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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Play’s a notes from wizbot as specified from the list

This block allows sprite to go to any random position on stage.

The block is used to draw an outline of the ellipse or a filled ellipse of a specified X length, Y length and center position on evive TFT display. It takes the color, center, X length and Y length of the ellipse from the user and draws an ellipse.

The block set PWM output on evive PWM pins. The user can select the output from a range of 0 to 255.  If the PWM output is 128, then half the time output will be High and for rest, the output will be Low.

Dabble input module have 2 slide switch type input, having states left, right and off. This block reports if the selected slide switch is in the selected state in real-time. If the slide switch is in that state, then it returns true else false.

The block moves the end-effector in an arc.

This block sets the value of the selected servo by the value you enter. Whereas the angle of other servos remains the same.

The block moves its sprite costume center’s X position by the specified amount.

The block sets its sprite’s size to the specified amount. The default sprite size is 100%; anything lower than that will decrease the size of the sprite on the stage, and anything above will increase the size of the sprite on the stage.

It deletes the clone it runs in. This block is the only way, besides for clicking the Green Flag or Stop Sign, to delete clones.

The block holds the mouse-pointer’s current Mouse Y.

The block divides the second value from the first and returns the result. If the first value is not evenly divisible by the second, the reported value will have decimals. To find the remainder instead, use the () Mod () block. Note, dividing by 0 in the online editor will return infinity, 0, or negative infinity. It depends on if the numerator is positive, 0, or negative; respectively.

This function returns the specified parameter of the hand landmark detected.

The get () position of landmark () of the face () block reports the x and y position of the selected landmark (number from 1 to 68) of the selected face.

The block returns whether the specified number card (0-9) is detected in the analysis or not.

The function returns the city name of the location.

The block changes the brightness level of the RGB LEDs of Quarky to the defined value.

The block returns the analog reading of the sensor connected to the specified analog pin of the Quarky. The value varies between 0 to 4095.

Scripts that wear this block will activate once the selected class is predicted either on the recognition window, stage or camera.

The block enables the physics engine for the selected objects with the defined precision level.

The block activates the script under this hat block when the moisture reading from the sensor is greater than the specified value. 

The block sends the data to the ThingSpeak channel with a delay of the specified time seconds. The data is added to field 1 of the channel.

The block executes the oscillator according to stored parameters for the servo motor and the current time.

The block moves the servo motors of the pick and place robot at the pick angle specified by the user.

The block makes a request to ChatGPT to get an easily understandable text 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.

The block displays the custom pattern on the 8×8 Dot Matrix Display.

PID functions use sensor feedback to improve the robot’s movement accuracy and stability.

Stops all the movement and actions of the wizbot.

Play’s a sound from quarky as specified from the list.

Mirrors the orientation of the sprite.

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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.