Published May 29, 2015

Sphero Trainer

Athletics evolved.

BeginnerFull instructions provided1,578

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Sphero 2.0

Story

Meeting Ax for the first time

The Sphero seems like a great platform for a myriad of applications. It is rather robust and smooth in design. I also like that it is water proof and charges via induction. This combination may allow it to put a new spin on some recreational activities. By the way, Ax is short for Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill.

Swimming & Mindstorms (but not the NXT kind)

After playing with Ax for a bit, I did a decent amount of brainstorming and decided on the project you see now. Also, since the Sphero is waterproof I decided to take Ax for a swim.

Project Description

Sphero Trainer adds a new dimension to a host of recreational activities. It uses the ball's sensors to provide feedback about the ball’s motion through space. It will enable people to practice a sequence of motions and provide statistical and visual feedback on the person’s performance. This can be used to help novice athletes develop their skills in activities ranging from Track and Field to Lacrosse. One great application for this is learning simple martial arts techniques. In particular, it may aid in developing accurate forms.

Examples & Insight

The examples helped me gauge how precise and sensitive Ax’s sensors are. Sensitivity is high but the precision of each sensor varies. Some seem to have a relatively low margin of error while others vary much more. While testing, I thought of creating an initialization step to get more accurate results. Here are a few videos I made for some professors who were interested in the project.

Roll Collision Keyboard

Rainbows & Color Wheels En Route a Record Function

While figuring out a way to record sensor values and give statistical feedback, I decided to hone in on some good settings to get decent feedback values. To make things more interesting, I thought of creating a color wheel script that would make Ax change color based on sensor feedback. First I made a rainbow, then controlled the rainbow with backEMF. I only made a linear rainbow, but it turns out that one of the best ways to make a rainbow, with RGB lights, is to use three out of phase sin waves...maybe next time.

Ax Makes a Record With New Friends

I’ve discovered how to communicate between Arduino and Sphero. However, since the approach requires the Arduino to be tethered it doesn’t seem like I’ll be using the Arduino for this project. After the project, I might expand on my work and add extra devices, but for now I’ll just stick to the Sphero. Another kind of hardware I looked into was the Myo. My friend, Edwin Santos, came over on Thursday with his Myo and the smarts to make it work. He wrote a script that generated keystrokes based on the yaw and pitch of his arm. These keystrokes were then used to drive the Sphero via the keyboard example provided in the Javascript SDK. Besides interfacing with different hardware, I found a way to generate excel files using node.js. This will serve as my record function and the basis of the statistical feedback for the user.

Space & Time Is In The Acceleration

I'm sure velocity is too, if only my accelerometers would be more cooperative.... Despite the recalcitrant sensors, I figured out a work around that allows the accuracy of a move to be determined without any integrations. Instead, I'm using a margin of error setting to determine the range in which values can drift. This works consistently, but I would still like to compute velocity and distance from accelerometer values. Nevertheless, the project is functional. So, give it try and let me know what you think.

scriptId = 'com.thalmic.spheromove'
scriptTitle = 'Sphero Move'
scriptDetailsUrl = ''

FORBACK_DEADZONE = 20 --degrees
LEFTRIGHT_DEADZONE = 15 --degrees
MOVEMENT_PERIOD = 50 --Milliseconds

function forward()
	myo.keyboard("up_arrow", "down")
end

function backward()
	myo.keyboard("down_arrow", "down")
end

function left()
	myo.keyboard("left_arrow", "down")
end

function right()
	myo.keyboard("right_arrow", "down")
end

function stop()
	myo.keyboard("space", "down")
end

function findDeltaYaw(currentYaw, centerYaw)
	local deltaYaw = currentYaw - centerYaw
	if(deltaYaw > 180) then
		deltaYaw = deltaYaw - 360
	elseif(deltaYaw < -180) then
		deltaYaw = deltaYaw + 360
	end
	return deltaYaw
end

function findDeltaPitch(currentPitch, centerPitch)
	local deltaPitch = currentPitch - centerPitch
	if (deltaPitch > 180) then
		deltaPitch = deltaPitch - 360
	elseif(deltaPitch < -180) then
		deltaPitch = deltaPitch + 360
	end
	return deltaPitch
end

function pitchCenter()
	local pitchCenter = math.deg(myo.getPitch())
	return pitchCenter
end

function yawCenter()
	local yawCenter = math.deg(myo.getYaw())
	return yawCenter
end

function onPoseEdge(pose, edge)
	local now = myo.getTimeMilliseconds()
	if pose == "fist" then
		pitchReference = pitchCenter()
		yawReference = yawCenter()
		movementActive = edge == "on"
		timeSince = now
		myo.unlock(edge == "on" and "hold" or "timed")
		myo.notifyUserAction()
	end

	if pose == "rest" and edge == "off" then
		yawReference = 0
		pitchReference = 0
		movementActive = "off"
		myo.notifyUserAction()
		myo.notifyUserAction()
	end
end 

function onPeriodic()
	local now = myo.getTimeMilliseconds()
	
	if movementActive then
		myo.debug("Movement Active")
		local deltaYaw = findDeltaYaw(yawCenter(), yawReference)
		local deltaPitch = findDeltaPitch(pitchCenter(), pitchReference)
		myo.debug("deltaYaw= " ..deltaYaw )
		myo.debug("deltaPitch " ..deltaPitch)
		if math.abs(deltaYaw) > LEFTRIGHT_DEADZONE then
			if now - timeSince > MOVEMENT_PERIOD then
				if (deltaYaw > 0) then
					right()
					myo.debug("right")
				else
					left()
					myo.debug("left")
				end
			end
		elseif math.abs(deltaPitch) > FORBACK_DEADZONE then
			if now - timeSince > MOVEMENT_PERIOD then
				if (deltaPitch > 0) then
					forward()
					myo.debug("forward")
				else
					backward()
					myo.debug("backward")
				end
			end
		else
			myo.keyboard("up_arrow", "up")
			myo.keyboard("down_arrow", "up")
			myo.keyboard("left_arrow", "up")
			myo.keyboard("right_arrow", "up")
			stop()
			myo.debug("stop")
		end
	end
end

function onForegroundWindowChange(app, tile)
	if (app == "powershell.exe") then
		return true
	end
	return false
end

//Based on the stream-gyroscope.js example
"use strict";

var sphero = require("../");
var orb = sphero("COM5");

orb.connect(function() {//800 ismax sample rate
  orb.streamOdometer(50,false);
//var clr = 0xffffff;
var red = 255;
var green = 0;
var blue = 0;
var i = 0;
orb.on("odometer", function(data) {
  //console.log("data:", data);
  
  if (i<255){
  	red--;
  	green++;
  }
  else if (i<510) {
  	green--;
  	blue++;
  }
  else
  {
    red++;
    blue--;
  }
   i++;
  if (i>=765)
  	i=0;
  orb.color({ red: red, green: green, blue: blue});
  //orb.color(clr);
  //clr+=350;
  //console.log("clr =", clr+1);
});

  //orb.roll(180, 0);
});

"use strict";

var sphero = require("../");
var orb = sphero("COM5");

orb.connect(function() {
  orb.streamVelocity();
  orb.streamMotorsBackEmf(6); //6 is a good value for 360 degrees to generate around 765
  var red = 255;
  var green = 0;
  var blue = 0;
  var i = 0;

  orb.on("motorsBackEmf", function(data) {
    console.log("::STREAMING MOTORS BACK EMF::");
    console.log("  data:", data);
    i+= data.lMotorBackEmf.value[0]; 
    if (i<0){
      i = 765 + i;}
    if (i<255){
    red= 255-i;
    green = i;
  }
  else if (i<510) {
    green = 510-i;
    blue=i;
  }
  else
  {
    red=i;
    blue = 765-i;
  }
  
   
   console.log("Back EMF = ", data.lMotorBackEmf.value[0]);
   console.log("i =", i);
  if (i>=765){
    i=0;}
  orb.color({ red: red, green: green, blue: blue});
  });

  //orb.roll(180, 0);
});

var fs = require('fs');
var writeStream = fs.createWriteStream("file.xls");

var header="Sl No"+"\t"+" Age"+"\t"+"Name"+"\n";
var row1 = "0"+"\t"+" 21"+"\t"+"Rob"+"\n";
var row2 = "1"+"\t"+" 22"+"\t"+"bob"+"\n";

writeStream.write(header+row1+row2);
//writeStream.write(row1);
//writeStream.write(row2);

writeStream.close();

fs.readFile('file.xls', 'utf8', function (err,data) {
  if (err) {
    return console.log(err);
  }
  console.log(data);
});

"use strict";

var sphero = require("../");
var orb = sphero("COM4");

var fs = require('fs');
var keypress = require("keypress");
var prompt = require("prompt")

var writeStream
var header="Yaw"+"\t"
          +"Pitch"+"\t"
          +"Roll"+"\t"
          +"xAccel"+"\t"
          +"yAccel"+"\t"
          +"zAccel"+"\n";
var rows = "";
var stillReading = true
var readingTime=0
var t = 0;

var yaw =0;
var pitch =0;
var roll =0;
                                                              
var x =0;
var y=0;
var z =0;

var initialX =0;
var initialY =0;
var initialZ =0;

var record = false;
var perform = false;

var tailOn=false;

var promptingUser=false

var movename=""
var moveduration=0
var accuracy=0

var luminence=0

console.log("Sphero-Trainer Console Version 1.0");
console.log("Connecting to Sphero...");

orb.connect( function() {
  orb.streamImuAngles(10); //update sensor values 10 times a second
  orb.streamAccelerometer(10);
  listen();
  console.log("Connection Successful, press e to turn on the tail light.");

  orb.on("accelerometer", function(data) {
    x = data.xAccel.value[0];
    y = data.yAccel.value[0];
    z = data.zAccel.value[0];
  });

  orb.on("imuAngles", function(data) {  
    yaw = data.yawAngle.value[0];
    pitch = data.pitchAngle.value[0];
    roll = data.rollAngle.value[0];
    if (tailOn){
      if (perform && !promptingUser && !record){
        //console.log("Debug: t=",t)
        t++
        //wait for 3s then flash green 3 times and stay green while recording
        if(t%5==0 && t>29 && t<61){
          luminence = 255-luminence
          orb.color({ red: 0, green: luminence, blue: 0});
          if (t==60){//Initialize sensors on third green flash
            initialize(false)
            console.log("Sphero is looking up the move "+movename+"...")
          }
        }
        if(t>60){
          if(stillReading)
            t--;
          else
            var endCondition = writeStream.length+59;
        }
        //record data after flashing green 3 times
        if (t>60&&t< endCondition){
          //console.log("Debug: writeStrem", writeStream)
          
          //console.log("Debug: row",writeStream[t-60])
          var row = writeStream[t-60].split('\t')
          var range = 10+1.7*moveduration;//the var moveduration stored the accuracy mark that was input
          var accelRange = 100*(1+moveduration)
          var ra = Math.abs(row[0]-yaw)<=range ? 1 : 0;
          var rp = Math.abs(row[1]-pitch)<=range ? 1 : 0;
          var rr = Math.abs(row[2]-roll)<=range ? 1 : 0; 
          var rx = Math.abs(row[3]-x)<=accelRange ? 1 : 0;
          var ry = Math.abs(row[4]-y)<=accelRange ? 1 : 0;
          var rz = Math.abs(row[5]-z)<=accelRange ? 1 : 0; 
          //console.log("Debug: range=", range)
          //console.log("Debug: row[0] yaw", row[0], yaw)
          //console.log("Debug: %yaw=", Math.abs(row[0]-yaw))
          //console.log("Debug: ra rp rr :",ra,rp,rr)
          accuracy += (ra+rp+rr+rx+ry+rz)/6.0;    
          console.log("Debug accuracy:", accuracy)
        }
        else if (t==endCondition){
          console.log("Debug accuracy:", accuracy)
          accuracy = 100*accuracy/(endCondition-61);
          console.log("Debug accuracy:", accuracy)
          if (accuracy<0){
            accuracy = 0
          }
        }
        //flash blue 3 times for an accuarte move or red 3 times for an inaccurate move
        if(t%5==0 && t>endCondition){
          luminence = 255-luminence
          if (accuracy>=90)
            orb.color({ red: 0, green: 0, blue: luminence});
          else
            orb.color({ red: luminence, green: 0, blue: 0});
          if(t>endCondition+30){
            if(accuracy>=90){
              console.log("Great move, I knew you could do it.");
            }
            else
              console.log("Good effort, you'll get this move down in no time.");
            console.log("You stayed within range "+accuracy+"% of the time.")
            console.log("To preform another move, press p, or press r to record a move.")
            stillReading=true
            accuracy = 0
            perform = false
            rows =""
            t=0
          }
        }
      }
      if(record && !promptingUser && !perform){
        t++
        //wait for 3s then flash green 3 times and stay green while recording
        if(t%5==0 && t>29 && t<61){
          luminence = 255-luminence
          orb.color({ red: 0, green: luminence, blue: 0});
          if (t==60){//Initialize sensors on third green flash
            initialize(true)
          }
        }
        //record data after flashing green 3 times
        if (t>60&&t<moveduration){
          rows+=yaw+"\t"
              +pitch+"\t"
              +roll+"\t"
              +(x-initialX)+"\t"
              +(y-initialY)+"\t"
              +(z-initialZ)+"\n";
        }
        else if (t==moveduration){
          console.log("recording move")
          writeStream.write(header+rows);
          writeStream.close()
        }
        //flash blue 3 times when the recording is finished
        if(t%5==0 && t>moveduration-1){
          luminence = 255-luminence
          orb.color({ red: 0, green: 0, blue: luminence});
          if(t>moveduration+30){
            console.log("Sphero has learned the move, "+movename+".")
            console.log("To record another move, press r, or press p to perform a move.")
            record = false
            t=0
          }
        }
      }
    }
  });
});
function handle(ch, key) {
  if (!promptingUser){
    if (key.ctrl && key.name === "c") {
      console.log("Goodbye")
      process.stdin.pause();
      process.exit();
    }
    if (key.name === "e") {
      if(tailOn)
        console.log("\nThe tail light is already on.");
      tailOn=true
      orb.startCalibration() //Turns on tail light and turns off stabilization 
      console.log("\nTurn the Sphero so that the tail light is facing you.")
      console.log("Press r to record or p to perform a move.")
    }
    if(tailOn){
      if (key.name === "p" && !record) {
        promptUser(true)
        perform=true
      }
      if (key.name === "r" && !perform) {
        promptUser(false)
        record=true 
      }
    }
  }
}
function initialize (write) {
  if (write)
    writeStream = fs.createWriteStream(movename+".xls");
  else{
    fs.readFile(movename+".xls", 'utf8', function (err,data) {
      if (err) {
        return console.log(err);
      }
      writeStream = data.split("\n")
      //console.log("Debug: writeStream.length-2=", writeStream.length-2)
      //console.log("Debug: writeStream in readFile\n", writeStream)
      stillReading = false
    });
  }
  orb.finishCalibration() //resets sphero's sensors
  orb.startCalibration()        
  initialX = x;
  initialY = y;
  initialZ = z;
  console.log("INITIALIZED")
}
function listen() {
  keypress(process.stdin);
  process.stdin.on("keypress", handle);
  process.stdin.setRawMode(true);
  process.stdin.resume();
}
function promptUser(performing){
  prompt.start();
  promptingUser=true
  var intInput = performing ? 'margin' : 'moveduration';
  prompt.get(['movename', intInput], function (err, result) {
    if (err) { return onErr(err); }
    console.log('Command-line input received:');
    console.log('  Move Name: ' + result.movename);
    if(performing){
      console.log('  %Margin For Error: ' + result.margin);
      moveduration = result.margin
    }
    else{
      console.log('  Move Duration(s): ' + result.moveduration);
      console.log("Get ready to make your move.")
      console.log("Start moving immediately after Sphero flashes green 3 times.")
      moveduration = 60+result.moveduration*10//convert move duration for recording conditionals
    } 
    movename = result.movename
    //console.log("Debug: movename", movename)      
    promptingUser=false
    prompt.pause()
    listen()
  });
  function onErr(err) {
        console.log("Debug err:",err);
        console.log("Sphero could not find the move "+movename+".")
        console.log("Press r to record or p to perform a move.")
        return 1;
  }  
}

Credits

Nse Obot

2 projects • 4 followers

It's always nice to know what my code is doing in the wires.

Sphero Trainer

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Story

Code

Myo Script for controlling Sphero

SimpleLinearRainbow

ColorWheel

Excel.js

Spher Trainer Console Version 1.0

Sphero Trainer

Credits

Nse Obot

Comments

Embed the widget on your own site

Sphero Trainer

Sphero Trainer

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Story

Code

Myo Script for controlling Sphero

SimpleLinearRainbow

ColorWheel

Excel.js

Spher Trainer Console Version 1.0

Sphero Trainer

Credits

Nse Obot

Comments

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