Examples > Robot

Disco bot

This sketch demonstrates how to play a melody with the robot, by playing back some sound files.

You can choose between three melodies specially composed for the Arduino Robot using the buttons on the control board. Once you get the music you like, put the robot on the floor and it will dance for you.

Hardware Required

  • Arduino Robot
  • Your best dance outfit

Instruction

  1. Upload the example, unplug USB and turn on power.
  2. Place the robot on the ground
  3. After the starting screen, the robot will be dancing with music playing and flashing colors on the screen
  4. You can press left/right button to switch music
  5. If you're not satisfied with the dancing moves, change the example to make it dance differently :
    1. Locate the line char danceScript[]="S4L1R1S2F1B1S1\0"
    2. S: stop, L: turn left, R: turn right, F: go forward, B: go backwards
    3. The number after each command decides how long it lasts. 1 = 500ms, 2=1000ms, 3=1500ms, and so forth.

Try it out

Choose a tune

Code

/* Disco Bot

 This sketch shows you how to use the melody playing
 feature of the robot, with some really cool 8-bit music.
 Music will play when the robot is turned on, and it
 will show you some dance moves.

 Circuit:
 * Arduino Robot

 created 1 May 2013
 by X. Yang
 modified 12 May 2013
 by D. Cuartielles

 This example is in the public domain
 */


#include <ArduinoRobot.h> // include the robot library
#include <Wire.h>

/* Dancing steps:
  S: stop
  L: turn left
  R: turn right
  F: go forward
  B: go backwards

  The number after each command determines how long
  each step lasts. Each number is 1/2 second long.

  The "\0" indicates end of string
*/

char danceScript[] = "S4L1R1S2F1B1S1\0";

int currentScript = 0; // what step are we at

int currentSong = 0; // keep track of the current song
static const int SONGS_COUNT = 3; // number of songs

// an array to hold the songs
char musics[][11] = {
  "melody.sqm",
  "menu.sqm",
  "chase.sqm",
};

// variables for non-blocking delay
long waitFrom;
long waitTime = 0;

void setup() {
  // initialize the Robot, SD card, display, and speaker
  Robot.begin();
  Robot.beginSpeaker();
  Robot.beginSD();
  Robot.beginTFT();

  // draw "lg0.bmp" and "lg1.bmp" on the screen
  Robot.displayLogos();

  // Print instructions to the screen
  Robot.text("1. Use left and\n right key to switch\n song", 5, 5);
  Robot.text("2. Put robot on the\n ground to dance", 5, 33);

  // wait for a few soconds
  delay(3000);

  setInterface(); // display the current song
  play(0);  //play the first song in the array

  resetWait();  //Initialize non-blocking delay
}

void loop() {
  // read the butttons on the robot
  int key = Robot.keyboardRead();

  // Right/left buttons play next/previous song
  switch (key) {
    case BUTTON_UP:
    case BUTTON_LEFT:
      play(-1);  //play previous song
      break;
    case BUTTON_DOWN:
    case BUTTON_RIGHT:
      play(1);  //play next song
      break;
  }

  // dance!
  runScript();
}

// Dancing function
void runScript() {
  if (!waiting()) { // if the previous instructions have finished
    // get the next 2 commands (direction and duration)
    parseCommand(danceScript[currentScript], danceScript[currentScript + 1]);
    currentScript += 2;
    if (danceScript[currentScript] == '\0') { // at the end of the array
      currentScript = 0;  // start again at the beginning
    }
  }
}

// instead of delay, use this timer
boolean waiting() {
  if (millis() - waitFrom >= waitTime) {
    return false;
  } else {
    return true;
  }
}

// how long to wait
void wait(long t) {
  resetWait();
  waitTime = t;
}

// reset the timer
void resetWait() {
  waitFrom = millis();
}

// read the direction and dirstion of the steps
void parseCommand(char dir, char duration) {
  //convert the scripts to action
  switch (dir) {
    case 'L':
      Robot.motorsWrite(-255, 255);
      break;
    case 'R':
      Robot.motorsWrite(255, -255);
      break;
    case 'F':
      Robot.motorsWrite(255, 255);
      break;
    case 'B':
      Robot.motorsWrite(-255, -255);
      break;
    case 'S':
      Robot.motorsStop();
      break;
  }
  //You can change "500" to change the pace of dancing
  wait(500 * (duration - '0'));
}

// display the song
void setInterface() {
  Robot.clearScreen();
  Robot.stroke(0, 0, 0);
  Robot.text(musics[0], 0, 0);
}

// display the next song
void select(int seq, boolean onOff) {
  if (onOff) { //select
    Robot.stroke(0, 0, 0);
    Robot.text(musics[seq], 0, 0);
  } else { //deselect
    Robot.stroke(255, 255, 255);
    Robot.text(musics[seq], 0, 0);
  }
}

// play the slected song
void play(int seq) {
  select(currentSong, false);
  if (currentSong <= 0 && seq == -1) { //previous of 1st song?
    currentSong = SONGS_COUNT - 1; //go to last song
  } else if (currentSong >= SONGS_COUNT - 1 && seq == 1) { //next of last?
    currentSong = 0;  //go to 1st song
  } else {
    currentSong += seq;  //next song
  }
  Robot.stopPlayFile();
  Robot.playFile(musics[currentSong]);
  select(currentSong, true);  //display the current song
}

Explore further

The melodies are stored on the SD card. They are created with a tracker program.

To write your own music, use a tracker program as explained in the Squawk library reference.

See Also: