WARRANTY
Parallax Inc. warrants its products against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 90 days from receipt
of product. If you discover a defect, Parallax Inc. will, at its option, repair or replace the merchandise, or refund the
purchase price. Before returning the product to Parallax, call for a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA)
number. Write the RMA number on the outside of the box used to return the merchandise to Parallax. Please enclose
the following along with the returned merchandise: your name, telephone number, shipping address, and a description
of the problem. Parallax will return your product or its replacement using the same shipping method used to ship the
product to Parallax.
14-DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE
If, within 14 days of having received your product, you find that it does not suit your needs, you may return it for a
full refund. Parallax Inc. will refund the purchase price of the product, excluding shipping/handling costs. This
guarantee is void if the product has been altered or damaged. See the Warranty section above for instructions on
returning a product to Parallax.
COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS
This documentation is copyright 2005 by Parallax Inc. By downloading or obtaining a printed copy of this
documentation or software you agree that it is to be used exclusively with Parallax products. Any other uses are not
permitted and may represent a violation of Parallax copyrights, legally punishable according to Federal copyright or
intellectual property laws. Any duplication of this documentation for commercial uses is expressly prohibited by
Parallax Inc. Duplication for educational use is permitted, subject to the following Conditions of Duplication:
Parallax Inc. grants the user a conditional right to download, duplicate, and distribute this text without Parallax's
permission. This right is based on the following conditions: the text, or any portion thereof, may not be duplicated for
commercial use; it may be duplicated only for educational purposes when used solely in conjunction with Parallax
products, and the user may recover from the student only the cost of duplication.
This text is available in printed format from Parallax Inc. Because we print the text in volume, the consumer price is
often less than typical retail duplication charges.
BASIC Stamp, Stamps in Class, Boe-Bot SumoBot, SX-Key and Toddler are registered trademarks of Parallax, Inc.
If you decide to use registered trademarks of Parallax Inc. on your web page or in printed material, you must state
that "(registered trademark) is a registered trademark of Parallax Inc.” upon the first appearance of the trademark
name in each printed document or web page. HomeWork Board, Parallax, and the Parallax logo are trademarks of
Parallax Inc. If you decide to use trademarks of Parallax Inc. on your web page or in printed material, you must state
that "(trademark) is a trademark of Parallax Inc.”, “upon the first appearance of the trademark name in each printed
document or web page. Other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
holders.
ISBN 1-928982-35-2
DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY
Parallax Inc. is not responsible for special, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from any breach of
warranty, or under any legal theory, including lost profits, downtime, goodwill, damage to or replacement of
equipment or property, or any costs of recovering, reprogramming, or reproducing any data stored in or used with
Parallax products. Parallax Inc. is also not responsible for any personal damage, including that to life and health,
resulting from use of any of our products. You take full responsibility for your BASIC Stamp application, no matter
how life-threatening it may be.
INTERNET DISCUSSION LISTS
We maintain active web-based discussion forums for people interested in Parallax products. These lists are accessible
from www.parallax.com.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Propeller Chip – This list is specifically for our customers using Propeller chips and products.
BASIC Stamp – This list is widely utilized by engineers, hobbyists and students who share their
BASIC Stamp projects and ask questions.
Stamps in Class
®
– Created for educators and students, subscribers discuss the use of the Stamps in
Class curriculum in their courses. The list provides an opportunity for both students and educators to
ask questions and get answers.
Parallax Educators – A private forum exclusively for educators and those who contribute to the
development of Stamps in Class. Parallax created this group to obtain feedback on our curricula and
to provide a place for educators to develop and obtain Teacher’s Guides.
Robotics – Designed for Parallax robots, this forum is intended to be an open dialogue for robotics
enthusiasts. Topics include assembly, source code, expansion, and manual updates. The Boe-Bot
®
,
Toddler
®
, SumoBot
®
, HexCrawler and QuadCrawler robots are discussed here.
SX Microcontrollers and SX-Key – Discussion of programming the SX microcontroller with
Parallax assembly language SX – Key
®
tools and 3rd party BASIC and C compilers.
Javelin Stamp – Discussion of application and design using the Javelin Stamp, a Parallax module
that is programmed using a subset of Sun Microsystems’ Java
®
programming language.
ERRATA
While great effort is made to assure the accuracy of our texts, errors may still exist. If you find an error, please let us
know by sending an email to editor@parallax.com. We continually strive to improve all of our educational materials
and documentation, and frequently revise our texts. Occasionally, an errata sheet with a list of known errors and
corrections for a given text will be posted to our web site, www.parallax.com. Please check the individual product
page’s free downloads for an errata file.
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
Many thanks to fellow Parallaxians Jen Jacobs for cover and title page art and Chris Savage for technical review of
this edition.
Table of Contents ·
Page i
Table of Contents
Preface.........................................................................................................
iii
Author’s Note .................................................................................................................
iii
Getting the Most from StampWorks................................................................................v
Steps to Success ............................................................................................................v
Preparing the StampWorks Lab ................................................................... 1
StampWorks Kit Contents...............................................................................................1
Setting Up the Hardware and Software ..........................................................................2
Notes on Using Integrated Circuits in StampWorks Experiments...................................9
Programming Essentials............................................................................. 11
Contents of a Working Program ...................................................................................11
Branching – Redirecting Program Flow ........................................................................12
Looping – Running Code Again and Again...................................................................14
Subroutines – Reusable Code that Saves Program Space ..........................................16
The Elements of PBASIC Style.................................................................... 19
Time to Experiment .................................................................................... 25
Learn the Programming Concepts ................................................................................25
Building the Projects .....................................................................................................25
What to do Between Projects .......................................................................................25
Experiment #1: Flash an LED .......................................................................................26
Experiment #2: Flash an LED (Advanced) ...................................................................29
Experiment #3: Display a Counter with LEDs ...............................................................33
Experiment #4: Science Fiction LED Display ...............................................................36
Experiment #5: LED Graph (Dot or Bar) .......................................................................40
Experiment #6: A Simple Game ...................................................................................46
Experiment #7: A Lighting Controller ............................................................................51
Building Circuits on Your Own.................................................................... 57
Using 7-Segment LED Displays .................................................................. 59
Experiment #8: A Single-Digit Counter .........................................................................60
Experiment #9: A Digital Die .........................................................................................63
Experiment #10: A Digital Clock ...................................................................................67
Using Character LCDs ................................................................................. 73
Experiment #11: Basic LCD Demonstration .................................................................75
Experiment #12: Creating Custom LCD Characters .....................................................82
Experiment #13: Reading the LCD RAM ......................................................................88
