Cluster V: Computers and Robots, COSMOS UC Davis

Cluster V:

Computers and Robots

COSMOS Program

UC Davis

Summer 2001

Instructor: Dr. Katherine St. John
E-mail: stjohn@lehman.cuny.edu
Office: Kerr 586

Teaching Assistant: Dr. Eric Hyatt
E-mail: hyatte@cs.ucdavis.edu

Announcements:

The most recent pictures from the camera are in the directory
```
~stjohn/images
```
To look at them, you can use Netscape (use the open file option). To modify the pictures, there are several graphics programs. The two easiest to use are gv and gimp.
Here's some pictures off the digital camera. Lots more to come!
If you're working on a computational physics project, there's a java program for the displaying orbits is at orbits.html.
The programming language for the course is Not Quite C (NQC), written by Dave Baum.
Some useful NQC documents include:
- NQC Programmer's Reference Sheet by Matthew Bates:
  2 pages with every NQC command and construct, very briefly described.
- NQC Programmer's Guide by Dave Baum:
  62 page guide to programming in NQC.
- NQC User Manual by Dave Baum:
  How to use the command line version of the NQC compiler.
The main COSMOS page is http://cosmos.ucdavis.edu.
The official Lego Mindstorm robot page is http://www.legomindstorms.com.

Reading:

The reading for this week is:
- Week 4: The Unofficial Guide, p 64 (Random Number Generator).
- Week 4: The Unofficial Guide, p 71 (Datalog).
Previous reading:
- Week 1: The Unofficial Guide, Chapter 1 (Overview of robot hardware).
- Week 1: The Unofficial Guide, p 53-60 (NQC).
- Week 2: The Unofficial Guide, p 31 (Bumpers and Feelers).
- Week 2: The Unofficial Guide, p 44-50 (Light Sensors).
- Week 2: The Unofficial Guide, p 68-70 (Playing Sound).
- Week 2: The Unofficial Guide, p 70-71 (The Display).
- Week 2: The Unofficial Guide, p 72-76 (Tasks and Functions).
- Week 3: The Unofficial Guide, p 25-31 (Locomotion).
- Week 3: The Unofficial Guide, p 31-38 (Gears).
- Week 3: The Unofficial Guide, p 107-109 (Directional Transmission).
- Week 3: The Unofficial Guide, p 109-112 (Pulleys and Mechanical Design).
- Week 3: Lego's Constructopedia, p 89-96 (Claws, Baskets, & Arms).

Lab Information:

Due to the small size of the computer lab:
- Keep your robot turned off except when downloading a program. This is to conserve batteries and to keep others infra-red transmissions from corrupting programs on your robot.
- Test programs in the hallway or patio area.
- Do not bring boxes of Lego pieces into the lab. Use the hallway or patio for building or modifying your robot.
- Eating and drinking is fine in the hallway or patio, but not the lab itself.
- In addition to being our storeroom, Physics 112 is also an office for lecturers in the Physics department. As a courtesy to them, all robots and Lego pieces should be stored inside the plasic bins or blue Lego boxes when in Physics 112.
The Tercero Computer Lab is reserved for COSMOS students:
- Sunday, 1-9pm
- Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, 6-9pm
There will be open lab hours in Physics 106 Tuesday and Thursday nights from 7 to 8:30pm.

Handouts:

Calendar
Information about the trip to the Tech Museum.
Example programs for Monday, 9 July
(from Dave Baum's Definitive Guide to Lego Mindstorms):
- tankbot1.nqc
- tankbot2.nqc
- tankbot3.nqc
Homework 1 (to be completed by Tuesday, 10 July)
RCX Internals: what's inside the robot
Notes for lecture on Wednesday, 11 July.
Firmware needed for Lab 1 (copyrighted by Lego, for download by Cluster V students only):
- firm0309.lgo
Lab 1 (for Thursday, 12 July)
Example programs for Friday, 13 July:
- pirouette.nqc
- duet.nqc
- forTurn.nqc
- star.nqc
- bumpbot1.nqc (from Dave Baum's Definitive Guide to Lego Mindstorms)
Lab 2 (for Friday, 13 July)
Project ideas
Example programs for Monday, 16 July:
- pulse_count.nqc
- pulse_count2.nqc
- alternate_star.nqc
- linebot1.nqc (from Dave Baum's Definitive Guide to Lego Mindstorms)
- seek.nqc (from Extreme Mindstorms: An Advanced Guide to LEGO MINDSTORMS)
Lab 3 (for Monday, 16 July)
Example programs for Wednesday, 18 July:
- Notes for class
- task.nqc
- mystery.nqc
Project planning (for description, as well as part requests)
Lab 4 (for Thursday, 19 July)
Example programs for Friday, 20 July:
- song_sub.nqc
From The Unofficial Guide to Lego Mindstorm Robots:
- SongAndDance.nqc
- wiggle.nqc
- RoboTag.nqc
- macros.nqc
- Minerva.nqc
- snippets.nqc
Lab 5 (for Tuesday, 24 July)
Example programs for Wednesday, 25 July:
- RoboTag.nqc From The Unofficial Guide to Lego Mindstorm Robots:
(from Dave Baum's Definitive Guide to Lego Mindstorms)
- dispense.nqc (gets message from delivery truck and dispenses candy)
- delivery.nqc (a delivery truck that takes an order (from touch sensor) and then goes to the candy dispensor and gets candy)
Example programs for Monday, 30 July:
- beep.nqc
- tvlog.nqc (from Dave Baum's Definitive Guide to Lego Mindstorms)
- light_log.nqc
Lab 6 (for Monday, 30 July)