Commands can easily be sent to the IRCF360 from your robot controller or PC/MAC via the RS232 interface or any pin that can be programmed as a serial connection using software The IRCF communicates at 9600 baud, no parity, 1 stop bit (see -> background to serial interfacing).
Commands - Quick Reference
| Command Code | Mode Name | Short Description |
| Demo Mode | Triggers a demo mode of the 360 infrared proximity sensing routine | By bridging both 'touch whisker' pins (to ground) before power-up, the IRCF360 will trigger a demo mode where the 360 infrared proximity sensing routine (same as command 030). ASCII delimited output will be sent to the serial port with proximity information of all 8 directions. The command is used when proximity information is required to be sent to a PC and where data is logged for analysis or displayed on an specific PC application such as a radar screen. |
| 010 BYTE1 = 10 (the command) BYTE2 = 0 BYTE3 = 0 BYTE4 = 0 | Serial interface handshaking control command | This command will turn on an echo of each command sent to the IRCF360 via the serial port. It acts as an acknowledgeable (ACK) to the robot controller and confirms that the IRCF360 has received the command. This is useful for certain slower micro-controllers where the baud rate may be quite slow and the command can be resent after a period of time. |
| 011 BYTE1 = 11 (the command) BYTE2 = 0 BYTE3= 0 BYTE4 = 0 | Circular display routine on/off | After the IRCF360 receives a command and executes the command it will return a circular display pattern known as ping-pong will be displayed. This is useful to see when a command is finished and when the IRCF360 is ready to receive a new command. However, when many commands need to be sent in succession turning the ping-pong off enables a rapid succession of commands to be sent without waiting for the ping-pong routine to finish. |
| 020 BYTE1 = 20 (the command) BYTE2 = Button Code BYTE3 = Device Code BYTE4 = 0 or 255 (Freewheel) | Transmit Sony SIRC infrared command on all 8 IR LED's (360 degrees) | Transmits a Sony (SIRC 12-bit ) Infrared command from both IR LED’s. Any combination of device code+ button code can be transmitted. This is used for transmitting IR signals or message to other robots for gaming or swarm control or to other IR devices that can interpret Sony the 12bit SIRC standard IR messages, such as some cameras, televisions, etc. |
| 022 BYTE1 = 22 (the command) BYTE2 = Button Code BYTE3 = Device Code BYTE4 = An index determining which IR LED to send the message from | Transmit Sony SIRC infrared command on any 1 IR LED | Similar to command 020 but this command allows any one designated IR LED to send the message in one direction (rather than sending to all 8 IRLED in all directions) . Any combination of device code + button code can be transmitted. This command is particular useful for:
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| 023 BYTE1 = 23 (the command) BYTE2 = Button Code BYTE3 = Device Code BYTE4 = An index from 0 to 7 to determining which IR LED to send the message | Transmit Sony SIRC infrared command on any 1 IR LED | Similar to command 022 but will automatically repeat the command without needing to resend the command. To exit just send a new command. |
| 024 BYTE1 = 24 (the command) BYTE2 = Button Code BYTE3 = Device Code BYTE4 = An index from 0 to 7 to determining which IR LED to send the message | Listen for / Receive Sony Infrared Messages | Receive Sony (SIRC) IR remote control commands and output the results to the RS232 port as two-bytes data (device code & button code) either in decimal, ascii or ascii delimited format. This is can be used for receiving IR signals from other IRCF360 modules or remote control devices to control your robot or PC remotely. The IRCF360 will listen for Sony (SIRC 12-bit) IR messages. The returned data from the IRCF360 consists of two bytes, the 'Device' byte containing the type of remote used. i.e. TV, Video etc, and the 'Command byte' containing the actual button value pressed. The order of the bytes is Command (low byte) then System (high byte). |
| 030 BYTE2 = Sensitivity Zone (default 10us ) BYTE3: 01 = Decimal BYTE3: 02 = Ascii BYTE3: 03 = Ascii Delimited BYTE4: 255 =Continuous | 360 Degree Infrared Proximity sensing | Proximity sensing in 360 degrees. All 8 IR transmitters are interpreted for proximity information. Byte 2 determines the sensitivity of the readings. This is useful when filtering of objects at certain distances need to be made or when other robots need to be followed. The value indicates the pulse width frequency of the infrared signal and influences the sensitivity of the IR receiver. The peak sensitivity frequency of the infrared receiver is 38KHz (see notes). The default value is 10 which gives best readings for small robots where proximity sensing is within 100mm. This value also reduces and ground interference. The values between 9-12 should be entered-. If 0 is entered then the default value of 10us us used. Experimentation with different values should take place to see what works best with your own robot. Byte 3 determines the output format, either decimal, ASCII or ASCII delimited. Byte 4 determines whether the scanning should stop (0) after one loop or continue (255). 8 raw bytes of serial data (proximity information) are transmitted to the serial port. Values from 0 to 100 are returned for each direction starting with the N (north) direction and then NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW. In total 8 bytes of data are returned. each byte depicting the reading in each direction. The command can be used for:
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| 032 BYTE2 = INDEX 0-7 (determines which IR LED to fire. 0= North IR LED, 1=NE, etc) BYTE3: 01 = Decimal Output BYTE3: 02 = Ascii BYTE3: 03 = Ascii Delimited BYTE4: 0 = One Shot, 255 = Continuos | Infrared Proximity sensing in a specified direction | Same as command 030, but proximity sensing takes place in one specified direction as defined by Byte 2. 1 byte of serial data (proximity information) is transmitted to the serial port. This command is used for detecting obstacle in the direction the robot is travelling. For example when travelling forward only the N, NE, NW directions need to be probed for objects. This reduces the volume of data that need to be processed. |
| 040 BYTE1 = 40 (the command) BYTE 2 = INDEX 0-7 e.g 0=North, 2=East, 4=South, etc BYTE3 = Duration in MS (default 200ms) BYTE4: 0 = One Shot, 255 = Continuous | Illuminate an LED on the circular display for a specified period | Will illuminate one LED on the circular display for a specified time or continuously. The command is used to enable the robot controller to give visual feedback:
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| 050 BYTE1: 50 = (the command) BYTE2 = LED Display Trigger BYTE3: 01 = Decimal Output BYTE3: 02 = Ascii Output BYTE3: 03 = Ascii Delimited BYTE4: 0= One Shot, 255 = Continuous | Light Sensing | Measures the left and right ambient light levels and outputs the results as two words of data. The circular display illuminates on depending whether left or right side is brighter. |
| 070 BYTE1: 70 = (the command) BYTE2: 0 = Fade Speed= default of 100 ms BYTE3: 0= No Function BYTE4: 0= One Shot, 255 = Continuous | Circular LED display routine- fade-up and fade-down | Will trigger the Circular LED to fade up and down. It is used as a visual indicator and to give an indication of a specific state or mood. A heart beat pattern would be Byte 2= 300, 300, 100 |
| 072 BYTE1: 72 = (the command) BYTE2: 0 = Fade Speed= default of 100 ms BYTE3: INDEX BYTE4: 0= One Shot, 255 = Continuous | Illuminates ONE LED on the circular LED display to fade-up and fade-down. Speed = (BYTE2) | Will trigger one designate LED on the Circular LED display to fade up and down. The variable FADE_SPEED needs to be set. Enter 0 for default speed of 100. This effects total time of the fade period. For example, if a value of 1 is entered, then there will be 2500us/BYTE2 per total fade period |
| 076 BYTE1: 76 = (the command) BYTE2: 0 = Fade Speed= default of 100 ms BYTE3: 0= no function BYTE4: 0= One Shot, 255 = Continuous | Circular LED display routine - pingpong | Will trigger a pattern on the circular display and turn on one LED at a time in a clockwise and then in an anticlockwise direction in a 'ping-pong' fashion. It is used as a visual indicator and to give an indication of a specific state or mood.The speed is determined by BYTE2 which as a default value of 100ms |
| 077 BYTE1: 77 = (the command) BYTE2: 0 = Fade Speed= default of 100 ms BYTE3: 0= no function BYTE4: 0= One Shot, 255 = Continuous | Circular LED display routine -rotate clockwise | Will illuminate one LED in turn in a clockwise direction. The command will stop after one cycle unless Byte 4 is set to 255. It is used as a visual indicator and to give an indication of a specific state or mood. Could be used with other LED display routines to give special meanings. The speed is determined by Byte2 where default is 100ms |
| 078 BYTE1: 78 = (the command) BYTE2: 0 = Fade Speed= default of 100 ms BYTE3: 0= no function BYTE4: 0= One Shot, 255 = Continuous | Circular LED display routine -rotate anti-clockwise | Will illuminate one LED in turn in an anti-clockwise direction. It starts with the North LED. The command will stop after one cycle unless Byte 4 is set to 255. It is used as a visual indicator and to give an indication of a specific state or mood. Could be used with other LED display routines to give special meanings. The speed is determined by Byte2 where default is 100ms |
| 079 BYTE1: 78 = (the command) BYTE2: 0 = Fade Speed= default of 100 ms BYTE3: 0= no function BYTE4: 0= One Shot, 255 = Continuous | Circular LED display routine -Swipe | Starting from north LED LED's will illuminate in a clockwise and n anti-clockwise direction until the South LED illuminates then reverse in a swiping action. The command will stop after one cycle unless Byte 4 is set to 255. It is used as a visual indicator and to give an indication of a specific state or mood. Could be used with other LED display routines to give special meanings. The speed is determined by Byte2 where default is 100ms |