Getting started#

The following instructions will guide through running the default remote control example in your DotBot board. You will flash the 03app_dotbot_gateway application on an nRF DK board (nRF52833-DK, nRF52840-DK or nRF5340-DK) that will act as the remote control and you will flash the 03app_dotbot application on the DotBot (v1 or v2).

Materials#

  • 1x DotBot board

  • 1x nRF52833-DK or nRF52840-DK or nRF5340-DK development board

  • 1x 10pin IDC programming cable

  • 1x micro USB able

Flashing Tools#

All DotBots and DKs are based on Nordic Semiconductors microcontrollers, so we recommend that you use Nordic programming tools to flash the firmwares:

In this document, we will give instructions about how to flash using nrfjprog from nRF Command Line Tools, so make sure it’s installed on your computer before continuing.

Download and flash the DotBot gateway application firmware#

  1. Download the latest release of the DotBot Gateway firmware (.hex file), depending on the type of DK you use:

  1. Connect the nRF DK board to your computer through the micro USB cable

nRF DK connected to a computer with a micro USB cable

  1. Flash the firmware(s) on the DK. Depending on your type of DK board, do:

  • for nrf52 based DK, run:

nrfjprog --family NRF52 --debugreset --sectorerase --program <path to 03app_dotbot_gateway hex file>

  • for nrf53 based DK, flash both the application and network cores with the following 2 commands:

nrfjprog --family NRF53 --debugreset --sectorerase --program <path to 03app_dotbot_gateway-nrf5340dk-app hex file>
nrfjprog --family NRF53 --coprocessor CP_NETWORK --debugreset --sectorerase --program <path to 03app_nrf5340_net hex file>

  1. After flashing the firmware LED1 blinks during one second to indicate that everything is working as expected.

Download and flash the DotBot application firmware#

  1. Download the latest release of the DotBot firmware (.hex file), depending on the version of DotBot you use:

  1. Connect the nRF DK board to your computer through the micro USB cable

nRF DK connected to a computer with a micro USB cable

  1. Connect the nRF DK to the DotBot through the 10 pin IDC cable. Make sure the DotBot is turned ON and has full batteries installed

DotBot connected to the nrF-DK through the 10pin IDC cable

  1. Flash the firmware(s) on the DotBot. Depending on your DotBot version, do:

  • for v1.x (nrf52 based), run:

nrfjprog --family NRF52 --debugreset --sectorerase --program <path to the hex file>

  • for v2.x (nrf53 based), flash both the application and network cores with the following 2 commands:

nrfjprog --family NRF53 --debugreset --sectorerase --program <path to dotbot-v2 hex file>
nrfjprog --family NRF53 --coprocessor CP_NETWORK --debugreset --sectorerase --program <path to 03app_nrf5340_net hex file>

  1. Disconnect the DotBot from the nRF DK

Play with the DotBot#

dotbot app demo

At this point you should be able to control the movement of the DotBot using the buttons on the nRF DK, the controls are as follows:

  • Button 1: Left wheel moves forward

  • Button 2: Right wheel moves forward

  • Button 3: Left wheel moves backward

  • Button 4: Right wheel moves backward

You can combine buttons 1 & 2 to move the DotBot straight forward, buttons 3 & 4 to move the DotBot backward, etc.