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 holds a sprite’s or the Stage’s volume. This block can be displayed as a Stage monitor.

It creates a clone of the sprite in the argument. It can also clone the sprite it is running in, creating clones of clones, recursively.

The block holds (reports) the mouse-pointer’s current Mouse X.

The block multiplies the two values and reports the result.

The block can delete all the items from the specified list.

The block inserts an item containing the given text into the list, at the given position. All values below the inserted item are passed onto the item beneath them; the last item’s value is placed in a new item at the end of the list.

The block tells whether the human hand is detected or not.

The get () position of () face () block reports the x and y position of the selected landmark of the selected face.

The block returns the specified parameter for the specified signal detected: class, x position, y position, width, height, and confidence.

The function returns the weather parameters (Rain, Snow, Extreme, etc.) of the location.

The block changes the pen size by the specified amount.

The block turns OFF all the RGB LEDs of Quarky.

The block sets the servo motor connected to the specified servo pin to the specified angle.

The block returns the distance reading from the specified ultrasonic sensor.

The block returns the number of objects identified with the specified object class.

The block reports the density of the sprite.

The block connects the soil moisture sensor to the specified pin. Once initialized, other moisture sensor-related blocks can be used.

The block connects the PictoBlox to the ThinkSpeak Channel with the specified write and the read API keys. Without this block, other functionality does not work related to ThinkSpeak.

The block resets the oscillator parameter for all the servo motors.

The block reports the current time value in milliseconds.

The block sets the pick and place arm angles to the specified value.

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

This block allows you to scale a value from one range of numbers to another.

The block sets up an 8×8 Dot Matrix display and assigns the pins of the display (DIN, CS, CLK) to be connected to the Arduino board. The code assigns the name of the display to the pins for easy referencing and establishes communication between the Arduino board and the display.

This block helps robot to follows a line and stops at checkpoints, detecting these when both IR sensors sense black simultaneously.

The sprite will move to a specified position as set on the grid.

Changes the scene in the stage as specified from the options.

Runs the blocks inside if a specified pin is touched of the quarky.

Turns off all the LED of the wizbot.

Runs the right motor of the wizbot in a specified direction.

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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.