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Terrapin Logo 4 has been discontinued! Our new Terrapin Logo version is much more powerful and modern; we strongly recommend that you update to our latest release of the Logo programming language.

Programming the Pro-Bot

Pro-Bot is the latest in Logo technology. A turtle robot, cleverly disguised as a race car, Pro-Bot offers students an enticing, engaging, and hands-on experience with Logo programming as well as robotic controls. Pro-Bot commands are entered via a set of arrow and number keys mounted on the back. Plan a route for Pro-Bot and press the corresponding keypad controls. Press the GO button and send Pro-Bot on its way. Pro-Bot will follow the sequence of commands that were entered step by step.

The Pro-Bot connects to your PC with a special USB cable. Terrapin Logo contains commands to upload all procedures stored on the Pro-Bot to the Logo workspace, where you can edit these procedures, run them, and download them to the Pro-Bot again.

For the remaining text on this page, we assume you are familiar with Logo programming.

Please note that you need Pro-Bot revision 2 and the desktop version of Terrapin Logo. The Web version of Terrapin Logo cannot connect to Pro-Bots.

If you turn your Pro-Bot upside down, look for the product number right underneath the “TTS” logo. It should read “EL00449”. If you read “IBOT2”, you have an old version of Pro-Bot, and Terrapin Logo cannot talk to this version.

Connecting the Pro-Bot

You need a few things before you can connect Pro-Bot to Terrapin Logo on your PC or Mac. Download and install a driver for the CP210x chip that is inside Pro-Bot from the Silicon Labs download page. You will need a USB cable with two male A-type connectors to connect Pro-Bot to your computer. These cables are available at many locations. Once you have installed the driver, use the USB cable to hook up the Pro-Bot to your PC or your Mac, launch Logo, turn on your Pro-Bot, and enter the command

If Logo recognizes the Pro-Bot, the command reports TRUE; otherwise, Pro-Bot is not connected correctly, and the command reports FALSE.

Windows Troubleshooting

If the PC cannot see a Pro-Bot, make sure that the correct driver is installed. You need to connect Pro-Bot to the PC, because the driver is invisible if Pro-Bot is disconnected. On Windows, please open a DOS prompt, and enter the following command:

You should get an output like

If you do not get any output, or the output lists the wrong driver, you probably have an older version of Pro-Bot.

Alternatively, open the Device Manager, and check if there is a tab “Port (COM & LPT), and that one entry under the tab lists the driver “Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge (COMx)”.

Talking to Pro-Bot

Pro-Bot is an autonomous robot that contains a number of Logo procedures along with a main Logo program. Terrapin Logo can load all Pro-Bot data into its workspace. The command PROBOT.READ does this for you; it loads all Pro-Bot procedures it can find into the Logo workspace:

PROBOT.READ PROBOT.MAIN defined PROC1 defined PROC2 defined ON.FRONT defined HEXGN defined DIAMND defined FLOWER defined Result: CM

The PROBOT.READ command reports the movement units with which Pro-Bot is configured; this is either CM for centimeters or PROBOT for its body length, which is approximately 30 centimeters.

Let us say that you have programmed the 5-Pointed Star example in the Pro-Bot manual. Pro-Bot displays the following code:

After entering the PROBOT.READ command, your workspace would contain the following procedure:

Run this procedure, and the Logo turtle draws a 5-pointed star just as the Pro-Bot would.

The command PROBOT.WRITE does the opposite: It collects all Pro-Bot procedures in Logo workspace and downloads them to the Pro-Bot. Procedure names must be exactly the names that Pro-Bot expects to find:

   
PROBOT.MAIN This is the main program.
PROC1 to PROC32 Pro-Bot can store up to 32 different procedures; these procedures must be named exactly this way.
ON.FRONT The name of the procedure that Pro-Bot runs if the front sensor is triggered.
ON.REAR The name of the procedure that Pro-Bot runs if the rear sensor is triggered.
ON.LIGHT The name of the procedure that Pro-Bot runs if the light sensor reports a brightness level of more than about 50 Lux.
ON.DARK The name of the procedure that Pro-Bot runs if the light sensor reports a brightness level dropping below 50 Lux.
ON.SOUND The name of the procedure that Pro-Bot runs if the sound sensor registers a sharp sound like the clapping of hands. Note that the sound sensor is only enabled if the motors do not run; you should use Pro-Bot’s Pause command to make it wait for a sound.
HEXGN This is a predefined built-in procedure that draws a hexagon. It cannot be changed.
DIAMND This is a predefined built-in procedure that draws a diamond-like shape. It cannot be changed.
FLOWER This is a predefined built-in procedure that draws a flower. It cannot be changed.

Note that Pro-Bot does not check its sensors if a main program is not running. To make Pro-Bot check its sensors and nothing else, enter a single Pause command as the main program. You can let Pro-Bot wait almost forever, only listening to its sensors by entering the command Ps 499, which is 499 seconds or over 6 minutes.

The PROBOT.WRITE command has an optional input; if you supply either “CM or “PROBOT, it sets the movement units of Pro-Bot to the given value.

Pro-Bot Command Summary

   
PROBOT?, PROBOTP Checks if a Pro-Bot is connected, and reports either TRUE or FALSE.
PROBOT.READ Reads all procedures stored in the Pro-Bot and creates these procedures in your workspace. Reports Pro-Bot’s movement units either as “CM or as “PROBOT.
PROBOT.WRITE Downloads all Pro-Bot procedures to the Pro-Bot. If either “CM or “PROBOT is supplied as an optional input, sets Pro-Bots movement units accordingly. Please note that this command is not available in the free-to-try version of Logo.
PROBOT.LIGHTS A placeholder procedure to turn Pro-Bot’s headlights on or off. The command sets the shape of all active turtles to either the toolbox image PROBOTLIGHTS.PNG or PROBOT.PNG depending on the value of its inputs.
PROBOT.SOUND A placeholder procedure that plays one of Pro-Bot’s built-in sounds. See below for further explanation.

Programming Pro-Bot

Programming Pro-Bot is easy. Check the manual that comes with Pro-Bot for a detailed programming guide. download Pro-Bot Robotics from the Downloads section for additional information.

Most of Pro-Bot’s commands have a 1:1 relationship with Terrapin Logo commands. There are a few limitations that you need to keep in mind.

Pro-Bot memory is limited. The main program’s capacity is 128 instructions while a subprocedure can contain only 32 instructions. If procedures are too long to fit into Pro-Bot memory, PROBOT.WRITE fails to download your procedures. In that case, you should split up your procedure into smaller procedures.

The following table lists Pro-Bot’s commands and the corresponding Terrapin Logo commands. You can use all of the Logo commands listed below inside Pro-Bot procedures. If you use any other Logo command, Logo cannot download the procedure to the Pro-Bot, and PROBOT.WRITE exits with an error message.

Please note that all procedures that Pro-Bot invokes when a sensor is triggered start with ON.. Pro-Bot calls these procedures only if a main program is executing. If Pro-Bot does not execute any program, it does not check its sensors, and does not invoke any procedure connected to a sensor.

Pro-Bot Logo Comments
Fd FORWARD The Fd command expects an input value between 1 and 499 units to move. If no input value is given, Pro-Bot assumes 25 units, so Fd is the same as FORWARD 25 in Terrapin Logo.
Bk BACK The Bk command expects an input value between 1 and 499 units to move. If no input value is given, the Pro-Bot assumes 25 units, so Bk is the same as BACK 25 in Terrapin Logo.
Lt LEFT The Lt command expects an input value between 1 and 499 units as the number of degrees to rotate. If no input value is given, Pro-Bot assumes 90 degrees, so Lt is the same as LEFT 90 in Terrapin Logo.
Rt RIGHT The Rt command expects an input value between 1 and 499 units as the number of degrees to rotate. If no input value is given, Pro-Bot assumes 90 degrees, so Rt is the same as RIGHT 90 in Terrapin Logo.
Ps WAIT The Ps command expects an input value between 1 and 499 units as the number seconds to wait. If no input value is given, Pro-Bot assumes one second. Logo’s WAIT command expects its input as milliseconds; therefore, Logo multiplies the number of seconds to wait by 1000 when reading from the Pro-Bot, and divides the input to WAIT by 1000 when writing to the Pro-Bot; Ps is the same as WAIT 1000 in Terrapin Logo.
Rpt[ and ] REPEAT The Rpt[ command expects an input value between 0 and 255 units as the number of times to repeat. Rpt [ becomes REPEAT 255 in Logo, and REPEAT 255 in Logo becomes Rpt [ for the Pro-Bot. Any instance of “Rpt nnn [” becomes REPEAT' nnn [ in Logo and REPEAT nnn [ in Logo becomes Rpt nnn [ for the Pro-Bot.
Light On PROBOT.LIGHTS TRUE Turn on Pro-Bot’s headlights.
LightOff PROBOT.LIGHTS FALSE Turn off Pro-Bot’s headlights.
Sound 1 to Sound 7 PROBOT.SOUND 1 to 7 Play a sound. The Logo command would attempt to play one of the sound files ~home/Sounds/Probot1.wav through Probot7.wav, which are samples of Pro-Bot’s sounds:
PROBOT.SOUND 1 - Switch on
PROBOT.SOUND 2 - Button click
PROBOT.SOUND 3 - Car horn
PROBOT.SOUND 4 - Data transfer
PROBOT.SOUND 5 - Transfer complete
PROBOT.SOUND 6 - Error
PROBOT.SOUND 7 - Go to standby
Pen Up and Pen Down PENUP and PENDOWN These commands control the pen on the screen turtle but do nothing on Pro-Bot; its pen holder can only be moved manually.
  SETPC Use this command to set the color of the line that Pro-Bot draws on Logo’s screen; Pro-Bot cannot change pens, so the command is ignored and removed by Pro-Bot. SETPC is no longer present in procedures reloaded from Pro-Bot.
Proc 1 to Proc 32 PROC1 to PROC32 Pro-Bot uses commands Proc 1 through Proc 37 to call its procedures, where procedures 33 to 37 are the special procedures that it invokes when a sensor is triggered. THe command Proc without a number is meaningless, and Pro-Bot ignores such a command.
33 FRONT ON.FRONT This is the procedure that Pro-Bot triggers when its front sensor is activated.
34 REAR ON.REAR This is the procedure that Pro-Bot triggers when its rear sensor is activated.
35 DARK ON.DARK This is the procedure that Pro-Bot triggers when its light sensor drops below about 50 Lux.
36 LIGHT ON.LIGHT This is the procedure that Pro-Bot triggers when its light sensor rises above about 50 Lux.
37 SOUND ON.SOUND This is the procedure that Pro-Bot triggers when its sound sensor reports a sharp sound. Note that the sound sensor is only active when motors are stopped.
HEXGN HEXGN This is a predefined built-in procedure that draws a hexagon. It cannot be changed.
DIAMND DIAMND This is a predefined built-in procedure that draws a diamond-like shape. It cannot be changed.
FLOWER FLOWER This is a predefined built-in procedure that draws a flower. It cannot be changed.

How to Create a Pro-Bot Turtle

You would like to play with Pro-Bot on the screen, and perhaps run PROBOT.MAIN? Then you need a Pro-Bot on screen. Here’s how:

  • Tell turtle #0 and make sure that it is visible: TELL 0 SHOWTURTLE.
  • Set its shape to the Pro-Bot image stored in the Toolbox: LOADSHAPE ”~HOME/TOOLBOX/ROBOTS/PROBOT.PNG.
  • You do not want the turtle to race, so slow it down with SETSPEED 0.5.
  • One Pro-Bot step is approximately one Pro-Bot length, so set the step size to the PROBOT turtle’s image size: SETSTEPSIZE LAST GPROP “PROBOT “SIZE - the image height is 80 pxiels, so SETSTEPSIZE 80 will also do.
  • If you use CM as the Pro-Bot’s step size, you should select a smaller step size; The actual size of a Pro-Bot is about 25 cm, so do a SETSTEPSIZE 80 / 25

Now, you have a slow turtle that steps about as far as Pro-Bot does!

Programming the Pro-Bot
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