Robot Control Basics

This document explains the fundamentals of controlling a robot using the robot Python library. It covers setup, timing, motor control, and common movement patterns.

Initialisation

Import the required libraries and create a Robot instance. The time library is used for delays and timing.

import robot
import time

R = robot.Robot()

Time

Many challenges require you to wait for a specific duration while something is happening, such as turning or driving forwards.

time.sleep(10)

The value passed to sleep is the number of seconds to wait.

Starting and stopping a timer

To measure elapsed time, use time.time() before and after an action.

import time

time_1 = time.time()
# insert action here
time_2 = time.time()

time_passed = time_2 - time_1
print(time_passed)

Motors

Motors are controlled by setting a power percentage. Positive values move forwards; negative values move backwards.

R.motors[0] = 60

Use R.motors[1] for the second motor. To stop the robot, set both motors to zero.

R.motors[0] = 0
R.motors[1] = 0

Turning is achieved by running one motor forwards and the other backwards.

import robot

R = robot.Robot()
R.motors[0] = 60
R.motors[1] = 68

Complete Example

The following program moves the robot forwards, backwards, left, and right for 10 seconds each.

import robot
import time

R = robot.Robot()

# Going forwards
R.motors[0] = 100
R.motors[1] = 100
time.sleep(10)

# Going backwards
R.motors[0] = -100
R.motors[1] = -100
time.sleep(10)

# Going left
R.motors[0] = -100
R.motors[1] = 100
time.sleep(10)

# Going right
R.motors[0] = 100
R.motors[1] = -100
time.sleep(10)