may want to get your bearings with very simple GPIO-type projects. Making an LED blink is a microcontroller's "Hello World".
I have a basic firmware question. I am looking to program a nRF51822 IC and integrate it on my own PCB. The evaluation kit seems to already have the IC soldered on it. Is it a way I can only program the nRF51822 and getting it ready to use elsewhere?
Get yourself one of these J-LINK LITE CortexM:
and hook up your connection header like this to your microcontroller (SWDIO, SWCLK, VCC and GND are the only ones needed):
.
Then, use Keil or nRFGo Studio to program your device.
You don't need J-Link at all. Any STLinkv2 board will work, like STM32 dev boards. But even nicer are these cheap Chinese programmers: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/FREE-SHIPPING-ST-Link-V2-stlink-mini-STM8STM32-STLINK-simulator-download-programming-With-Cover/32247200104.html
All you need to do is connect the Vcc, Ground, SDIO, and SWDCLK lines from your board/chip to the programmer, so make sure those pins are broken out and easy to get to.
There are some good instructions on how to do that here: https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/wiki/Board:-yunjia-nrf51822
I've built Linux workstations for workers on assembly lines to use with this method, and it just loops over and over for new boards. So they don't even need to touch the PC, they can just place a board on the jig or connect a header and it's all automatic.
You will need a programming device, such as a Segger Jlink. The eval kit has an on-board Segger programmer on it (that big chip with the Segger sticker on it).
I'm working through this process myself at the moment. I read somewhere that some people were successful at 'hacking' the eval kit, to bring the SWDIO and SWCLK over to their custom board but that really isn't the right way to go about it.
Instead, purchase an actual programmer and put a programming header on your custom circuit board.
While I am also still in the research phase here as well, it looks like there are 4-5 pins to connect from the programmer to your custom target board. The nRF documentation seems to be rather lacking in the definition of the programming setup, but look under the debugging category and take a look at Segger documentation as well.
If going into mass production there are ways to pre-program the chip before assembly, but I haven't had a chance to learn about that just yet.
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I am an adept Visual Basic programmer. I wish to learn about how people program hardware. For example I have seen people create an LED watches, boxes etc. How do you achieve this? Can it be done using VB or Java? I have some experience in reading C, C++ code. I am only aware of IO in the C and C++ language.
Probably you are looking for a programmable microcontroller. If you have experience in C/C++/Java, checkout Arduino. Its chip is programmed using a C like language. This "How tos" page might help you get started. There are also some good books that will help you move forward:
Programming Interactivity.
Making Things Move DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists
Wiring is a platform similar to Arduino.
Also have a look at the Forth programming language. There are lot of interesting "tiny
computers" that you can program with this rather unusual language. Here is a partial list:
Forth Inc
Greenarrays
Zilog Z8
PIC18Fxx2
Two famous Forth books:
Starting Forth
Thinking Forth (A classic in Software Engineering literature.)
how people program hardware
If by 'hardware' you mean a standalone device (an embedded system), then the process involves cross-compilation. Code for the device is written in some (high-level) language on a host PC, compiled, and converted to a form suitable for downloading onto the target device.
A cross-compiler generates executable code for a platform other than the one it is running on -- for example, an AVR cross-compiler will generate code for the AVR microcontroller, but the compiler runs on a PC. Universally, assembly and C are used, and to some extent C++, Java and Ada.
If by 'hardware' you mean some device connected to the PC via some port (serial, parallel, USB), then the programing involves interaction through that port, possibly needing a device driver as well.
Can it be done using VB or Java?
I'm not sure about VB (perhaps there are VB compilers for WinCE and its ilk). Java is used on more complex/larger embedded systems (eg. mobile phones), mainly to develop user applications for the device.
create an LED watches, boxes etc. How do you achieve this?
If you're interested in developing something like a LED watch, you need to learn how to program a microcontroller. At the least, you need two components: the microcontroller and some hardware which loads programs onto it (a programer). You may invest on a development board, or build one yourself. Naturally, you will also need the cross-compiler, and the sotware that interacts with the programer so that it can load code.
I'm partial to AVR, so I'd suggest that. Other options include PIC, some variant of 8051, PSoC1 and TI's MSP devices.
The AVR tool-chain is bundled in WinAVR, and it includes avr-gcc (cross-compiler frontend), avrdude (software that interacts with the programer hardware) and a C library (avr-libc) + a bunch of useful tools. Programing hardware can be as simple as DAPA/bsd to USB based ones (AVRISP, USBasp, Usbprog) etc.
Or, if your PC still has a parallel port, you can try to control say a set of LEDs using an application written in VB. Check http://www.lvr.com/parport.htm for details.
I would recommend starting out with something like an arduino, which is a good place to get started with programming close to the hardware. It's a prototyping board with some built-in leds and other things, depending on which model you get. You can use C/C++, or any other language which can be cross-compiled to a format which is compatible with the target hardware (ATMega microcontroller I believe on the arduino).
Check out: http://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=arduino&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
If you just want to connect something to the computer serial/parallel port and 'talk' to it, you can use most languages. In Visual Basic you'll need a dll to achieve this. Java may be able to do it too.
If you want to program a microcontroler chip, you'd best learn C, because this is the language used to program most of them, although some of them accept basic, java, processing and C++.
There are a number of basic stamps you can use to get your feet wet. parallax for example made their business on basic based embedded systems. If you want to move forward at that programming level you really need to learn C for the most coverage, and I highly recommend assembler as well, at least a few different instruction sets.
You might be interested in Gadgeteer. I got to play with a kit a few weeks ago, and it's amazing fun. You can't currently do VB, but you can do C# and VB is coming very soon.
I need to have a physical button that when pressed will be noticed by my program.
There are many types of usb-buttons that are preprogrammed to open a website, shutdown the computer and so on. And I have seen some projects using buttons and serial port.
But none of them "have it all", an easy description of how to put togheter the hardware, and an easy description of the code.
I really only need a button connected to the serial port that send some signal that the button has been pressed.
I know this question is a crossover between software and hardware, but when I googled this I have seen plenty more people asking this question, all of them left without answers.
Maybe this question fits stackoverflow?
EDIT: My solution
My application in this case was a que system and I wanted a button for people to print a que ticket.
I just took apart an old ps2-mouse and bought me a button (4$) and solded two wires from the circuit board to the button. Each mouse button has to dots on the back of the circuit board that we can connect an external button to.
Then in my program I just hooked the mousebutton-event systemwide to get when the button is pressed, in my case this computer is dedicated to this program so its not a problem.
Might be worth a look at Phidgets:
http://www.phidgets.com/index.php
They do many little USB I/O devices, and the code samples are there on the site too.
I would take a look at the Arduino microcontroller board - you can wire all sorts of things into that (buttons, sensors) and interface with it using the .NET Ports classes.
I'm looking for the same thing. this might do the trick:
http://awatts.co.uk/
Haven't tried it yet, but he has code to run a shell command or simulate a keypress and the source code is available if you need something different.
And for Linux: search freshmeat dot net for usb-panic-button-daemon project. (I'm a new user, and can't post more than one hyperlink!)
And another thing I just found is that Griffin makes an SDK available (at least they used to, I'm waiting for a reply) for their PowerMate knob to get it to simulate more than mostly just keypresses.
BTW I'm looking for USB buttons, but I could use serial too, come to think of it.