Welcome to the Pixy Battle!
More information can be found on the official website.
If you want to return your PixyBot to its default settings, use one of the following methods:
The easiest way to reset your PixyBot is to use one of the PiBakery recipes provided under the recipes directory.
Download and run PiBakery and import the appropriate recipe. You can customize the recipe before flashing your SD card. If you plan to use wifi, you should customize the settings (e.g. fill in the password), but it's best to use an ethernet connection with no wifi (as shown in Pixy_Pi_Recipe_NoWifi.xml) because the install downloads a lot of packages, and it may be slower over wifi.
Insert your PixyBot's SD card into your SD card writer and click "Write".
Once the card is written, you can insert it back into the PixyBot and boot it up. The install can take up to an hour to download and install all the necessary libraries. If it is interrupted before completion, you can re-run the first boot script like this:
$ sudo /boot/PiBakery/firstBoot.sh
If you run into any trouble, the /boot/PiBakery directory also contains logs which can explain what went wrong.
With this alternative method, you will perform the installation steps manually. This has the benefit of being able to check at each step to make sure everything has gone smoothly, as well as being a chance to get familiar with all the dependencies and libraries.
Start by downloading the NOOBS image and copying it to the SD card. TO format the SD card, you can use utilities built into your operating system, or download a tool like SD Formatter.
Once the SD card is ready, insert it into the Raspberry Pi, and connect an HDMI cable, a keyboard, and a laptop. Then connect a power cable to boot the Pi. The adapter should be capable of at least 2A @ 5V.
Open a terminal window and type the following command to download and install the necessary system packages:
$ sudo apt-get install git libusb-1.0-0-dev \
qt4-dev-tools g++ libboost-all-dev cmake swig
$ git clone https://github.com/WomensCodingCircle/pixybattle.git
This will download and build all the required libraries, and install them in the appropriate locations.
$ cd pixybattle
$ ./install.sh
We recommend enabling SSH, so that you can connect to the Pi remotely:
- Enter
sudo raspi-configin a terminal window - Select Interfacing Options
- Navigate to and select SSH
- Choose Yes
- Select Ok
- Choose Finish
If you have a Macbook, you can now connect directly to the Pi with an ethernet cable, and then run ssh from Terminal:
$ ssh pi@raspberrypi.local
Other operating systems require some extra effort.
In order to assign color signatures for the PixyCam to recognize, you must use a utility called PixyMon. To run this utility, connect an HDMI monitor, keyboard, and mouse to the Raspberry Pi and log into the GUI environment. If you followed all the setup steps above, you should see a shortcut to PixyMon on your desktop.
Once the initial set up is complete, you should be able to run any of the scripts provided in src/python:
- racer.py - this is the basic line-following racer code from 2016's Pixy Race
- circle.py - randomly roams about around and pauses for 5 seconds each time it gets hit with an opposing IR gun
- lasertag.py - follows Pixy's signature #1 (as set in PixyMon) and tries to fire the IR gun every second
You must run these scripts as root (i.e. using sudo), for example:
$ cd ~/pixybattle/src/python
$ sudo python lasertag.py
The targets communicate over a serial protocol. To execute commands on the target, plug it into a USB port and then open a connection using a serial communication program. There are several options, depending on your operating system. In either case you should install the drivers first:
- Install Arduino IDE
- Install Teensyduino
At this point, you can try using the Serial Monitor built into Arduino IDE, or you can use a dedicated RS232 terminal:
Open Arduino IDE, and make the following selections in the menus: Tools->Board->Teensy 3.2 Tools->USB Type->Serial Tools->Port->(choose Teensy port)
When you type HELP you should get this response from the Target:
Monitor communications:
TX:
NEUTRAL,<LEFT/RIGHT> --> when going to default (green)
HIT,<RED/BLUE,<LEFT/RIGHT> --> when getting 1st or 2nd hit
<RED/BLUE>:#1st hits,#2nd hits,#final --> upon receiving 'SCORE' command
RX:
START --> starts the game
STOP --> stops the game
SCORE --> sends total hit counts
TEST_RED --> sets both sides to red
TEST_BLUE --> sets both sides to blue
TEST_GREEN --> sets both sides to green
TEST_RED_BLUE --> sets one side to red, one side to blue
RESET --> reset target (ready to receive 'START')
HELP --> list of commands
Termite will also work for serial communication. After running it, click on Settings and then select the Port that your Target is connected to. You should also change Transmitted text to "Append CR-LF".
On Macs, you can open the default Terminal program and then type:
$ ls -l /dev/cu.usb*
This will show your current USB devices. Identify the one which represents your connected Target and then type, for example:
$ screen -L /dev/cu.usbmodem2863271 115200
This is usually due to power issues. If you are running off batteries, make sure they are not drained. If you have power plugged into the micro USB port, make sure that it is capable of supplying 5V @ 2A. Do not plug the Pi into a regular USB data port.
After booting, open a terminal (or ssh) and type:
$ more /boot/PiBakery/firstboot.log
This will show you a log of what happened during the first boot, during which PiBakery should have installed all the software and made the configuration setting changes.
If you'd like to run the PiBakery first boot script again, you can do so like this:
$ sudo cp /boot/PiBakery/firstBoot.sh /boot/PiBakery/nextBoot.sh
This will force the setup commands to run again on your next boot.
This might be due to the package site having problems. You can try a mirror by editing the sources file:
$ vi /etc/apt/sources.list
Now change the URL in the line beginning with "deb" to another package site found in the mirror list.