Raspberry Pi Jam “Chaos Car!”

Raspberry Pi 1
+ battery pack
+ Bluetooth USB dongle
+ i-racer bluetooth car
+ Raspberry Pi camera
+ some Python code
+ loads of sellotape
=

Chaos car!

Here’s the code:

#!/usr/bin/env python2

import os
import random
import bluetooth
import sys
import time

car_name = "DaguCar"

def find_car_mac( car_name ):
    ret = None

    print "Scanning for a device called %s..." % car_name

    devices = bluetooth.discover_devices()

    for addr in devices:
        dev_name = bluetooth.lookup_name( addr )
        if dev_name == car_name:
            print "Car found!  (MAC=%s)" % addr
            time.sleep( 1 )
            return addr
        else:
            print "Skipping device named '%s'." % dev_name

    sys.stderr.write( "Couldn't find a device called %s!\n" % car_name )
    sys.exit( 1 )


#car_mac = find_car_mac( car_name )

print "Using hard-coded MAC address"
car_mac = "20:13:04:23:05:71"

print "Connecting to the car at %s..." % car_mac

sock = bluetooth.BluetoothSocket( bluetooth.RFCOMM )
sock.connect( ( car_mac, 1 ) )

class Car:
    def turn_right(self):
        print("looking right")
        sock.send( '\x6A' )
    def turn_left(self):
        print("looking left")
        sock.send( '\x5A' )
    def roll_forward(self):
        print("watch out in front coming forward")
        sock.send( '\x1A' )
    def roll_backward(self):
        print("beep beep going backward")
        sock.send( '\x2A' )
    def wait(self):
        print("waiting")
        sock.send( '\x00' )

car = Car()

instruction = ["turn right", "turn left", "roll forward", "roll backward", "wait"]

while True:
    ci = random.choice(instruction)
    if ci == "turn right":
        car.turn_right()
    elif ci == "turn left":
        car.turn_left()
    elif ci == "roll forward":
        car.roll_forward()
    elif ci == "roll backward":
        car.roll_backward()
    elif ci == "wait":
        car.wait()
    time.sleep(0.5)

Improving the code to avoid bumping into walls is left as an exercise for the reader.