sparki-learning 1.2.0

library to implement the Myro API with the Sparki robot

This project implements libraries for the Sparki robot <http://arcbotics.com/products/sparki/> to work through Python over a Bluetooth connection. It is intended to help educators who are teaching using the Sparki and/or Python.

Conceptually, the library which is loaded on the robot is simply an interpreter for commands the Sparki receives over its Serial1 (Bluetooth) port. You could implement a complementary library on any platform that you like to send the commands. In this case, I have implemented a library in Python which makes use of the pyserial library to send those commands. The library on the Sparki does not implement all the commands available on the Sparki. Specifically, there are several LCD commands which I have been unable to fit into the Sparki’s memory. As of version 1.0.0 of the Sparki library, it consumes 28,650 bytes of the 28,672 bytes available on the little robot (version 1.1.1 is down to 27,564 with more features!). Perhaps programmers more skilled than I can fit more on there.

The Python part of the library implements much of the IPRE (Institute for Personal Robotics in Education <http://www.roboteducation.org/>) Myro API (API reference at <http://calicoproject.org/Calico_Myro>). This API was originally chosen because the original author of this project taught (or teaches, depending on when you read this) a class making use of that program. A free textbook exists to teach that program may be found at <http://calicoproject.org/Learning_Computing_With_Robots_Using_Calico_Python>. The Python library here does not implement all of that library – in particular, anything having to do with the camera cannot be implemented on Sparki because Sparki does not have that hardware.