troubles with scribbler robot
Hello ,
We bought just a couple of days ago a scribbler.
But i havea lots of problems reading the barcodes, and following the line.
Is there any one who has a solution.
Thx
·
[noparse][[/noparse]Duplicate Post Removed By Moderator]
Post Edited By Moderator (Chris Savage (Parallax)) : 9/18/2007 10:07:05 PM GMT
We bought just a couple of days ago a scribbler.
But i havea lots of problems reading the barcodes, and following the line.
Is there any one who has a solution.Thx
·[noparse][[/noparse]Duplicate Post Removed By Moderator]
Post Edited By Moderator (Chris Savage (Parallax)) : 9/18/2007 10:07:05 PM GMT
Comments
Make sure to use very black·lines on very white paper. But, do not use the ink for printing photographs, as it is very reflective and will not work.· A non-photo inkjet or lazer printer works best.· Black Sharpie pen and black electrical tape might work better for you.
The paper needs to be smooth.· If the ink makes the paper too wet and it wrinkles, the Scribbler will lose the line.· That is because the line sensors have a·very small focal range.
Make sure there is not infrared interference from·bright direct sunlight.
You can test to make sure both of your line-following sensors work by using the Observation Deck.· Download the Scribbler Program Maker GUI v1.0a from the top of this page:
http://www.parallax.com/html_pages/downloads/software/scribbler.asp
With your Scribbler connected to the computer and turned on, click on the 2nd button from the top right, next to the "?" button.· This will open the Observation Deck.
You will see what the sensors see from inside the robot.· Now place the Scribbler so one sensor is over a line.·On the·bottom of the window, you will see one red light·reflecting, and on the right you will see one·black and one white line.· If you cannot get both line sensors to see the line,·try a different printer or pen or tape. Also try making the line closer or farther from the sensors.· If the Scribbler cannot ever see the line, please let me know, you may have a bad sensor.
If you are using a laptop with a USB to Serial Adapter, you may need to set your COM port's Latentcy Timer to 1.
Let me know how this turns out,
Stephanie Lindsay,
Editor, Parallax Inc.
Okay, I see you've already started a new thread. Your program that reads barcodes has a ton of conditionals after the bar read. The Scribbler will check all these conditionals, even if no barcode was present when it looked for one. Consequently, by the time it's done all the checking, the real beginning of the barcode may have passed, and the Scribbler will miss it altogether.
The secret here is to keep the Scribbler looking for the beginning of the barcode (large black area) in a tight loop, using the line sensor conditional. Then, when it finds that, exit the loop, and do your conditionals on the barcode. Also, it helps if the Scribbler is going a little faster. This is because the speed will be more uniform, and the timing that's done to decipher the bars will be more accurate.
Attached is a revised copy of your original program. I hope it helps!
-Phil
Thx for the aid your giving.
The line sensor is working good.
Can you explain what the observation tile does?
For the program youve posted. i'm very much obliged.
Sometimes it works. With my first program the scribbler stopped in the sub routine; to blink the leds.
With yours it stays riding. and I dont know Why.
THx for the assistence
There's nothing in your LED blink subroutine that says, "Stop the motors", so the motors should keep running. If you want them to stop, you will need to insert a motion tile with a velocity of zero.
I'm not sure, but you may be familiar with the BOE-Bot, wherein the motors have to be refreshed continuously to keep moving. The Scribbler isn't like that. Once a command is given to the motor controller, the motors keep going until the controller is told otherwise. And if they're running when the program ends, they'll keep going until you reset or or turn the power off.
-Phil
The observation deck is a software update (be sure you have the latest version of the Scribbler software - you can download it here - http://www.scribblerrobot.com/ContentPages/Downloads.aspx·).
The description says, "This version of the Scribbler Program Maker software has all the graphic action tiles of the original, plus two new features. The Observation Deck lets you see the status of the robot's sensors as if you are inside the Scribbler, and the updated Calibration routine lets you fine-tune the motors for straight-line driving."
That's what the observation deck is (see picture above). It lets you pretend you are inside the Scibbler so you can see what the sensors are seeing. It is a cool feature and great for checking what the sensors are reading.
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Whit+
"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
I checked today the program and was working fine.
Thx for the aid and hear you soon
-Stephanie Lindsay
Editor, Parallax Inc
I'm a teacher in Belgium.
this is the first year we're teaching the begings of robotics to 14 year old kids.
I'v made a translation of youre first progamming guide for my pupils in dutch. So i was trying out a couple of tricks.
I can post it to you if you wish
The observation desk is indeed very helpfull.(to bad we can't read the sensor the same time as the programs run)
It's a great job the GUI program.
Sometimes it makes my mind go overtimes.
Thx for the assitence
Greets
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Whit+
"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
You mentioned 'If you are using a laptop with a USB to Serial Adapter, you may need to set your COM port's Latentcy Timer to 1.' Could you explain this a bit? I am looking at USB Serial Port (COM10) and selected Port Settings and again selected Advanced. It is under BM Options and appears the Latency Timer was defaulted to 16 msec.
1. Hook up one of those com ports until you find one with a number less than 10 (using the Device Manager).
2. Record its number, then disconnect its USB cable.
3. Next, plug in the Scribbler's USB cable, and go to its Port Settings->Advanced window.
4. Change its port number to the number you recorded for the other port. Windows will complain that two devices will share the same com port number, but that's okay, as long as they're not both plugged in at the same time.
5. Change the latency setting to 1, and hit "OK".
You should now be able to use the Observation Deck. If you want, you can also unplug the Scribbler USB adapter, and plug in the one whose number you stole, then reassign its number to COM10.
Meanwhile, I'll contact Parallax about getting a newer version of the Observation Deck posted that solves the COM10+ issue.
-Phil
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'Still some PropSTICK Kit bare PCBs left!