Beginner Python Tutorial?

BrickPi
1

Hello everyone.
I have come back to programming a little BrickPi. For a while, I’ve kept myself to Scratch, which was fairly easy, but it didn’t have enough functions. Besides, I think Python is more fun, and you can run the RPi Camera Module using a few lines of code.

The tutorial (Step 3, Programming the BrickPi) didn’t really explain it all to well; it just told me to look at some examples. I did that, but I still don’t really get how to run a motor, or get a sensor value.

So I’m asking, is there any tutorial out there explaining the process of programming a BrickPi with Python, or is the only option I have to stick to the example programs and not really understand what’s going on.

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Agree the examples show how to do one thing each, but have you checked out the BrickPi Tutorials and the Projects folder on the DI github?

The Simplebot Tutorial has a broken link. I did find a simplebot_simple.py here but I don’t know if the code is for a former version of brickpi or the current version.

The Browser Bot Tutorial is a lot more complicated but it does have a good explanation and valid links to the code. If you don’t understand something in the tutorials - ask here in the forum.

I don’t do BrickPi myself, so hopefully these thoughts will hold you till the DI folks can help you better.

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Yeah, I see there are some example projects, they actually do help. It just would be a bit easier if, let’s say for moving a motor, there was a documentation, rather than figuring it out through other programs.

Anyways, the simplebot_simple.py doesn’t work. I tried running it on my current BrickPi 3, the first error I get is ‘No module found/named BrickPi’, an error with the import line. :thinking:

I guess I’ll have to look into the Browserbot, but that makes everything more complicated as functions are implemented in the code which I won’t use in my case: I just want to run motors, for a start, then make an automatic Bobcat robot that finds something, picks it up, and places it somewhere to go.

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Found a BrickPi3 simplebot that claims to work: SimpleBot on Pi3

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Yup, that makes sense now, thanks for looking for it.

But I still have a question: is there really no documentation which states all the functions. In example with the simplebot, I mean;

  • BP.set_motor_power([motor name/port], [speed in digits]) = set the speed of the motor

  • BP = brickpi3.BrickPi3() ate an instance of BrickPi

Is there something like this?
Thanks.

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From what I can tell - you may have the opportunity to create the first “BrickPi3 API Cheat Sheet.”

Only thing close I could find is the brickpi3.py which has what you are are looking for embedded with everything you don’t want to worry about!

I thought I was onto something when I found @graykevinb 's github respository named brickpi3-cheatsheet but, alas, it is a seed waiting to be watered.

(I also found a full “intro to programming a brickpi+ in python” but you need to be from Estonia to understand it, and it doesn’t apply to the BrickPi3…)

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Then I’ll be the first creator!:smiley:
(Maybe).
(If I decrypt brickpi3.py).
Let’s hope that works.

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We would be thankful if you do! :+1:

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Hope this will help you…Python Tutorial

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