Configure Wireless Thymio

Tutorials / By

Network configuration guide

Wireless Thymio Package Contents

  • A Dongle (USB adapter) that allows the computer to communicate with the Wireless Thymio robots
  • The Wireless Thymio robot can communicate with other Wireless Thymio robots and dongles that are connected to the same network.
  • The USB cable is used to charge the robot and program it (you can also program it in wireless mode).

Information

Initially, your Wireless Thymio robot is correctly configured and ready to use with the associated dongle, no need to configure anything for normal use !

For more Thymio robots and/or dongles to be in the same network, you must satisfy the following conditions:

  • all on the same radio channel
  • all have the same network identifier
  • all have a unique node identifier (no nodes having the same nodeID)

Configure Wireless Thymio

I would like that all my robots communicate together with one single dongle.

thymio-wireless-tutorial-1.svg

Usage example: Synchronized actions, I am a school teacher and I stop the robots all together

Instructions:

Initially, your Wireless Thymio robot is correctly configured and ready to use with the associated dongle, no need to configure anything unless you have already changed the configuration.

I would like that a dongle communicates only with one single robot

Usage example: A student has his own Wireless Thymio and doesn’t want his instructions to interfere with other students’.

Instructions:

Wireless-configurator.png

On the computer:

  • Plug your dongle into your computer.
  • Open the “Wireless Thymio Network Configurator”. (supplied with Aseba).
  • Choose a channel either 0, 1 or 2 (it must be the same channel for robots in the same network. default channel is 1).
  • You can choose a network identifier (default 0x404F).
  • Do not change the dongle node identifier (unless you know why).
  • Press “Enable pairing”

On the Wireless Thymio robot:

  • Switch on your Wireless Thymio robot (if it was already turned on, turn it off and turn it on again.)
  • Put the Wireless Thymio into configuration mode by touching both the right and left buttons for 3 seconds and select the light purple mode by touching several times the right button, then validate by touching the centre button.
  • The dongle and Thymio must flash at the same frequency. Bring the Thymio dongle closer until that is the case.
  • Exit the Thymio purple mode by turning Thymio off (touch the centre button for several seconds), to save the configuration.

Back on the computer:

  • Press Flash into dongle to save the new settings into it.

You can of course add as many Thymios as you want in a network, for example for performing collective tasks.

If you have lots of robots and they have their own network, it is better to distribute the networks on the 3 available radio channels.

On recent versions of Mac OS X, you have to unplug and re-plug your dongle if you want to start this program again. This is due to a bug in the OS X serial driver.