Pepper Gamepad Remote Control Library

This Android Library will help you to connect an external controller and map buttons in order to make a Pepper move, using the QiSDK.

This library was tested with a Xbox One Controller, but can be used with any Bluetooth input device.

Video Demonstration

This video was filmed at SoftBank Robotics Europe, and shows the basic control scheme while navigating around the SBRE Showroom.

Watch video on YouTube

Getting Started

Prerequisites

A robotified project for Pepper with QiSDK. Read the documentation if needed

A connection to an external controller.

Connecting a Controller

1. Turn on the Bluetooth for the Android Tablet on Pepper.
2. Set you controller to pairing mode. This will differ between devices, please check the instructions for your specific device if unsure.
3. In the Tablet settings, navigate to Bluetooth Settings, find the device and pair it.

Running the Sample Application

The project comes complete with a sample project. You can clone the repository, open it in Android Studio, and run this directly onto a Robot.

The sample application will handle the case where the controller is not connected, you can use a similar function in your own application.

Because any number of external controllers can be used, and the mapping needed may be different, it is necessary to override onGenericMotionEvent and pass the values to the RemoteRobotController in the pepper-gamepad library.

Full implementation details are available to see in the sample project.

Installing

Follow these instructions

Make sure to replace 'Tag' by the number of the version of the library you want to use.

Usage

This README assumes some standard setup can be done by the user, such as initialising variables or implementing code in the correct functions. Refer to the Sample Project for full usage code.

Initialise the QISDK in the onCreate. If you are unsure how to do this, refer to the QISDK tutorials

QiSDK.register(this, this)

In the onRobotFocusGained, disable BasicAwareness, and instantiate a RemoteRobotController object by passing it the QiContext. Then start it.

override fun onRobotFocusGained(qiContext: QiContext) {  
    val basicAwarenessHolder = HolderBuilder.with(qiContext)  
        .withAutonomousAbilities(AutonomousAbilitiesType.BASIC_AWARENESS)  
        .build()  
        
    basicAwarenessHolder.async().hold().thenConsume {  
        when {  
            it.isSuccess -> Log.i(TAG, "BasicAwareness held with success")  
            it.hasError() -> Log.e(TAG, "holdBasicAwareness error: " + it.errorMessage)  
            it.isCancelled -> Log.e(TAG, "holdBasicAwareness cancelled")  
        }  
    }  
    
    remoteRobotController = RemoteRobotController(qiContext)   
	remoteRobotController.start()
}

Get the position of the controller and call updateTarget method. It is important to call this function in a thread, as it is using references to the QISDK.

remoteRobotController.updateTarget(leftJoystickX, leftJoystickY, rightJoystickX, rightJoystickY)

• Left joystick makes Pepper translate
• Right joystick makes Pepper rotate

Example :

override fun onGenericMotionEvent(event: MotionEvent): Boolean {  
  
    // Add null protection for when the controller disconnects  
    val inputDevice = event.device ?: return super.onGenericMotionEvent(event)  
  
    // Get left joystick coordinates  
    val leftJoystickX = getCenteredAxis(event, inputDevice, MotionEvent.AXIS_X)  
    val leftJoystickY = getCenteredAxis(event, inputDevice, MotionEvent.AXIS_Y)  
  
    // Get right joystick coordinates  
    val rightJoystickX = getCenteredAxis(event, inputDevice, MotionEvent.AXIS_Z)  
    val rightJoystickY = getCenteredAxis(event, inputDevice, MotionEvent.AXIS_RZ)  
  
    if (::remoteRobotController.isInitialized) {  
        thread {  
            remoteRobotController.updateTarget(leftJoystickX, leftJoystickY, rightJoystickX, rightJoystickY)  
        }       
    } 
  
    return true  
}

private fun getCenteredAxis(event: MotionEvent, device: InputDevice, axis: Int): Float {  
    val range: InputDevice.MotionRange? = device.getMotionRange(axis, event.source)  
  
    // A joystick at rest does not always report an absolute position of  
    // (0,0). Use the getFlat() method to determine the range of values bounding the joystick axis center.  

    range?.apply {  
        val value = event.getAxisValue(axis)  
  
        // Ignore axis values that are within the 'flat' region of the joystick axis center.  
        if (Math.abs(value) > flat) {  
            return value  
        }  
    }  
    
    return 0f  
}

You can stop RemoteRobotController object whenever you want by calling the stop() method. This can be helpfull if you want to run animations for instance:

remoteRobotController.stop()
myCustomAnimation.run()
remoteRobotController.start()

License

This project is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" License- see the COPYING file for details