decouple pull and send robot data in real and drop timeout

utama_core/config/settings.py

@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@
 ### REAL CONTROLLER SETTINGS ###
 BAUD_RATE = 115200
 PORT = "/dev/ttyUSB0"
-TIMEOUT = 0.1
 KICKER_COOLDOWN_TIME = 10  # in seconds to prevent kicker from being actuated too frequently
 KICKER_COOLDOWN_TIMESTEPS = int(KICKER_COOLDOWN_TIME * CONTROL_FREQUENCY)  # in timesteps
 KICKER_PERSIST_TIMESTEPS = 10  # in timesteps to persist the kick command

utama_core/team_controller/src/controllers/common/robot_controller_abstract.py

@@ -55,5 +55,11 @@ def _add_robot_command(self, command: RobotCommand, robot_id: int) -> None:
 
     @abc.abstractmethod
     def get_robots_responses(self) -> Optional[List[RobotResponse]]:
-        """Returns the robot response from the last sent commands."""
-        return self._robots_info.popleft() if self._robots_info else None
+        """
+        Pull the latest robot response.
+
+        Returns:
+            A list of RobotResponse objects (each containing the robot ID
+            and its ball-contact state), or None if no response was received.
+        """
+        pass

utama_core/team_controller/src/controllers/real/real_robot_controller.py

@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
     KICKER_COOLDOWN_TIMESTEPS,
     KICKER_PERSIST_TIMESTEPS,
     PORT,
-    TIMEOUT,
     TIMESTEP,
 )
 from utama_core.entities.data.command import RobotCommand, RobotResponse
@@ -24,7 +23,6 @@
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-# NB: A major assumption is that the robot IDs are 0-5 for the friendly team.
 MAX_VEL = REAL_PARAMS.MAX_VEL
 MAX_ANGULAR_VEL = REAL_PARAMS.MAX_ANGULAR_VEL
 
@@ -44,23 +42,59 @@ class RealRobotController(AbstractRobotController):
         n_robots (int): The number of robots in the team. Directly affects output buffer size. Default is 6.
     """
 
+    HEADER = 0xAA
+    TAIL = 0x55
+
     def __init__(self, is_team_yellow: bool, n_friendly: int):
         super().__init__(is_team_yellow, n_friendly)
         self._serial_port = self._init_serial()
-        self._rbt_cmd_size = 10  # packet size for one robot
+        self._rx_buffer = bytearray()
+        self._rbt_cmd_size = 10  # packet size (bytes) for one robot
+        self._robot_info_size = 2  # number of bytes in feedback packet for all robots
         self._out_packet = self._empty_command()
         self._in_packet_size = 1  # size of the feedback packet received from the robots
-        self._robots_info: List[RobotResponse] = [None] * self._n_friendly
-        logger.debug(f"Serial port: {PORT} opened with baudrate: {BAUD_RATE} and timeout {TIMEOUT}")
+        logger.debug(f"Serial port: {PORT} opened with baudrate: {BAUD_RATE}.")
         self._assigned_mapping = {}  # mapping of robot_id to index in the out_packet
 
         # track last kick time for each robot to transmit kick as HIGH for n timesteps after command
         self._kicker_tracker: Dict[int, KickTrackerEntry] = {}
 
-    def get_robots_responses(self) -> Optional[List[RobotResponse]]:
-        ### TODO: Not implemented yet
+    def get_robots_responses(self) -> Optional[list[RobotResponse]]:
+        # For now, we are not processing feedback from the robots, but this method can be implemented similarly to the GRSimRobotController if needed in the future.
+        self._serial_port.read_all()  # Clear the input buffer to avoid overflow
         return None
 
+    # TODO: implement when feedback is actually working
+    def get_robots_responses_real(self) -> Optional[list[RobotResponse]]:
+        FRAME_SIZE = 1 + self._robot_info_size + 1
+
+        # --- Step 1: Non-blocking read ---
+        waiting = self._serial_port.in_waiting
+        if waiting:
+            self._rx_buffer.extend(self._serial_port.read(waiting))
+
+        latest_payload = None
+
+        # --- Step 2: Forward scan for complete frames ---
+        while len(self._rx_buffer) >= FRAME_SIZE:
+            if self._rx_buffer[0] != self.HEADER:
+                next_header = self._rx_buffer.find(bytes([self.HEADER]))
+                if next_header == -1:
+                    self._rx_buffer.clear()
+                    break
+                self._rx_buffer = self._rx_buffer[next_header:]
+                continue
+
+            if self._rx_buffer[FRAME_SIZE - 1] == self.TAIL:
+                latest_payload = self._rx_buffer[1 : FRAME_SIZE - 1]
+                self._rx_buffer = self._rx_buffer[FRAME_SIZE:]
+            else:
+                # Partial frame — keep it in buffer until next read
+                break
+
+        latest_payload
+        return None  # TODO: parse latest_payload into list of RobotResponse and return.
+
     def send_robot_commands(self) -> None:
         """Sends the robot commands to the appropriate team (yellow or blue)."""
         # print(list(self.out_packet))
@@ -71,10 +105,6 @@ def send_robot_commands(self) -> None:
                 f"Only {len(self._assigned_mapping)} out of {self._n_friendly} robots have been assigned commands. Sending incomplete command packet."
             )
         self._serial_port.write(self._out_packet)
-        self._serial_port.read_all()
-        # data_in = self._serial.read_all()
-        # print(data_in)
-        # TODO: add receiving feedback from the robots
 
         ### update kick and chip trackers. We persist the kick/chip command for KICKER_PERSIST_TIMESTEPS
         ### this feature is to combat packet loss and to ensure the robot does not kick within its cooldown period
@@ -145,18 +175,6 @@ def _add_robot_command(self, command: RobotCommand, robot_id: int) -> None:
                 is_kick=False,
             )
 
-    # def _populate_robots_info(self, data_in: bytes) -> None:
-    #     """
-    #     Populates the robots_info list with the data received from the robots.
-    #     """
-    #     for i in range(self._n_friendly):
-    #         has_ball = False
-    #         if data_in[0] & 0b10000000:
-    #             has_ball = True
-    #         info = RobotInfo(has_ball=has_ball)
-    #         self._robots_info[i] = info
-    #         data_in = data_in << 1  # shift to the next robot's data
-
     def _generate_command_buffer(self, robot_id: int, c_command: RobotCommand) -> bytes:
         """Generates the command buffer to be sent to the robot."""
         assert robot_id < 6, "Invalid robot_id. Must be between 0 and 5."
@@ -272,7 +290,7 @@ def _empty_command(self) -> bytearray:
                 #      * first byte is robot ID (here INVALID_RBT_ID)
                 #      * remaining (self._rbt_cmd_size - 1) bytes are zeros
                 #  - 0x55: end byte
-                cmd = bytearray([0xAA] + [INVALID_RBT_ID] + [0] * (self._rbt_cmd_size - 1) + [0x55])
+                cmd = bytearray([self.HEADER] + [INVALID_RBT_ID] + [0] * (self._rbt_cmd_size - 1) + [self.TAIL])
                 commands.extend(cmd)
             self._cached_empty_command = commands
         return self._cached_empty_command.copy()
@@ -287,7 +305,7 @@ def _init_serial(self) -> Serial:
                 bytesize=EIGHTBITS,  # 8 data bits
                 parity=PARITY_EVEN,  # Even parity (makes it 9 bits total)
                 stopbits=STOPBITS_TWO,  # 2 stop bits
-                timeout=0.1,
+                timeout=0,
             )
             return serial_port
         except Exception as e:

utama_core/team_controller/src/controllers/sim/grsim_robot_controller.py

@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ def _update_robot_info(self, data: bytes) -> None:
             # ignore robot_info for robots that are not expected (ie deactivated since the start of the game)
         self._robots_info.append(robots_info)
 
-    def get_robots_responses(self) -> Optional[RobotResponse]:
+    def get_robots_responses(self) -> Optional[list[RobotResponse]]:
         if self._robots_info is None or len(self._robots_info) == 0:
             for i in range(self._n_friendly):
                 self.add_robot_commands(RobotCommand(0, 0, 0, False, False, False), i)