This repository contains firmware sources for the dsPIC30F6014A on the e-puck1 robot for use with the Pi-puck extension board.
See https://github.com/yorkrobotlab/pi-puck for more information on the Pi-puck, as well as compiled firmware HEX files and programming information.
The included bootloader project can be used to program the dsPIC so any further firmware can be uploaded directly from the Raspberry Pi, in a similar way to using the e-puck Bluetooth bootloader. See https://github.com/yorkrobotlab/pi-puck/blob/master/e-puck1/e-puck-program for more details. Note that R30/R31 must be removed from the Pi-puck board for this to work, which will disable the Bluetooth UART on the dsPIC.
The main purpose of the Pi-puck firmware is to provide an I2C interface for the Raspberry Pi to control the e-puck robot hardware. Additional functionality can be written into the dsPIC code, but the default assumption is that the majority of processing and control is to be performed by the Raspberry Pi, besides processing data into a format that is suitable for communication.
The firmware has been built and tested using Microchip MPLAB X IDE and XC16 compiler.
In addition to the base install, the "Legacy PIC24 MCU & dsPIC DSC Peripheral Library" must be installed from www.microchip.com/en554272.
The firmware exposes a number of 8-bit or 16-bit I2C registers at slave address 0x1f.
| Register | Length (bits) | Read/Write | Description | Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 8 | R/W | Outer ring of LEDs control | One bit per LED; order (high to low) 76543210 |
| 1 | 8 | R/W | Front and body LEDs control | One bit per LED; order (high to low) xxxxxxbf |
| 2 | 16 | R/W | Left motor velocity (steps per second) | Signed value; -1000 to 1000 |
| 3 | 16 | R/W | Right motor velocity (steps per second) | Signed value; -1000 to 1000 |
| 4 | 16 | RO | Left motor total steps count | Unsigned value; 0 to 65535 (overflows) |
| 5 | 16 | RO | Right motor total steps count | Unsigned value; 0 to 65535 (overflows) |
| 6 | 8 | R/W | IR sensors control; enable or disable measurements | Set bit 0 to 1 to enable, 0 to disable |
| 7-14 | 16 | RO | IR proximity (0-7); higher is closer | Unsigned value; 0 to 4095 |
| 15-22 | 16 | RO | IR ambient light (0-7); higher is brighter | Unsigned value; 0 to 4095 |
Unless otherwise specified, software is licensed under an MIT Licence.