robotling

"robotling" is a simple circuit board to control small robots. Check out the videos (videos 1, 2, 3, and with thermal camera, 4, 5) and find the details in the German wiki.

Release Notes

• 2021-09-22

  • New firmware based on MicroPython v1.17 (w/ulab)

• 2021-05-02

  • Some refactoring: Configuration parameters now clearly marked as such (cfg.xxx)

• 2021-05-01 - Release v1.9

• 2021-04-26

  • Instructions for building MicroPython (release 1.14) w/ulab and umqtt updated.
  • New pre-built ESP32 firmware based on MicroPython v1.14 (w/ulab and umqtt)
  • Small bug fixes, now compatible w/ MicroPython v1.14 and "vanilla" v1.15 (esp32-20210420-unstable-v1.15.bin).
  • Now uses RobotlingBase (from robotling_lib), so better separate standard hardware and additional hardware defined in devices (in hexbug_config.py).
  • As robotling_lib now includes simple.py and robust.py from micropython-lib as fall-back, MQTT can now be used with the standard MicroPython firmware, which does not inlcude umqtt.
  • Added instructions how to build the ESP32 firmware for MicroPython 1.15 with ulab included.

• 2021-04-05

  • Link to new Make: article added.

• 2020-08-30 (Blob detection revisited)

  • Three versions of the blob detection and image filter code, demonstrating differences in speed between a pure MicroPython version and those that use ulab or even user-written C functions added to ulab.

• 2020-08-21 (Refactoring)

  • Since it was difficult to maintain different versions of the robotling code all accessing the same set of driver etc. libraries, these files have now been moved to a separate repository (robotling_lib).
  • Wiki updated accordingly.
  • New Wiki page on adding native modules to MicroPython.

• 2020-07-04 (Code updates)

  • Simple GUI to show robot status via MQTT (hexbug.gui.py)
  • Support for TinyPICO added
  • Configurations for different hardware combinations
  • General class to manage and control a set of servos (servo_manager.py) and inprovements in Servo class
  • Class for PCA9685 16-channel servo driver (servos_pca9685.py)
  • Class for 18-channel Mini Maestro servo driver (servos_mini_maestro_18.py)

• 2019-12-30 (requires MicroPython 1.12.x)

  • Thermal camera support added (amg88xx.py and camera_thermal.py; new behaviour lookAtBlob using the thermal camera (see videos 4, 5). Note that the blob detection (not the camera itself) requires a custom MicroPython firmware that includes the module blob (coded in C for speed reasons).
  • Configuration file split into fixed (hexbug_global.py) and robot-dependent definitions
  • Code adapted to MicroPython release 1.12.x, including hardware I2C bus option added and native code generation added for time critical routines (ESP32 only)
  • PWM frequencies for servos and DC motors are now defined in robotling_board.py to account for the fact that the ESP32 port supports only a single frequency for all standard PWM pins. In addition, drv8835.py now uses the RMT feature of the ESP32 for PWM to run the DC motors. This allows using a different frequency than the normal PWM functions.

• 2019-11-15

  • New articel in the German Make: magazine ("Krabbelroboter sendet Telemetrie").

• 2019-08-31

  • New type of Sharp sensor added (GP2Y0AF15X, 1.5-15 cm) to sensors\sharp_ir_ranging.py. This allows using a triple IR distance sensor array such that the robot's head does not need to scan sideways.
  • I2C frequency increased to 400 kHz in robotling_board.py. The I2C frequency used is now also printed when the robot boots.
  • Robotling v1.3 board in robotling_board_version.py.
  • In case of an uncaught Python exception, the firmware tries to send a last MQTT message containing the traceback, allowing to get information on code errors even when the robot is not attached via USB.
  • Wiki page Telemetrie über MQTT

• 2019-07-25

  • Now an option was added to send telemetry via WLAN using the MQTT protocol (ESP32 only). An example script (test_mqtt.py) that demonstrates how to subcribe to robotling telemetry on a PC was added to ../code.
  • hexbug.py - Bias factor (IR_SCAN_BIAS_F) added to the configuration file hexbug_config.py; it allows correcting for a direction bias in the turning motor. Also, the scan scheme was slightly changed from "left-right-center" to "left-center-right-center", which helps the robot to walk more straight.
  • telemetry.py- Encapsules the MQTT functionality.
  • main.py - Simple "memory" was added to remember the direction of successful turns (experimental).
  • robotling.py - Now the keyword "wlan" can be added as a device to MORE_DEVICES in hexbug_config.py to activate the network (instead of changing boot.py)

• 2019-07-22

  • Robotling code moved from ../code to ../code/robotling

• 2019-07-16 - Release v1.7

  • New wiki pages 'Sensors etc.' with supported sensors and 'Verhalten' with behaviours added
  • Wiki pages 'Demo' and 'Erweiterungen und Modifikationen' updated
  • Code Release v1.7

• 2019-05-18 - Release v1.6

  • Added new "behaviour" (take a nap) based on deepsleep/lightsleep support for ESP32
  • Cleaned up the code
  • Changed hexbug_config.pyto make it also standard Python compatible (for future extension)
  • Now uses getHeading3D instead of getPitchRoll to determine if the robot is tilted; the additional compass information (heading) is saved (for future extension).
  • Driver for LSM9DS0 magnetometer/accelerometer/gyroscope added.

• 2019-03-17 - Release v1.5

  • Some code improvements (handing devices, cleaning up)
  • Tested w/ MicroPython v1.10
  • New pictures
  • A new wiki page with extentions and modifications

• 2019-03-02

  • New pictures, annotated pictures of board v1.2
  • some new text on memory and performance

• 2019-01-12

  • A few bug fixes
  • More drivers (dotstar, VL6180X).
  • Works now also with the M4 Express Feather from Adafruit (and CircuitPython).

• 2018-12-28 - Release v1.3
  Eliminated the need for a timer. Added spin_ms(), which needs to be called once per loop and instead of sleep_ms() to keep board updated. This solution is superior to the use of a timer, because (i) it is deterministic (avoids randomly interrupting the program flow and, hence, inconsistencies) and (ii) makes the code compatible to CircuitPython, which does not (yet?) support timers.

• 2018-12-24 - Release v1.2
  Now board v1.2 included, some code refactoring and improvements

• 2018-11-29 - Release v1.1
  First complete version for board v1.0 and huzzah32

• 2018-11-18 - Initial release

Unresolved Issues

• Tilt correction and calibration for LSM303 and LSM9DS0 compass function is not yet implemented.