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Table of Contents:     1.0 Introduction     2.0 Installing Aibnet     3.0 Making a Connection     4.0 Capturing Text to a Log File     5.0 Transfer RCode to/from Aibo     6.0 Upload Actions to Aibo     7.0 Debug Mode, Tracing, and Playback     8.0 Watch Bar     9.0 Camera Bar     10.0 Variable Bar      11.0 Call Stack     12.0 Source Viewer     13.0 Specify Preferences     14.0 What's New?

Tools Included: Aibnet - AIBO Telnet Console BeCompile - Optimizing Behavior Compiler CPP - Macro Preprocessor RCheck - RCode Syntax Checker ReCode - Extended RCode Compiler OdaBuild - Aibo Action Compiler   RCode Syntax References: RCode 1.2 (210/220/310) RCode 110

3.2 Disconnect from AIBO

Click the toolbar "Detach" button, or from the Connect menu, click "Disconnect"

3.3 Quit Aibnet

On the Connect menu, click "Exit".

4.2 To stop logging commands

On the Terminal menu, click  Stop Logging (or double click on "LOG" in the statusbar).

5.2 Write RCode to AIBO

On the RCode menu, click Write (or click on Write in the toolbar).   You must have a Behavior/RCode file open, and a connection with AIBO established for this to work.  Power cycle AIBO to run with written RCode image.  To run new RCode without a power cycle, use Start instead.

5.3 Read RCode from AIBO

On the RCode menu, click Read (or click on Read in the toolbar).   The RCode stored on the memory stick will be read into memory in Aibnet.

5.4 Compare RCode on AIBO

To verify the RCode in Aibnet memory, and the RCode stored on AIBO's memstick are identical, click Compare from the RCode menu (or Compare in the toolbar).   You must have an Behavior/RCode file open, and a connection with AIBO established for this to work.

5.5 Delete RCode on AIBO

To remove RCode from AIBO's memstick, from RCode click Delete (or press toolbar Delete button).

5.6 Start RCode Program on AIBO

On the RCode menu, click Start (or click Start in the toolbar).   If RCode isn't loaded into Aibnet, only a "RUN" is dispatched.   However, if RCode -is- in Aibnet memory, the file is first downloaded to AIBO prior to "RUN".  Note: AIBO will echo the file back as it parses the input.  For large downloads, this could take a few minutes.  To start AIBO without downloading the RCode in Aibnet memory (for example, if it has already been downloaded previously), type "RUN" in the Command Bar.

5.7 Stop RCode Program on AIBO

On the RCode menu, click Stop (or click Stop in the toolbar).

6.2 Compile & upload actions to AIBO

From the RCode menu, choose Upload Actions (or click Actions in the toolbar).  Aibnet will ask you to select an actions directory.   Select where your *.ACT files (and/or *.UAC files) are located, and click OK.   Your actions are compiled & uploaded to AIBO.  See OdaBuild for details.

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Debug Mode:   In debug mode, the watch bar does not poll AIBO.  Instead it updates from the incoming tracing information (used by the variable bar).   The watch bar also supports trace playback mode, always showing what the variables were at a given point in time.

8.1 To toggle watchbar

On the Debug menu, click "Watch Bar".

8.2 To add a variable to watchbar

With watchbar visible, click the "Add" button.   Type in the new variable name where indicated.  Note: the watchbar only updates the 'Value' column when online with AIBO.

8.3 To edit a variable name in watchbar

Double-click on the variable which needs editing.

8.4 To change a variable value from watchbar

Double-click on the value which needs changing.  Aibnet will issue a 'SET variable new_value' command to AIBO to update the variable.

8.5 To delete a variable from the watchbar

Click on the variable, and then click the "Delete" button.

The camerabar shows what AIBO sees through its camera.   You control the polling rate (slow, normal, fast, and very fast).   The faster the poll rate, the more of AIBO's CPU you consume. Debug Mode:   In debug mode, camera bar records everything camcorder style.   This makes Aibnet great for debugging anything involving good paw-to-nose coordination.  Soccer kicks are a perfect example (or self docking code...).

9.1 To toggle camerabar

On the Debug menu, click "Camera Bar".   Note: RCodePlus 1.91 (or newer) required to use the camerabar.   RCodePlus 2.52 (or newer) is recommended if you haven't upgraded in a while.

9.2 To change the camera update speed

With the camera bar visible, on the Debug menu, click "Camera Options".  Select "Fast", "Normal" or "Slow" update speed.   Note: The camera burdens AIBO quite a lot (due to image compression).   Slower camera updates are better, especially if running a personality like DogsLife.  If you select YUV encoding, a "Vert Fast" poll rate is also available.  YUV encoding is faster, but there is some loss in image quality (depending on lighting conditions).

10.1 To toggle variable bar

On the Debug menu, click "Variable Bar".

10.2 To show all variables always (instead of only on change)

Right-click in variable bar, and select "Show All".

10.3 Copy variables to the watch-bar

Aibnet supports click-n-drag copying from the variable-bar to the watch-bar.   Pick the variable you are interested in, down click and hold it.  Now drag it into the watch-bar & release the mouse button.

The call stack tracks the use of the R-Code "CALL" statement.  Each time a CALL is made,  AIBO pushes the return address into a temporary storage (the stack).   Later, when a RETURN (or RET) statement is encountered, AIBO pops that return address from the stack, and resumes R-Code after the CALL. Aibnet tracks these pushes & pops, and displays the call stack.  It is easy to overlook a return statement, and eventually cause the stack to overflow.   The call stack makes it very easy to spot such problems. Debug Mode:   The call stack only works in debug mode.   AIBO must also be running a "debug-compile" from ReCode or BeCompile.   The debug-compile has all sorts of information added that enables Aibnet tracing to function.

11.1 To toggle call stack

On the Debug menu, click "Call Stack Bar".

11.2 View R-Code where stack push occurred

Left-Click on stack entry.  Right-click in the call stack window, and select "View Code".

The source viewer displays the execution of R-Code or Master Studio Behavior programs.   It also contains the playback control toolbar.   The slider is for quick and coarse movement.  The buttons are for stepping forward and backward through the trace log. Debug Mode:   The source viewer only works in debug mode.   AIBO must also be running a "debug-compile" from ReCode or BeCompile.   The debug-compile has all sorts of information added that enables Aibnet tracing to function.

13.2 Set options for cursor and toolbar appearance

On the Terminal menu, click Preferences.  Choose "Appearance" from the preference dialog list. Cursor style and console controls: Cursor Style displays the cursor as an underline, vertical bar, or block. Cursor Blinking makes the cursor blink. Local Echo displays all keyboard input.  Can also be toggled by double clicking "ECHO" in the status bar. Output Linefeeds makes Aibnet output a linefeed after every carriage return.  Not normally needed with AIBO. Toolbar controls are: Display Toolbar Text Labels toggles text in the toolbar. Show tool tips on toolbar buttons controls if tooltips appear if mouse is paused over a button. Start button uploads RCode controls Aibnet uploads the current RCode file whenever the Start button is clicked.   This is useful when debugging small programs.   However, for large programs (like DogsLife) it's much faster to write R-Code to AIBO's memstick and reboot.

13.3 Set options for auto editing assist

On the Terminal menu, click Preferences.  Choose "Edit" from the preference dialog list. Auto Copy Selection copies selected text automatically into the clipboard without needing to click "Copy" on the toolbar. Auto Reload RCode checks your RCode source file date/time stamp whenever the Write or Start toolbar buttons are used.   Changes are reloaded/checked/compiled as required. Start button updates RCode updates RCode on AIBO whenever the Start button is clicked. Aibnet can either upload & run immediately (good for small programs), or write your RCode to the memstick and reboot AIBO.   For larger programs (like DogsLife) it's MUCH faster to write the memstick and reboot.   The following auto-edit options are: Upload and Run.   Does a temporary upload of RCode, and immediately starts.   Good for small programs.   These uploads are not saved to the memstick, and lost when AIBO is turned off. Write RCode to Memory Stick and Restart.   The memory stick is updated, and Aibnet tells AIBO to power cycle itself (turn off, and back on automatically).  RCode starts running once AIBO has rebooted.   The WLAN connection will be lost when AIBO shut's off and you will need to reconnect.

13.4 Set how many lines are saved in the scroll back buffer

On the Terminal menu, click Preferences.  Choose "Edit" from the preference dialog list. In Buffer Size, type a number between 200 and 32000.   The scroll back buffer is a block of memory where lines are stored so you can review text displayed by the terminal.

13.5 Stop shell window from appearing when opening RCode or Behavior files

On the Terminal menu, click Preferences.  Choose "Helper Tools" from the preference dialog list. Select "Hidden (unless error)" in the Tool Window Operation mode group. Note: Aibnet continues compiling RCode and behavior files -- but silently.   The shell window -still- appears if an error occurs (so you know there is a problem).