new manual

General discussion of using Roboclaw motor controllers
Post Reply
mabrouk
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:52 am
new manual

Post by mabrouk »

When is the new manual that covers versions 4.1.12 and 4.1.13 be released?
it's been a while and I don't see it. how are we supposed to know how to use the new commands like Added GETENCODERS(Reads both encoder values in one call if there is no documentation.

BTW I asked this question a while ago and it was removed.
User avatar
Basicmicro Support
Posts: 1594
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2015 9:45 pm
Re: new manual

Post by Basicmicro Support »

The curernt manual covers most changes from 4.1.12. The GetEncoders and GetISpeeds commands were added at the last minute so did not make it into this manual. The arduino library does include them. The syntax is pretty much what you would expect. address, cmd then read back the 4 byte encoder1 and 4 byte encoder 2 and then the CRC16 checksum.

For an example of GetEncoders and GetISpeeds look at the Roboclaw library .cpp file. They are in there as well as the SetDeadBand and GetDeadBand commands that were also added at the last minute. We will have the new additions added to the manual as soon as possible.
mabrouk
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:52 am
Re: new manual

Post by mabrouk »

Well first of all not everyone uses arduino. Second of all I just downloaded that library and there is no mention of these new commands. I don't understand why you just did not specify the commands numbers in your reply or even better since you guys realized that you did not have time to update your manual you could've easily put the descriptions of these 2 commands in firmware version update - it's only a couple of lines and two numbers.
User avatar
Basicmicro Support
Posts: 1594
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2015 9:45 pm
Re: new manual

Post by Basicmicro Support »

Before I replied to your post I downloaded the Arduino library from our website and looked at the cpp file. It has both the GetEncoders and GetISpeed command in them(Lines 806 and 811 respectively). Are you downloading directly from our site? If so please tell me the link you used so I can check it. It may be looking at an old file though all the links should point to the same file.

By last minute I litterally added them 10 mintues before uploading the files(after testing them of course). I remembered I had promissed a customer I'd try to add them and added them. So I didnt have time to add anything to the manual and assumed the code in the arduino library and python library and C# library would cover that customer until the manual was updated. Or that he would call and ask or email me for the details since no one else had asked for those commands and there are documented commands for getting those values(per individual motor instead of both at once).

I do not include details on new fetures in the release notes. The description needs to fit on a line and I dont like making even the single line descriptions very long. The release notes are just for a quick glance to see what as been changed or added.

Post Reply