ABBNator

A Tic Tac Toe robot using ABB ARM Robot controlled by Node.JS

Watch the video:

What was used in the project?

1. An ABB Robot
2. An Arduino board with Bluetooth and a Light Sensor
3. An Computer, connected to ABB Robot through Ethernet cable

How does Node.JS communicate with the ABB Robot?

Files: components/ABBRobot.js and ABBNator.txt;

ABB Robots provide us with RAPID programming language. That language, allows us to use Sockets and also FTP.

For a matter of simplicity, and also facility, we opted to use FTP as the data exchange format.

The code running in the ABB is the ABBNator.txt. It basically waits for a given file (In this case, /hd0a/abbnator/target.txt), and reads it.

The file contains the speed, x, y and z params for the MoveL instruction. Here is the format:

// Protocol:
<SPEED>:<X>|<Y>|<Z>;

// Example (Go to [50, 120, 340] with speed 200):
200:50|120|340;

After executing the action, ABBNator will remove the file in order to notify any system using the FTP to know that "the action has been completed".

How does Node.JS communicate with the Sensor?

Files: components/SerialSensor.js and components/SerialConnection.js;

The sensor used was a simple infrared light sensor, connected to a servo motor to raise and lower the sensor.

The connection with the Arduino used a (really) simple protocol:

• Send character A: Activates the motor (lower)
• Send character I: Deactivate the motor (raise)
• Send character S: Reads the analog sensor value and sends back

In Node.JS, the library serialport was used to have access to the stream of data from and to the bluetooth port.

How does Node.JS plays Tic Tac Toe?

File: components/TicTacToe.js;

Using Minimax algorithm.

It will never loose, but it can end in a draw. You can look at the file components/TicTacToe.js for that.

How does everything work together?

Files: RealGame.js and components/GameController.js;

Dig in the code, you will get the idea ;)