Communicate with Cubelets using node.js

Cubelets are magnetic blocks that can be snapped together to make an endless variety of robots. You can communicate with and program them in node.js with a Bluetooth Cubelet.

• Recommended: nvm for managing node versions.
• NodeJs v6.10.0 (32-bit): (nvm install 6.10.0 32 if using nvm )
• Python 2.7
• Git
• Visual Studio 2015 Community Edition (With Visual C++ and command line tools)
• For building node-cubelets
  • git clone https://github.com/modrobotics/node-cubelets.git
  • cd node_cubelets & npm install
• For using node-cubelets in your own project
  • npm install https://github.com/modrobotics/node-cubelets.git

• Recommended: nvm for managing node versions.
• NodeJs v6.10.0
• Xcode
• Git
• For building node-cubelets
  • git clone https://github.com/modrobotics/node-cubelets.git
  • cd node_cubelets & npm install
• For using node-cubelets in your own project
  • npm install https://github.com/modrobotics/node-cubelets.git

There are a few different client types that use different ways to connect to Cubelets.

• serial (Windows/OSX)[default]: Establish a connection using a virtual serial port relies on node-serialport.
• bluetoothSerial (Windows/OSX): Uses SPP to establish a connection relies on node-bluetooth-serial-port.
• cordova (cordova iOS/Android): Can be used in apps built with cordova relies on the com.modrobotics.bluetooth plugin.
• demo (any): Doesn't actually connect to a construction, simply responds to messages. Useful for testing and UI updates.
• chromeSerial (experimental ChromeBooks): Uses the chrome.bluetooth API to establish an SPP connection.
• btleUART (experimental cordova iOS/Android): BTLE client for cordova relies on cordova-plugin-bluetoothle.
• cordovaBTSerial (experimental cordova iOS/Android): BT classic client for cordova relies on the cordova plugin BluetoothClassicSerial.
• nobleSerial (experimental OSX): BTLE client for OSX. Uses noble.

The type of client that is used can be specified when requiring the cubelets module.

//The default client type is serial.
var cubelets = require('cubelets');

//Cubelets will use the bluetoothSerial client type.
var cubelets = require('cubelets')('bluetoothSerial');

You can either list paired Bluetooth Cubelets:

cubelets.getDevices(function(devices){
  console.log(devices);
})

or discover nearby Bluetooth Cubelets:

var cubelets = require('cubelets')('bluetoothSerial');

function deviceFound(device){
  //This is a newly discovered device
  console.log(device);
}
function deviceUpdated(device){
  //This is an update to a device we have already found.
  //   You can use new information such as RSSI to make decisions.
  console.log(device);
}

cubelets.startDeviceScan(deviceFound, deviceUpdated, function(err){
  if(err){
    console.log(err);
  }
  else{
    console.log("Scan started.");

    //Stop the scan after 15 seconds.
    setTimeout(function(){
      cubelets.stopDeviceScan(function(err){

      })
    }, 15000)
  }
})

You can also connect to your Cubelets using a hard-coded serial port and bypass the discovery process.

First, pair your Bluetooth Cubelet to OS X, Windows, or Linux. A serial connection will be used to communicate with the Cubelet using node-serialport.

To find the name of the device on OS X and Linux:

> ls /dev | grep Cubelet
cu.Cubelet-MOD
tty.Cubelet-MOD

On Windows, go to the Properties of the device in the Device Manager, and find the COM port for the Cubelet. The name will be something like "COM3", "COM42", etc.

Then, create a device:

//OSX Style
var device = {
  path: '/dev/cu.Cubelet-GPW-AMP-SPP'
}

//Windows Style
var device = {
  path: 'COM3'
}

Then, open a connection:

var cubelets = require('cubelets')

var client = cubelets.connect(device, function (err) {
  if(err){
    //Connection was unsuccessful
    console.log(err);
    return;
  }
  //Connection Success
  console.log('connected to', device)
})

Once connected, you can discover other Cubelets connected to the Bluetooth Cubelet.

// Listen for incremental updates to the graph,
// as data becomes available.
client.on('updateBlockMap', function () {
  console.log('Origin block', client.getOriginBlock())
  console.log('Neighbor blocks', client.getNeighborBlocks())
  console.log('All blocks (except origin)', client.getAllBlocks())
  console.log('By ID', client.findBlockById(1234))
  console.log('By hop count', client.filterBlocksByHopCount(2))
  console.log('Graph', client.getGraph())
})

// Fetch the graph. Callback is fired once entire
// graph has been retrieved.
client.fetchGraph(function (err, graph) {
  console.log('Nodes:', graph.nodes)
  console.log('Edges:', graph.links)
})

See bin/ and test/ for further examples.