Application Notes

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Application Note: Using

AutoHotkey with Pololu USB

Products

1. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2. Products with Command Line Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3. Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4. Using Autohotkey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

5. Example AutoHotkey Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

5.a. Maestro Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

5.a.1. Toggle an LED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

5.a.2. Start a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

5.a.3. Move a Servo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

5.b. Simple Motor Controller Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

5.b.1. Control a Motor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

5.c. Jrk Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

5.c.1. Control a motor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

6. Customer Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

http://www.pololu.com/docs/0J45 Page 1 of 8

Summary of content (8 pages)

PAGE 1
Application Note: Using AutoHotkey with Pololu USB Products © 2001–2011 Pololu Corporation Application Note: Using AutoHotkey with Pololu USB Products 1. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Products with Command Line Programs 3. Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Using Autohotkey . . . . . . . . . . . 5. Example AutoHotkey Scripts . . . . . 5.a. Maestro Scripts . . . . . . . . . 5.a.1. Toggle an LED . . . . 5.a.2. Start a Sequence . . . . 5.a.3. Move a Servo . . . . . 5.b.
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Application Note: Using AutoHotkey with Pololu USB Products © 2001–2011 Pololu Corporation 1. Overview Did you ever want to control a motor or servo from your computer simply by pressing a key? You can do this with a few easy lines of code by using AutoHotkey [http://www.autohotkey.com/] to run the command-line utilities that come with some of our USB products. AutoHotkey is a flexible, free, open-source utility for Windows that runs in the background.
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Application Note: Using AutoHotkey with Pololu USB Products © 2001–2011 Pololu Corporation 2. Products with Command Line Programs The following Pololu USB products have command-line utilities: • the Maestro Servo Controllers [http://www.pololu.com/maestro] have usccmd, • the Simple Motor Controllers [http://www.pololu.com/smc] have smccmd, and • the Jrk Motor Controllers with Feedback [http://www.pololu.com/catalog/category/95] have jrkcmd. 2.
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Application Note: Using AutoHotkey with Pololu USB Products © 2001–2011 Pololu Corporation 3. Installation 1. Download [http://www.autohotkey.com/download/] and install AutoHotkey_L. 2. Install the latest version of your Pololu USB product’s command-line utility. The command-line utility is usually packaged with the product’s software and drivers and can be found on the Resources tab of the product page.
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Application Note: Using AutoHotkey with Pololu USB Products © 2001–2011 Pololu Corporation 4. Using Autohotkey AutoHotkey has a brief tutorial and overview basics of using the program. [http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/Tutorial.htm], which explains the When using AutoHotkey with these command-line utilities there are a couple of issues to look out for: • The command-line utility will not run while the product software is connected to the USB device (e.g.
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Application Note: Using AutoHotkey with Pololu USB Products © 2001–2011 Pololu Corporation 5. Example AutoHotkey Scripts 5.a. Maestro Scripts 5.a.1. Toggle an LED In this example, an LED is connected to channel 0. See Section 7.b of the Maestro User’s Guide to see how to connect an LED. Ctrl+Alt+C will turn the LED on, and Ctrl+Alt+B will turn the LED off. ^!c:: Run usccmd --servo 0`,8000,,Hide ^!b:: Run usccmd --servo 0`,0,,Hide 5.a.2. Start a Sequence After making a sequence as described in Section 4.
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Application Note: Using AutoHotkey with Pololu USB Products © 2001–2011 Pololu Corporation 5.c.1. Control a motor Ctrl+Alt+C stops the motor, Ctrl+Alt+V sets the motor to go in the forward direction, Ctrl+Alt+B sets the current target position to 1500, ^!c:: Run jrkcmd --stop,,Hide ^!v:: Run jrkcmd --run,,Hide ^!b:: Run jrkcmd --target 1500,,Hide 5.
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Application Note: Using AutoHotkey with Pololu USB Products © 2001–2011 Pololu Corporation 6. Customer Projects • A custom, media-center computer case [http://forum.pololu.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3567] built inside a Musikschrank 7025 [http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/grundig_musikschrank_7025.html] radio. If you make a project using AutoHotkey and a Pololu product, please share it with us [http://www.pololu.com/contact]! 6.