Controller Interface

Reference for the OctoMY™ controller abstraction layer that communicates with robot hardware.

Design Note

The IController interface abstracts away hardware differences so your Plans and Lobes work identically whether you're using an Arduino Uno, Arduino Mega, or Servotor32 board. The simplest controller only needs to support a few actuators - sensors, lobes, and advanced features are all opt-in.

Overview

The controller hardware stack in OctoMY™ is composed as follows:

The controller hardware can vary. Implementation only requires that the driver software in Agent implements the IController interface.

IController Interface

The IController interface supports the following feature areas:

The simplest controller only supports a few actuators with no sensors or processing. Features are opt-in.

General interface

Controller identification

class IController {
public:
    // Identity
    QString controllerTitle() const;
    QString controllerDescription() const;
    QString controllerIcon() const;
    QString controllerVersion();
};

Debug mode

class IController {
public:
    bool isDebug();
    void setDebug(bool debug);
};

Configuration widget

class IController {
public:
    // UI for configuring this controller
    bool hasConfigurationWidget() const;
    QWidget* configurationWidget();
};

Serial interface

class IController {
public:
    bool usesSerial() const;
    void setSerialDevice(QSerialPort& port);
};

Configuration processing

class IController {
public:
    // Load/store internal configuration
    QVariantMap configuration();
    void setConfiguration(const QVariantMap& map);

signals:
    void configurationChanged();
};

Connection management

class IController {
public:
    void setConnected(bool connected);
    bool isConnected();
};

Controller handle subsystem

The controller handle subsystem adds per-actuator management:

Future features

Controller types

ArduMY controller

The default OctoMY™ controller using Arduino hardware:

{
  "type": "ardumy",
  "actuators": [
    {"id": 0, "type": "DC_MOTOR", "name": "Left"},
    {"id": 1, "type": "DC_MOTOR", "name": "Right"}
  ]
}

See: ArduMY Reference

Servotor32 controller

Support for Servotor32 servo controller boards:

{
  "type": "servotor32",
  "actuators": [
    {"id": 0, "type": "SERVO", "name": "Pan"},
    {"id": 1, "type": "SERVO", "name": "Tilt"}
  ]
}

User inputs

User inputs are artificial sensor-like values generated from the OctoMY™ user interface.

Example

A GUI presents a car steering wheel and throttle. When the user interacts using touch:

• Steering angle is generated and streamed to controller
• Throttle position is generated and streamed to controller

User input classification

Sample rate

How often is the input sampled? Usually limited by GUI refresh rate and/or input devices.

Latency and stability are limited by UI engine performance.

Sample acquisition

Configuration sections

Controller section (Plan)

{
  "type": "ardumy",
  "actuators": [/* actuator list */]
}

Actuator reference section

{
  "controller": "main",
  "actuator": "throttle",
  "flags": ["reverse"]
}

Lobe section

{
  "type": "wheeled",
  "throttle": {"controller": "main", "actuator": "throttle"},
  "steering": {"controller": "main", "actuator": "steering"}
}

Wheeled lobe

Legged lobe

Puppet and pose

Puppet section

{
  "actuators": [/* puppet actuator list */]
}

Pose section

{
  "puppet": "main_puppet",
  "values": [
    {"id": 0, "mode": "move", "value": 90},
    {"id": 1, "mode": "limp"},
    {"id": 2, "mode": "freeze"}
  ]
}

Animation section

{
  "poses": [
    {"time_ns": 0, "pose": "start"},
    {"time_ns": 1000000000, "pose": "middle"},
    {"time_ns": 2000000000, "pose": "end"}
  ]
}

Animations are sequences of poses with nanosecond timestamps. Only poses for one puppet are allowed per animation.