Disabling and enabling sonar
From MobileRobots Research and Academic Customer Support
The sonar (ultrasonic) sensors on a robot (if equipped) can be disabled in the firmware configuration. They can also be temporarily turned on or off by a client for the duration of that client session by sending command #28 (SONAR) with an integer argument of 1 (on) or 0 (off). In ARIA, the ArRobot::enableSonar() and ArRobot::disableSonar() methods send this command. If the sonar were not disabled in the firmware configuration, then they are automatically activated when a client connects.
The firmware configuration parameters that determine whether the sonar are enabled or disabled also determines the sequence in which the firmware fires and polls the individual transducers (polling sequence) in each sonar array. This configuration parameters are SONAR1 for the front sonar, SONAR2 for rear sonar, SONAR3 for top front sonar on a Peoplebot, etc. The value of this parameter is a string of digits indicating the polling sequence; the default value is "12345678", which simply fires and polls the transducers in order from left to right. If this value is empty (no digits), then that array will be disabled and no sonar data will be obtained from that array.
The polling sequence can also be temporarily changed for the course of a client session using command #3 (POLLING).
See also:
- the "Sonar" section of your robot manual in the Accessories chapter.
- Firmware Configuration
