The DFRduino is an Arduino based robot. It’s programmed through the Arduino IDE program. You’ll be using a library I wrote that saves you from having to write code like this:

void setup() {
    pinMode(LEFT_MOTOR_DIRECTION_CONTROL, OUTPUT);
    pinMode(LEFT_MOTOR_SPEED_CONTROL, OUTPUT);
    pinMode(RIGHT_MOTOR_DIRECTION_CONTROL, OUTPUT);
    pinMode(RIGHT_MOTOR_SPEED_CONTROL, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
    goForward();
} 

void goForward() {
    digitalWrite(LEFT_MOTOR_DIRECTION_CONTROL, HIGH);
    analogWrite(LEFT_MOTOR_SPEED_CONTROL, 100);
    digitalWrite(RIGHT_MOTOR_DIRECTION_CONTROL, LOW);
    analogWrite(RIGHT_MOTOR_SPEED_CONTROL, 100);
}

This is rather slow way to develop code, so I’ve encapsulated (hidden the low level details) the robot dependent things and given you a library called DFRduino that allows you to control the robot at a higher level through the use of some functions. This will allow us to design an obstacle avoiding robot in a few hours without getting stuck trying to figure out how to get the robot to go forward! (although, if people are interested in approaching robots at a lower level of detail talk to me at the end of the workshop and I’ll see if i can arrange one for next DigiMakers).

Instead of the above code, you’ll be writing something like:

// Import the DFRduino library and Servo library
#include <DFRduino.h>
#include <servo.h>

DFRduino robot;

void setup() {

}

void loop() {
    // Make the robot go forward
    robot.setDirection('f');
}

Features of the DFRduino robot

• 2 wheel drive.
• Sharp IR distance measuring sensors (range: 20cm – 150cm) mounted on twin servo head.

Library functions

The library I have written contains a set of functions to help you develop your obstacle avoiding robot.

Types of parameters

• [percentage] can be -100 to 100.
• [angle] can be 0 to 180.
• [char] can be any character inside of single quotes, e.g. 'f'.

Functions

• void setDirection([char]):
  • 'f' - forward.
  • 'b' - backward.
  • 'l' - spin left (spins on the spot).
  • 'r' - spin right (spins on the spot).