> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.phospho.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Simple controls
> How to control the robot arm with API calls.
[phosphobot](../installation.mdx) provides a simple API to control the robot arm. You can use it to move the robot arm, open or close the gripper, and more.
All code examples can be found in our open source repo [here](https://github.com/phospho-app/phosphobot).
## Square movement
This implementation uses the /move/relative endpoint to move the robot in a square.
We simply indicate where we want to move the robot relative to its current position.
```python square.py theme={null}
import time
import requests
# Configurations
PI_IP: str = "127.0.0.1"
PI_PORT: int = 80
NUMBER_OF_SQUARES: int = 100
# Function to call the API
def call_to_api(endpoint: str, data: dict = {}):
response = requests.post(f"http://{PI_IP}:{PI_PORT}/move/{endpoint}", json=data)
return response.json()
# Example code to move the robot in a square of 4 cm x 4 cm
# 1 - Initialize the robot
call_to_api("init")
print("Initializing robot")
time.sleep(2)
# We move it to the top left corner of the square
call_to_api(
"relative", {"x": 0, "y": -3, "z": 0.03, "rx": 0, "ry": 0, "rz": 0, "open": 0}
)
print("Moving to top left corner")
time.sleep(0.2)
# With the move relative endpoint, we can move relative to its current position
# 2 - We make the robot follow a 3 cm x 3 cm square
for _ in range(NUMBER_OF_SQUARES):
# Move to the top right corner
call_to_api(
"relative", {"x": 0, "y": 3, "z": 0, "rx": 0, "ry": 0, "rz": 0, "open": 0}
)
print("Moving to top right corner")
time.sleep(0.2)
# Move to the bottom right corner
call_to_api(
"relative", {"x": 0, "y": 0, "z": -3, "rx": 0, "ry": 0, "rz": 0, "open": 0}
)
print("Moving to bottom right corner")
time.sleep(0.2)
# Move to the bottom left corner
call_to_api(
"relative", {"x": 0, "y": -3, "z": 0, "rx": 0, "ry": 0, "rz": 0, "open": 0}
)
print("Moving to bottom left corner")
time.sleep(0.2)
# Move to the top left corner
call_to_api(
"relative", {"x": 0, "y": 0, "z": 3, "rx": 0, "ry": 0, "rz": 0, "open": 0}
)
print("Moving to top left corner")
time.sleep(0.2)
```
## Circle movement
### Slow
Since it's harder to control the robot's position using relative movements to create a circle, we use the absolute movement instead.
We calculate the position of the robot in the circle using the sin and cos functions to create a circular motion.
```python circle_slow.py theme={null}
import math
import time
import requests
# Configurations
PI_IP: str = "127.0.0.1"
PI_PORT: int = 80
NUMBER_OF_STEPS: int = 10
NUMBER_OF_CIRCLES: int = 15
# Function to call the API
def call_to_api(endpoint: str, data: dict = {}):
response = requests.post(f"http://{PI_IP}:{PI_PORT}/move/{endpoint}", json=data)
return response.json()
# Example code to move the robot in a circle
# 1 - Initialize the robot
call_to_api("init")
print("Initializing robot")
time.sleep(2)
# With the move absolute endpoint, we can move the robot in an absolute position
# 2 - We move the robot in a circle with a diameter of 4 cm
for _ in range(NUMBER_OF_CIRCLES):
for step in range(NUMBER_OF_STEPS):
position_y: float = 4 * math.sin(2 * math.pi * step / NUMBER_OF_STEPS)
position_z: float = 4 * math.cos(2 * math.pi * step / NUMBER_OF_STEPS)
call_to_api(
"absolute",
{
"x": 0,
"y": position_y,
"z": position_z,
"rx": 0,
"ry": 0,
"rz": 0,
"open": 0,
},
)
print(f"Step {step} - x: 0, y: {position_y}, z: {position_z}")
time.sleep(0.03)
```
### Fast
To quicken the robots movements, we lower the number of steps in the circle.
We also increase the sleep time between each step to avoid the robot moving too fast.
```python circle_fast.py theme={null}
import math
import time
import requests
# Configurations
PI_IP: str = "127.0.0.1"
PI_PORT: int = 80
NUMBER_OF_STEPS: int = 10
NUMBER_OF_CIRCLES: int = 15
# Function to call the API
def call_to_api(endpoint: str, data: dict = {}):
response = requests.post(f"http://{PI_IP}:{PI_PORT}/move/{endpoint}", json=data)
return response.json()
# Example code to move the robot in a circle
# 1 - Initialize the robot
call_to_api("init")
print("Initializing robot")
time.sleep(2)
# With the move absolute endpoint, we can move the robot in an absolute position
# 2 - We move the robot in a circle with a diameter of 4 cm
for _ in range(NUMBER_OF_CIRCLES):
for step in range(NUMBER_OF_STEPS):
position_y: float = 4 * math.sin(2 * math.pi * step / NUMBER_OF_STEPS)
position_z: float = 4 * math.cos(2 * math.pi * step / NUMBER_OF_STEPS)
call_to_api(
"absolute",
{
"x": 0,
"y": position_y,
"z": position_z,
"rx": 0,
"ry": 0,
"rz": 0,
"open": 0,
},
)
print(f"Step {step} - x: 0, y: {position_y}, z: {position_z}")
time.sleep(0.2)
```