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BioBot/ArchText

This website contains an archive of files for the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Acorn Archimedes, Commodore 16 and Commodore 64 computers, which Dominic Ford has rescued from his private collection of floppy disks and cassettes.

Some of these files were originally commercial releases in the 1980s and 1990s, but they are now widely available online. I assume that copyright over them is no longer being asserted. If you own the copyright and would like files to be removed, please contact me.

Tape/disk: Home » Personal collection » Acorn ADFS disks » Archimedes » Files.ADF
Filename: BioBot/ArchText
Read OK: ✔
File size: 0AC6 bytes
Load address: FFFFFF45
Exec address: 6BE65447
Duplicates

There are 2 duplicate copies of this file in the archive:

File contents
BALLBOT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SIMULATION
Archimedes Version
Documentation

Welcome to the BallBot artificial intelligence development simulation - used by the authors to test and develop the software used to control the tennis ball-seeking robot. The simulation's program consists of two main blocks of code: the simulation itself, and the artificial intelligence algorithm. The simulation passes data to the artificial intelligence module which relates to the data which would be recieved by the robot's sonar, and then waits for the artificial intelligence module to process the data. It then takes the control data which it recieves back from the artificial intelligence system, and uses it to update the robot's position on the tennis court. The cycle then repeats.

First download the attached file, and run it on an Archimedes. The simplest way to demonstrate the simulation working is to select option 1 on the main menu (Real-Time Simulation), and you are given access to the virtual tennis court. Using the mouse, you can left click to place up to five tennis balls on the court, which BallBot must try to collect. These are yellow circles, and BallBot itself is represented by a red marker. Press the space bar when you have placed the balls roughly where you want them, and you can watch the robot attempt to collect the balls. You can continue to place balls on the court even after the robot has started looking for them, although the robot may stop before collecting them all if you do this, as it makes the assumption that areas of the court which it has already scanned will remain clear of balls. To restart the robot, press the space bar again.

In order to test the overall reliability of this system though, it would be very laborious to continually give the simulation different ball arrangements to try, to see if it cannot cope with any of them. Therefore I developed a new "Logged Continuous Runs" feature, which allows the computer to make up random ball arrangements, and then examines how well the robot collects them. After each run it produces a verdict, which is one of the following:

"PASS" - The run seemed to go OK.
"TIME" - The robot took longer than 5 minutes to collect the balls, which usually means that the software crashed and the robot came to a point of indecision.
"CRASH" - The robot drove into the net.
"FAIL" - The robot stopped, having verified that the court was clear of balls, when in fact there were still balls waiting for collection.

The simulation also reports the time taken for the balls to be collected, as well as the coordinates of where the tennis balls were placed on the court. These are saved to a large text file, whose filename you are requested at the start of the logged continuous runs.
00000000  42 41 4c 4c 42 4f 54 20  41 52 54 49 46 49 43 49  |BALLBOT ARTIFICI|
00000010  41 4c 20 49 4e 54 45 4c  4c 49 47 45 4e 43 45 20  |AL INTELLIGENCE |
00000020  53 49 4d 55 4c 41 54 49  4f 4e 0a 41 72 63 68 69  |SIMULATION.Archi|
00000030  6d 65 64 65 73 20 56 65  72 73 69 6f 6e 0a 44 6f  |medes Version.Do|
00000040  63 75 6d 65 6e 74 61 74  69 6f 6e 0a 0a 57 65 6c  |cumentation..Wel|
00000050  63 6f 6d 65 20 74 6f 20  74 68 65 20 42 61 6c 6c  |come to the Ball|
00000060  42 6f 74 20 61 72 74 69  66 69 63 69 61 6c 20 69  |Bot artificial i|
00000070  6e 74 65 6c 6c 69 67 65  6e 63 65 20 64 65 76 65  |ntelligence deve|
00000080  6c 6f 70 6d 65 6e 74 20  73 69 6d 75 6c 61 74 69  |lopment simulati|
00000090  6f 6e 20 2d 20 75 73 65  64 20 62 79 20 74 68 65  |on - used by the|
000000a0  20 61 75 74 68 6f 72 73  20 74 6f 20 74 65 73 74  | authors to test|
000000b0  20 61 6e 64 20 64 65 76  65 6c 6f 70 20 74 68 65  | and develop the|
000000c0  20 73 6f 66 74 77 61 72  65 20 75 73 65 64 20 74  | software used t|
000000d0  6f 20 63 6f 6e 74 72 6f  6c 20 74 68 65 20 74 65  |o control the te|
000000e0  6e 6e 69 73 20 62 61 6c  6c 2d 73 65 65 6b 69 6e  |nnis ball-seekin|
000000f0  67 20 72 6f 62 6f 74 2e  20 54 68 65 20 73 69 6d  |g robot. The sim|
00000100  75 6c 61 74 69 6f 6e 27  73 20 70 72 6f 67 72 61  |ulation's progra|
00000110  6d 20 63 6f 6e 73 69 73  74 73 20 6f 66 20 74 77  |m consists of tw|
00000120  6f 20 6d 61 69 6e 20 62  6c 6f 63 6b 73 20 6f 66  |o main blocks of|
00000130  20 63 6f 64 65 3a 20 74  68 65 20 73 69 6d 75 6c  | code: the simul|
00000140  61 74 69 6f 6e 20 69 74  73 65 6c 66 2c 20 61 6e  |ation itself, an|
00000150  64 20 74 68 65 20 61 72  74 69 66 69 63 69 61 6c  |d the artificial|
00000160  20 69 6e 74 65 6c 6c 69  67 65 6e 63 65 20 61 6c  | intelligence al|
00000170  67 6f 72 69 74 68 6d 2e  20 54 68 65 20 73 69 6d  |gorithm. The sim|
00000180  75 6c 61 74 69 6f 6e 20  70 61 73 73 65 73 20 64  |ulation passes d|
00000190  61 74 61 20 74 6f 20 74  68 65 20 61 72 74 69 66  |ata to the artif|
000001a0  69 63 69 61 6c 20 69 6e  74 65 6c 6c 69 67 65 6e  |icial intelligen|
000001b0  63 65 20 6d 6f 64 75 6c  65 20 77 68 69 63 68 20  |ce module which |
000001c0  72 65 6c 61 74 65 73 20  74 6f 20 74 68 65 20 64  |relates to the d|
000001d0  61 74 61 20 77 68 69 63  68 20 77 6f 75 6c 64 20  |ata which would |
000001e0  62 65 20 72 65 63 69 65  76 65 64 20 62 79 20 74  |be recieved by t|
000001f0  68 65 20 72 6f 62 6f 74  27 73 20 73 6f 6e 61 72  |he robot's sonar|
00000200  2c 20 61 6e 64 20 74 68  65 6e 20 77 61 69 74 73  |, and then waits|
00000210  20 66 6f 72 20 74 68 65  20 61 72 74 69 66 69 63  | for the artific|
00000220  69 61 6c 20 69 6e 74 65  6c 6c 69 67 65 6e 63 65  |ial intelligence|
00000230  20 6d 6f 64 75 6c 65 20  74 6f 20 70 72 6f 63 65  | module to proce|
00000240  73 73 20 74 68 65 20 64  61 74 61 2e 20 49 74 20  |ss the data. It |
00000250  74 68 65 6e 20 74 61 6b  65 73 20 74 68 65 20 63  |then takes the c|
00000260  6f 6e 74 72 6f 6c 20 64  61 74 61 20 77 68 69 63  |ontrol data whic|
00000270  68 20 69 74 20 72 65 63  69 65 76 65 73 20 62 61  |h it recieves ba|
00000280  63 6b 20 66 72 6f 6d 20  74 68 65 20 61 72 74 69  |ck from the arti|
00000290  66 69 63 69 61 6c 20 69  6e 74 65 6c 6c 69 67 65  |ficial intellige|
000002a0  6e 63 65 20 73 79 73 74  65 6d 2c 20 61 6e 64 20  |nce system, and |
000002b0  75 73 65 73 20 69 74 20  74 6f 20 75 70 64 61 74  |uses it to updat|
000002c0  65 20 74 68 65 20 72 6f  62 6f 74 27 73 20 70 6f  |e the robot's po|
000002d0  73 69 74 69 6f 6e 20 6f  6e 20 74 68 65 20 74 65  |sition on the te|
000002e0  6e 6e 69 73 20 63 6f 75  72 74 2e 20 54 68 65 20  |nnis court. The |
000002f0  63 79 63 6c 65 20 74 68  65 6e 20 72 65 70 65 61  |cycle then repea|
00000300  74 73 2e 0a 0a 46 69 72  73 74 20 64 6f 77 6e 6c  |ts...First downl|
00000310  6f 61 64 20 74 68 65 20  61 74 74 61 63 68 65 64  |oad the attached|
00000320  20 66 69 6c 65 2c 20 61  6e 64 20 72 75 6e 20 69  | file, and run i|
00000330  74 20 6f 6e 20 61 6e 20  41 72 63 68 69 6d 65 64  |t on an Archimed|
00000340  65 73 2e 20 54 68 65 20  73 69 6d 70 6c 65 73 74  |es. The simplest|
00000350  20 77 61 79 20 74 6f 20  64 65 6d 6f 6e 73 74 72  | way to demonstr|
00000360  61 74 65 20 74 68 65 20  73 69 6d 75 6c 61 74 69  |ate the simulati|
00000370  6f 6e 20 77 6f 72 6b 69  6e 67 20 69 73 20 74 6f  |on working is to|
00000380  20 73 65 6c 65 63 74 20  6f 70 74 69 6f 6e 20 31  | select option 1|
00000390  20 6f 6e 20 74 68 65 20  6d 61 69 6e 20 6d 65 6e  | on the main men|
000003a0  75 20 28 52 65 61 6c 2d  54 69 6d 65 20 53 69 6d  |u (Real-Time Sim|
000003b0  75 6c 61 74 69 6f 6e 29  2c 20 61 6e 64 20 79 6f  |ulation), and yo|
000003c0  75 20 61 72 65 20 67 69  76 65 6e 20 61 63 63 65  |u are given acce|
000003d0  73 73 20 74 6f 20 74 68  65 20 76 69 72 74 75 61  |ss to the virtua|
000003e0  6c 20 74 65 6e 6e 69 73  20 63 6f 75 72 74 2e 20  |l tennis court. |
000003f0  55 73 69 6e 67 20 74 68  65 20 6d 6f 75 73 65 2c  |Using the mouse,|
00000400  20 79 6f 75 20 63 61 6e  20 6c 65 66 74 20 63 6c  | you can left cl|
00000410  69 63 6b 20 74 6f 20 70  6c 61 63 65 20 75 70 20  |ick to place up |
00000420  74 6f 20 66 69 76 65 20  74 65 6e 6e 69 73 20 62  |to five tennis b|
00000430  61 6c 6c 73 20 6f 6e 20  74 68 65 20 63 6f 75 72  |alls on the cour|
00000440  74 2c 20 77 68 69 63 68  20 42 61 6c 6c 42 6f 74  |t, which BallBot|
00000450  20 6d 75 73 74 20 74 72  79 20 74 6f 20 63 6f 6c  | must try to col|
00000460  6c 65 63 74 2e 20 54 68  65 73 65 20 61 72 65 20  |lect. These are |
00000470  79 65 6c 6c 6f 77 20 63  69 72 63 6c 65 73 2c 20  |yellow circles, |
00000480  61 6e 64 20 42 61 6c 6c  42 6f 74 20 69 74 73 65  |and BallBot itse|
00000490  6c 66 20 69 73 20 72 65  70 72 65 73 65 6e 74 65  |lf is represente|
000004a0  64 20 62 79 20 61 20 72  65 64 20 6d 61 72 6b 65  |d by a red marke|
000004b0  72 2e 20 50 72 65 73 73  20 74 68 65 20 73 70 61  |r. Press the spa|
000004c0  63 65 20 62 61 72 20 77  68 65 6e 20 79 6f 75 20  |ce bar when you |
000004d0  68 61 76 65 20 70 6c 61  63 65 64 20 74 68 65 20  |have placed the |
000004e0  62 61 6c 6c 73 20 72 6f  75 67 68 6c 79 20 77 68  |balls roughly wh|
000004f0  65 72 65 20 79 6f 75 20  77 61 6e 74 20 74 68 65  |ere you want the|
00000500  6d 2c 20 61 6e 64 20 79  6f 75 20 63 61 6e 20 77  |m, and you can w|
00000510  61 74 63 68 20 74 68 65  20 72 6f 62 6f 74 20 61  |atch the robot a|
00000520  74 74 65 6d 70 74 20 74  6f 20 63 6f 6c 6c 65 63  |ttempt to collec|
00000530  74 20 74 68 65 20 62 61  6c 6c 73 2e 20 59 6f 75  |t the balls. You|
00000540  20 63 61 6e 20 63 6f 6e  74 69 6e 75 65 20 74 6f  | can continue to|
00000550  20 70 6c 61 63 65 20 62  61 6c 6c 73 20 6f 6e 20  | place balls on |
00000560  74 68 65 20 63 6f 75 72  74 20 65 76 65 6e 20 61  |the court even a|
00000570  66 74 65 72 20 74 68 65  20 72 6f 62 6f 74 20 68  |fter the robot h|
00000580  61 73 20 73 74 61 72 74  65 64 20 6c 6f 6f 6b 69  |as started looki|
00000590  6e 67 20 66 6f 72 20 74  68 65 6d 2c 20 61 6c 74  |ng for them, alt|
000005a0  68 6f 75 67 68 20 74 68  65 20 72 6f 62 6f 74 20  |hough the robot |
000005b0  6d 61 79 20 73 74 6f 70  20 62 65 66 6f 72 65 20  |may stop before |
000005c0  63 6f 6c 6c 65 63 74 69  6e 67 20 74 68 65 6d 20  |collecting them |
000005d0  61 6c 6c 20 69 66 20 79  6f 75 20 64 6f 20 74 68  |all if you do th|
000005e0  69 73 2c 20 61 73 20 69  74 20 6d 61 6b 65 73 20  |is, as it makes |
000005f0  74 68 65 20 61 73 73 75  6d 70 74 69 6f 6e 20 74  |the assumption t|
00000600  68 61 74 20 61 72 65 61  73 20 6f 66 20 74 68 65  |hat areas of the|
00000610  20 63 6f 75 72 74 20 77  68 69 63 68 20 69 74 20  | court which it |
00000620  68 61 73 20 61 6c 72 65  61 64 79 20 73 63 61 6e  |has already scan|
00000630  6e 65 64 20 77 69 6c 6c  20 72 65 6d 61 69 6e 20  |ned will remain |
00000640  63 6c 65 61 72 20 6f 66  20 62 61 6c 6c 73 2e 20  |clear of balls. |
00000650  54 6f 20 72 65 73 74 61  72 74 20 74 68 65 20 72  |To restart the r|
00000660  6f 62 6f 74 2c 20 70 72  65 73 73 20 74 68 65 20  |obot, press the |
00000670  73 70 61 63 65 20 62 61  72 20 61 67 61 69 6e 2e  |space bar again.|
00000680  0a 0a 49 6e 20 6f 72 64  65 72 20 74 6f 20 74 65  |..In order to te|
00000690  73 74 20 74 68 65 20 6f  76 65 72 61 6c 6c 20 72  |st the overall r|
000006a0  65 6c 69 61 62 69 6c 69  74 79 20 6f 66 20 74 68  |eliability of th|
000006b0  69 73 20 73 79 73 74 65  6d 20 74 68 6f 75 67 68  |is system though|
000006c0  2c 20 69 74 20 77 6f 75  6c 64 20 62 65 20 76 65  |, it would be ve|
000006d0  72 79 20 6c 61 62 6f 72  69 6f 75 73 20 74 6f 20  |ry laborious to |
000006e0  63 6f 6e 74 69 6e 75 61  6c 6c 79 20 67 69 76 65  |continually give|
000006f0  20 74 68 65 20 73 69 6d  75 6c 61 74 69 6f 6e 20  | the simulation |
00000700  64 69 66 66 65 72 65 6e  74 20 62 61 6c 6c 20 61  |different ball a|
00000710  72 72 61 6e 67 65 6d 65  6e 74 73 20 74 6f 20 74  |rrangements to t|
00000720  72 79 2c 20 74 6f 20 73  65 65 20 69 66 20 69 74  |ry, to see if it|
00000730  20 63 61 6e 6e 6f 74 20  63 6f 70 65 20 77 69 74  | cannot cope wit|
00000740  68 20 61 6e 79 20 6f 66  20 74 68 65 6d 2e 20 54  |h any of them. T|
00000750  68 65 72 65 66 6f 72 65  20 49 20 64 65 76 65 6c  |herefore I devel|
00000760  6f 70 65 64 20 61 20 6e  65 77 20 22 4c 6f 67 67  |oped a new "Logg|
00000770  65 64 20 43 6f 6e 74 69  6e 75 6f 75 73 20 52 75  |ed Continuous Ru|
00000780  6e 73 22 20 66 65 61 74  75 72 65 2c 20 77 68 69  |ns" feature, whi|
00000790  63 68 20 61 6c 6c 6f 77  73 20 74 68 65 20 63 6f  |ch allows the co|
000007a0  6d 70 75 74 65 72 20 74  6f 20 6d 61 6b 65 20 75  |mputer to make u|
000007b0  70 20 72 61 6e 64 6f 6d  20 62 61 6c 6c 20 61 72  |p random ball ar|
000007c0  72 61 6e 67 65 6d 65 6e  74 73 2c 20 61 6e 64 20  |rangements, and |
000007d0  74 68 65 6e 20 65 78 61  6d 69 6e 65 73 20 68 6f  |then examines ho|
000007e0  77 20 77 65 6c 6c 20 74  68 65 20 72 6f 62 6f 74  |w well the robot|
000007f0  20 63 6f 6c 6c 65 63 74  73 20 74 68 65 6d 2e 20  | collects them. |
00000800  41 66 74 65 72 20 65 61  63 68 20 72 75 6e 20 69  |After each run i|
00000810  74 20 70 72 6f 64 75 63  65 73 20 61 20 76 65 72  |t produces a ver|
00000820  64 69 63 74 2c 20 77 68  69 63 68 20 69 73 20 6f  |dict, which is o|
00000830  6e 65 20 6f 66 20 74 68  65 20 66 6f 6c 6c 6f 77  |ne of the follow|
00000840  69 6e 67 3a 0a 0a 22 50  41 53 53 22 20 2d 20 54  |ing:.."PASS" - T|
00000850  68 65 20 72 75 6e 20 73  65 65 6d 65 64 20 74 6f  |he run seemed to|
00000860  20 67 6f 20 4f 4b 2e 0a  22 54 49 4d 45 22 20 2d  | go OK.."TIME" -|
00000870  20 54 68 65 20 72 6f 62  6f 74 20 74 6f 6f 6b 20  | The robot took |
00000880  6c 6f 6e 67 65 72 20 74  68 61 6e 20 35 20 6d 69  |longer than 5 mi|
00000890  6e 75 74 65 73 20 74 6f  20 63 6f 6c 6c 65 63 74  |nutes to collect|
000008a0  20 74 68 65 20 62 61 6c  6c 73 2c 20 77 68 69 63  | the balls, whic|
000008b0  68 20 75 73 75 61 6c 6c  79 20 6d 65 61 6e 73 20  |h usually means |
000008c0  74 68 61 74 20 74 68 65  20 73 6f 66 74 77 61 72  |that the softwar|
000008d0  65 20 63 72 61 73 68 65  64 20 61 6e 64 20 74 68  |e crashed and th|
000008e0  65 20 72 6f 62 6f 74 20  63 61 6d 65 20 74 6f 20  |e robot came to |
000008f0  61 20 70 6f 69 6e 74 20  6f 66 20 69 6e 64 65 63  |a point of indec|
00000900  69 73 69 6f 6e 2e 0a 22  43 52 41 53 48 22 20 2d  |ision.."CRASH" -|
00000910  20 54 68 65 20 72 6f 62  6f 74 20 64 72 6f 76 65  | The robot drove|
00000920  20 69 6e 74 6f 20 74 68  65 20 6e 65 74 2e 0a 22  | into the net.."|
00000930  46 41 49 4c 22 20 2d 20  54 68 65 20 72 6f 62 6f  |FAIL" - The robo|
00000940  74 20 73 74 6f 70 70 65  64 2c 20 68 61 76 69 6e  |t stopped, havin|
00000950  67 20 76 65 72 69 66 69  65 64 20 74 68 61 74 20  |g verified that |
00000960  74 68 65 20 63 6f 75 72  74 20 77 61 73 20 63 6c  |the court was cl|
00000970  65 61 72 20 6f 66 20 62  61 6c 6c 73 2c 20 77 68  |ear of balls, wh|
00000980  65 6e 20 69 6e 20 66 61  63 74 20 74 68 65 72 65  |en in fact there|
00000990  20 77 65 72 65 20 73 74  69 6c 6c 20 62 61 6c 6c  | were still ball|
000009a0  73 20 77 61 69 74 69 6e  67 20 66 6f 72 20 63 6f  |s waiting for co|
000009b0  6c 6c 65 63 74 69 6f 6e  2e 0a 0a 54 68 65 20 73  |llection...The s|
000009c0  69 6d 75 6c 61 74 69 6f  6e 20 61 6c 73 6f 20 72  |imulation also r|
000009d0  65 70 6f 72 74 73 20 74  68 65 20 74 69 6d 65 20  |eports the time |
000009e0  74 61 6b 65 6e 20 66 6f  72 20 74 68 65 20 62 61  |taken for the ba|
000009f0  6c 6c 73 20 74 6f 20 62  65 20 63 6f 6c 6c 65 63  |lls to be collec|
00000a00  74 65 64 2c 20 61 73 20  77 65 6c 6c 20 61 73 20  |ted, as well as |
00000a10  74 68 65 20 63 6f 6f 72  64 69 6e 61 74 65 73 20  |the coordinates |
00000a20  6f 66 20 77 68 65 72 65  20 74 68 65 20 74 65 6e  |of where the ten|
00000a30  6e 69 73 20 62 61 6c 6c  73 20 77 65 72 65 20 70  |nis balls were p|
00000a40  6c 61 63 65 64 20 6f 6e  20 74 68 65 20 63 6f 75  |laced on the cou|
00000a50  72 74 2e 20 54 68 65 73  65 20 61 72 65 20 73 61  |rt. These are sa|
00000a60  76 65 64 20 74 6f 20 61  20 6c 61 72 67 65 20 74  |ved to a large t|
00000a70  65 78 74 20 66 69 6c 65  2c 20 77 68 6f 73 65 20  |ext file, whose |
00000a80  66 69 6c 65 6e 61 6d 65  20 79 6f 75 20 61 72 65  |filename you are|
00000a90  20 72 65 71 75 65 73 74  65 64 20 61 74 20 74 68  | requested at th|
00000aa0  65 20 73 74 61 72 74 20  6f 66 20 74 68 65 20 6c  |e start of the l|
00000ab0  6f 67 67 65 64 20 63 6f  6e 74 69 6e 75 6f 75 73  |ogged continuous|
00000ac0  20 72 75 6e 73 2e                                 | runs.|
00000ac6
BioBot/ArchText.m0
BioBot/ArchText.m1
BioBot/ArchText.m2
BioBot/ArchText.m4
BioBot/ArchText.m5

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