FASTBot is the PASSPORT to Robotic Mastery!
FASTBot is the passport to all enthusiasts who seek the proper learning environment to understand all required elements, ways and means of using them to gain a working confidence on robotics in the shortest time with the professional tools.
Working with FASTBot imparts all the required attitude to take up robotics as the career in the coming days!!
Come and watch this presentation.
FASTBot comes with state of art, proven hardware using powerful microcontrollers to manage all the aspects of the robot. All these features are tested extensively and then incorporated into the design. In short, we have defined a benchmark for other robotic trainers to follow…..
Key mechanical elements are from reliable sources of Japan and USA to enable the bot produce trouble-free, consistent and expected output all the time!
We, at Frontline Electronics, having worked in Embedded Systems for about 25 years, understand the importance of using a professional software development platform with the hardware and mechanical elements of the Robot. A good state of art software tool makes your interactions with the Robot interesting and entertaining all the time. Topview Robotic IDE is an exclusive software tool that comes with all the required facilities, carefully selected by our experts, to help you in all your applications, beyond any comparison.
Advanced motor commands enable you to understand perfect robotic movements and encourage you to apply all the ideas into your robotic adventures and create amazing results.
Unbeatable features not available with other robotic trainers!
Entertaining paper documents with a range of examples help you create a strong foundation in Robotics. You get all required confidence to take up your knowledge to applications with ease and excitement.
FASTBot creates opportunities to understand Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Logical Analysis easily and gives confidence to put all into applications.
FASTBot is the foundation enabling you realize your potential to plan and create new ideas to amaze the world.
Mastery is the acquired skill by the practicing specialists in their chosen fields, after working for a long time and handling all the operations, related issues continuously in all their forms, in their own hands. With mastery, the experts gain useful insights on their workings and know ways and means of managing things and can apply their knowledge in unusual combinations.
This happens when the experts take difficulties as opportunities to fine tune their skills for a very long period. They could handle all this keeping one leg at the edge of their comfort zone and planting other leg forward in the required direction to set the bugging issue right to their satisfaction. When others avoid tough things, this group, look forward to learning something new out of interacting with problems.
This kind of interactive experience is totally different from other experienced guys working with government or big corporations. Here, they get to handle few things, most of the time in same forms, continuously several years, one after other, when moving up from lower department to higher levels in their career. This leads them to get their experience in a narrowed area, in much more time than required for the job. This kind of experience useful when handling limited issues in their possible varieties and combinations. Most of the time, they become helpless, when a tricky issue comes up to challenge the person sitting next to them in their department. They think it is their job nature that restricts them getting any command over the related things happening around their seats. After few years of service, they become passive and start ignoring workings all around them. Yet, they never hesitate claiming themselves as experts during any job appraisal.
With masters, there is an attitude in looking forward to difficulties and keep filling up gaps of the personalized skill set, kept under constant development.
History already demonstrated that only this type of special people as the pioneers who create something unique, useful, and taking rest of the world in their way, with plenty of examples.
People often think Microsoft’s Bill Gates as the lucky person, from a wealthy family, easily got into software and became billionaire by sheer luck. But Gates was putting in all his time, energy, enthusiasm into software right from school days and before joining his college, he acquired massive hands on experience in developing software solutions with the computing machines available at that time. Computer companies of his time, at his place,started luring him to develop solutions for them.
Likewise, you can notice the members of popular music band Beatles and another software personality, of Sun Micro, Bill Joy, were all working hard in their early career and pouring in their time, efforts and attention into learning more on their selected choice, non-stop. Beatles team used to play throughout the nights for a good amount of period in Germany, before landing into US. Bill Joy, too spent endless hours working on computers and the special algorithms required for his software development when his classmates had other things to do in the college life.
As the result, first, all these personalities accumulated the required knowledge on all the aspects of their chosen fields and that too in shorter time period. Armed with this kind of intimate knowledge of their chosen field, when they became ready to start something on their own, they could find unusual ways of using their knowledge to create new things, which helped the world work in new ways thereafter. When the rest of the world were watching things as they were happening, only these masters could stop in their tracks and applied their knowledge to create something, which could earn them landmarks in the history.
It is general assumption that with enough experience, anybody can create something new and exciting. But, in reality, it is not so easy and comfortable. The world never noticed anything special of these experts during their forming years of their career. These experts, really worked hard more time and tried to learn everything all by themselves, many times stealing the related work from others too to complete their understanding on the things. Only this hands on handling of all related things could give them their unique knowledge and helped them to get a powerful combination of inputs for their ideas. This is what differentiates them from rest of the experience gang. Probably, only these experienced guys became more surprised to see how the same inputs which were just floating in front of their eyes could take a massive form in expert hands. It is like, when an experienced sees a 26 out of 12+3+5+3+1+2, the experts gets a 1000 or more out of same inputs. Trick is to apply the inputs in various forms, in most unusual ways, to get the required results, rather than staying helpless in simply adding them together.
One has to take everything in hands, for a good amount of time, to get a command over the inputs which can be used later to manifest greater things. This is what gave Bill Gates confidence to quit Harvard university in second year, before finishing his graduation. In the previous five years, he was working with computers, in plenty of time, to understand the world of computer software and the future of software tools.
Masters of sports, music, writing, or any field, were doing the same thing in their career and stayed hidden with their glowing ambitions during a part of their career. When the rest of the world was doing things comfortable to them, these experts were inching forward in the nights towards their destiny and burst out of ground, one chosen day, to show the whole world their outputs! History never gives any alternate to anybody to achieve this kind. Only for the masters, the peace, fame, money, satisfaction get fused in total harmony and complete their life in all.
One has to take everything in hands, for a good amount of time, to get a command over the inputs which can be used later to manifest greater things. This is what gave Bill Gates confidence to quit Harvard university in second year, before finishing his graduation. In the previous five years, he was working with computers, in plenty of time, to understand the world of computer software and the future of software tools.
Masters of sports, music, writing, or any field, were doing the same thing in their career and stayed hidden with their glowing ambitions during a part of their career. When the rest of the world was doing things comfortable to them, these experts were inching forward in the nights towards their destiny and burst out of ground, one chosen day, to show the whole world their outputs! History never gives any alternate to anybody to achieve this kind. Only for the masters, the peace, fame, money, satisfaction get fused in total harmony and complete their life in all departments.
Ever since we started promoting our FASTBot, we get questions about Lego robotics from general public, parents, schools and even from colleges asking us to compare our bot with the Lego robotics blocks.
Here, we give a total picture on the robotic tools available from Lego.
Basically Lego robotics building blocks are developed as the extension of other building blocks. Lego blocks became very popular because of advantages like easy handling, convenient in building something very comfortably in a cheerful place where parents or teachers can leave kids to experiment with these building blocks. Availability of these blocks in attractive colors really encourages the kids to keep working with the blocks for any interaction.
Apart from this, interested kids can easily try out their ideas without much difficulty, and start seeing good results that motivate them to keep working on the blocks more time. All this make schools and patents very happy for giving this initiation to the kids. Success rate of these Lego block interactions is usually high and kids really start working with Lego tools for more time and for the motivated kids, these Lego tools can teach a lot by the way of robotics without any doubt.
Then the kids keep growing and get into higher classes and then their continued workings with Lego blocks becomes questionable. Even though, Lego supports kids with advanced robotics tools, their acquired knowledge out of these tools slowly get irrelevant to the actual real time situations.
Yes, Lego gives a quick start to anyone in robotics. They also get familiar with a programming language and get first hand feel in programming too. This should give them a confidence to prepare them for more of robotics in the coming days. When the kids start taking their knowledge into real life situations with real time elements, they find their knowledge and understanding becoming helpless to handle actual problems. Anybody can easily understand the knowledge acquired in lab or home environment is not adequate to manage real life interactions where kids need to manage bigger, complicated and uncertain elements demanding more of engineering and technology than before.
Many simple operations successfully implemented in the labs are not possible in real life conditions where majority of design elements come in different forms and shapes along with new kinds of interactions. Kids may find the Lego blocks are not at all usable in any application which force them get struck on their tracks.
But it is about our understanding on the Lego robotics and their utility in our education. When we plan to get the kids interested in robotics during initial schooling, Lego has an important role to play. Lego makes their life, during this period, very much purposeful and can motivate them to take robotics as one of the career option. Apart from this, kids learn to focus their attention on some engineering activity in a comfortable environment under teachers or parents watchful eyes to upgrade themselves with robotics related introductory information.
School kids, studying up to eighth standard (of Indian schools) are the right learning audience for the Lego tools and here they can play a very active role in introducing many engineering concepts to the school going youngsters. This is how, Lego can substantiate school education with suitable outputs enabling the students get prepared for the professional education in the later years of their study.
Already, in US, college staff members found this and they pointed out how Lego based robotics becomes inadequate to take up college level robotics activities.
So, students of higher secondary schools require more realistic knowledge to get them capable to manage college education without much stress. For this phase of education, professional robotic trainers like FASTBot becomes an useful tool to equip the students with relevant real life knowledge on robotics. For the example, FASTBot comes with industry compatible sensing elements, industry usable software tools and more design elements which can be applied to real life solutions. Whatever inputs students acquire with this kind of bot becomes handy for them when they enhance their knowledge in college learning. Above all, this field proven bot can educate the students distinguish the mediocre results from the required exact responses and then enable them produce the required outputs. As you know, robots punish students for their every wrong efforts till they get ready to react with right inputs, only professionally engineered bots can educate them the differences in the students’ efforts and guide them to the professional results in less time. All these inputs collectively help the students take up their engineering in the college with ease and confidence.
It is now clear that Lego robotic building blocks are very much useful in kindling an interest in the minds of kids studying up to eight standard for the robotics and enabling them to start learning on robotics without getting their hands dirty. When the kids grow up, they need the professional robotic trainers to create a working platform in their minds. These trainers can educate the students on many real life elements required to take up robotics on a serious level from their college studies onwards. In fact, these trainers become a bridge connecting students with more engineering and help them to make mark in college education and their career.
Light Following with Obstacle Avoidance combines the aspects of both Light Following and Obstacle Avoidance in a seamless manner. Obstacle Avoidance is given the first priority while Light Following takes the second one. The robot keeps on following any light source until it detects any obstacle, then it avoids the obstacle and goes back to its usual job. Watch the robot successfully navigate a maze like arena and reach the destination which is a light beacon.
Line Tracking with Obstacle Avoidance is one of the most challenging and demanding tasks for any robot. It is nothing but a combination of Line Tracking and Obstacle Avoidance. The robot tracks a black line on a white surface and when it sees any object, the robot navigates around it and reacquires the line and continues to track it. Watch the robot handle all kinds of obstacles with ease. The robot is capable of taking on obstacles of any size placed anywhere on the path.
This task is an extension of Maze Solving with Obstacle Avoidance to include Clap Sensing. Initially, the robot waits for a single clap command. When it hears it, the robot starts tracking the wall on the left. The robot also avoids any obstacles on the way and continues to track the wall. When the robot hears a double clap at any instance, it takes an about-turn and continues to track the wall in the opposite direction. When it hears a single clap, the direction is reversed and the process is repeated.
This task is an extension of Maze Solving to include Obstacle Avoidance. The robot follows the left side wall and when it sees any object, the robot navigates around it and continues to follow the wall. Watch the robot avoid obstacles placed anywhere on the course. The robot can handle obstacles of various sizes.
The FASTBot solves a maze which has walls on both sizes. The maze is constructed out of grids of cells having dimensions 27x27cm. The robot navigates the maze using the simple ‘Keep Left’ strategy. Watch the robot successfully find its way out of this intricately constructed maze.
Object Following is one of the most impressive tasks carried out by the bot. The robot follows any object in front of the robot while abstaining from crashing into it. This task can be thought of as an opposite of Obstacle Avoidance. The robot turns towards the side to which the target object is seen. When the object is dead ahead, the robot stops abruptly, so that it doesn’t crash into it. The robot is very effective in following any object faithfully.
Line Tracking is one of the most important tasks in robotics. The FASTBot uses its three line sensors to follow a black line on a white surface. Watch the robot track the line faithfully at high speed. Watch the robot handle sharp curves and turns with ease. Whenever the robot goes slightly off the line, the robot will keep track of the side to which the line was last seen and will re-enter the line and continue its journey.
Light Following is an interesting task performed by the FASTBot. The robot follows any light source faithfully by using its two Light Sensors. The robot faithfully follows any light source or any bright spot of light on the ground. The robot just turns to the side having the highest intensity of light.
Here you can watch how FASTBot is navigating around multi-colour obstacles. You can also note the operations of the bot by observing LED indications coming from the sensors.
When ECE department of Government College of Engineering, Salem, announced a workshop on Robotics, more than 120 students from nearby engineering colleges came forward to attend the workshop. Then the department selected only 60 students to participate in the two days robotic workshop. The department already had the required FASTBots at its disposal to conduct this workshop.
Senior students of the department have taken the responsibility to conduct this workshop. The workshop started with the introduction on the robotic trainer of the workshop, FASTBot, explaining in detail about the hardware, different sensors, mechanical elements along with the exclusive software environment, Topview Robotic IDE. The introduction was supported with the video clippings to assure the participating students about the capabilities of the FASTBot and motivating them to get ready to work with the proven robotic platform. The students were grouped into 20 batches and each group was given a FASTBot to start their study.
Since the flow of the workshop activities are clearly pre-defined, the interaction was started with warm-up exercises to make the students get intimate with the FASTBot and its capabilities. They started understanding various robotic operations, stage by stage, first with motor functions, sensors, then to proceed with using the sensors in many applications and students end up applying the sensors in the given example applications.
At the end of the day, when students started feelings comfortable and confident, they were given a challenge on navigating the given line with obstacles, that should be performed at the end of the next day. The challenge was designed in a such a way to pull up the students to apply what they learned into a complete solution.
The second day started seeing the students working with bits and pieces of their complete solution to produce the desired results.
At the end of the day, the students started showing their efforts to a gathering to make the mark for themselves. Top three performing teams were presented with cash prizes and students left the campus pocketing an useful confidence in taking up more robotic activities in the coming days.
The department conducted pre-worshp as well as post-workshop surveys to get to know the students’ mind and their reactions to various aspects of the workshop. Here comes, the survey findings for your reference.
End of report.
A single stage for all development activities.
Advanced platform enabling the users to complete all activities required for the application development in a single spot. Program entry, Compilation and Programming into the hardware happen in a single place to save lots of your time in all these activities. You needn’t jump through several programs to get these things done!.
Make your First Attempts successful and give your confidence level a Quick-Boost!.
When you use any new microcontroller for your robotic applications, you need to study, read a lot before identifying all the required initialization data. You know well that if an error comes even in a single bit, you can’t get your robot doing things as you expected.
FASTBot comes with proven Integrated Development Environment to help you manage these tasks effectively and generate the required initialization code to produce trouble-free working. With Topview IDE, even your first attempts can become successful and improves your confidence level to a significan level.
Make effective use of robotic hardware and create consistent and repeatable amazing performance every time.
A proper software development environment is equally important as that of the robotic hardware platform. Only this combination can produce the expected results all the times and save all your development time.
All this helps you to start and learn as much as possible in the given time to maximize all your efforts and become ready for the bigger challenges.
Create the exact compact code to produce faster robotic operations.
Another most useful feature of the Topview Robotics IDE is that you can get the exact application code meeting the needs of your robotic tasks at a press of a button. As you know that IDE is exclusively for the FASTBot, you are sure of getting optimized, clear and proven application codes to make your robotic operations a successful one for sure.
Topview IDE creates required codes automatically to speed up your development.
Topview Robotics IDE also comes with advanced Motor commands that help you define all your mtor movements very accurate and enable you to complete the given tasks faster than before.
For your information, only Topview IDE gives these features_ not available with other robotic trainers.
Precautions to keep FASTBot in good conditions for a long time.
Do not apply force to stop running motors by holding the wheels. It may damage the motor and gear arrangement for sure!
Do not attempt to stop the moving motors by forcing the bot against the floor. This is a stupid thing even to think. But, we have found many users doing this.You can gently lift the bot or press and hold the Reset key to stop all bot actions. You can also turn off the power to stop the bot.
Test the robot only on a clean and flat surface. Otherwise, dust will get accumulated in the gear assembly and may cause damage to the motors and gear arrangement.
Make sure that the test surface is large enough for the robot to move around freely. Take additional precautions when testing on a table or near the stairs. Don’t let the robot fall off the edge of the table or anywhere else.
Store the FASTBot in a cool and dust free environment. Don’t expose the robot, especially the gear assembly to the direct sun light for prolonged periods of time.
Don’t keep touching the under-side of the PCB of the robot unnecessarily. There are many static sensitive components mounted on that side of the PCB. This careless act may damage these components.
When replacing the batteries of the bot, first turn off power and disconnect the connector supplying power to all the electronics parts of the bot. Then, remove four screws holding the PCB carefully such that no part of the screw driver touching any part of the PCB. Now, you can replace the batteries of the bot. Again, replace the screws in their respective places before turning power on.
Make sure the batteries are inserted with right polarity. Also, plug the battery power connector in right direction.
We are sure that you already know most of these things. But, out of impulse, we have found that, many users do these mistakes and get struck with non-working bot. Just take care of FASTBot and it should serve you for a long time.
FASTBot motor command – Move Motors.
This move function enables you to take your bot in any desired direction and operate the motors with independent speed. This function effectively substitutes all motor functions you have come across so far except the Configure Motors function, which you are going to deal with in the next pages. In short, this function is the most powerful one to take your bot in any desired movement. Using this function, you can move the motors in any direction, with any speed, independently for any required time.
When using this function, you need to customize the following parameters:
The parameters to be set are:
The speed of the left motor
The direction of the left motor
The speed of the right motor
The direction of the right motor
Timing (optional)
Stop the motors once the action is performed (optional)
The structure of the function is given here:
MoveMotors ( LeftMotorDirection & Speed, RightMotorDirection & Speed, RunTime)
When the Stop option is enabled:
MoveMotors_S ( LeftMotorDirection & Speed, RightMotorDirection & Speed, RunTime)
The Function Run Time determines how long the bot can move on its defined path and next function becomes active only when run time becomes lapsed. If the Stop option is enabled, the bot comes to halt at the end of run time. If the Stop function is disabled, next immediate function starts acting on the bot when the previous function run time comes to the end.
There is no separate representation for the motor direction. If the speed is positive, the direction is forward. For the negative speed value, the direction is backward.
Negative values are applicable only for this function and not for any other motor function.
Since this motor function can substitute other functions like Go Front, Go Back, Spin Left, Spin right, Move Forward, Move Backward because of the independent speed setting as well as the direction definition. When you master this function, you don’t need other functions. But, there is another complementary motor function, Configure Motors, made available to give you additional features.
Apart from all above, you can define variables for motor speed initially and then modify them “on the fly” when using this motor function in your applications to create more flexibility during bot navigation.
You can consider the function structure as MoveMotors ( 90-a, 90-b, c ) where the values of a, b and c can be set and modified using switch-case statements. Now, your program becomes simpler and faster than using multiple if statements which results in slower execution. This facility is very much useful in navigational tasks like line tracking, wall following, light following where controlled turns are most preferred than the results of Turn Left, Turn Right, Spin Left and Spin Right functions.
Following is the list of possibilities for this motor function for different values of a and b:
a=0, b=0 – Go Front
a=20, b=0 – Smooth turn to the left.
a=0, b=20 – Smooth turn to the right.
a=90, b=0 – Abrupt turn to the left.
a=0, b=90 – Abrupt turn to the right.
a=90, b=90 – Stop motors.
a=180, b=0 – Spin left.
a=0, b=180 – Spin right.
a= 180, b=90 – Abrupt left turn in backward direction.
a=90, b=180 – Abrupt right turn in backward direction.
a=180, b=160 – Smooth left turn in backward direction.
a=160, b=180 – Smooth right turn in backward direction.
a=180, b=180 – Go back.
Only when using this motor function, the operating parameters can take negative values. If the speed is positive, motors take the bot forward, else, the bot moves backwards for the negative speed.
The screen shot for the command looks like this
The function can be used easily to create gradual and precise turns in the forward and backward direction.
FASTBot motor command – Move Backward.
This function is exactly similar to the last function except it takes the robot backwards during its operations. The speed of the motors can be adjusted independently to turn the robot slightly in one direction. This function is used to make turns when moving backward. The speed difference between the left and right motors defines the nature of turn.
You need to define the following parameters.
The speed of the left motor (backward)
The speed of the right motor (backward)
Timing (optional)
Stop the motors once the action is performed (optional)
The structure of function definition with disabled Stop condition is given here:
MoveBackwards (char LeftMotorSpeed, char RightMotorSpeed, int RunTime )
When the function stop condition is enabled, the structure becomes
MoveBackwards_S (char LeftMotorSpeed, char RightMotorSpeed, int RunTime )
The direction of both left and right motors are set to backwards by default and it can’t be changed. If the left motor turns slowly than the right motor, the bot turns left. If the left motor is faster than the right motor, the bot turns right side. During the turn, the radius of the turning arc depends on the speed difference between the two motors.
When the speed of both motors become equal, the bot moves backward and it resembles Go Back function. When the left motor is stopped, the robot turns to left in the arc with the left wheel as the centre in backward direction. This is similar to backward right turn seen the Spin Right function. When right motor is stopped instead of the left motor, the robot turns left in an arc with the right wheel as the centre in the backward direction. This resembles backward left turn seen in the Spin Left function. Thus the Move backward function can effectively substitute Go Back function and some aspects of Spin Left and Spin Right functions.
FASTBot motor command – Move Forward.
This is an interesting motor function to give you many useful options when the bot is moving forward. The speed of both the motors can be adjusted independently. Basically, the bot turns to the right or left depending on the difference between the running speed between the motors. When the left runs slower than the right motor, the bot turns left. Similarly, if the right motor is slower than the left motor, the bot turns into right side. Even though the motors take different speeds independent of each other, the motors are forced to run only in forward direction. To get same kind of movement in backward, we have another motor function, Move Backwards, which is discussed next.
You need to customize the following parameters to do the exact movement:
The speed of the left motor (Forward)
The speed of the right motor (Forward)
Timing (optional)
Stop the motors once the action is performed (optional)
The structure of the function without the Motor stop option is given here:
MoveForward (char LeftMotorSpeed, char RightMotorSpeed, int RunTime )
With the Motor stop option the function looks like
MoveForward_S(char LeftMotorSpeed, char RightMotorSpeed, int RunTime )
When the equal speed is applied to both motors, the robot moves forward and resembles Go Front function.
When the left motor is stopped, the bot turns left in an arc with the left wheel as the centre. This behaves like the Turn Left function. But, when the right motor is stopped, the robot takes an arc in the right keeping the right wheel as the centre. This is similar to the results of using Turn Right function.
Now, it is clear that this particular function can replace three of the motor functions discussed already when it is moving forward. If you are keen, you can understand the utility of this function in more applications than other related functions. Using other functions, you can only make your bot either run forward or turn sideways abruptly. Suppose when your bot is required to take a calculated turn sideways in a defined arc, you can finish the task only with this function. This is required for many navigational tasks like line tracking, wall hugging, light following and avoidance where gradual turn is most preferred than Turn Right, Turn Left functions. Also, when you set the motors running to their maximum speed, the bot takes the turns at the fastest speed.
The function also gives you an option of changing the speeds and the run time using variables to create more flexibility during robotic operations. The function structure becomes like this:
MoveForward ( 90-a, 90-b, c ) with a,b and c acting like variables to introduce more flexibility during program development and subsequent execution.
Because of this, you can vary the robot behaviours using switch case statements. Now the program becomes simpler using multiple If statements and the execution takes less time than before.
Following indicates the options you get when using variables to define speeds of the motors.
Move Forward ( 90-a, 90-b, c )
a = 0, b = 0 – Go Front.
a = 90, b = 0 – Turn left.
a = 0, b = 90 – Turn Right.
a = 30, b = 0 – Smooth turn to the left.
a = 0, b = 30 – Smooth turn in the right.
Also keep an eye on the values of the variables during programming since the speed values should take values between 0 and 100 for executing this function in all conditions.
FASTBot motor command – Spin Right.
This spin function is same as that of the previous function except the bot spins in opposite direction. The left motor is turned forward and the right motor is turned backward. The robot spins to right with a point between the left and right wheels as the center The speed of both the motors can be adjusted independently and need not be the same.
To get the bot spinning clockwise, start double clicking the Motor Control function of the Function window.
Again double click Spin Right function within the expanded list to configure the bot for this operation.
There are four parameters to be set.
The speed of the left motor (forward)
The speed of the right motor (backward)
Function run time (optional)
Stop the motors once the action in performed (optional)
Now, the press of OK button generates the required C code at the cursor position.
The format of the function without setting Stop Motors option is
SpinRight ( char LeftMotorSpeed, char RightMotorSpeed, int RunTime )
The function format with the Stop Motor enabled condition is
SpinRight_S ( char LeftMotorSpeed, char RightMotorSpeed, int RunTime )
The right motor rotates backward and the left motor rotates forward. So, the robot turns right with a point between the left and right wheels as the center When the speed of both the motors are equal the robot just spins in place about the center.
When the right motor is stopped and only the left motor is turned forward, it resembles Turn Right function. The robot turns right in an arc with the right wheel as the center in the forward direction.
But when the left motor is stopped and only the right motor is turned backward, the robot turns in the backward direction. The robot turns right in an arc with the left wheel as the center in the backward direction.
FASTBot motor command – Spin Left.
Now you are going to study another useful function of the FASTBot, which spins the bot at its centre point. The right motor is turned forward and the left motor is turned backward. The robot spins to the left with a point between the left and right wheels as the center The speed of both the motors can be adjusted independently.
We do have an exclusive control function to get this spin started.
Double click the Motor Control option in the Functions window, All motor control functions present themselves for your selection and double click the Spin Left to get the study started.
As usual, an interacting window comes out to get your customized data inputs.
You need to define four parameters to make the bot spin to your taste.
The speed of the left motor (backward)
The speed of the right motor (forward)
Timing (optional)
Stop the motors once the action is performed (optional)
Click OK button to generate the code at the cursor defined position.
Format of the function definition with the disabled Stop Motors function:
SpinLeft ( char LeftMotorSpeed, char RightMotorSpeed, int RunTime )
The same function definition with the enabled Stop Motors condition:
SpinLeft_S ( char LeftMotorSpeed, char RightMotorSpeed, int RunTime )
The maximum speed for both motors is 100% and the values must be positive. The maximum run time that can be defined is 65535 milliseconds.
Since the left motor moves backward and the right motor moves forward, the robot turns left. The robot turns with a point between the left and right wheels as the center point. When the speed of both the motors are equal, the robot just spins in place about the center.
When the left motor is stopped and only the right motor is turned forward, it resembles Turn Left function. The robot turns left in an arc with the left wheel as the center in the forward direction.
But when the right motor is stopped and only the left motor is turned backward, the robot turns in the backward direction. The robot turns left in an arc with the right wheel as the center in the backward direction.
