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All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with. Twitter @scottturneruon

Programming Robots Virtually 4: Preview of Edbot Studio

In previous post I looked at a few on-line robot simulators (see links below)

• Programming VEX Code
• Programming  iRobot Simulator
• Programming Lego EV3 simulator

A recent addition to these is the Edbot Studio Virtual Playground https://studio.ed.bot/;  a preview of simulation technology for Robots in Schools Ltd Edbot robots. 

Two Edbot robots are shown in a gym; you can select actions for the robots to carry out, including Gangam-style dancing and Head Stands.

This is really a preview of the tech, rather than a programming option - at the moment. Robots in Schools Ltd, who make the Edbots, say the Virtual Playground will be part of their Edbot Studio a browser-based Environment to allow both coding in Scratch, Python and JavaScript, of both virtual and real robots.

I am really curious to see the full Edbot Studio in action when it is released, but for the moment getting virtual robots to dance and kick is still really good fun.

The physical robots -EdBot are available from https://ed.bot/

All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with. Twitter @scottturneruon

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All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with. Twitter @scottturneruon

Escape the Maze with a VR robot - Vex VR

You don't need to buy a robot to get programming a robot, now there are a range of free and relatively simple to start with robot simulators to play with. Three examples are listed below:

- Make code for Lego EV3 https://robotsandphysicalcomputing.blogspot.com/2020/05/programming-robots-virtually-3-lego-ev3.html 

- iRobot simulator https://robotsandphysicalcomputing.blogspot.com/2020/04/programming-robots-virtually-2-irobot.html

- Vex robotics Vexcode VR  https://robotsandphysicalcomputing.blogspot.com/2020/04/programming-robots-virtually-1-vexcode.html 

It is the last one of these (https://www.vexrobotics.com/vexcode-vr) that is the focus of this post and return to hit, after an earlier discussion in https://robotsandphysicalcomputing.blogspot.com/2020/04/programming-robots-virtually-1-vexcode.html . 

Two of the nice things about the package, apart from being free, are it uses a Scratch-like programming language and it provides a 3D environment and models - playgrounds for a number of scenarios. 

So in this post, I will be discussing playing, or rather starting to play with the robot navigating a 3D maze (see the figure above). A feature I particularly like is you can change the views from an overhead view to an onboard version or one that seems to follow the robot.

So as I starting point I programmed it to essentially bounce along the walls keeping the wall on it's right and stopping when the downward 'eye' detects red on the floor for the end of the maze. The sensors include left and right bumper sensors; along with two sensors for detecting colours one facing forward and one down. The code I use is shown below:

It took 8 minutes to solve the maze - which is slow. I would be interested to see the solutions of others being shared. As a simulated robot programming system this is great fun and challenging, I would recommend having a play iot is free and available at https://www.vexrobotics.com/vexcode-vr. I want to have a go with the Python version to replicate or better the solution above (start it as a text project rather than a blocks project when starting a new project).

All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with. Twitter @scottturneruon

picoh -cute and fun OhBot

The OhBot company has recently released a slightly different version to their OhBot - Picoh (https://www.ohbot.co.uk/picoh.html); a cute small robot head. This is a just a short post about some initial playing with the Picoh OhBot.

Windows
I started playing the windows based blocks (see below) programming used for programming the ohbot. Very scratch-like language but packed with lots of features. The program that loads automatically takes you through loads of the features .

Python
I wanted to know if I can use it with a Mac as well. The blocks are not available for a Mac but a Python-based approach is (https://www.ohbot.co.uk/picoh-for-python.html) . Set-up instructions are good, starting from the GitHub site https://github.com/ohbot/picoh-python, the README file is useful including links to setting up for a Mac and links to example programs. Thonny is my prefered IDE for running Python in this case - just for the ease of use really. Mainly I have played with the example programs so far.

Thoughts 
A cool little robot, nice that it can be used on Windows, Mac, Linux/Pi. In the Picho-Python github site, there are some interesting examples, including one that links, Picoh, Wolfram Alpha and Wikipedia - curious about that one.



All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with. Twitter @scottturneruon

Getting Crabby with EduBlock for Microbit

This is really pulling together two recent posts, one when I started playing with Edublocks for the microbit and one about playing with BinaryBots Crab .

The BinaryBots Totem Crab is available at https://www.binarybots.co.uk/crab.aspx


Here I going to use Edublocks (https://microbit.edublocks.org/) by @all_about_code to control the claw of the Crab to close when button A is pressed (and display a C on the LEDs)  and open the claw when button B is pressed. For a discussion on the Crab and what the pins are, etc goto http://robotsandphysicalcomputing.blogspot.com/2018/08/crabby-but-fun.html for more details. 

The timing of the opening and closing is controlled by how long the C or O takes to scroll across the LEDs. As an aside, but I found it interesting (it appeals to my geekiness), if you save the blocks, using the Save button; it stores it as an XML file, an example extract is shown below:

Now I want to explore a little the Python editor in Edublocks; to see if it can be used to expand the range of activities. The code as it stands now:

Using some code developed by CBiS Education/ BinaryBots I have added some code to read the Crab's temperature sensor and display "Warm" or "Cold" depending on this. The code uses the struct module to convert between strings of bytes (see https://pymotw.com/2/struct/) and native Python data types. to work with  the I2C bus which the Crab sensors use (more details on the bus can be found https://microbit-micropython.readthedocs.io/en/latest/i2c.html ). The code below was then download as a hex file to the microbit as before.

The Crab's reads in the temperature and displays either message "Warm" or "Cold" - currently repeatedly "Warm". The open and closing of the claws still works.

   
So this was a double win, I had a chance to explore whether the Edublocks Python works as advertised and it does and an opportunity to play with the Crab a bit more; a definite win-win.

Acknowledgement: Thank you to Chris Burgess and the team at Binary Bots/CBiS Education for sending me a copy of the Python code for accessing the sensors on the Crab.






All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with. Twitter @scottturneruon

Summary of Robots at BCS Northampton

On the 17th April 2018 I had the honour of presenting a public talk on robots for the Northampton Branch of the Britsh Computer Society (BCS). This post aims to summarise the session.

The session was really from a personal perspective and journey, covering where I think robots in home and schools are going, and an overview of some of the projects I have been involved. First, part was the presentation - the slides are shown below.

Robots Talk British Computer Society Northampton_17_4_2018 from Scott Turner

The videos used in the presentations are shown below. The first video is an introduction and welcome from Red the Nao robot.





Next video shows a programmed Cozmo, using Anki's graphical programming language.




Second section of the session was playing with the robots. Red the Nao, an Anki Cozmo and an UBtech Alpha2 and having a play with a Crumble-based junkbots.  Crumble junkbots were used on PC and Raspberry Pi via Pi-top CEED.

Red (at the back), alpha 2 (middle) and Cozmo (front)

Crumble controller from Redfern Electronics

Crumble as part of a junkbot.

Highlights of the evening were Red going for a walk 'hand-in-hand' with one of the audience and Cozmo chatting away; as always (and rightly) the stars of the talk are the robots. 


All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with. Twitter @scottturneruon

Gesture controlled python robot unicorn (or is it a rhino)

In the previous two post I built and played with a robot unicorn from Do it Kitshttps://doitkits.com/product/robot-unicorn/. In the first post, python was used to get it to move forward, backwards, left, right and stop. The second post discussed using a second microbit to send the movement instructions via the microbit's  radio module.

This post looks at extending the idea to using the accelerometer to pick up directions and send them to the robot unicorn (that still seems weird to write). Microbit's accelerometers, using the x and y directions, provide the inputs and then send the direction commands. The robot unicorn code is the same in the second post, the new code for the gestures is shown below. 




This a work in progress it detects x and y changes together so it does have a tendency to do one direction and then the other. This needs further work.

All my code for the robot unicorn projects can be found at: https://github.com/scottturneruon/Robo_unicorn_python or if you want to cite it : Turner, S., 2017. Robo_unicorn_python. Available at: <Robo_unicorn_python> https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5729583.v7

All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with. Twitter @scottturneruon

Radio controlled microbit Robot Unicorn

In a previous post a robot unicorn was built from a kit (Do it Kits https://doitkits.com/product/robot-unicorn/) and controlled to do a fixed sequence of actions. In this post a similar thing will be done, but this time the actions are not fixed within the robot itself, but in response to messages sent from another microbit via the radio module.

Sending

Sends out messages via the microbit's radio module, e.g. fwd for forward or tr for turn right; as well the name of the actions scrolls across the microbit.


On the Unicorn

Revieves messages via the microbits radio module, e.g. bwd for backward or tl for turn left; then carries out the action for 500ms. The time was selected to give the system enough time to finish the action before the next message is expected.




All the code available at Turner, S., 2017. Robo_unicorn_python. Available at: <Robo_unicorn_python> https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5729583.v7

All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with. Twitter @scottturneruon

Robot Unicorn, python and a microbit

Yesterday (21/12/2017) I took delivery of a Robot Unicorn kit - now those were three words I don't think I would ever write let alone say from Do it Kits https://doitkits.com/product/robot-unicorn/ based around the microbit.

There is a fantastic video produced by Do It Kits on how to put the kit together and another on programming using Blocks:



Using the second video as a starting point I have produced my version of it in Python (see below). Essentially go forward, backwards, turn left and turn right, as well as pause.

I have probably wired it up back to front, so my settings in the code are the other way around to the ones used in the video - you may need to swap backwards and forwards around; as well as left and right.


This is a cute kit. How can anyone resist a Robot Unicorn?

All of the code available at Turner, S., 2017. Robo_unicorn_python. Available at: <Robo_unicorn_python> https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5729583.v7

All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with. Twitter @scottturneruon

Sphero Mini - fun-sized Sphero

The Sphero Mini has been recently launched and at the time of writing seems to be popular, Amazon.co.uk delivery times vary depending on the colour you select. There are some very good reasons for it to be popular.

It's a ping-pong sized ball, much smaller than the normal Sphero's and approximately half the price. Though slightly less featured, what it has got, is good. 

In the box, you get the sphero-mini, a charging cable, as well as packet of mini-skittles and cones. There is no charging station for this one, you charge it taking the outer shell off (it splits into two pieces) and the socket is on the ball inside. Actually, it is quite interesting to see the insides (I know the Spheros SPRK+ have a transparent shell to show the innards) and handle the ball inside, trying to see what it does. The ball is a little slower than the other Spheros, but this is not a problem in my opinion.

There is an app for playing the games, and this is fun to play with; providing control via the app to make the ball move and many features I have yet to explore. Alternatively, the SpheroEdu app, running on a tablet, allows programming via blocks or JavaScript. Had to have a go with writing a JavaScript routine.

The routine just makes the robot go in a square and not really much of a test, but a start. I especially liked the visual display of the sphero-mini's route on the tablet's screen.

I think this little robot, the price is not bad, though less featured than their bigger 'sibling' Spheros it is still good. I would like to see support for Swift in the future but it is early days for this kit and the skittles and cones are a good touch.


All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with. Twitter @scottturneruon

Bigtrak's little sibling - Rover

Recently bought a Bigtrak Rover, kind of the smaller 'sibling' of a Bigtrak (see above). 

Mobile Phone
It has the some of the same functionality as the Bigtrak, though no cannon sound. Control is via an iPhone or Android phone app, giving the same direction and number of steps functions (see below) found on the larger Bigtrak.

Control via another device.

What is different to the Bigtrak is it can be controlled remotely from a PC, Mac or Tablet via a web interface. It also uses the phone's camera to provide a video stream and remote control via on-screen controls. What it doesn't have is programmable control (or I haven't found it yet). The web interface is Flash based; so there may be problems running this on iPads.

Overall
A Nice, little robot that use the phone to control the robot.  A set of cones gives the option of setting up an obstacle course. Once the app is installed it is very easy to get going with this. Would have liked programming from a PC or Mac. At the price, this is a good fun piece of kit. 


Related Links

• Phiro Pro Robots
• Kamibot

All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with. Twitter @scottturneruon