Programming the Mecanum Robot with Block Coding in PictoBlox

The Quarky Mecanum Wheel Robot is a type of robot that uses a special type of wheel to move. The wheel is made of four rollers mounted at 45-degree angles to the wheel‘s hub. Each roller has its own motor and can spin in either direction. This allows the wheel to move in any direction, making it an ideal choice for navigating around obstacles and tight spaces. The mecanum wheel robot can also turn on the spot, allowing it to make sharp turns without having to reverse direction.

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 Mecanum Robot to move, grip, and perform pick & place actions!

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 Mecanum Extension

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

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

PictoBlox Blocks for Quarky Mecanum

The following blocks are available for the Quarky Mecanum:

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The block activates the sprite under this hat block when the analog sensor value connected to the selected pin becomes greater than the threshold set for the sensor. The block is used for analog sensors like Light Sensor and Gas Sensor.

The block sets the specified motor of the Quarky Expansion board to the specified direction (“FORWARD” or “BACKWARD”) and specified speed for the specified time. After that, the robot turns OFF.

The block gets the last data value of the specified feed as a number or as a string.

The block reports the value 1 of the webhook event.

The block sets the servo motors of the quadruped to the specified angles at the specified speed.

The block sets the individual motors at the specified speed. Here -100 is the motor running in the reverse direction at full speed and 100 is the motor running in the forward direction at full speed. 0 means the wheel will be stopped.

The block makes a request to ChatGPT to convert the text specified in it to emojis. The response of ChatGPT is then stored in PictoBlox and can be accessed using the get AI response block.

The play tone on () of note () & beat () block is a useful tool for adding audio elements to projects. It can play a tone with a certain frequency (note) for a specified duration (beat) with either a selection from the drop-down menu or a user-defined frequency and duration in milliseconds.

The block clears the display.

This block is used to move the end-effector of the robotic arm to a desired point in space, specified by the X, Y, and Z coordinates in the specified time.

Select left and right IR sensors for line following using either onboard or external sensors connected to analog pins.

Sends a message of the specified color.

Rotate the sprite clockwise a specified amount. Turn with 12 for a full rotation.

Decreases the sprite’s size.

Runs the blocks inside if a specified key is pressed.

Plays a specific musical note according to the instrument set.

Sets the thickness of the lines that can be drawn.

After connection is established, moves the quarky in a specified direction forever.

Displays a specified pattern from list on the quarky LED display.

Alllows the sprite to follow the movement of a detected face in real-time.

Runs the blocks inside if the specified hand sign/gesture is detected .

After connection is established, rotates the wizbot a specified degree of angle to the left.

After connection is established, turns the wizbot a specified number of step to the left.

The block allows you to enter the coordinates of two points on the TFT display and joins them using a straight line of the specified color which you can choose from the color picker.

evive Inbuilt tools. evive have 12 capacitive touch inputs, where you can sense if the pin is touched or not. If the specified channel is touched, the block returns “True”, else it returns false.

The block returns the real-time value of the selected parameter (X value, Y value, radial value, and angle) form the joystick and accelerometer mode of the Gamepad module of the Dabble app. You can choose the parameter from the drop-down menu.

This block adds the offset on the end effector position along the specified length direction i.e. the direction in which the robotic arm is facing and the Z direction. The block is mainly used to calibrate the end-effector with respect to the base.  

This block is to assign pre-defined leg movements and actions to our Humanoid Robot.

The block sets its sprite’s X and Y position to the specified amounts. This block has no animation in its movement — it is the simplest way to move a sprite around the screen without displaying any animation (i.e. gliding). Therefore, this block is used whenever a sprite needs to jump to another spot.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, the Quarky Mecanum Wheel Robot is a powerful and versatile robot that can be programmed using PictoBlox. With its Mecanum extension, it can be programmed to move in any direction, grip objects, and perform pick & place actions. With the help of PictoBlox, users can easily program the robot to perform their desired tasks.