MiP Power Up - Pro Mini Library

Transform your WowWee MiP into an autonomous, programmable robotics platform with Arduino.

This Arduino library provides total control over WowWee Labs’ MiP — the self-balancing, hacker-friendly robot. Paired with an ATmega328p board (such as the Arduino Pro Mini), this library unlocks full access to MiP’s motion, lighting, sound, sensors, and telemetry through a clean, object-oriented C++ API.

MiP natively provides a 4-pin expansion port and a published BLE protocol specification. The MiP Power Up — Pro Mini library abstracts that low-level hardware protocol into intuitive subsystems, making MiP completely programmable for custom behavior, obstacle navigation, interactive games, and sensor tracking.

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What's New in Version 2.0

The latest release brings substantial architectural cleanups, improved execution efficiency, and robust hardware transport reliability:

• Auto-Switching UART Console: Transparent redirection of Print/Stream messages to the PC Serial Monitor over the Pro Mini's shared hardware UART using automatic multiplexer toggling.
• Hardware Multiplexer Safety: Protected hardware multiplexer transitions maintain state integrity across I/O operations and eliminate cross-talk between debug prints and MiP commands.
• Zero-Copy & Modern C++ Cleanups: Full C++11 standard compliance, explicit conversions, static constexpr constants replacing legacy #defines, and constexpr hex parsing.
• Enhanced Verification & Retries: Automatic command retry loops with verified read-back checks for mode changes, chest/head LED colors, and settings updates.
• Human-Centric Terminology: Refactored documentation and inline Doxygen comments treating MiP as an active agent.

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Why This Library?

• Modular Subsystem API: Dedicated, encapsulated classes for motion, headLEDs, chestLED, sound, radar, gesture, clap, shake, odometer, position, battery, and eeprom.
• Transparent Console Output: Built-in console routing allows seamless sharing of the Pro Mini's single UART between MiP and PC.
• Hardware Integration: Tailored to work seamlessly with the MiP Power Up - Pro Mini adapter board mounted directly to MiP's battery compartment.

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What You Can Do

• Motion & Drive Control: Execute continuous velocity/turn commands, drive fixed distances (cm), execute timed moves, turn by precise angles, or command self-righting stand-ups.
• Custom Lighting: Independently control the four head/eye LEDs (on, off, slow/fast blink) and configure the full RGB chest LED with flash timing.
• Audio Sequences: Play any of over 100 built-in sound clips and voice lines, adjust volume dynamically, or assemble multi-sound audio queues.
• Sensor Tracking: Read front IR radar distances, detect swipe/hold hand gestures, listen for claps, detect physical shakes, and track posture pose (upright, face down, on back, picked up).
• Telemetry & Storage: Measure wheel encoder distances with the wheel odometer, monitor battery voltage in Volts, and read/write non-volatile user EEPROM memory.

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Hardware

This library is designed for ATmega328p boards running at 5V / 16MHz or 3.3V / 8MHz connected to MiP’s 4-pin expansion port:

• Arduino Pro Mini (or ATmega328p compatibles)
• MiP Power Up — Pro Mini Board: Dedicated expansion shield with a hardware UART multiplexer that mounts cleanly on MiP’s rear battery compartment.

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Installation

1. In the Arduino IDE, go to Sketch → Include Library → Add .ZIP Library…
2. Browse to and select the downloaded .zip release of this library.
3. Alternatively, extract the library folder directly into your Arduino/libraries/ directory.

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Quick Start

#include <MiP_Power_Up_-_Pro_Mini.h>

MiP mip;

void setup() {
  // Initialize console and hardware UART connection to MiP
  mip.begin();
  
  // Set chest LED to green and turn on eyes
  mip.chestLED.write(0, 255, 0);
  mip.headLEDs.write(MIP_HEAD_LED_ON, MIP_HEAD_LED_ON, MIP_HEAD_LED_ON, MIP_HEAD_LED_ON);

  // Greet user
  mip.sound.play(MIP_SOUND_MIP_HI_CONFIDENT);
}

void loop() {
  // Drive forward 20 cm
  mip.motion.distanceDrive(MIP_DRIVE_FORWARD, 20, MIP_TURN_LEFT, 0);
  delay(3000);

  // Print debug info to PC Serial Monitor (multiplexer handles state automatically)
  mip.console.print(F("Battery Voltage: "));
  mip.console.println(mip.battery.readVoltage());

  delay(2000);
}

Full example sketches are included under File → Examples → MiP Power Up - Pro Mini and detailed guides are available on the wiki

Acknowledgements

Forked from Adam Green's MiP_ProMini-Pack, which originated from the SparkFun MiP ProMini Pack.

Official protocol documentation provided by WowWee Labs.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Whether fixing bugs, adding examples, or enhancing documentation, please review CONTRIBUTING.md before opening pull requests.

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Ready to start hacking with MiP? Grab the library, flash your Arduino Pro Mini, and bring your robot to life!