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Cough* Uhh... a little help here? PBASIC 2.5 is pretty complicated to me than t — Parallax Forums

Cough* Uhh... a little help here? PBASIC 2.5 is pretty complicated to me than t

EzsynnEzsynn Posts: 119
edited 2009-01-22 17:50 in Robotics
Can somebody tell me what each command does? The manual is littered with JARGON which I don't understand.
What does DEBUG do anyway?

' And does the Apostrophe affect the programming?

Tell me 'cause I don't understand a thing in the PBASIC compiled HTML document (a.k.a. Manual!!!) .
I'm really eager to learn how to program the robots and all but the JARGON is holding me back.
Can somebody get me an interpreter chip or translator module for my noggin?
The JARGON (a.k.a. Techie Lingo) is different from normal English.
Can somebody write some of the basic commands and how to use them?
_____________________________
|What about lines? WTH do they do?|
|_____________________________|

And how the heck do you get your Bot to move forwards?, I tried but all it does was the spin around to nowhere.

The manual is so confusing that I can't seem to understand how to use a BS2-IC module. It's making my head go backwards and sideways.

Comments

  • SLUG-1SLUG-1 Posts: 28
    edited 2009-01-19 08:50
    hmmm what bot are u building?
  • SRLMSRLM Posts: 5,045
    edited 2009-01-19 09:19
    DEBUG allows you to send information to your computer while the programming cable is connected. It's useful for finding the bugs in the program, and outputting information.
    The ' character signifies that everything following that on the line (highlighted green in PBASIC editor) is a comment: information meant just for the human and not for the compiler. It is never loaded onto the robot.

    First place to start is "What's a Microcontroller" available for download from the parallax website, along with "Robotics with the Boe-Bot" and many other good books. They provide excellent starting information.
  • David BaylissDavid Bayliss Posts: 58
    edited 2009-01-19 12:54
    How do you like to learn? From the top down (do a lot quickly and understand how it all works over time) or bottom-up (start off doing a little but understand how everything works)?

    If you prefer the former then you may want to try one of the 'graphical code generators' - my son has used the scribbler one extensively - but there is one for the Boe Bot in the software download section. The GUI will get you 'functional' very quickly - but once you want more control you can begin to read the PBASIC generated and modify it.

    If you are prepared to work bottom up then the 'What is a micro-controller' text and the 'Boe-Bot' text are both excellent line by line tutorials complete with exercises.

    David
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2009-01-19 17:51
    The HTML file is not really a substitute for the manual as it is just the help file. You can download the BASIC Stamp Manual in PDF format from the following link. I hope this helps. Take care.

    http://www.parallax.com/Store/Books/BASICStamp/tabid/168/CategoryID/42/List/0/Level/a/ProductID/143/Default.aspx?SortField=ProductName%2cProductName

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Engineering
  • Andy Lindsay (Parallax)Andy Lindsay (Parallax) Posts: 1,919
    edited 2009-01-19 18:38
    There's a manual that accompanies the Boe-Bot robot called Robotics with the Boe-Bot.· You can download the full PDF from any of the Boe-Bot Robot product pages at parallax.com, and here is a direct link:

    Robotics with the Boe-Bot
    http://www.parallax.com/Portals/0/Downloads/docs/books/edu/Roboticsv2_2.pdf·(4.26 MB)

    Robotics with the Boe-Bot takes you step-by-step through installing the software, understanding the DEBUG command, connecting and controlling circuits, and so on...·The book is split up into about 40 activities, and it usually works best to do one or·two activities in a sitting, then take a break.·

    For each activity, make sure to always read the explanations, follow the checklist instructions, and hand enter the code examples.· Above all, go through the activities sequentially; don't just skip to Chapter 4 and expect the book to explain everything you just skipped.· For example, Chapter 1, Activity 4 introduces DEBUG with an explanation and a·nice simple hands-on example.· There will also be more hands on examples with DEBUG as you go through the book.

    You can find links to Robotics with the Boe-Bot in a number of places on parallax.com, examples:

    www.parallax.com -> Downloads -> Stamps in Class Tutorials
    www.parallax.com ->·Robots -> Boe-Bot robots -> Click there to shop...· (it takes you to the product page, and the text is in the Downloads section).
    ·

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    Andy Lindsay

    Education Department
    Parallax, Inc.
  • GWJaxGWJax Posts: 267
    edited 2009-01-20 00:52
    What can I say all information is provided in the above post. I think one must start with the "What is a Microcontroller" first and then work from there to more advanced functions.
    Good luck in your learning!

    After you have read this book and did the projects, then if you have any other questions about a certain command ask away and we will help you on that subject.

    Jax

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    If a robot has a screw then it must be romoved and hacked into..
  • RICoderRICoder Posts: 91
    edited 2009-01-20 01:42
    Have you ever programmed in another language before (like C or BASIC or even javascript)? If not, then its going to seem a little daunting at first, but you can certainly learn this way.

    I think that What's a Microcontroller would be the best bet, as others have said.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2009-01-20 03:22
    Welcome, Ezsynn. Your youthful enthusiasm is admirable. Be aware that but Parallax has invested a lot of time, effort, and $$$ to make some of the world's best self-start tutorials for beginners. Thousands of us have slogged through the material successfully and learned without having a teacher or this great forum. Count your blessings that all this material is available to you for FREE as an INSTANT download. Way back when I started learning this stuff in 1994, it was on DOS, not Windows. I had to PHONE my order in, PAY for a book, and WAIT FOR IT TO ARRIVE IN THE MAIL!!! Clearly, I'm a bitter old man...

    Everyone here wants to help you, but not do the work for you. In time, you'll think this stuff is actually fun instead of frustrating. But you need to discover that for yourself.

    Quite simply, you need to pay your dues and work through the material. There is no substitute for the proven Parallax method where you learn the basics in a simple, structured way that slowly, incrementally builds your electrical and programming knowledge simultaneously. If you are overwhelmed by your robot's capabilities, then start where the rest of us did: get an LED to blink, and go from there.

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    ·"If you build it, they will come."
  • GWJaxGWJax Posts: 267
    edited 2009-01-20 03:44
    Erco, OK I feel even older now, I got my assoc in robotics in '92 and started programming in '82 in basic and GWbasic yet I was and still am a big fan of TRSDOS. Staying up all night programming on the coco and the TRS80 4P from Tandy Radio Shack just to play some games that I created was the joy of my life. These younger kids have no idea how good they have it now. I had a BBS system running at at whopping speed of 50 baud, YES I did say at 50 baud and I still have that modem! With the creation of the BS2 things started to look allot better with building robots but still with my background I'm still learning new tricks with it and I love it as it keep the mind fresh and always thinking in a logic way as a programmer should do.

    Jax

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    If a robot has a screw then it must be romoved and hacked into..
  • sylvie369sylvie369 Posts: 1,622
    edited 2009-01-20 15:13
    erco said...
    Way back when I started learning this stuff in 1994, it was on DOS, not Windows. I had to PHONE my order in, PAY for a book, and WAIT FOR IT TO ARRIVE IN THE MAIL!!!

    It snowed a lot more in those days too, and everything was located uphill. And when you picked up the phone you had to wait for the neighbor lady to clear the line before you could use it.

    One becomes good at things like building robots and programming computers by spending a LOT of time building robots and programming computers. One learns how to make them do interesting things by learning how to make them do a lot of little dull things, like blinking LEDs and reading switch settings. A good engineer learns to do things even when he or she doesn't have a project in hand that requires those things. That's how you know what is and is not possible, and how to do the possible stuff, when the need arises. And you don't ask until you've sat down and tried it first, especially now that we've got an internet that practically gives you all the information you need.
  • David BaylissDavid Bayliss Posts: 58
    edited 2009-01-21 03:20
    Well guys - if you're old I must be dead. Started in 1981 with a machine that looks VERY much like a BASIC stamp with a keyboard (the ZX-81). To a large extent I agree with the point you make - I believe that a detail oriented bottom-up approach in an excellent method of subject mastery. It is how I learned what I did - however my eldest has shown me it is not the only way.
    I don't know whether it is a cultural shift brought about by technology or just I noticed a new bunch of bright people - but for some the bottom up piece-by-piece approach just doesn't work. I failed to teach my eldest programming with three attempts (although his younger brother latched right on). A day playing with the scribbler GUI digging down to the code when he needed it turned him around.
  • InteractInteract Posts: 79
    edited 2009-01-22 01:33
    If this is turning into the oldest guy in micros..... I helped designed my first commercial micro in 78. (thus my screen name). and built my first computer in Jr. High 1975 ish (8008 chip based), moved on to 1802 and z80 chips.
  • GWJaxGWJax Posts: 267
    edited 2009-01-22 02:04
    OK Interact you got me as I built my first computer from scratch using an 8088 CPU and that was a challenge with doing it o a bread board LOL.

    Jax

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    If a robot has a screw then it must be romoved and hacked into..
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2009-01-22 17:50
    This thread is starting to sound familiar...kind of like an old thread from 2004...

    http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=464494

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Engineering
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