Pioneer 2 / PeopleBot Robotics User Manual


 
ActivMedia Robotics
Use the drive test to ensure that the drive motors are working and that the encoder
cables are in their correct sockets on the motor-power board. They’re the same size
and have the same number of pins, so they can be mistakenly switched, right for left or
left for right. In that erroneous case, the robot will spin madly in place.
Sonar Test
When the motors test completes, self-tests automatically continue to the sonar tests.
You should hear the distinctive clicking sound as each sonar "pings", one from each of
two arrays simultaneously, each in order from left to right in front and right to left in the
rear. The LCD displays, in hexadecimal notation, the sonar number and the number of
microseconds it takes to receive an echo from a nearby object, such as your hand.
For example, this might be the LCD message if you held your hand a few inches from the
center sonar during its test period:
FS:#3 034A
RS:#B 7D00 12.4V*
Absent echoes return at the maximum time of 7D00.
Press the white MOTORS button to individually test each sonar in the arrays.
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If you have
added sonar such as with a PeopleBot, a second set of sonar tests automatically
commence.
Bumpers
The next self-test displays the states of the inputs from the front and rear bumpers
available for Pioneer 2 and PeopleBot robots. The state of each bump switch is mapped
into a series of eight LCD display digits. The five switches in each bumper—front and
rear—are related to the digits one through five, left to right, on the LCD. For instance in
the example below, the front bumpers 1 and 5 are pressed; the rest are OFF, whereas in
the rear bumper, the second and third bumps are ON.
Front 00100010
Rear 00001100
The first two and last display digits are not connected and may toggle between 0 and 1.
Likewise, without an attached bumper, the readings may vary (usually all "0"s).
Press the white MOTORS button to proceed to the next test.
Gripper
Those of you fortunate enough to own a Gripper accessory for your Pioneer 2 or
PeopleBot automatically get a self-test for the accessory. See the Pioneer 2 Gripper
Manual for details.
Compass
If you own a TCM2 or V-2XG compass module, this self-test displays its compass heading
in the LCD. See their respective manuals for details.
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Sonar tests automatically proceeded in P2OS versions before 1.F.
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