Signal Tower#

Introduction#

The Signal Tower is a device that uses colored lights to show the robot’s status. It also has a built-in bumper switch that can detect when it is pressed.

For the examples below, the configured Signal Tower will be named signal_tower_1 and will be used in all subsequent examples throughout this API documentation when referring to SignalTower class methods.

Below is a list of all available methods:

Setters – Configure the Signal Tower light colors and patterns.

  • set_color – Sets the pattern for one or all Signal Tower LEDs.

  • set_colors – Sets the state of each Signal Tower LED.

Getters – Read the state of the Signal Tower bumper.

  • pressing – Returns whether the Signal Tower bumper is currently pressed.

Callbacks – Run code when the Signal Tower bumper state changes.

  • pressed – Registers a function to be called when the Signal Tower bumper is pressed.

  • released – Registers a function to be called when the Signal Tower bumper is released.

Constructors – Manually initialize and configure the Signal Tower.

Setters#

set_color#

set_color sets the light pattern of one or all LEDs on the Signal Tower. These lights can be used to track where the robot is at in a project or to show when certain conditions are met.

Usage:
signal_tower_1.set_color(value, state)

Parameter

Description

value

The color light to control:

  • SignalTower.RED
  • SignalTower.GREEN
  • SignalTower.BLUE
  • SignalTower.YELLOW
  • SignalTower.WHITE
  • SignalTower.ALL — Applies the action to all colors.

state

The light pattern to apply:

  • SignalTower.ON
  • SignalTower.OFF
  • SignalTower.BLINK — Lights blink on and off.

 
# Set the Signal Tower to start blinking the blue LED
signal_tower_1.set_color(SignalTower.BLUE, signal_tower.BLINK)

set_colors#

set_colors sets the state of each Signal Tower LED. These lights can be used to track where the robot is at in a project or to show when certain conditions are met.

Usage:
signal_tower_1.set_colors(r, y, g, b, w)

Parameter

Description

r

The state for the red light:

  • SignalTower.ON
  • SignalTower.OFF
  • SignalTower.BLINK — Lights blink on and off.

y

The state for the yellow light:

  • SignalTower.ON
  • SignalTower.OFF
  • SignalTower.BLINK — Lights blink on and off.

g

The state for the green light:

  • SignalTower.ON
  • SignalTower.OFF
  • SignalTower.BLINK — Lights blink on and off.

b

The state for the blue light:

  • SignalTower.ON
  • SignalTower.OFF
  • SignalTower.BLINK — Lights blink on and off.

w

The state for the white light:

  • SignalTower.ON
  • SignalTower.OFF
  • SignalTower.BLINK — Lights blink on and off.

 
# Turn on all LEDs
signal_tower_1.set_colors(SignalTower.ON, SignalTower.ON, SignalTower.ON, SignalTower.ON, SignalTower.ON)

# Turn on just the red LED
signal_tower_1.set_colors(SignalTower.ON, SignalTower.OFF, SignalTower.OFF, SignalTower.OFF, SignalTower.OFF)

Getters#

pressing#

pressing returns a Boolean indicating whether the Signal Tower’s bumper is currently being pressed. This can be used as an emergency stop.

  • True — The Signal Tower’s bumper is currently being pressed.

  • False — The Signal Tower’s bumper is not being pressed.

Usage:
signal_tower_1.pressing()

Callbacks#

pressed#

pressed registers a function to be called when the Signal Tower’s bumper is pressed.

This method returns an instance of the Event class.

Usage:
signal_tower_1.pressed(callback, arg)

Parameters

Description

callback

A previously defined function that executes when the Signal Tower’s bumper is pressed.

arg

Optional. A tuple containing arguments to pass to the callback function. See Functions with Parameters for more information.

 
# Define a function tower_button_pressed()
def tower_button_pressed():
    # Print that the Signal Tower's button was pressed
    # to the Brain's screen.
    brain.screen.print("button pressed")

# Run tower_button_pressed when the Signal Tower's
# button is pressed.
signal_tower_1.pressed(tower_button_pressed)

released#

released registers a function to be called when the Signal Tower’s bumper is released.

This method returns an instance of the Event class.

Usage:
signal_tower_1.released(callback, arg)

Parameters

Description

callback

A previously defined function that executes when the Signal Tower’s bumper is released.

arg

Optional. A tuple containing arguments to pass to the callback function. See Functions with Parameters for more information.

 
# Define a function tower_button_released()
def tower_button_released():
    # Print that the Signal Tower's button was released
    # to the Brain's screen.
    brain.screen.print("button released")

# Run tower_button_released when the Signal Tower's
# button is released.
signal_tower_1.released(tower_button_released)

Constructors#

SignalTower#

SignalTower creates a Signal Tower.

SignalTower(smartport)

Parameter

Description

smartport

The Smart Port that the Signal Tower is connected to, written as Ports.PORTx where x is the number of the port.

 
# Construct a Signal Tower "signal_tower_1" with the
# SignalTower class
signal_tower_1 = SignalTower(Ports.PORT1)
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