Mindsensors was kind of enough to send me one of their prototype sensors, the Power Meter, to play with.  It’s a sensor that allows you to measure, among other things, the current and voltage of anything you care to connect to it (within limits, of course). 

The first thing that came to mind was building something that would log the incoming data to an Excel sheet using the NXT HID, but then Andy M scooped me on that so I had to come up with something else (damn you, Andy!).  Then it hit me!  Why not make an oscilloscope? So without further ado I started programming. This is what I came up with.

The result is quite nice, I must say.  Right now it takes a sample every couple of milliseconds and refreshes the screen every 20 milliseconds.  There are five scales for each unit (amps and volts), to cover the full range of the sensor (up to 13V5 and up to 3A).  You can switch between ranges using the arrow keys and between units using the enter key.  This program, together with the driver will be available with the next release of the 3rd Party Driver Suite.

Things I’d like to implement at some point is data recording, zooming and manual scrolling of the screen.  I had the manual scrolling implemented at one point but ditched it for the cardiogram-look instead.

Another cool project using the Power Meter sensor can be found here: [LINK].

A new version (1.2) of the ROBOTC driver suite awaits your download from the usual source.
Lots of internal changes in this version.  I’ve been working on removing all the work-arounds that were necessary for ROBOTC pre-2.0 when there was no unsigned byte type.  Only ROBOTC 2.00 or higher is supported by this version.  The upgrade is free, so there is no reason not to download and install this. 

A lot of work has gone into improving the documentation in the code.

Changes for this version include:

All: 

• Changed minimal requirement from 1.46 to 2.00
• Added more comments

All drivers:

• set #pragma systemFile to remove warnings of unused functions
• Use new calls in common.h that don’t require SPORT/MPORT macros

New test/samples programs:

• HTDIR-SMUX-test1.c: Newly added for HT IR Seeker V2 through SMUX
• HTEOPD-SMUX-test1.c: Newly added for HT EOPD through SMUX
• HTGYRO-SMUX-test1.c: Newly added for HT Gyro through sMUX
• HTMC-SMUX-test1.c: Newly added for HT Compass through SMUX
• LEGOTS-SMUX-test1.c: Newly added for Lego Touch sensor through SMUX
• LEGOTS-test1.c: Newly added for Lego Touch sensor

New drivers:

• drivers/LEGOTS-driver.h: Newly added driver for Lego Touch sensor

drives/HTAC-driver.h:

• Fixed massive bug in HTACreadAllAxes() in the way values are calculated

drivers/common.h:

• added bool HTSMUXsetMode(tSensors link, byte channel, byte mode)
• added int HTSMUXreadAnalogue(tMUXSensor muxsensor)
• added HTSMUXSensorType HTSMUXreadSensorType(tMUXSensor muxsensor)
• added bool HTSMUXreadPort(tMUXSensor muxsensor, tByteArray &result, int numbytes, int offset)
• added bool HTSMUXreadPort(tMUXSensor muxsensor, tByteArray &result, int numbytes)
• added bool HTSMUXsetMode(tMUXSensor muxsensor, byte mode)
• added bool HTSMUXsetAnalogueActive(tMUXSensor muxsensor)
• added bool HTSMUXsetAnalogueInactive(tMUXSensor muxsensor)
• corrected function description for HTSMUXSensorType()
• Removed unnecessary read from HTSMUXsendCommand()

drivers/HTCS2-driver.h  drivers/HTDIR-driver.h:

• Removed usage of ubyteToInt();

drivers/HTIRR-driver.h:

• Changed HTIRRreadChannel() proto to use signed bytes like function.

drivers/HTMC-driver.h:

• Replaced hex values in calibration functions with #define’s

drivers/LEGOLS-driver.h  drivers/LEGOSND-driver.h:

• Make use of new calls for analogue SMUX sensors in common.h

drivers/LEGOTS-driver.h:

• Newly added driver for Lego Touch sensor

drivers/MSAC-driver.h

• Added defines for ranges (MSAC_RANGE_2_5 … MSAC_RANGE_10)
• Removed ubyteToInt() calls.

HTAC-SMUX-test1.c:

• Fixed line number in display functionality

MSLL-test3.c:

• Use clip() instead of manual clipping

The drivers’ website is here: [LINK].
The documentation can be found here: [LINK].
You can download the software from the Source Forge page here: [LINK].

A new version (1.1) of the ROBOTC driver suite awaits your download from the usual source.
Not as many changes in this release as with the previous one. Changes include:

• Added support for the Mindsensors Servo controller, up to 8 servos per controller.
• Added a new function to get the raw uncalibrated AD values from the sensors in the Mindsensors LineLeader sensor.
• Added support for the new HiTechnic IR Receiver, control your robots with a Power Functions remote.
• Minor documentation changes.

The drivers’ website is here: [LINK].
The documentation can be found here: [LINK].
You can download the software from the Source Forge page here: [LINK].

After a long time between releases, I am proud to present to you the latest version of the ROBOTC Driver Suite. The biggest new addition to this version is support for the new HiTechnic SMUX sensor. Adding support for this new sensor involved modifying almost every single driver for the HiTechnic sensors to add the ability to poll the sensors through the SMUX. I’ve tried very hard to make it as easy to use and transparent as possible.

For example, to use the HiTechnic Colour Sensor V2, you’d use the following code:

#pragma config(Sensor, S1,     HTCS2,               sensorI2CCustomStd)
#include "drivers/common.h"
#include "drivers/HTCS2-driver.h"
task main () {
  int _color = 0;
  eraseDisplay();
  while (true) {
    //eraseDisplay();
    _color = HTCS2readColor(HTCS2);
  }
}

To use the same sensor via the SMUX, you’d use the following:

#pragma config(Sensor, S1,     HTSMUX,               sensorI2CCustomStd)
#include "drivers/common.h"
#include "drivers/HTCS2-driver.h"
task main () {
  int _color = 0;
  HTSMUXinit();
  HTSMUXscanPorts(HTSMUX);
  eraseDisplay();
  while (true) {
    //eraseDisplay();
    _color = HTCS2readColor(msensor_S1_1);
  }
}

As you can see, there’s not a whole lot of difference. msensor_S1_1 means the SMUX is attached to sensor port S1 and the Colour Sensor is attached to port 1 of the SMUX. To connect to port 4 of the same SMUX, you’d use msensor_S1_4. All the sensor calls that are supported through the SMUX can be found in the drivers. I recommend you check out the documentation for more information.

A quick overview of some of the changes in this version:

• Added support for the new HiTechnic SMUX and created functions for all supported sensors to allow access via the SMUX.
• Added support for the new HiTechnic Colour Sensor
• Added support for the new HiTechnic Sensor MUX
• Added support for the Mindsensors RCX MUX
• Added support for the Mindsensors PF Mate
• Added support for the latest alpha release of ROBOTC and its ability to distinguish between signed and unsigned.

You can download V1.0 here: [LINK].
The drivers’ website is here: [LINK].
The documentation can be found here: [LINK].
You can download the software from the Source Forge page here: [LINK].

Another release with some changes and additions:
HTAC-driver.h:

• Fixed bad registers
• Added HTACreadAllAxes(tSensors link, int &x, int &y, int &z)
• Removed HTACreadAllAxes(tSensors link, tIntArray &data)
• Changed HTACreadX, Y, Z to use by reference instead of as return value

HTIRS-driver.h:

• Fixed wrong registers

HTEOPD-driver.h:

• Added HTEOPDsetShortRangeNW and HTEOPDsetLongRangeNW, these don’t wait 10ms
• Changed the underlying sensor types for ROBOTC 1.57A and higher.

New Drivers:

• Added support for MSDIST-nx Sharp IR sensor
• Added support for MSAC Acceleration sensor
• Added support for MSHID Human Interface Device sensor

This is a quick interim release to address a couple of issues and to syncronise with the version that will be hosted on the HiTechnic website. Stay tuned for many changes in the next month or so. New drivers will include:

• The new HiTechnic colour sensor
• Mindsensors RCX sensor MUX
• Mindsensors PFMate
• Mindsensors Servo controller
• and maybe even a few you’ve never even heard of…

I’ve also been working on making most functions pass by reference, rather than making use of structs of arrays. All of these things will be in the next release.

The drivers’ website is here: [LINK].
The documentation can be found here: [LINK].
You can download the software from the Source Forge page here: [LINK].

Some minor changes in this version and some bug fixes.

Changelog:

HTDIR-test1.c (0.2)

• Partial rewrite by Dick Swan, waits a little longer for sensor initialisation
• Nicer intro screen
• Less screen flickering, only updated if there’s been a change in data.

common.h: (0.3.2)

• makes use of the new alpha’s built-in clearI2CBus(). It is still defined for the older firmwares

MSLL-driver.h: (0.5)

• Bug in LLreadSteering() fixed

HTPB-driver.h: (0.7)

• Fixed a couple of function calls that had not been renamed.

TODO:

• Add UART (RCX) functionality to HiTechnic IR Link driver.

The drivers’ website is here: [LINK]. The documentation can be found here: [LINK]. You can download the software from the Source Forge page here: [LINK].

A new version of the RobotC Driver Suite has been released.  A driver for the Mindsensors LineLeader sensor was added.  The initial driver was written by Thom Roach and modified by me to fit better into the suite’s framework.  Thank you Thom for your work!

Changelog:

• Many drivers had their API renamed subtly to be more consistent.  Check the individual drivers to see if they were affected.
• Mindsensors LineLeader driver added (Thom Roach)
• AT24C512 driver is now generic EEPROM driver
• common.h now has a clip() function (Thom Roach)

TODO:

• Add UART (RCX) functionality to HiTechnic IR Link driver.

The drivers’ website is here: [LINK]. The documentation can be found here: [LINK].  You can download the software from the Source Forge page here: [LINK].

A new version of the RobotC Driver Suite has been released.  Two new drivers were added and some improvements were made in the I2C bus error handling.

Changelog:

• NEW: Added driver for AT24C512 EEPROM chip.
• NEW: Added Light Sensor driver with calibration!  You can use one of the test programs to calibrate for both white and black.  Calibration data is saved to a file which is read when the driver is first used. You can also use the API to write your own calibration program.
• I2C bus error handling code added to common.h.  When an error occurs, the bus is now flooded with 5 dummy I2C packets.  This usually clears it up.  The original packet is then retransmitted. Note that this is done only once for each packet.
• HTPB driver has error checking removed, this is now handled by common.h
• The drivers will generate an error when compiled with a RobotC less than 1.46.

TODO:

• Add Mindsensors Line Leader driver, waiting for firmware API to stabilise
• Add UART (RCX) functionality to HiTechnic IR Link driver.

The drivers’ website is here: [LINK]. The documentation can be found here: [LINK].  You can download the software from the Source Forge page here: [LINK].

After a couple of hours of fiddling with HTML in Notepad, I’m proud to present the new and improved project page for the 3rd Party RobotC Driver project.  I’ll add more to it as time goes by.  For your tree killing pleasure, I’ve also added a PDF version of the documentation so you can print it out more easily.

You can now also donate to this project by clicking on the link at the bottom of that page.  Proceeds will be used to buy an additional NXT set to help with driver development.

Enjoy!

A new release of the drivers has been uploaded.  No code changes but the minimum requirement has gone from RobotC 1.40 to 1.46 after problems were reported with some of the drivers.

RobotC 1.46 can be downloaded from the following location: [LINK].  There is also a 1.47B available, which can be downloaded here: [LINK].

The drivers’ Source Forge project page is here: [LINK]. The documentation can be found here: [LINK].

Xander.