Probot Core

Probot Core is an Arduino library for the ESP32 board. It opens the robot's WiFi network, serves the Driver Station that runs in the browser and carries the gamepad data to the robot.

The library's name in Arduino IDE is probot. These pages describe version 0.3.0. The code that Probot Blocks generates is also compiled with this version.

Source code: github.com/probot-studio/probot-core

Who it is for

Teams that program the Probot kit with Arduino code.
Anyone who wants to upload the .ino code they generated in Blocks to the board and drive the robot from the Driver Station.
Students and teachers who get a robot ready for a match made of an autonomous phase and a TeleOp phase.
Anyone who writes robot code with an AI assistant: Write code with an AI assistant.

What it does and does not do

Probot Core does	Probot Core does not
It opens a WiFi access point on the robot. You set the network's name, password and channel in the code: Set up the robot's WiFi.	It does not connect the robot to the school or home WiFi network. The robot broadcasts its own network.
It serves the Driver Station from inside the robot. It opens in the browser at `http://192.168.4.1`: Driver Station interface.	It does not make you install an app on a phone or computer. It does not need the internet either.
It runs the match: Init, the autonomous phase, the switch from autonomous to TeleOp, Stop and the emergency stop: Write the functions for the match flow.	It does not connect the gamepad to the robot directly. The gamepad connects to the device where you open the Driver Station: Read the gamepad data.
It carries the gamepad data to the robot. If the connection drops, it resets the sticks and buttons.	It does not give you a motor or servo class. You drive the motor and the servo with your own code: Drive the motor, Drive the servo.
It writes text from your code to the Telemetry panel on the Driver Station.	It does not compile the code or upload it to the board. Arduino IDE does that: Set up Arduino IDE for Probot.
It lights the status LED on the board according to the match state: Use the status LED.	It does not let you set the LED's color by hand. The LED's color always shows the match state.
	It does not do block coding. To generate code with blocks: Blocks.

How it works

When the robot turns on, it broadcasts its own WiFi network. A phone, tablet or computer connects to this network and opens the Driver Station in the browser. The gamepad connects to this device too; the browser sends the gamepad data to the robot over WiFi.

A match has two phases. In the autonomous phase, the robot moves with code only, without the gamepad. When the time is up, TeleOp starts and the driver controls the robot with the gamepad. You start and stop both from the Driver Station.

In the code, you do not write Arduino's setup() and loop() functions; the library defines them. Instead, you write six functions that match the moments of the match. All six are required, but they can stay empty.

Function	When it runs
`robotInit()`	Once, when you press Init on the Driver Station
`autonomousInit()`	Once, when you press Start, if the Autonomous switch is on
`autonomousLoop()`	Again and again, during autonomous
`teleopInit()`	Once, when TeleOp starts
`teleopLoop()`	Again and again, during TeleOp
`robotEnd()`	Once, when you press Stop and at an emergency stop

When a loop function ends, the library waits 20 ms and calls it again. So a loop runs at most 50 times per second. Details: Write the functions for the match flow.

Warning

A large part of connection drops comes from the robot's hardware, not from the code. Before you build the robot, read Improve the signal quality.

Get started

First 10 minutes: upload the first code, connect to the robot's network and see a gamepad value on the screen.
Driver Station interface: every tab, every button and indicator.
Errors and troubleshooting: compile errors, connection problems, LED colors.

Set up

Set up Arduino IDE for Probot: the ESP32 board package, the probot library and the partition setting.
Set up the robot's WiFi: network name, password and channel; changing the channel without uploading code.
Improve the signal quality: power supply, antenna, the board's position and the competition day channel plan.

Write the code

Write the functions for the match flow: when the six functions run, and the skeleton of the program.
Read the gamepad data: sticks, buttons, dead zone and gamepad mapping.
Drive the motor: drive one motor forward and back with the gamepad.
Drive the chassis: tank, arcade and mecanum drive.
Drive the servo: move the servo to the angle you want without jitter.
Add a mechanism: add a conveyor, an arm with a limit switch and a slider as separate classes.

Autonomous

Write the autonomous: move the robot without the gamepad, by time and by steps.

Hardware

Measure the battery voltage: show the battery voltage on the Driver Station.
Use the status LED: what the LED colors mean, and an extra signal light.

Guides

Code the example robot from start to finish: the full code of a robot, from the chassis to the mechanisms.
Narrow down the problem step by step: a method to find the problem on a robot that does not work.
Write code with an AI assistant: teach the assistant the Probot rules and let it write code.

Reference

Settings macros: all macros you define before #include <probot.h>, and their defaults.
Functions and state list: all functions of the library and the robot state fields.

Glossary

Term	Meaning
Driver Station	The match control screen that the robot serves and that opens in the browser. Its address is `http://192.168.4.1`.
Access point (AP)	The WiFi network the robot broadcasts. Its name is the SSID.
SSID	The name of the robot's WiFi network. You set it with `PROBOT_WIFI_AP_SSID`.
Channel	The 2.4 GHz channel the robot's network broadcasts on, from 1 to 13. Robots that run side by side use different channels.
Welcome page	The small page that opens by itself when you connect to the robot's network (captive portal). It has the Driver Station'ı Aç (Open Driver Station) button. The welcome page is in Turkish.
Macro	A settings line written with `#define`. Probot macros come before the `#include <probot.h>` line.
Init	The command that gets the robot ready for the match. `robotInit()` runs; the robot does not move.
Start	The command that starts the match. If the Autonomous switch is on, autonomous runs first, then TeleOp.
Stop	The command that stops the match. When the current loop pass ends, `robotEnd()` runs.
Autonomous	The phase where the robot moves with code only, without the gamepad. Its length is the Autonomous Duration.
TeleOp	The phase where the driver controls the robot with the gamepad.
Emergency stop	The EMERGENCY STOP button. It cuts the code at once and locks the robot until it restarts.
Loop pass	One run of the `teleopLoop()` or `autonomousLoop()` function, from start to end. A pass must not take longer than 2 seconds.
Telemetry	The text that the code writes with `probot::printf` to the Telemetry panel on the Driver Station.
Dead zone	The small area in the middle of a stick. Values in this area read as 0; the default is 0.08.