Robots and Physical Computing

Phiro Pro is a recently released education robot kit from Robotix Learning Solutions . Designed to be flexible, you can add LEGO to it or work without it; sensors on the sides, front and bottom; built-in speaker and RGB controllable 'headlights'. One of the other interesting features is the robot can be controlled in three general ways/modes: Using buttons on the robot to enter a sequence of moves - a bit like a Bigtrak ;  Using swipe-cards (see the figures below) Programming using: Scratch - Mac or PC Snap4Phiro - Arduino programming PC/Mac/Linux basded. Pocketcode on smartphone. The first two are fun and are also available on their lower-priced  Phiro Unplugged version , but the real (for me any way) is programming it. So far I have only played with the Scratch instructions (see below) - getting it to move to key presses and to get the 'headlights' to cycle through a range of colours. The software is free to download a...

In a previous post ( http://robotsandphysicalcomputing.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/playing-7bot-robot-arm.html ) I discussed starting to set up the 7bot robot arm ( https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1128055363/7bot-a-powerful-desktop-robot-arm-for-future-inven ) . I have still to set up the gripper. This post document my first tentative steps with playing with it. The code below was used to try and get my head around the positioning of the arm - which servo does what (a good guide for this has been provide by the company online) and what the changing angle on the servos actual does. Essentially the code puts the arm in a starting position and varies the angles from there in usually in 15 or 30 degree increments over seven positions. #include <Servo.h> #include <DueFlashStorage.h> #include <Arm7Bot.h> Arm7Bot Arm; void setup() {   // initial 7Bot Arm   Arm.initialMove(); } void loop() {   // set motor[0] speed to 100   Arm.maxSpeed[0] ...

The 7bot is a recent kickstarter project  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1128055363/7bot-a-powerful-desktop-robot-arm-for-future-inven  from 7bot. A metal robot arm based around Arduino Due ( https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/ArduinoDue   ) . Development of the software, at the time of writing, is still ongoing but looks interesting and already on the comments page of the site, user's have started posted their code.  Had to install the following software and put the un-zipped files in the library folder of the Arduino folder. https://github.com/7Bot https://github.com/sebnil/DueFlashStorage   Some useful information of setting up using the Arduino Due is available at  https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/ArduinoDue  and is definitely worth a read - it helped me setting it up. At the moment I have just used the examples from the GitHub site and example is shown in the video below. This looks like an exciting little arm and hopefully there ...

I have had an opportunity (ie, the time) to play with mBot, Scratch Programmable Robot using the mBlock software which appears to be a modified version of Scratch - so relatively easy to use. They have added a section of blocks, to the standard set, marked Robots containing blocks for both Arduino and mBot.  An earlier blog post ( mbots - graphical programming and Arduino ) discuss some of the basics of the robot.  Just for fun I wanted to play with the ultrasonic sensor, getting the robot to react, change direction (run away) and the 'face' on an LED matrix that came with the robot if there is an object in the way. The routine Loop Show a smiley face (using Port 4 ) If the ultrasonic detector senses something close (guessed at a setting of 10) Go backwards quickly Play a tone Show an upside-down smiley face  wait 1 sec Otherwise Move forward End the loop Download the code to the mBot using the Upload to Arduino button (see below). Here ...

In the previous blog posts for this 'series' "It is a good time...."  Post 1  looked at the hardware unpinning some of this positive rise in robots; Post 2  looked at social robots; Post 3  looked at a collection of small robots; Post 4 looked at further examples of small robots Robots, such as the forthcoming Buddy and JIBO, will be based some established open sourceand other technologies. Jibo will be based around various technologies including Electron and JavaScript (for more details see:  http://blog.jibo.com/2015/07/29/jibo-making-development-readily-accessible-to-all-developers/ ). Buddy is expected to be developed around tools for Unity3d, Arduino and OpenCV, and support Python, C++, C#, Java and JavaScript (for more details see http://www.roboticstrends.com/article/customize_your_buddy_companion_robot_with_this_software_development_kit ).  This post contin ues with some of the software being used with the smaller robots.  A number ...

I have want to write this for a while, a short series of blog posts on why I think this is in an incredible time to be interest in robots and physical computing. Three posts in the series: - Introduction - Small robots - Social robots It only takes a quick look on line to see a vibrant and growing network of people who are sharing and supporting each other to use physical computing to do imaginative things. They might go under different names PiJams, Makerspaces, etc but essentially it is about bring people with similar interests (and those are wide) in physical computing together. That is just, physically, but now adding a on-line community that also shares and supports each other you have something that is worth being involved in. If you are unsure  what I mean by this have a look at some of the following people's twitter timelines: @whaleygeek ( https://twitter.com/whaleygeek ) @ martinohanlon ( https://twitter.com/martinohanlon ) @simonmonk2 ( https://twitter.com/simo...

One of the most interesting small robots on the market is the PicoBot from 4Tronix ( http://4tronix.co.uk/blog/?p=708 ).  These are small, relatively low-cost robots with a good range of basic sensors based around Arduino. A nice feature is they are quick to put together (5-10 minutes each for the two above).  The size, time to build and the radio modules make them an interesting option for playing with swarm robotics - if only I had the money. Don't let the swarm robot idea put you off, as small robots to playing with programming they are good in their own right. Being small with the ultrasonic sensors gives them an non-threatening look; add in they have some build it programs to play with (select by buttons on the bot) to get you going without any programming. Related Links Narinder's Swarm Robots mbots - graphical programming and Arduino Edge following CrumbleBot All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting...

Makeblock ( http://mblock.cc/mbot/ ) funded through Kickstarter the development of a new robot - mBot ( https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1818505613/mbot-49-educational-robot-for-each-kid ) with the subtitle "$49 educational robot for each kid". What they came up with is a interesting system that uses their mBlock software, which resembles Scratch but produces code for Arduino, to program a robot with LEDs, light sensors and buzzer integrated on the main board; but also comes with sensors for line-following, ultrasonic sensor and with the version in the kickstarter reward a 16x8 LED matrix. My impression so far it is really quite intuitive to work with, in the example above the robot: moves forward; displays 'f' on the LED matrix;  turns right; displays 'r' on the LED matrix; repeats until the on-board is pressed to stop the motors.  What I like most though is seeing the graphical code turned into Arduino code - the potential to see the same ...