Introduction: LEGO SPIKE Prime Triceratops: C Language Roars to Life!

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Can a robot dinosaur walk on its own and find food?

Yes it can—with a little help from C programming and LEGO SPIKE Prime!

This time, we created a Triceratops robot that walks and stops when it finds its favorite treat. Let’s give it life with code!

Supplies

  1. 1 PC with Windows 10 or 11 operating system.
  2. SPIKE Prime

Step 1: Robot Setup

Our Triceratops is built with:

  1. Legs: Two motors for left and right movement
  2. Nose (Smell Sensor): A color sensor to detect food (red blocks!)


Step 2: What It Can Do

Walking Legs

Each leg moves one step at a time, with perfect timing between left and right.

We used multitasking (cyclic handlers) to control both legs together so the robot walks smoothly like a real creature.


Smell Sensor

The color sensor acts like a nose!

When the robot detects the color red, it stops—just like it found some delicious food!

Step 3: Pro Tips!

  1. The secret to smooth walking? Precise timing and coordination between legs!
  2. We used multitasking in C to make both motors work at the same time.
  3. And don’t forget the mechanical build—getting it to walk straight takes some clever design!


.c

pup_motor_t *motorA;
pup_motor_t *motorB;
pup_device_t *ColorSensor;
pup_device_t *ForceSensor;
pup_device_t *UltraSonicSensor;

char color_now;

int move_180degrees(pup_motor_t *motor) {
if (pup_motor_get_count(motor) > -170) {
pup_motor_set_speed(motor,400);
} else {
pup_motor_stop(motor);
return 1;
}
return 0;
}

void Main(intptr_t exinf)
{
motorA = pup_motor_init(PBIO_PORT_ID_A, PUP_DIRECTION_COUNTERCLOCKWISE);
motorB = pup_motor_init(PBIO_PORT_ID_B, PUP_DIRECTION_CLOCKWISE);
ColorSensor= pup_color_sensor_get_device(PBIO_PORT_ID_C);
pup_motor_reset_count(motorA);
pup_motor_reset_count(motorB);

// Wait for left button to be pressed
hub_button_t pressed;
while(!(pressed&HUB_BUTTON_LEFT)){
hub_button_is_pressed(&pressed);
hub_light_on_color(PBIO_COLOR_GREEN);
}

dly_tsk(3000000);

sta_cyc(CYC_HDR); // Start color_task

int compFlg_A = 0;
int compFlg_B = 0;

while(color_now != 'r') {
compFlg_A = move_180degrees(motorA);
compFlg_B = move_180degrees(motorB);
if(compFlg_A && compFlg_B) {
pup_motor_reset_count(motorA);
pup_motor_reset_count(motorB);
}
}

// Stop moving
pup_motor_stop(motorA);
pup_motor_stop(motorB);

// Exit the program
exit(0);
}

// Read color every 1ms
void color_task(intptr_t exinf)
{
color_now = pup_color_sensor_color_name(ColorSensor, true);
}

.cfg

INCLUDE("tecsgen.cfg");

#include "Triceratops.h"
CRE_TSK(MAIN_TASK, { TA_ACT, 0, Main, MAIN_PRIORITY + 1, STACK_SIZE, NULL });
CRE_TSK(CYCHDR_TASK, { TA_NULL, 0, color_task, MAIN_PRIORITY, STACK_SIZE, NULL });
CRE_CYC(CYC_HDR, { TA_NULL, { TNFY_ACTTSK, CYCHDR_TASK }, 1*1000, 0 });

Step 4: Let’s Make Dinosaurs Walk!

It’s so much fun to bring robots to life with just a few lines of C code.

Why not build your own robot dinosaur and teach it to walk, search, or even roar?

Let your imagination go wild!

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