Sounds, TCM2 | Pioneer 3TM, 2TM specification

ActivMedia Robotics Operating System

Table 11. GRIPPERpac state byte

BIT	FUNCTION	STATE
0	Grip limit	Paddles fully open when 0; otherwise between or closed
1	Lift limit	Lift fully up or down when 0; otherwise in between
2	Outer breakbeam	Obstructed when 0; nothing in between when 1
3	Inner breakbeam	Obstructed when 0; nothing in between when 1
4	Left paddle	Grasping when 0
5	Right paddle	Grasping when 0
6	Lift	Moving when 1
7	Gripper	Moving when 1

Note that the Gripper status information bits 0-5 also may be obtained from the respective digin and digout values of the standard SIP as related to the User I/O port states. See Appendix A for connection details.

Sounds

Unlike its ActivMedia robot cousins, the AmigoBot mobile robot has onboard sound reproduction hardware and software that includes a playlist of contents. To support the ActivMedia Robotics Interface for Applications (ARIA) that includes all ActivMedia’s robots, we’ve included the PLAYLISTpac (type = 208; 0xD0) and PLAYLIST request command 91 in AROS. We document the command and packet here for completeness, but they have no effect on the operation or performance of your ActivMedia mobile robot.

The AmigoBot sounds playlist consists of a series of one to 255 24-byte long sound references, followed by individual sound data. Sound references may be NULL or redundant.

Sound references consist of a 16-byte sound name followed by two long integers, which specify the sound data position and length in the playlist. Upon receipt of the PLAYLIST command 91 with any or no argument, AROS responds with a PLAYLISTpac SIP containing 25 NULL bytes, telling the client that your AROS-based robot does not have any onboard sounds.

Whereas the AmigoBot has a high-fidelity sound system, AROS- and P2OS-based robots have a piezo buzzer that aurally notifies you of system conditions, such as low battery or stalls. For stealthy operation, issue the SOUNTOG command number 92 with an argument of zero to mute the controller’s buzzer; argument of one to re-enable it. (See also the SOUNDTOG FLASH parameter in the next chapter to set its default state.)

The SAY command number 15 lets you play your own sounds through the buzzer. The argument consists of a length-specified string of duration/frequency tone pair bytes. The duration is measured in 20 millisecond increments. Frequencies are half-tones, limited by the 8-bit timer. You’ll have to experiment with tones. Here is the sequence that generates the AROS tone when the robot stalls (in octal):

\012\001\012\000\012\010\012\000\012\001

TCM2

The TCM2 accessory is an integrated inclinometer, magnetometer, thermometer, and compass that attaches to one of the AUX serial ports of the AROS microcontroller. When attached and enabled, special TCM2 compass servers read and report the heading as the compass byte in the standard SIP. Use the TCM2 command 45 to request additional information from the device in the form of the TCM2pac. See the TCM2 Manual and supporting software that accompanies the device for details.