RCX(3)

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
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. Turns motor(s) on

Motors are specifed in string format
   eg: "A"
   eg: "bc" Turns motor(s) off

Motors are specifed in string format
   eg: "A"
   eg: "bc" Floats motor(s) output

Motors are specifed in string format
   eg: "A"
   eg: "bc" Sets the motors power to value from 0-7

Motors are specifed in string format
   eg: "A"
   eg: "bc" Sets the motors direction which can be "forward", "reverse", or "toggle"

Motors are specifed in string format
   eg: "A"
   eg: "bc" Plays on of the following sounds

  0  Blip
  1  Beep beep
  2  Downward tones
  3  Upward tones
  4  Low buzz
  5  Fast upward tones
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. 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
Powers the RCX off. 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. Sets the RCX to be on the specified program number. The valid program_number values ares 1-5. Sets the RCX's watch to hour house and minute mintutes. hour is 0-23 and minutes is 0-59. Set a message in the RCX. Valid message values are 0-255. 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 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 a subroutine.

If the loadNQClist method has been called then you can specify a subroutine name. This will clear the selected RCX timer. The timer values are from 0-3. This will clear the counter associated with sensor_number sensor. 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
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
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
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. 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. Add value to a register and store back in register. Subtract value from a register and store back in register. Multiply value to a register and store back in register. Divide value into a register and store back in register. And value with a register and store back in register. Or value with a register and store back in register. Get value of a sensor sensor_number. sensor_number can be 1-3. Get type of a sensor sensor_number. sensor_number can be 1-3. Get mode of a sensor sensor_number. sensor_number can be 1-3. Get raw value of a sensor sensor_number. sensor_number can be 1-3. Get boolean value of a sensor sensor_number. sensor_number can be 1-3. Set the Transmit range of the RCX. Ranges are eithor "short" or "long" Delete all tasks in current program Delete <task> task in current program.

If the loadNQClist method has been called then you can specify a task name. Delete a subroutines in current program Delete all subroutines in current program

If the loadNQClist method has been called then you can specify a subroutine name. Returns the battery voltage in volts. Returns the version of the ROM and Firmware in the following order. ( $ROMMajor, $ROMMinor, $FIRMMajor, $FIRMMinor ); Sets the timeout in seconds for all commands sent to the RCX. Default is 2 seconds. 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)
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@doitnow.com

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