TeachVal II
Abstract
The TeachMover robot
arm is a microprocessor controlled, six jointed mechanical arm designed
to
provide an unusual combination of dexterity and low cost. The software
shipped
with the robot is written in BASIC and is very limited and difficult to
use. A
fully Java based implementation was written that supports the original
TeachVAL
commands as well as extending the capabilities of the original
software. This
new implementation runs in its own environment, where editing,
compilation and
execution are performed under an intuitive GUI. The new software uses
the full
power of Java including all control structures and programming methods
allowing
more freedom, while developing maintainable programs. Future work
involves the
implementation of a Virtual Programming environment, and extensions to
include
other robotic arm platforms.
Why?
That is the question. Well, the original software was crap, and an
update was needed. The Microbots are functional hardware but suffer
from outdated software. Part of the motivation for this project was to
update the software to be compliant with modern computer systems and
provide an interface language which is currently popular. Hence Java.
Micheal Piskaric did an excellent job with the new software, breathing
new life into otherwise robotic arms which can accurately be classified
as dinosaurs.
The manual for TeachVal II is the project submission. This manual
describes the basic motivation,
installation, functionality and
usage of the software. The software consists of 2 jar files which
provide the communications and command support for the robot. You may
download the compiled classes and install as per the installation
instructions provided in the manual. Included as well is the source
code for all classes. If you wish to compile and/or modify this code
then please do.
Licence and Legal Stuff
Licence has been granted as open source. The user may modify the
code as they see fit provided proper ackknowledgement remains in the
source and any compiled version recognizing the original authors:
Micheal Piskeric and David Bockus of Brock University - Computer
Science, Ontario Canada. Revisions of the code are incouraged to expand
the usage beyond the robotic arm. Revisions may be posted and
maintained at this website. Under no circumstances shall any part of
this code be incorporated into any commercial product for profit.
Downloads
Manual (last updated Oct 11 05)
Executable Archives ( Windows 2K, XP,
last updated Oct 11 05 )
Source (last updated Oct 11
05), Contains the complete project as submitted by Micheal.
Installation Issues
Later versions of the Java JDK do not update the path variable. Thus
the following will need to be done in order for TeachVal to find the
compiler.
- After having installed the JDK on a clean system, TeachVal
produces an error "Some Sort of
error in Compiling"
- Problem, the current java jdk installation does not add itself to
the executable path. Hence trying to run the java compiler from a
command line setting will not work since it is not in the executable
path. Otherwise, even though installed TeachVal can't find the compiler
because the "path" variable was not updated.
- Solution is to add the JDK to the path which is an environment
variable within windows. You can google this which will tell you how to
update the environment via windows so it is visible to all command line
programs.
- A more straight forward fix which will only benefit TeachVal is
as follows: The solution I used was to add another line into the
Teachval.bat file which temporarily would set the java path so Teachval
can find the compiler. Now depending on the version of the JDK you
installed the installation directory will be something like this.
- C:\Program
Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_13\bin
- where the bin directory contains the java compiler i.e. javac.
- Note: the jdk version number is part of the path and will differ
depending on which minor version of the jdk was installed. You can
check this by going into the program file directory and seeing the
exact path of the jdk. That said, edit the Teachval.bat startup file to
look like:
- echo on
- cls
- echo Running TeachVAL II...
- set path=%path%;C:\Program
Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_13\bin
- java -classpath
comm.jar;Robot.jar;TeachVAL TeachVAL
- cls
- exit
- I have tested this fix, and compiled the template file, without
any problems. Important be sure you get the spacing correct for:
- set path=%path%;C:\Program
Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_13\bin
- This is the only line you will need to add.
Contact Info
Dave Bockus - Brock University
Computer Science, 500 Glenridge Ave. St.Catharines Ont. Canada, L2S 3A1
Micheal Piskeric