App Controller

Introduction

This document provides documentation for the Robot Controller, a Python-based system that translates incoming WebSocket commands into robot-readable motor data, subsequently sent using TCP communication. The system is modularized into four main components: AppControlHandler, TCPController, DataHandler, WebSocketController, and a fifth component, BetterPrinting, which provides a set of printing functions to enhance the readability of terminal output. These printing functions offer options for cleaner and more organized terminal messages, including informational, debugging, and error messages.

Components

  1. appControlHandler (appControlHandler.py):
    • This module initializes and manages the main control logic of the robot.
    • It establishes connections, handles motor control, and manages various functionalities such as driving, spinning, and lightbar control.
  2. betterPrinting (betterPrinting.py):
    • A utility module providing enhanced printing with colored output for information, debugging, and error messages.
    • It is used to improve the readability of log messages in the console.
  3. tcpController (tcpController.py):
    • Manages the TCP connection to the robot.
    • Sends JSON data to the robot for motor control, lightbar control, and buzzer control.
    • Handles connection errors and supports automatic reconnection.
  4. dataHandler (dataHandler.py):
    • Processes incoming data from various sources (stop flags, buzzer commands, lightbar commands, and direction commands).
    • Translates incoming data into corresponding robot control commands.
    • Utilizes the BetterPrinting class for improved console output.
  5. websocketController (websocketController.py):
    • Manages a WebSocket server for real-time communication with clients.
    • Handles incoming data from clients and delegates the processing to the dataHandler.
    • Utilizes asynchronous features for concurrent handling of WebSocket connections.

Usage

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.x

Installation

  1. Clone the repository:

    git clone [repository_url]

  2. Install dependencies:

    pip install -r requirements.txt

Running the System

  1. Run the main control handler script:

    python3 appControlHandler.py [tcp_ip] [tcp_port] [web_ip] [web_port] [info_print] [debug_print] [error_print]

    Example:

    python3 appControlHandler.py 192.168.1.1 5000 192.168.1.1 8080 True True True

    Replace the arguments with the appropriate values.

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