View source for Kilobot charging - software

In this page, you can find information about software support for charging of the kilobots. For hardware charging information see [[Kilobot charging (hardware)]].

== How to add <i>Charging Mode</i> Button to the KiloGUI ==

If you are using the kilobot firmware 2.0 (see [[Kilobot Firmware]]), and you would like to have the possibility of setting your robots in <i>Charging Mode</i>, you can add a button to the KiloGUI to send a message with this Mode.
The Charging Mode may be useful because you can visually check if the robot is getting charged (or not) through a feeble LED flashing. If the robots blinks, it is getting charged. 

: 1. Download the source-code of the KiloGUI from GitHub: https://github.com/acornejo/kilogui

: 2. Compile it a first time to check if you have your system correctly setup
:: On linux, you will need the following dependencies: dpkg-dev, debhelper, libqt4-dev, libftdi-dev.
:: In Ubuntu, just run:
:: <code>apt-get install dpkg-dev debhelper libqt4-dev libftdi-dev</code>

: 3. Patch the code by adding the charging functionality,

:: * Edit the file <tt>src/kilowindow.cpp</tt>
:: * Add to the function <br/>
::: <tt>static const kilo_cmd_t KILO_COMMANDS[] = { …… };  </tt><br/>
::: the button <i>Charging</i> associated to the function <tt>CHARGE</tt>, by using this text:<br/>
::: <tt>{"Charging", CHARGE}</tt>

: 4. Re-compile, install and run <tt>kilogui</tt>. Now, you should find the new button <i>Charging</i> in your KiloGui.