Autonomous Systems Lab at the University of Sussex

- Sussex University Home Page - COGS Home Page - EASy Home Page -

HOME

- Home - Resources - Robot Gallery - Projects - Links -

Hardware: -	The Controller - Sensors - Actuators - IO devices - Controller in-depth -
Software: -	Library Functions - Commands - Compiling and Uploading - Using P-Term - Examples -
Examples: -	Braitenberg Tutorial - Using the Sharp IR rangefinders -


LEGO Robot Resources	Using P-Term

P-Term is a terminal emulation application that allows you to communicate with the robot controller. You can find P-Term by going into the start menu, into All Programmes and then Comms and Security. Once you start P-Term running you will need to set it up to communicate with the controller. Go into the Target menu and click on Settings:

You need to change two settings in the dialogue box. First set it to COM2 in the Port menu, then choose 19200 in the Baud menu. Then click OK.

Now you can connect to the controller. First make sure the programming cable is connected from the PC to the RS232 connector on the controller. Next choose connect in the target menu or click on the connect button (the lightning fork!).
Next you will need to switch on the controller. If there is already a programe loaded then it will normally boot straight up and run this programe. What you want is to force the controller to boot up into debug mode and to do this you should hold down the RETURN key on the keyboard and then press RESET on the controller. You will, a few seconds after you release RESET, see the CPU32Bug prompt appear and you can let go of the RETURN key.
To download software you must first point the P-Term application to the file you want to download. Use the Choose File option in the Target menu. P-Term will remember the location of the file so you only have to do this once.
Before downloading the file you need to erase the memory on the controller. In the P-Term window type: ef This will erase the flash ROM and then, once the CPU32Bug prompt has reappeared you can then type: lo and then press ENTER. The controller will now wait for you to send the file, which you can do by choosing Send File from the Target menu, or by clicking the Send File button. Once the file has been sent you will see the CPU32Bug prompt again and you can then press RESET to start your programe running.

Copyright Sussex University 2002
Maintained by wb23@sussex.ac.uk