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What is PiStorms

PiStorms is a shield (or a HAT) 
designed for the Raspberry Pi to 
control NXT and EV3 Motors and 
operate NXT and EV3 Sensors.
PiStorms works with Raspberry Pi 
model A+, model B+, and 2 model B.

Connections and Placement

PiStorms is designed to connect 
directly with Raspberry Pi board by 
connecting over it’s GPIO header pins. You can use it jointly with 
other hardware that uses GPIO pins, provided there is no conflict 
between Raspbery Pi pins used by PiStorms. (Refer to ‘Raspberry Pi 
Pins Used by PiStorms’ section for details). 

Supplying power to your PiStorms

Do NOT 

supply power to the PiStorms unless you are completely 

sure the Raspberry Pi GPIO pins are correctly inserted into the 
PiStorms. Doing so may result in permanent damage to the Raspberry 
Pi.

The PiStorms has green terminals to connect an external battery; 
this battery will also supply power to attached Raspberry Pi.
You do not need to power the Raspberry Pi with a different power 
source; however supplying external power to Raspberry Pi (such as 
through USB) is also ok.

NOTE
Nominal PiStorms Power requirement: 8 Volts, 1.5 Amps
While using motors, at least 6.8 volts, 1.5 Amps power is 
needed.

While connecting external battery, ensure correct polarity. 

PiStorms is rated for external power supply of 10.5 volts DC max for 
sensors and motors (never exceed this voltage limit). Above 9V the 
touch screen may flicker. Ensure to not exceed this value. 

Recommended Battery Options

6AA batteries (rechargeable or non-
rechargeable).

Copyright © 2016  mindsensors.com

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PiStorms

User Guide

Summary of Contents for PiStorms

Page 1: ...rectly inserted into the PiStorms Doing so may result in permanent damage to the Raspberry Pi The PiStorms has green terminals to connect an external battery this battery will also supply power to attached Raspberry Pi You do not need to power the Raspberry Pi with a different power source however supplying external power to Raspberry Pi such as through USB is also ok NOTE Nominal PiStorms Power r...

Page 2: ...are compatible with LEGO mindstorms products PiStorms Frame Assembly Instructions Architecture Highlights PiStorms has two banks for motor and sensor ports Bank A and Bank B Each bank has its own I2C address Each bank has two EV3 motor ports and 2 sensor ports Total 4 motors and 4 sensor ports You can also connect NXT motors in the motor ports and supported NXT Sensors in the sensor ports PiStorms...

Page 3: ...last set encoder position Turning motor by degrees Move it in forward or reverse direction Turning motor by rotations 360 degrees makes one rotation Running operations asynchronously While a motor is running other operations may be performed Running motors for unlimited duration While motors are running you can also perform other operations NOTE When motors are set to run for Unlimited Duration th...

Page 4: ...ee different forms 1 Pre configured image ready for use operating system image 2 Manual installation when you already have data on your SD card 3 Developer Installation for advanced users that wish to modify and share PiStorms software GitHub PiStorms software will run on a standard Raspbian Operating system Jessie Download the pre configured PiStorms image at http www mindsensors com largefiles p...

Page 5: ...ake a note of the filename Login to your Pi and issue command cd home pi wget http www mindsensors com largefiles updater fileName use the fileName as you noted above This will download the latest release on your Pi unzip the release file and install as follows cd home pi tar zxvf fileName cd home pi PiStorms setup chmod x setup sh setup sh It will take a few minutes to install the software PiStor...

Page 6: ... Scratch Reference The PiStorms Scratch Interface Reference Guide can be found at the following address http www mindsensors com pdfs PiStorms 20 20ScratchProgrammingGuide pdf Copyright 2016 mindsensors com 6 6 ...

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