Programming the Mars Rover with Block Coding in PictoBlox

Introduction

Quarky Mars Rover is a miniature version of Mars Rovers sent to Mars by NASA. It has 5 servo motors – 4 in the legs to control the wheel position and 1 in the head. It also has 6 motors to control the motion of the robot which allows it to move forward, backward, left, and right.

The robot is programmable with PictoBlox. PictoBlox is coding education software that uses both graphical block-based coding and Python programming.

With PictoBlox, you can program the Mars Rover for different applications!

If you haven’t installed PictoBlox, please follow the instructions:

Windows Installer (.exe)

STEP 1: Download the Pictoblox Installer (.exe) for Windows 7 and above (Release Notes).

Windows Installer 64-bit

Windows Installer 32-bit

STEP 2: Run the .exe file.

Some of the device gives the warning popup. You don’t have to worry, this software is harmless. Click on More info and then click on Run anyway.

STEP 3: Rest of the installation is straight forward, you can follow the popup and check on the option appropriate for your need.

 

Your software is now installed!

macOS Installer

STEP 1: Download the Pictoblox Installer (.dmg).

macOS Installer

STEP 2: Run the .dmg file.

Mobile App Installer

STEP 1: Open Google Play Store on your Smartphone and and search for PictoBlox or visit the link here to head over to the Google Play Store. You can even scan the QR Code below from your Smartphone to head to the PictoBlox App.

Mobile App Installer

STEP 2: Install the PictoBlox App.

Connecting Quarky with PictoBlox

Let’s begin by first connecting Quarky to PictoBlox. Select your preferred type of device i.e. either the desktop/laptop or your smartphone and follow the instructions.

Desktop

Follow the steps below for connecting Quarky to PictoBlox:

1. First, connect Quarky to your laptop using a USB cable.
2. Next, open PictoBlox on your desktop.
3. After that, select Block as your coding environment.
4. Then, click the Board button in the toolbar and select board as Quarky.
   
5. Next, select the appropriate Serial port if the Quarky is connected via USB or the Bluetooth Port if you want to connect Quarky via Bluetooth and press Connect.
   
6. Click on the Upload Firmware button. This will upload the latest firmware in Quarky.
   

   Note: If your device already has the latest firmware, then PictoBlox will show the message – Firmware is already updated. For learning more you can refer to this tutorial: https://ai.thestempedia.com/docs/quarky/quarky-toubleshooting/updating-quarky-firmaware-with-pictoblox/
7. Once the firmware is uploaded, Quarky starts the Getting Started program. This runs only for the first time. Run through it.

And voila! Quarky is now connected to PictoBlox.

Mobile

Follow the steps below for connecting Quarky to PictoBlox:

1. First, power ON Quarky.
2. Open PictoBlox on your smartphone. Go to My Space and make a new project by clicking the ‘+(plus)’ button in the bottom-right corner.
   
3. Then, tap the Board button in the top-right corner of the toolbar.
   Select board as Quarky.
   
4. Next, tap the Connect button:
   Select your device from the list.
   

And voila! Quarky is now connected to PictoBlox.

Quarky Mars Rover Extension

The Mars Rover extension in PictoBlox allows you to control the robot. It has blocks for specific applications. To add the Mars Rover extension follow the instructions:

1. Click on the Add Extension button and add the Quarky Mars Rover extension.
2. You can find the Quarky Mars Rover blocks available in the project.

PictoBlox Blocks for Mars Rover

The following blocks are available for the Mars Rover:

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This button allows to add a sound from library to the list.

After execution, the sprite moves on the stage and does not draw lines.

After connection is established, moves the quarky a specified number of step backward.

Shows a specified text on the LED display of the quarky.

Analyzes and process images captured from the camera.

Analyzes and process hand detected from the camera.

Eables wizbot to follow a line using its sensors.

After connection is established, moves the wizbot a specified number of step forward.

This block switches the state of the wizbot to Draw mode.

This block makes the robot move forward and reverse for a set time, collecting IR sensor data on both white and black lines.

The block sets the cursor at the specified coordinate in the TFT Display of evive. Origin (0,0) is at the top left corner of the screen. Positive X-direction is to right while positive Y-direction is downward. Once the cursor has moved to the specified coordinate, you can write text using that point as the reference.

The block check takes the slide switch number (1 or 2) and state to be checked for (Up or Down) as input and returns “True” if the slide switch is in the specified state and “False” if it is not in the specified state.

The block returns a number received from the terminal module of the Dabble app.

The block free or locks the motor connected to the selected slot from evive, Arduino Uno, Mega & Nano.

The block reports the analog reading from analog sensor varying between 0 to 1023, connected to the selected analog pin.

This block should be included every time you work with the robotic arm as this block calibrates the angles of the servo motors and saves it in the memory of evive.

This block defines the PWM pins to which all the four servos of arms (2 servos of shoulders + 2 servos of hands) are connected.

The blocks turn their sprite the specified amount of degrees counter-clockwise. This changes the direction the sprite is facing.

The block gives its sprite a thought bubble with the specified text, which stays for the specified amount of seconds.

The block will stop any sounds currently being played on all sprites and the Stage. Pressing the Stop button will also stop all sounds, but is rarely used as it also stops all the other scripts running in the project.

Blocks held inside this block will be in a loop — just like the Repeat () block and the Repeat Until () block, except that the loop never ends (unless the stop sign is clicked, the Stop All block is activated, or the stop script block is activated within the loop). Due to this infinite loop, the block has no bump at the bottom; having a bump would be pointless, as the blocks below it would never be activated.

Scripts that wear this block will be triggered once the specified backdrop has been switched to on the Stage.

The block checks whether a color on its sprite is touching another color. If it is, the block returns “true”.

This block is used to set the threshold for the confidence (accuracy) of object detection, 0 being low confidence and 1 being high confidence. With the threshold value, you can set the level of confidence required for object detection.

The block checks if the first value is greater than the other value. If the second value is less, the block returns true; if not, it returns false.

The block shows the specified variable’s Stage monitor.

This block is used to analyze the image received as input from the camera or the stage, for human pose detection.

The recognize () in image from () block extracts the image from Stage, Costume, or Backdrop in PictoBlox, analyzes it, and saves information in PictoBlox.

This block is used to set the threshold for the confidence (accuracy) of face detection, 0 being low confidence and 1 being high confidence. With the threshold value, you can set the level of confidence required for face detection.

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Activity: Calibrating Mars Rover

In this activity, we are going to calibrate the Mars Rover servo motors. Due to some mechanical assembly errors, there may be some misalignment of the servos which can be handled with set offset to head (), FL (), FR (), BL (), BR () block.

Follow the steps:

1. Open new project in PictoBlox.
2.  Connect Quarky to PictoBlox.
3. Click on the Add Extension button and add the Quarky Mars Rover extension.
4. Make the following code:

Run the code with Green Flag. Now you have to make sure that the robot has the following orientation:

If you find any twist of angle in the robot wheels, edit the value of the servo motor in the set offset to head (), FL (), FR (), BL (), BR () block. If this step is not done properly, your robot may move in an incorrect manner.

Note:  This has to be done only once as the offset values are stored in the memory of the robot.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Quarky Mars Rover is a miniature version of Mars Rovers sent to Mars by NASA. It can be programmed using PictoBlox, where you can program the Mars Rover for different applications. To connect Quarky to PictoBlox, you can use either your desktop/laptop or your smartphone. The Mars Rover extension in PictoBlox allows you to control the robot. You can use the blocks to calibrate the servo motors, allowing the robot to move in the desired orientation. With the help of PictoBlox and the Mars Rover extension, you can now explore the possibilities of programming a small Mars Rover!