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Bots /The Ultimate Palm Robot/ Mukhar & Johnson / 222880-6 / Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Sensors and Enhancements 235

Figure 9-1
This
conceptual
mockup
shows how
a PPRK
might look
with a death
ray laser
mounted
on top.

used by other sensors in addition to the rangers. If you want to use other sensors
in place of the rangers, you have up to five available input ports.
The BrainStem controller has five analog input ports, so you can add any-
where from two to five additional sensors. The BrainStem also has five digital
ports that can be used for either input or output.

With the SV203, two unused output ports can be used to drive other devices.
The BrainStem controller has one unused output analog port, as well as the
digital ports mentioned.
Using these ports, we can add all kinds of new capabilities to the robot.

Adding Sensors or Input Devices to the PPRK
When you are learning to program, one of the most important steps you can
take is to learn how to get and send data to the user. Your program can loop
and iterate and count and add all day long. But until it can get an input from a
user and output data to the user, it’s not a very useful program. In fact, when
we’re learning to program a new language, some of the first things we try to
learn is how to read input from the keyboard or mouse. Similarly, once you
understand the basics of input with the SV203 or BrainStem controller, you
can add any number of sensors to your robot.

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Monday, May 12, 2003 4:33:33 PM