Servo - September 2007

Beginner’s Guide to Programming: Lesson 3

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microcontroller is the smallest, but it packs quite a bit of power in that tiny package. It has analog inputs and runs at twice the speed of the Athena. The Nemesis is the flagship of the Athena line and allows you to perform inline assembly language, so it’s a perfect way to take the next step in programming. All three chips use the Basic language featured in Lessons 1, 2, and 3.

In order to program the chips, you need an RS-232 driver in order to interface the chip to your PC. There are application notes on the Kronos Robotics website at www.kronos robotics.com that show you how to build one from scratch. You can also purchase an EZRS232 driver shown in Figure 18 for under $10.

You have the choice of using the chips on a breadboard or prototype board or you can use one of the many carrier boards available from Kronos Robotics. The smaller carriers (like the ones shown in Figure 19) are great for small, dedicated robot projects. The Athena WorkBoard Deluxe shown in Figure 20 can be used with any of these chips and includes a breadboard, program interface, and power supply.

If you do decide to program an actual microcontroller, you can start by running through the lessons I presented, or you can follow the tutorial included with the compiler download. Make sure you visit the Kronos Robotics website for various tutorials and application notes. You

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will find that we have not even scratched the surface of all the available commands; many are designed to interface with other devices or sensors.

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Summary

Final Lesson Questions

1) Create a program using the Branch command that will take a value from 0 to 3 and convert that to 0, 21, 22, and 23, respectively, into a variable named res.

2) Create a program using the LookUp command that will take a value from 0 to 3 and convert that to 0, 21, 22, and 23, respectively, into a variable named res.