This repository contains firmware and libraries for the robot controllers used in BB FRC Workshops.
When using the A-Star Robot Controller board (https://www.pololu.com/product/3117), you should use the ServoT3 library (contained in the libs folder) instead of the regular Servo library. This ensures that Timer3 is used for PWM generation and will not interfere with the motor control on that board (which uses Timer1). The ServoT3 folder in libs should be copied to your Arduino libraries folder (on Windows, it is C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\libraries).
The firmware here runs directly on microcontroller boards (e.g. Arduino, A-Star, etc) and serves as an interface between a host and the actual hardware that makes up a robot. The controller firmware is responsible for taking in messages over serial (e.g. "drive digital pin 1 HIGH") and actually manipulating the hardware.
All the firmware uses the Firmata Protocol. The protocol is well documented, and many client and hardware implementations already exist for it. Extensions to the protocol (implemented using sysex messages) will be documented below.
For a normal Arduino board (e.g. the Arduino Leornado or Uno), it is possible to just use the included StandardFirmata firmware and an appropriate port configuration to interact with robot hardware. For boards that act as custom robot controllers (e.g. Pololu A-Star Robot Controller), the firmware is modified to reflect the actual features on the board, and provide appropriate mappings (e.g. PWM 0 and 1 on this board will map to the M1 and M2 motor outputs).