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Robots /
RealTermSetting Up RealTermfor use with the Open Interface and Create API 7/24/07 By Greg Pilla & Don Rhine Contents
ReferencesInstalling RealTermRealTerm requires very little setup. In the “Install” directory, run the executable “Realterm_2.0.0.57_setup.exe”.
Settings for each tab...Start up RealTerm. Below the black text area are a number of tabs spread across the window. The most important tabs are Display, Port, and Send. Display TabIn the “Display As” panel in the lower left, you can choose how to represent the data that is received from the Create. The ones you will use most are:
Quick Setup Preview:
To the right of “Display As”, notice the check box labeled “Big Endian”. This option is unavailable unless you have selected uint16 or int16. Warning: RealTerm contains a bug where Big Endian will appear selected at startup, but will really represent int16’s using the Little Endian (box unchecked) byte ordering. Uncheck and check the checkbox to correctly set RealTerm to Big Endian byte ordering.
By default, only data that RealTerm receives will be displayed in the black terminal frame. Check the “Half Duplex” box if you want to see data you have sent in the terminal frame.
You can use the “Data Frame” panel to choose how much data should be displayed per line. This is useful if you are constantly polling multiple sensors for data. For example, if you have three sensors that each return one byte values, you can set Data Frame “Bytes” to 3, and check the box labeled “Single” to make each poll of the sensors appear on a separate line.
Port TabQuick Setup Preview: Be careful with the port number!!!!
 The Baud selection box is where you choose how fast data is sent over the serial wire. If the two ends of the serial connection are not set at the same speed, the data will not be transmitted properly. Specific settings are listed in later sections.
The Parity, Data Bits, Stop Bits, and Flow Control also determine how data is sent over the serial line. These values should be the same for any use of RealTerm with the Create, so make sure the values are set as follows:
The Port selection box tells RealTerm which serial port is being used to connect to the Create. If you have plugged in the serial cable on both ends but can’t seem to send data, try using another Port number. Only use the simple numeric ports, not alphanumeric or dotted decimal.
The Open button will open and close RealTerm’s connection to the selected serial port. If you see the text “Port: Closed” in the bottom right corner of the RealTerm window, click the Open button.
Anytime you make a change to the Baud, Port, or other settings, you must click the Change button to accept the changes.
Send TabQuick Setup Preview:
 The most important parts of the Send Tab are the two long drop-down input boxes, with “Send Numbers” and “Send ASCII” buttons to their right. You can type numbers and text into the boxes, and then send them to the Create with the buttons to the right. Most of the time, numbers will be sent to the Create, so be sure to use the “Send Numbers” button. Once you click a send button, your input will be saved in the dropdown box.
You can send multiple numbers on the same line by separating them with a space. It is a good idea to put emergency commands (for example, make the robot stop moving) on one line, and other commands on the other line, so you can quickly send the emergency command (without trying to type it while your robot is on the warpath).
The little box below the drop-down boxes can be used to enter individual numbers quickly. Type in a number, then press space, and it will be sent. Since it’s very easy to make typos this way, it is usually best to use the drop-down input boxes.
The Literal box, Strip Spaces box, and EOL options are used for sending ASCII text, so leave them unchecked.
The Before and After checkboxes in the \n options are allow you to automatically move to a new line before or after the data is sent whenever you press a send button.
Echo TabQuick Setup Preview:
 Overview of Important FeaturesTo the right of the tabs, there are three buttons that can help you organize how the data is displayed in the terminal.
The \n button will move the cursor to the next line in the terminal frame.
The clear button will move all the data being displayed out of the way, and display an empty terminal frame.
The freeze/resume button is useful if you are getting a lot of data back from the Create. It lets you scroll through data that has been pushed off the screen by newer data.
RealTerm with the Open InterfaceUse the following settings in the Port Tab when the Create is connected directly to the computer:
Remember to click the “Change” button to accept the settings, and make sure the “Open” button is ‘pressed’ to open the connection.
RealTerm with the Command ModuleUse the following settings in the Port Tab when the Create is using the Command Module, and you want to send data or text over the USB cable:
You can’t send data to the Command Module, so you don’t need to use the Send Tab.
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