CALLING A SPADE A SPADE
We were surprised when someone at Parallax changed the locations of the calibration codes and rewrote the Parallax supplied Penguin code without regard to any previous code or applications.
Parallax Inc. revised Penguin Robot software, including calibration code. Calibrated values of tilt and stride are stored in new different memory locations! The standard has been changed! If you want to run any of the hundreds of previous programs, they either will not run or you’ll need to use the calibration program from the Humanoido Penguin Robot Suite of software, such as the automatic servo calibrator program. A list for downloads and the locations are provided within this magazine. See “A Guide to Humanoido’s Penguin Robot Code” on page 7. Rumor has it that discussion is currently going on at Parallax Inc. to change these calibration memory locations back to their original intended positions. We applaud this idea. (note, this never happened) Note: the introduction of calibration values for constants other than tilt and stride, such as speed, may be highly program specific. You’ll need to keep a watchful eye on all storage areas and not overwrite their memory locations!
There was simply no reason to change something not broken. But in the end, apparently the same person broke the Penguin hardware too taking it all the way to end its life.
Was it a troublemaker on the inside, someone that couldn't leave well enough alone, a loose cannon that consciously or subconsciously had it in for this robot, or a brilliant engineer with too many criss cross ideas?
After we wrote hundreds of Penguin programs and applications, it appeared that someone was keen on changing the calibration locations resulting in previous programs failures. Nevertheless Humanoido wrote his own calibration programs keeping the Penguin alive and well.
Here's the original story as it appeared in Penguin Tech Magazine issue number one dated August 8, 2008, and our solution to fixing it. As a note of reference, when Parallax discontinued the Penguin, the files for download at the Parallax Discontinued site included the following versions: PenguinDoc-v1.4 (.pdf), PenguinCode -v1.3 (.zip).
Parallax Inc. revised Penguin Robot software, including calibration code. Calibrated values of tilt and stride are stored in new different memory locations! The standard has been changed! If you want to run any of the hundreds of previous programs, they either will not run or you’ll need to use the calibration program from the Humanoido Penguin Robot Suite of software, such as the automatic servo calibrator program. A list for downloads and the locations are provided within this magazine. See “A Guide to Humanoido’s Penguin Robot Code” on page 7. Rumor has it that discussion is currently going on at Parallax Inc. to change these calibration memory locations back to their original intended positions. We applaud this idea. (note, this never happened) Note: the introduction of calibration values for constants other than tilt and stride, such as speed, may be highly program specific. You’ll need to keep a watchful eye on all storage areas and not overwrite their memory locations!
