NAME
RCX
SYNOPSIS
use LOGO::RCX;
$rcx = new LEGO::RCX();
#
# Turn motor A on for 10 seconds, then turn
# it off
#
$rcx->motorOn( "A" );
sleep( 10 );
$rcx->motorOff( "A" );
DESCRIPTION
This module allows one to communicate with the Lego
MindStorms(R) RCX brick from a workstation through the IR tower.
The internals of this module are based of the rcx.tcl by Peter
Pletcher <peterp@autobahn.org> and Laurent Demailly
<L@Demailly.com>. I have hower made my external interface to
this module OO based, and changed the way a few things are done.
Without there tcl module I would have never been able to
complete this in a timely manner. Thanks guys.
METHODS
ping() or alive()
Check to see if RCX is on and responding. A defined value on
the return means it is alive, an undef means it is not
alive.
motorOn( motors )
Turns motor(s) on
Motors are specifed in string format eg: "A" eg: "bc"
motorOff( motors )
Turns motor(s) off
Motors are specifed in string format eg: "A" eg: "bc"
motorFloat( motors )
Floats motor(s) output
Motors are specifed in string format eg: "A" eg: "bc"
motorPower( motors, power )
Sets the motors power to value from 0-7
Motors are specifed in string format eg: "A" eg: "bc"
motorDir( motors, direction
Sets the motors direction which can be "forward", "reverse",
or "toggle"
Motors are specifed in string format eg: "A" eg: "bc"
beep( sound );
Plays on of the following sounds
0 Blip
1 Beep beep
2 Downward tones
3 Upward tones
4 Low buzz
5 Fast upward tones
tone( frequence, duration )
Plays a tone of a specific frequency for a length of
duration
frequency is in Hz and duration is in 1/100th of a second.
display( display )
Selects the display for the RCX.
The valid display values are:
0 Watch
1 Sensor 1
2 Sensor 2
3 Sensor 3
4 Motor A
5 Motor B
6 Motor C
powerOff()
Powers the RCX off.
powerDelay( delay )
Sets the power off delay time for the RCX. The delay is
measured in minutes. A 0 value tells the RCX to never power
off, and vuture powerOff() calls will fail.
program( program_number )
Sets the RCX to be on the specified program number. The
valid program_number values ares 1-5.
watch( hour, minutes)
Sets the RCX's watch to hour house and minute mintutes. hour
is 0-23 and minutes is 0-59.
messageSet( message )
Set a message in the RCX. Valid message values are 0-255.
start( task|name ) || start()
Starts a specific task running. If no task is specified it
defaults to task 0. Valid task values are 0-9.
If the loadNQClist method has been called then you can
specify a task name
stop( task|name ) || stop();
Stops a specific task. If no task is specified it will stop
all running tasks.
If the loadNQClist method has been called then you can
specify a task name
call( subnumber|name )
Call a subroutine.
If the loadNQClist method has been called then you can
specify a subroutine name.
clearTimer( timer )
This will clear the selected RCX timer. The timer values are
from 0-3.
clearSensor( sensor_number )
This will clear the counter associated with sensor_number
sensor.
setSensorType( sensor_number, sensor_type )
This will set the sensor sensor_number's type to
sensor_type. The type value can be any one of the following.
$SENSOR_TYPE_RAW
$SENSOR_TYPE_TOUCH
$SENSOR_TYPE_TEMPERATURE
$SENSOR_TYPE_LIGHT
$SENSOR_TYPE_ROTATION
setSensorMode( sensor_number, sensor_mode, [ slope ] )
This will set the sensor sensor_number's mode to
sensor_mode, with said slope. If slope is omited it defaults
to 0. This is like NQC.
The mode value can be any one of the following.
$SENSOR_MODE_RAW
$SENSOR_MODE_BOOL
$SENSOR_MODE_EDGE
$SENSOR_MODE_PULSE
$SENSOR_MODE_PERCENT
$SENSOR_MODE_CELSIUS
$SENSOR_MODE_FAHRENHEIT
$SENSOR_MODE_ROTATION
setSensor( sensor_number, sensor_kind )
This will set the sensor sensor_number's kind to
sensor_kind. This is like the NQC function SetSensor.
The kind value can be any one of the following.
$SENSOR_TOUCH
$SENSOR_LIGHT
$SENSOR_ROTATION
$SENSOR_CELSIUS
$SENSOR_FAHRENHEIT
$SENSOR_PULSE
$SENSOR_EDGE
getReg( register ) | getVar( variable )
Get the value of a variable/register (the same thing) in the
RCX. The register/variable can be from 0-31.
If the loadNQClist method has been called then you can
specify a variable name instead of a number.
setReg( register, value ) | setVar( variable, value );
Set the value of a variable/register (the same thing) in the
RCX to value. The register/variable can be from 0-31.
If the loadNQClist method has been called then you can
specify a variable name instead of a number.
addReg( register, value ) | addVar( register, value )
Add value to a register and store back in register.
subReg( register, value ) | subVar( register, value )
Subtract value from a register and store back in register.
mulReg( register, value ) | mulVar( register, value )
Multiply value to a register and store back in register.
divReg( register, value ) | divVar( register, value )
Divide value into a register and store back in register.
andReg( register, value ) | andVar( register, value )
And value with a register and store back in register.
orReg( register, value ) | orVar( register, value )
Or value with a register and store back in register.
getSensor( sensor_number )
Get value of a sensor sensor_number. sensor_number can be 1-
3.
getSensorType( sensor_number )
Get type of a sensor sensor_number. sensor_number can be 1-
3.
getSensorMode( sensor_number )
Get mode of a sensor sensor_number. sensor_number can be 1-
3.
getSensorRaw( sensor_number )
Get raw value of a sensor sensor_number. sensor_number can
be 1-3.
getSensorBool( sensor_number )
Get boolean value of a sensor sensor_number. sensor_number
can be 1-3.
setTXRange( range )
Set the Transmit range of the RCX. Ranges are eithor "short"
or "long"
deleteAllTasks()
Delete all tasks in current program
deleteTask( task )
Delete <task> task in current program.
If the loadNQClist method has been called then you can
specify a task name.
deleteAllSubs()
Delete a subroutines in current program
deleteSub( sub )
Delete all subroutines in current program
If the loadNQClist method has been called then you can
specify a subroutine name.
getBattery()
Returns the battery voltage in volts.
getVersion()
Returns the version of the ROM and Firmware in the following
order. ( $ROMMajor, $ROMMinor, $FIRMMajor, $FIRMMinor );
setCommTimeout( timeout )
Sets the timeout in seconds for all commands sent to the
RCX. Default is 2 seconds.
uploadDatalog()
Returns an array of the datalog. Each item in the data log
has two elements in the array. The first is the type of data
being loged, and the second is the value of the data. The
different types are listed as follows (taken from
http://graphics.stanford.edu/~kekoa/rcx/opcodes.html
0x00-0x1f
Variable value (source 0, variables 0..31)
0x20-0x23
Timer value (source 1, timers 0..3)
0x40-0x42
Sensor reading (source 9, sensors 0..2)
0x80
Clock reading (source 14)
loadNQClist( nqc_list_file_name )
This method will read in a list file produced by nqc version
2.0. It parses out the variable, task, and subrouting
information to allow you to use names in the related calls
instead of just the numbers. This will also allow the fredom
to move things around with out impacting the code.
NOTES
I have developed this software under Linux. I know it works
there.
AUTHORS
John C. Quillan quillan@cox.net
MODIFICATION HISTORY
01/29/2000 VER 0.5 First Version
02/04/2000 VER 0.6 Removed some commented code
Added posix serial code.
02/06/2000 VER 0.7 Added the alive/ping method
Added the time out for communications.
Added the setCommTimeout method
Added the uploadDatalog method
02/22/2000 VER 0.8 Fixed wrong named method in NQC translation
Added getVersion
Added clearSensor
Started sensor config code
Moved package RCX to Lego::RCX
Made a real perl module with Makefile.PL
Added div,mul,add,sub,and,or
variable
Added setTXRange
Added deleteAllTasks and deleteAllSubs
Added deleteTask and deleteSub
02/29/2000 VER 0.9 Moved package from Lego::RCX to LEGO::RCX
Added setSensor, setSensorMode, setSensorType
Fixed / 1000 bug in getReg.
Fixed bug in pattern matches that was not catching
0x0a characters. Now a single line match.
04/16/2000 VER 1.00 Clean up source a little bit.
Made README more descriptive for CPAN users.
Fixed some typo in the pod documentation for the
usage. Sorry for any problems this may have
caused.
Fixed a typo in the warning.
Added a few samples to start off with