Creighton

I am new to programming. I tried looking for this before I posted, but I'm not even sure what I'm looking for... So here is my question:

I am working on a robot that is using a c based programmable controller (a CBC from botball).

I have written a program that provides the robot's x, y, and heading for the robot. I can run this program all by itself with no issues.

What I need to be able to do is have this program continuously running (in the background) while the robot is going other things and then be able to access the x, y, and heading data at various times in the main program.

Any suggestions?

nonoob

Depends on whether there are built-in features in your environment that allow multi-threading, asynchronous and multi-executables... however you want to put it. Some controllers have what amount to multiple cores. Alternatively you'd have to write your own scheduler to detect sensor inputs while running doing your X,Y calculations. It's hard to tell from your description (unless I find what a CBC botball is) what's required. Just a quickie survey I believe there are Botball forum communities what could help you.
KISS and CBC Firmware source | Botball Community

Creighton

Nonoob,
Thanks for the reply. Yes, there is a botball forum, but I thought I'd get a faster reply here -- plus those are the people I will be competing against.
From what I know, the cbc runs LINUX and the c used is a variation of c (not c+). The cbc has 2 gig of flash memory and a high end dual processors.
I have tried doing a program that has start_process(my_navigation_function), but don't know enough about struct, pointers, etc to make it work.
Have tried looking at examples in books and on the web, but I'm still too new to programming to be able to decipher the abstract examples.
Creighton

nonoob

Heh, yes it would be self defeating to ask your competition for help. I'l love to help but I have no idea what the controller can and can not do. Best bet is to team up with someone who is a better C programmer. It doesn't sound like a "who can learn C the fastest" is the idea of the contest... so I believe they assume some programming background.