Program the DC Motors

Step 1

Including the library

Start your code by including the Smart Inventor Library. This should be the first thing in your program, even before void setup():

1 #include <SmartInventor.h>

Wait…what’s a library again?

You’ll probably be using libraries in most of your robot programs. Libraries are sets of reusable functions and resources, and can help you with your own code once you use them.

Any code that starts with SmartInventor._____ is a function in the Smart Inventor library. Any variable in orange is an initialized variable from the library that you included. If you need to find the libraries that you’re working with, go to Sketch > Library in Arduino.

Learn more on the Arduino website.

Step 2

Void setup and void loop

Inside void setup(), enter the code below so the DC motors are initialized:

SmartInventor.DCMotorUse();

Inside void loop(), enter the code below to program your DC motor’s movement:

SmartInventor.DCMotor(M1,CCW,100);

The DC motor’s movement has three important parts in its parentheses:

The first two characters are the name of the motor. Entries for the name of the motor are either M1, M2, M3, or M4. This refers to which motors you will be controlling. The pins on the Smart Inventor Board are paired, meaning that when the pin for M1 is used, the pin for M3 will also operate. The same thing goes with M2 and M4.
The second part is for the direction your motor will move. There are four entries for directions: CW, CCW, STOP, and LOOSE. CW stands for clockwise, CCW stands for counter clockwise, STOP will stop the motor, and LOOSE will stall the motor to a stop.
The last number is your motor’s power. Entries for power are positive numbers ranging from 0 through 107, with 0 being the lowest and 107 being the highest.

Step 3

Delay

Finally, include a delay below the code for your DC motor’s movement. This will give your motor time to change.

delay(1000);

Delays are written with the time in milliseconds in parentheses. You just wrote a delay for 1000 milliseconds, which is 1 second!

Step 4

Final code

This is the final code! However! This will only let you control one motor. If you would like to control and use both motors at the same time, add an extra line of code in void loop(). Use the lesson to help you out!

#include<SmartInventor.h> //Includes the Smart Inventor library 

void setup() {
SmartInventor.DCMotorUse(); //Initializes the use of DC Motors
SmartInventor.DCMotor(M1, CCW, 100); //Sets the DC Motor on pin M1 to move counter clockwise direction at power of 10
delay(1000); //Time step for the previous command
}

void loop() {

}

This lesson works with:

Grade level:

Approx. time required:

CSTA

CCSS

Including the library

Void setup and void loop

Delay

Final code