Power Functions IR Sender

Control your LEGO® Power Functions motors using your micro:bit or Calliope-Mini, an infrared LED and MakeCode. This extension turns your device into a remote control for your Power Functions devices.

A project using this extension is documented on hackster.io

Installation

Open MakeCode and select '+ Extensions' in the 'Advanced' menu. You need to enter our project URL https://github.com/brabl2/pxt-powerfunctions in the search field, hit return and then select the powerfunctions extension.

Documentation

powerfunctions.connectIrLed

Configures the infrared LED analog pin. Using hardware PWM mode. A 940 nm emitting diode is required.

powerfunctions.connectIrLed(AnalogPin.P0)

Parameters

• pin - analog pin with an attached IR-emitting LED

powerfunctions.connectIrLedBitBang

Configures the infrared LED digital pin. Using software bit-bang mode. A 940 nm emitting diode is required.

powerfunctions.connectIrLed(DigitalPin.P0, PowerFunctionMicroBitVer.Ver2)

Parameters

• pin - digital pin with an attached IR-emitting LED
• ver - micro:bit version

powerfunctions.cfgSendCountDelay

Configures send count and delay (the IR message is transmitted count-times with delay between messages). Sending of the complete message in default setup (count = five-times and delay = delay_normal) can take around 0.8 second in worst case. Setting these parameters to values different than default can speed-up data sending at cost of lower reliability. Sending of the complete message in short setup (count = five-times and delay = delay_short) can take around 0.16 second in worst case.

powerfunctions.cfgSendCountDelay(PowerFunctionSendCount.five_times, PowerFunctionSendDelay.delay_normal)

Parameters

• count - the IR message is transmitted count-times
• delay - the delay between messages. It is safe to set this parameter to 'delay_short' in case of single LEGO® IR Receiver.

powerfunctions.cfgMotorDirectionCh

Configures a motor direction.

powerfunctions.cfgMotorDirectionCh(PowerFunctionsOutput.Red, 1, PowerFunctionsDirection.Right)

Parameters

• motor - the motor
• channel - the channel of the motor from 1 to 4
• direction - the direction of the motor

powerfunctions.cfgMotorSpeedZeroCh

Configures zero speed behaviour of the motor (float or brake).

powerfunctions.cfgMotorSpeedZeroCh(PowerFunctionsOutput.Red, 1, PowerFunctionSpeedZero.speed_0_brake)

Parameters

• motor - the motor
• channel - the channel of the motor from 1 to 4
• behaviour - the behaviour of the motor when speed is set to zero (float or brake)

powerfunctions.incCh

Increments motor speed.

powerfunctions.incCh(PowerFunctionsOutput.Red, 1)

Parameters

• motor - the motor
• channel - the channel of the motor from 1 to 4

powerfunctions.decCh

Decrements motor speed.

powerfunctions.decCh(PowerFunctionsOutput.Red, 1)

Parameters

• motor - the motor
• channel - the channel of the motor from 1 to 4

powerfunctions.setSpeedCh

Sets the speed of a motor.

powerfunctions.setSpeedCh(PowerFunctionsOutput.Red, 1, 3)

Parameters

• motor - the motor
• channel - the channel of the motor from 1 to 4
• speed - the speed of the motor from -7 to 7

powerfunctions.brakeCh

Brakes then float. The motor's power is quickly reversed and thus the motor will stop abruptly.

powerfunctions.brakeCh(PowerFunctionsOutput.Red, 1)

Parameters

• motor - the motor
• channel - the channel of the motor from 1 to 4

powerfunctions.floatCh

Floats a motor to stop. The motor's power is switched off and thus the motor will roll to a stop.

powerfunctions.floatCh(PowerFunctionsOutput.Red, 1)

Parameters

• motor - the motor
• channel - the channel of the motor from 1 to 4

Original functions

powerfunctions.setSpeed

Sets the speed of a motor.

powerfunctions.setSpeed(PowerFunctionsMotor.Red1, 3)

Parameters

• motor - the motor
• speed - the speed of the motor from -7 to 7.

powerfunctions.brake

Brakes then float. The motor's power is quickly reversed and thus the motor will stop abruptly.

powerfunctions.brake(PowerFunctionsMotor.Red1)

Parameters

• motor - the motor

powerfunctions.float

Floats a motor to stop. The motor's power is switched off and thus the motor will roll to a stop.

powerfunctions.float(PowerFunctionsMotor.Red1)

Parameters

• motor - the motor

powerfunctions.setMotorDirection

Configures a motor direction.

powerfunctions.setMotorDirection(PowerFunctionsMotor.Red1, PowerFunctionsDirection.Right)

Parameters

• motor - the motor
• direction - the direction of the motor

MakeCode Example

basic.showIcon(IconNames.Heart);
powerfunctions.connectIrLed(AnalogPin.P1);
powerfunctions.cfgMotorDirectionCh(PowerFunctionsOutput.Blue, 1, PowerFunctionsDirection.Right);

input.onButtonPressed(Button.A, () => {
  powerfunctions.setSpeedCh(PowerFunctionsOutput.Blue, 1, 3);
});

input.onButtonPressed(Button.B, () => {
  powerfunctions.floatCh(PowerFunctionsOutput.Blue, 1);
});

basic.forever(() => {
  led.plotBarGraph(input.lightLevel(), 255);

  if (input.lightLevel() > 200) {
    powerfunctions.floatCh(PowerFunctionsOutput.Blue, 1);
    basic.pause(5000);
    powerfunctions.setSpeedCh(PowerFunctionsOutput.Blue, 1, 2);
    basic.pause(3000);
  }
});

Disclaimer

LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this project.

License

Copyright (C) 2017-2020 Philipp Henkel

Licensed under the MIT License (MIT). See LICENSE file for more details.

Supported targets

• for PXT/microbit