Node.js Macro Compiler for Sphero Robots

This is a node.js compiler for the command macros used by Sphero robots.

This package is intended to be used with the sphero-pwn node.js package. sphero-pwn is an independent effort from the official sphero.js project, and is less supported. At the same time, we are free to develop functionality that is unlikely to be added to the official project, such as driving a BB-8.

This project is written in CoffeeScript and tested using mocha.

Usage

macros = require('sphero-pwn-macros');
macro = macros.compile("rgb 255, 128, 0");
console.log(macro.bytes);
// [ 0, 7, 255, 128, 0, 0 ]

Macro Language

Comments follow the Ruby / CoffeeScript / Python convention. A comment starts with the character # and continues until the end of the line. There is no multi-line comment construct.

# This is a comment.

Commands are currently lowercased. Each command must be specified on its own line. The command's arguments can be separated by spaces and optional commas.

rgb 0 255 0    # Turn the RGB LED green.
delay 2000     # Wait for 2 seconds.
rgb 0, 0, 255  # Turn the RGB LED blue.
delay 2000     # Wait for 2 more seconds.

The compiler implements a simple form of variable substitution. Variable names start with $, and variables are assigned values with let. Keep in mind that the Spero macro language does not support variables, so the substitution is done statically, at compilation time.

let $red, 0
let $green, 255
let $blue, 0
rgb $red, $green, $blue  # Turn the RGB LED gren.
delay 2000               # Wait for 2 seconds.

let $blue $green
let $green $red
rgb $red, $green, $blue  # Turn the RGB LED blue
delay 2000               # Wait for 2 more seconds.

Macro flags can be set anywhere in the source code. However, a macro flag can be set at most once. The supported flags are listed here.

flag $exclusiveDrive 1
rgb 0 255 0    # Turn the RGB LED green.

flag $markerOnEnd, 1

Some commands accept built-in constants, which are syntactic sugar for constants with special meaning. Built-ins start with :. The inventory of available built-ins depends on the context that they are used in.

flag $markerOnEnd :on  # in the context of "flag", :on is 1, :off is 0
sleep :forever         # in the context of "sleep", :forever is 0

Optimizations

The PCD argument to commands is not exposed. Instead,the compiler automatically turns delay commands into PCD arguments whenever it is possible to do so. Remembering which commands accept a PCD argument is a job for computers, not for humans.

The following example compiles to a single command (Set RGB LED, bytecode 0x07) with a PCD argument.

rgb 0, 255, 0
delay 200       # This sets the PCD byte for the RGB command to 200.

In the example below, the delay argument is too big to fit into a PCD byte, so the compiler issues a separate delay command. Macro programmers should focus on specifying the desired behavior, and rely on the compiler to produce the best possible code.

rgb 0, 0, 255
delay 2000      # 2000 is too big for the PCD byte. A delay command is issued.

By the same token, the compiler does not expose a separate command that maps to the Roll2 bytecode. Instead, the compiler optimizes a roll command followed by a delay command into a Roll (bytecode 0x05) or Roll2 (bytecode 0x1D), depending on the delay argument.

Implemented Commands

The following table summarizes the table used by code generation.

| Name | Command | Arguments | |----------------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------------------| | end | End | none | | endstream | Stream End | none | | sysdelay | Set SD1, SD2 | register (1 or 2), delay (0 - 65535) | | stabilization | Set Stabilization | flag (:off is 0, :reset_on is 1, :on is 2) | | heading | Set Heading | heading (0 - 359) | | maxrotation | Set Rotation Rate | rate (0 - 255) | | roll | Roll, Roll2 | speed (0 - 255), heading (0 - 359) | | rgb | Set RGB LED | red, green, blue (0 - 255) | | backled | Set Back LED | power (0 - 255) | | motor | Send Raw Motor Commands | mode (0, 1, 2, 3, 4), power | | | | for mode, :off is 0, :forward is 1, | | | | :reverse is 2, :brake is 3, :ignore is 4 | | delay | Delay | time (0 - 65535) | | goto | Goto | macroId (0 - 255) | | gosub | Gosub | macroId (0 - 255) | | sleep | Sleep | time (:forever is 0, :api is 65535) | | sysspeed | Set SPD1, SPD2 | register (1 or 2), speed (0 - 65535) | | rgbfade | Fade to LED Over Time | red, green, blue (0 - 255), duration (0 - 65535) | | marker | Emit Marker | value (0 - 255; 0 is not recommended) | | waitforstop | Wait Until Stopped | timeout (0 - 65535) | | timedrotate | Rotate Over Time | angularSpeed (-32767 - 32767), time (0 - 65535) | | repeat | Loop Start | count (0 - 255) | | endrepeat | Loop End | none | | oncollision | Branch On Collision | macroId (0 - 255), :do_nothing is 0 | | speed | Set Speed | speed (0 - 255), :brake is 0 |

Development Setup

The unit tests that cover most of the compiler infrastructure can run on any computer that has node.js installed. The integration tests that verify the command table's correctness require a robot that can run orBasic.

At the time of this writing, the BB-8 does not run orBasic. The Sphero SPRK definitely supports orBasic. The BB-8 may never gain orBasic support, as the SPRK has an extra ARM core.

Install all the dependencies.

npm install

List the Bluetooth devices connected to your computer.

npm start

Set the SPHERO_DEV environment variable to point to your Sphero.

export SPHERO_DEV=serial:///dev/cu.Sphero-XXX-AMP-SPP
export SPHERO_DEV=ble://ef:80:a8:4a:12:34

Run the tests.

npm test

License

This project is Copyright (c) 2015 Victor Costan, and distributed under the MIT License.