Merge branch 'friendlier-motor-programming-docs'

Author: PeterJCLaw

kit/motor_board.md

@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ The USB interface is isolated from the rest of the board to prevent damage to th
 Due to this isolation the board must have power applied to the power connector, from the motor rail on the power board, to function.
 If the board does not have power applied to the power connector then the kit will report that there is a problem with the motor board.
 
+The motor board uses [pulse-width modulation][wiki-pwm] (PWM) to control the
+amount of power that is sent to the motors.
+
+[wiki-pwm]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-width_modulation
+
 Board Diagram
 -------------
 

programming/sr/motors/index.md

@@ -39,9 +39,13 @@ R.motor_boards["srABC1"].something...
 Setting motor power
 -------------------
 
-Motor power is controlled using [PWM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-width_modulation) with 100% power being a [duty cycle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_cycle) of 1. You set the power with a value between -1 and 1 inclusive. Fractional values (such as 0.42) can be used to specify less than 100% power. Negative values run the motor in the opposite direction.
+Control of your motors is achieved by setting a power output from one of the
+channels on your motor boards. Valid values are between -1 and 1 inclusive.
+Fractional values (such as 0.42) can be used to specify less than 100% power.
+Negative values run the motor in the opposite direction.
 
-The field to change the output power is `power`. As each Motor Board has two outputs you will need to specify which output you want to control:
+The field to change the output power is `power`. As each Motor Board has two
+outputs you will need to specify which output you want to control:
 
 ~~~~~ python
 from sr.robot3 import *
@@ -57,21 +61,55 @@ R.motor_boards["srXYZ1"].motors[0].power = -1
 
 # motor board srABC1, channel 1 to half power forward
 R.motor_boards["srABC1"].motors[1].power = 0.5
+~~~~~
+
+The motor board will continue to output the requested power until it is told
+otherwise or until power to the board is removed (usually when the robot turns
+off).
 
+Therefore to stop your motors you must explicitly set the power output to zero:
+
+~~~~~ python
 # motor board srXYZ1, channel 0 stopped
 R.motor_boards["srXYZ1"].motors[0].power = 0
 
-# the following will put motor board srABC1, channel 1 at 25% power (forwards) for 2.5 seconds:
+# Put motor board srABC1, channel 1 at 25% power for 2.5 seconds:
 R.motor_boards["srABC1"].motors[1].power = 0.25
 time.sleep(2.5)       # wait for 2.5 seconds
 R.motor_boards["srABC1"].motors[1].power = 0
 ~~~~~
 
+Since each output channel can be controlled separately, you can control several
+motors at once.
+
+~~~~~ python
+# Set one motor to full power in one direction and
+# another to full power in the other:
+R.motor_boards["srABC1"].motors[0].power = 1
+R.motor_boards["srABC1"].motors[1].power = -1
+
+# Wait a while (perhaps for the robot to move)
+time.sleep(3)
+
+# Stop both motors
+R.motor_boards["srABC1"].motors[0].power = 0
+R.motor_boards["srABC1"].motors[1].power = 0
+~~~~~
+
+<div class="info" markdown="1">
+  You will need to work out for your robot which values (positive or negative)
+  result in it moving in each direction. This will depend on how you have
+  positioned your motors as well as how they have been wired to the motor board.
+</div>
+
+Getting the current motor power
+-------------------------------
+
 You can read the current power value for a motor using the same field:
 
 ~~~~~ python
 # get the current output power of Motor Board srABC1, channel 0
-currentTarget = R.motor_boards["srABC1"].motors[0].power
+target = R.motor_boards["srABC1"].motors[0].power
 ~~~~~
 
 Stopping the motors
@@ -80,7 +118,8 @@ Stopping the motors
 When you set the motor power to 0, this signals the Motor Board to actively stop that motor from turning.
 
 ~~~~~ python
-# store the motor in a local variable because typing it out gets really boring
+# store the motor in a local variable because
+# typing it out gets really boring
 molly = R.motor_boards["srABC1"].motors[1]
 
 # set the power to 100% for a second, then stop immediately