The ARGoS Forum

I am currently trying to implement a program where a human operator controls a swarm via a leader. Is there any built in mechanism in ARGoS that would let me control a specific robot using keyboard/mouse input (as you would in a game) ?

That's a nice feature request!

I have made a new release (3.0.0-beta37) and a dedicated example (manualcontrol) to show how this can be achieved. Update ARGoS to the latest version, checkout the latest version of the argos3-examples, and look at the files:

• argos3-examples/controllers/footbot_manualcontrol/footbot_manualcontrol.h
• argos3-examples/controllers/footbot_manualcontrol/footbot_manualcontrol.cpp
• argos3-examples/loop_functions/manualcontrol_loop_functions/manualcontrol_qtuser_functions.h
• argos3-examples/loop_functions/manualcontrol_loop_functions/manualcontrol_qtuser_functions.cpp
• argos3-examples/experiments/manualcontrol.argos

Let me know if the example is clear enough.

I'll add a reference to these examples in the main website in a few days.

That was impressively fast! Thank you

It works great. My only comment though would be that the controls are a little different from most game controls, which means I had to play around a little before I got used to them. Specifically:

1) The down button doesn't make the footbot go backwards, it makes it turn in place.
2) If I want the footbot to say, start moving slightly rightward while it moves forward, I can't press up and right at the same time. I have to alternate between rotating and moving until I get it going the right way.

Obviously, these two things don't affect functionality, but they make controlling the robot a little less fluid. Perhaps a feature for a future release? All in all though, great update

Thanks for the feedback!

To add the improvements you suggest, it's just a matter of changing the way the example I wrote sets the vector. You can try and play a little with the code, if you wish. Otherwise, as soon as I have a little time, I'll make an improved version.

With regards to robot selection/deselection, is there a way to do it programmatically?

That is, right now, I have to right-click a footbot to select or deselect it, but is there a way to do so via the code?

There currently isn't a way to do it, but it seems like an easy addition. How do you want to select a robot? By id? By position?

By ID is how I was hoping to do it.

OK, I'll work on it and make a new release. It's not a hard thing to add.

Hi,

I just wanted to check if there's any news on the feature we discussed earlier (that is, programatically selecting an individual by their ID)?

Hi,

Yes, the change is in the repository, but I haven't had the time to make a new release. I'll try to do it between today and tomorrow.

Cheers,
Carlo