Tutorial or equivalent for Compiling the OS for the Dagu T'rex controller

Community General Discussions
1

I have programmed extensively in the past but its really in the past.

Does anyone have a tutorial or crib sheet or list of todo's to build/compile the Arduino OS for the Dagu T'rex motor controller.

Nothing elaborate but enough to get started.

Thanks

 

 

2

Go to the site you bought the controller from.

You should see links to at least the user manual and code examples. I downloaded the code examples from one site as a zip file. There is one file in the zip called TREX_controller.ino. That file is likely the default code that is written to the controller. If the site you bought the controller from doesn’t have the examples linked to, you can always do a simple search for t’rex controller sketches dagu and find a site that has the examples available for download. Probably wouldn’t hurt to peruse the manual as well, OddBot is pretty good about thorough manuals for the work he does.

I would suggest before you jump in to writting code to your controller that you do a simple search for arduino tutorials. Ladyada and tronixstuff are two familiar sites with decent tutorials. If you have the availability, you might consider getting an UNO/MEGA/NANO, some resistors, LEDs, breadboard, pots to play around with. Or, you could just use the T’Rex controller. I would still suggest you learn to walk before you try falling, missing the ground and learning to fly. :slight_smile: (bonus points if you get the reference. :slight_smile: )

3

Tutorial or equivalent for Compiling the OS for the Dagu T’rex c

birdmun,

Thanks for your notes.  They were the secret to me finding most of what I need.  The HELP files in the Arduino IDE are excellent.

So I now get the idea of how to program a sketch ( simple ones anyway ) and how to upload them.  One mysterious area is that of the “programmer” function and whether I need to use the “bootloader”.  I understand that not using a bootloader is slightly quicker on Power-up and will save me about 2K of space.  But beyond that I don’t see a need to eliminate it for now.

Is it more risky to my board to Not use a bootloader?  Could I destroy the board by using a “programmer” and Upload with Programmer if I get it wrong? Comments please.

Thanks

4

The bootloader is a program that runs at every

powerup. It allows one to easily upload new programs to the chip. Without it you would have use an ISP programmer. With the bootloader you just need TX and RX serial lines plus power. I imagine the T’rex has a USB to TTL convertor onboard. Plug in a USB cable and tell the arduino IDE what chip/board you are programming and click program.

All this is saying is the bootloader simplifies things a good deal at the expense of some memory. Once again learn to walk first. :slight_smile: