RBC JoyRemocon Clone - Working code w/ Source

[PedroR]

Hi

If you recall this thread http://robosavvy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2653 it mentions the protocol used by the remote control as well as the new playstation adapter to send commands to the Robobuilder controller box.

The full protocol description/implementation is here: http://robosavvy.com/RoboSavvyPages/Rob ... ommand.pdf

I've finally managed to put together some code to implement this protocol.
You can download it here: http://robosavvy.com/Builders/pedror/robobuilder_remocon.zip
It is a very simple VB6 project that uses the MSCOM control to send & receive byte arrays to/from the COMM port.
The ZIP file includes the compiled software ready to run and the source code.

Here is a screenshot:


You can use it in one of two ways:
1- By entering the COMM control number in the "Com Code" and pressing Send. The "Com Codes" are listed under "Command List". Please enter the code WITHOUT the 0x prefix.
2- By clicking on the buttons on the Remote control picture.
Please note that in method 2 several things are not implemented yet (for example #+KEY or *+KEY combinations as well as some of the numbers - only 1 to 3 are implemented).

Method 1 can do ANY key combination that's specific in the "Command List".

I'm also working on creating a COM class to wrap up this functionality and allow easy re-use of the code.

[PedroR]

additional info:

You need to connect the serial cable to your Robobuilder to have the program working.
Alternativelly you can attach a bluetooth (bluesmirf for example) or a zigbee module to robobuilder and have the pc send commands to it via wireless.

the wrapper class is coming along nicely and, as soon as I have it, I will post it together with a demo program to control the robobuilder using a PS2 controller attached to the pc in this case.

[PedroR]

UPDATE:

I've completed the wrapper class and I've put together a new version that lets you
control robobuilder using a PS2 controller attached to the PC

The software with full source code is available here: http://robosavvy.com/Builders/PedroR/Jo ... upport.zip

Instructions:
1) Just UNZIP the files and run SETUP.BAT. This will register the necessary DLLs (Remocon wrapper class and joystick wrapper class).

2) Run Robobuilder_JoyRemocon


To use the software please remeber to connect the Robobuilder to the PC.

Here is a screenshot of the software:


You can also download the wrapper classes separately:
- RemoconWrapper Class:
COM class that handles all communication with the robobuilder. You just create an instance of the class, set the comm port and speed and send commands using simple methods like PlayMotion(1) or SendCommand(rbcKeyA)
Download it here (With source code): http://robosavvy.com/Builders/PedroR/RemoconClass.zip
Because it is a COM class you can use with virtually any windows programming language: vbscript, vb6, vb.net, c, c#, java, php, ...

- JoystickWrapper class:
I created this class to help writing the demo program. It uses DirectX to enumerate all Joysticks and exposes four simple events: ButtonDown(buttonNumber), ButtonUp(ButtonNumber), POVChange(oldValue, NewValue), AxisChange(oldValue, newValue)
Just declare the object "WithEvents" (in VB) to receive the events and select the Joystick and you're done.
It's not directly related to Robobuilder but it may come handy when developing some other tool...
Download it here (W/ source code): http://robosavvy.com/Builders/PedroR/joystickclass.zip

The source is not very good looking (specially for the joystick) but it works!

Video demo coming soon.

[PedroR]

hi

A video with a working demo is posted here: http://robosavvy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=18821#18821

[PedroR]

i've posted an updated version with minor bugfixes and a proper installer/uninstaller.

The purpose of the installer is to smooth the setup experience in windows vista.
Myself and Limor are taking this software to BETT and during testing on a Vista laptop we found a couple of issues.

This new version solves those issues discovered when running the software in Vista (this download works on XP as well btw).

The files are here: http://robosavvy.com/Builders/PedroR/Ro ... troler.zip

Pedro.

[PedroR]

Hi

First I wanted to say thank you to Novaone and iBot for all their advice and information that we discussed during BETT, specially with regards to Robobuilder.
I really enjoyed meeting you!

I got to demo the software I've written and also found some bugs that I will need to address.

The plan is now to hack the full protocol on the Robobuilder and have the PC talk to the servo bus through the serial port.

1)
iBot has explained to me that there is a special, undocumented packet that, when sent to Robobuilder, puts it into PC control mode (an orange light appears on the RBC controller).
We can see this happening when we connect Motionbuilder to the robot for example. Once you open the COM the orange light appears on the RBC and Motionbuilder talks directly to servos when you rotate the wheels on the screen.
According to iBot there is then a second undocumented packet that exits PC control mode and returns the RBC into normal mode.
I propose documenting as the next step to take.

2) After that's done, I really wanted to extend the DLL library so we can start talking to the servos directly. This shouldn't be too hard since we have the protocol for the servos (it's documented and posted on the forum).

3) The third challenge is actually find out how to connect sensors to the IO ports on each wCK and interface with them.
Each wCK has 1 analogue and one digital IO port (I think it's one of each) but the native software doesn't seem to have a way to use them.
Again, I would like to add support for these in the DLL library.

4) Finally I wanted to be able to have the library interface with the acceleration sensor.
According to iBot this may not be trivial so let's see.

I'm really enjoying this "hacking" of the robobuilder. I've always liked robotics and these low level communications but i've never actually done anything until I started working on robobuilder.

I hope I have "company" in this journey towards hacking the RB

[Joe]

It's great that you provide these tools, but a bummer that they require Windows. There are a lot of us Mac and Linux users who want to play, too.

Please consider writing your tools in REALbasic — it's similar to VB, but runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux.

Best,
- Joe

[NovaOne]

Hi Pedro, thanks for all your work supporting the RB community.

I started working on a similar program to MECH Puppeteer® for RB Huno, but time and .NET are getting the better of me at the moment. Here are a few small thumbnail images I've taken. Anyone is welcome to use them.

[PedroR]

Hey NovaOne

I wish you all the best with your .Net struggle

Here is the roadmap of where I would like to go with Robobuilder in terms of projects.
I have been discussing it with Limor as he has more background on these matters than I do, but essentially here is where I would like to go:

- Reverse engineer the RBM files.
I would like to be able to understand and parse them. This way, we could actually "play" those files on the robot, using the DLL I have been writing.

- On a second phase develop a Motion Builder replacement as MotionBuilder is really really not user friendly. (This can be done as soon as we reverse engeneer the RBM files to be able to LOAD and Save into that format).
It should be very easy to do "catch and play" using the DLL library.
Also, I wanted to add a feature to do "dynamic catch and play".
Right now, this type of software will only let you capture static poses. I wanted to add the ability to capture a full motion.
Again, I have figured most of the task out. I just need time and motivation and eventually participation/suggestions to get into it.

I was unaware of the work NovaOne was doing. (Maybe you have some working code that you would like to share ?) I remember you mentioning coding for Robobuilder at BETT so now I know what you meant .

If any of you could help in figuring out the RBM files I would really appreciate that as it would boost my work towards the editor.
The files are plain text and seem to be some form of arrays of sensor parameters but I haven't found the time to figure it out.

The final goal would be to extend the MotionBuilder replacement and let it test for Acc Sensor, Distance sensor, some analogue sensor etc, between each frame and apply the proper correction if it starts tilting or hits an obstacle...
In essence do a mix of MotionBuilder+ActionBuilder.

[i-Bot]

Hi Pedro,

Instead of playing RBM files you could save to a header file. The header file contains all the motions in a standard format which is easily played from either a C program in the RBC or a program on the PC.

Comparing the include file to RBM may help to decode the RBM.

Best regards,
Richard

[PedroR]

Hi all

Limor will be doing a small presentation in Israel with Robobuilder and I have written a small VBScript file for him to demo the Remocon DLL.

I wanted to share this VBScript file with you as a simple sample. If anyone wants to start coding using the library this VBScript sample file is a good place to start

The file is here http://robosavvy.com/Builders/PedroR/re ... ontrol.zip



In future versions my idea is to further extend it to be able to receive/react to what it "sees" on a webcam instead of receiving commands from the keyboard.

[l3v3rz]

Folks,

You may be interested, I've mainly cracked the RBM file format and written into a C# class file


The .rbm files are basically just ascii files - using ': ' separators here's one (The simple wave - HunoDemo_Hi) Ive broken down (and added some comments as to what I think the format).

1:13:0000000000000:XXXXXXXXXX:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX:11: (* File header Version Info etc )
[6]
HunoDemo_Hi:0:1:5:2:16:4: (* header : Filename, Flag?, Flag?, No_scenes, ?, No Servos, ? *)
[13]
00:020:030:000:0:125: (* Initial position for each servo = servo ID, Pgain, Rgain, Igain, ext, Posiiton)
[19]
01:020:030:000:0:201:
02:020:030:000:0:163:
03:020:030:000:0:067:
........
[109]
000:07:Scene_0:10:500: (* Scene header: ?, ?, name, 10 Frames, 500ms)
[114]
0:00:125:125:2:0: (*, ?, Servo ID, Start Pos, end Pos, Torque, ext Port)
0:01:179:179:2:0:
0:02:199:199:2:0: (* repeat for each servo *)

.... repeat for each scene ...........

This is now being used to drive motions into the robot uing the homebew os Joe and me have been working on. The C# class file can be found at

http://code.google.com/p/robobuildervc/source/browse/trunk/src/Motion.cs

The codes not pretty but seems to work on a limited test suite ...

[ATebay]

Hi

I have been working on some software to drive the robobuilder robot from linux, not quite the same as the joyRemcom replacement. But others may be interested...

I have linux command line utility that can be used to flash the robobuilder controller. I have tested flashing over a serial and bluetooth connection. The bluetooth is noticably slower than the direct serial connection at supposedly the same baud rate.

I am in the process of writing software to implement the wCK protocol in order to be able to control the servos from a linux PC via the robobuilder controller. I have worked out the commands to put the controller in its pass-through mode, as used by Motion Builder. Although you can acheive the same effect by holding down PF2 as you switch on the controller, the bottom LED should go orange. Sending wCK protocol commands to the controller via the serial port will now control the servos.

I have most things working, importantly I can drive an individual servo to a position and read its current position. The synchronised position move command also works, so you can command multiple servos by one command. Essential if you want to control the robot as a whole.

One thing I can't get to work is changing the P and D gain values, the controller just doesn't respond to the command. There are also some issues with some position move commands occasionally not responding.

There are also a number of mistakes in the wCK user manual with regards to the description of the wCk protocol which didn't help.

The next step is to drive the robot motion from a motion file so the info about the motion file format is very useful, thanks.

Ultimately intend to use this as the basis of software that I can run on the Roboard to replace the standard controller. I already have linux up and running on the Roboard.

A linux version of the remote control protocol should be quite straight forward. I also have some SDL based code to access a joystick that I use to control a lego NXT robot. I may put the two together if there is any interest.

[PedroR]

Hi ATebay

I myself have successfully been able to tweak the PID gains. You can check the wCK DLL library I wrote (here http://robosavvy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3324) if want to see what packets are being sent.

Are you sure you are sending the correct checksum?

Just to double check: are you dealing with setting the Runtime gains or the permanent gains?