Mac Os X Roomba App

Posted on by admin

Roomba Tilt Control with MacBook & Perl

This project shows you how to use the built-in tilt sensors of the MacBook to control a Roomba. Since Perl hasn’t been used to program a Roomba yet, it seemed like a fun task to show that it could be done (and pretty easily too).

. Reported to be available on Mac’s newest OS — Big Sur. Cons of Leech:. Some users complain that Leech does not offer enough options when it comes to setting up “rules” for your downloads. Supported OS: MacOS. Conclusion: If you’re looking for a pared down OS X download manager, this could be a good choice for you. Mac OS 8 is now available as an app for macOS, Windows, and Linux, reports The Verge. Slack developer Felix Rieseberg has transformed Mac OS 8 into a single downloadable app for modern macOS.


(revver link)

Application

Download it

You only need two bits of software not already on your Mac:
– AMSTracker
– roomba-tilt.pl
Download them both, put them both in your PATH and try it out. But first you might want to read on to see how it works.

Measuring Tilt

Apple MacBooks have integrated 3-axis accelerometer called the Sudden Motion Sensor (SMS, previously Apple Motion Sensor, AMS). Normally this is used to detect when the laptop is dropped so it can shut down the hard drive to prevent damage. But the SMS can be accessed programmatically and used to measure tilt.

Amit Singh has a wonderful book out called Mac OS X Internals where he goes into great detail about the SMS. Hp 430 laptop bluetooth drivers windows 7 free download. He’s also created several programs that use the accelerometer data. The one used in this project is the command-line program AMSTracker.

When AMSTracker is run, it outputs three columns of numbers, one for each axis of accelerometer data. AMSTracker can also be run in a “scrolling” mode where it outputs new data periodically. This is the mode used in this project. The output then looks like:

It’s easy for Perl to parse such stuff. The regex to get those three values is “/(-?d+)s+(-?d+)s+(-?d+)/“.

Controlling the Roomba from Perl

On Mac OS X, like other Unixes, serial ports appear as ordinary files. And just like any other files, they can be read from and written to. Perl’s whole reason for being is reading and writing files so it’ll be a snap for it.

But wait, how do we set the serial parameters like baud rate and so on? Files don’t have these kinds of attributes. That’s where the program “stty” comes in. Stty sets the various options on a “terminal device” (aka serial port). Figuring out the magic stty incantation needed to let the serial port work with the Roomba is laborious so will just be presented here:

This command is issued by the “roomba_init()” function in the Perl script before it opens the “file” that is the serial port.

Once the port/file is open, functions like “roomba_drive()” and “roomba_stop()“in the script just print to the open file descriptor. If you wanted to read the sensors, you would read from the file descriptor.

Converting Tilt Data to Roomba Commands

The tilt data is essentially two numbers that vary between -127 and +127. One number corresponds to back-n-forth tilt motion of the laptop while the other corresponds to left-right tilt. A simple linear function can convert between the tilt data space and the velocity/radius space the Roomba expects. This is the ‘proportional’ mode of operation, where the degree of tilt affects the speed or angle of the Roomba.

Mac Os X Roomba Applications

The code implements two special cases of proportional control to make it easier to use:
– if laptop is flat (in the deadzone), send “roomba_stop()”
– if only tilted left-right, send “roomba_spinleft()” or “roomba_spinright()“.

Another mode called “fourway” or “d-pad” mode turns the tilt data into a four-state switch: forward, backward, spinleft, spinright, sort of like an old Nintendo D-pad controller. It does this by defining a “deadzone” in the center and only if you tilt in one direct enough to escape this zone does it count as a valid motion. In this mode, controlling the Roomba is easier but you can’t get as precise of positioning.

Usage

To use roomba-tilt.pl, the only required argument is the path to the serial port the Roomba is connected to. This serial can either be a RS-232 serial tether or a Bluetooth adapter as shown in the video. The full usage is:

Running it in verbose mode is interesting because you can see the data sent from AMSTracker and the drive commands sent to the Roomba.

Issues and Improvements

As you play with AMSTracker or roomba-tilt.pl, you’ll see how the tilt data will flop from +/-127 to -/+127. In roomba-tilt.pl, this causes the Roomba to go from making hard left to a hard right (or vice versa). The code currently doesn’t attempt to smooth the data to eliminate these jumps. You could write a filter that does a little analysis on the data and if it does something unexpected (like the jump), it calms the data down before sending it to the Roomba.

22 comments

Download Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2 free latest version standalone DMG image offline setup for Macintosh. Mac OS X Lion 10.7 is a stable operating system with different improvements and enhancements.

Mac Os X Roomba Application

Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2 Review

Among different Mac OS X releases, Mac OS X Lion is a widely used operating system. Providing stability, security and better compatibility features. With iCloud support, the users can easily synchronize data and get numerous cloud features. Store data on the cloud and get instant access to the content from anywhere.

A sleeker and interactive user interface provides more comfort to the users to perform daily tasks. Additionally, various enhancements in the OS makes it a better environment than the previous release. The iCloud is able to store the contacts, emails, calendars, bookmarks and other data. Moreover, it provides a remote access to the Mac from another Mac using the internet so the users can get access to the data from anywhere are well as easily share the data when needed.

Features of Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2

  • Powerful and stable Mac OS X release
  • Provides latest iCloud features
  • Store calendars, contacts, emails, Safari bookmarks, and more
  • Wirelessly store the content to the cloud and get instant access
  • Remote access features to get access to Mac from another MAC
  • Remotely lock the MAC or wipe the data
  • Desktop reordering features with Mission Control
  • Drag the files between the desktop spaces and apps
  • VoiceOver compatibility improvements with Launchpad
  • Active Directory Integration improvements
  • Numerous enhancements and fixes

Technical Details of Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2

  • File Name: Mac.OSX.Lion.10.7.2.dmg
  • File Size: 3.5 GB
  • Developer: Apple

System Requirements for Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2

  • 7 GB free HDD
  • 2 GB RAM
  • Intel Core 2 Duo Processor

Mac Os X Roomba Apps

Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2 Free Download

Mac Os X Roomba App Download

Download Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2 latest version free standalone offline DMG image installer by clicking the below button. You can also Mac OSX Lion v10.7.4