Touch Buttons

There are 4 touch buttons (F, L, R, and B) on the AI ​​core board. F, L, R, and B refer to the front, left, right, and back regions of the touch panel on the robot's back. All left and right directions in this document are from the robot's perspective.

Input Rules

• A short press is recognized after the button is released.
• Consecutive taps must be no more than approximately 0.55 seconds apart. After a single or double tap, the system waits briefly to determine whether another tap follows.
• Holding a button for approximately 0.75 seconds is recognized as a long press. Releasing the button after a long press does not trigger its short-press function.
• A beep sounds whenever a newly touched region is recognized.

Quick Reference

Button	Single tap	Double tap	Triple tap	Long press
F — Front	Forward movement sequence	Drag-and-learn	Automatic calibration	Charge sleep mode
L — Left	Left-turn sequence	Drag-follow demo	Three-legged gait	Slow crawl 45° left
R — Right	Right-turn sequence	Replay learned motion	Climb a step	Slow crawl 45° right
B — Back	Jump-and-slide sequence	Alternate gestures or switch extension modules	Dance routine	Scout: butt-up; Buddy: backflip sequence

F (Front)

Single Tap: Forward Movement Sequence

The robot walks forward for 5 cycles (wkF 5), trots forward for 5 cycles (trF 5), and then walks backward for 8 cycles (wkB 8).

Double Tap: Drag-and-Learn

Enters drag-and-learn mode (fl) for recording a motion by manually moving the joints. Recording begins after the robot finishes preparing and plays a prompt tone. While learning, the touch buttons temporarily have different functions:

• Touch L to record or confirm the current key pose.
• Touch R to finish learning and save the recording.

After recording, the robot returns to its standing posture. Double-tap R to replay the learned motion.

Triple Tap: Automatic Calibration

Starts automatic calibration for all six joints. When the prompt appears, place the robot firmly and evenly against the floor:

• Touch F again to confirm and perform the calibration.
• Touch L, R, or B to cancel calibration and restore the previous calibration values.

Long Press: Charge Sleep Mode

Stops pending actions, puts the robot into its resting posture, disables the servos, and displays the battery/charging screen. To exit this mode, flip the robot over once, send any data over USB or Bluetooth serial, or unplug USB power while charging. The touch buttons cannot wake the robot from charge sleep mode.

L (Left)

Single Tap: Left-Turn Sequence

The robot turns 180° to the left in place (vtL 180), walks through a 45° left turn (wkL 45), trots through another 45° left turn (trL 45), moves sideways to the left for 3 seconds (sideL), and finally returns to its standing posture (up).

Double Tap: Drag-Follow Demo

Enters joint drag-follow mode (F). The servos switch to a state that allows manual movement. When one leg joint is moved, the other leg joints follow it to the same angle. This mode demonstrates synchronized joint following and does not record a motion.

Triple Tap: Three-Legged Gait

The robot first assumes the preparation pose (preparationL) and then walks forward for approximately 5 seconds without using its right rear leg (noRightBackF 5000).

Long Press: Slow Left Turn

Performs a slow crawling turn of 45° to the left (crL 45).

R (Right)

Single Tap: Right-Turn Sequence

The robot turns 180° to the right in place (vtR 180), walks through a 45° right turn (wkR 45), trots through another 45° right turn (trR 45), moves sideways to the right for 3 seconds (sideR), and finally returns to its standing posture (up).

Double Tap: Replay a Learned Motion

Replays the motion most recently recorded by double-tapping F (fr) and automatically selects a smooth-merge level. If no learned motion is available in memory during the current power cycle, the robot instead plays the temporary motion stored in persistent storage (T).

Triple Tap: Climb a Step

Runs the complete step-climbing sequence (qStep): step1F → step2F 3 → step3 → up. Use this function only in front of a stable step of a suitable size with a clearly defined edge, and provide enough space to prevent a fall.

Long Press: Slow Right Turn

Performs a slow crawling turn of 45° to the right (crR 45).

B (Back)

Single Tap: Jump-and-Slide Sequence

The robot performs a jump-slide start (jumpSlide), slides for 3 seconds (slide), and then bounds forward for 5 cycles (bdF 5, bound forward).

Double Tap: Alternate Gestures or Switch Extension Modules

This function depends on whether an APDS9960 gesture sensor is detected at startup:

• Buddy / no gesture sensor detected: Alternates between the hds and hi motions, performing one of them on each double tap.
• Scout / gesture sensor detected: Cycles through the active extension module. With the options currently enabled in this project, the sequence is dual light sensors (XL) → dual infrared distance sensors (XD) → gesture sensor (XG) → dual-microphone sound localization (XM) → all modules off.

Triple Tap: Dance Routine

Runs the Quaddle dance sequence (qDance). The robot enters its dance posture, performs two dance segments, and then returns to its standing posture.

Long Press: Model-Dependent Motion

• Scout / gesture sensor detected: Performs the butt-up motion (buttUp) and then returns to its standing posture (up).
• Buddy / no gesture sensor detected: Performs a backflip (bf) followed by a rolling motion (flipRoll).

Backflips and rolls require a large, level, non-slip area. Keep people, pets, and fragile objects away from the robot.

Note:

• A triple tap must be completed continuously. If two taps are more than approximately 0.55 seconds apart, they are recognized as separate, lower-count tap sequences.
• Make sure there is enough space around the robot before running any motion, especially step climbing, sideways movement, backflips, and rolls.
• Some functions run sequentially in the task queue. If the robot is already executing a sequence, a new touch may first stop the current queue. Touch the desired button again afterward.
• The Scout/Buddy behavior of B double-tap and B long-press is determined by whether the APDS9960 sensor is detected at startup at I²C address 0x39, not solely by the robot's enclosure or product name.