[PictoBloxExtension]

Mars Rover

Extension Description

Control the Mars Rover Robot with Quarky.

Available in: Block Coding, Python Coding
Mode: Stage Mode, Upload Mode
WiFi Required: No
Compatible Hardware in Block Coding: Quarky
Compatible Hardware in Python: Quarky
Object Declaration in Python: Not Applicable
Extension Catergory: Quarky

Introduction

Mars is a fascinating planet. It’s icy cold and covered in reddish dust and dirt. Like Earth, it has volcanoes, gullies, and flat plains. Scientists can also see channels that look like they were carved by rivers and streams a long, long time ago. Over the years, NASA has sent five robotic vehicles, called rovers, to Mars. The names of the five rovers are Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance.

STEMpedia has created a miniature version of the Mars Rover to educate students about the different aspects of the Mars Rover in a more practical way.

The Mars Rover is programmable with PictoBlox in both modes – Block Coding and Python Coding.

Motor and Servo Motor

In our Mars rover, there are a total of 6 motors and 5 servo motors.

The motors provide rotation to the wheels which helps the rover to attain motion in both forward and backward directions. All the left side motors (3 motors) are connected to the left motor port of Quarky and all the right side motors (3 motors) are connected to the right motor port of Quarky using a 3 port wire. This means that to control the Mars rover we have to control only 2 motors – Left and Right. Also, there are 2 parameters to control – Direction (Forward or Backward) and Speed. With this control, the Mars rover can do all the desired motions.

The servo motors help in providing rotation to the complete wheel assembly so that the rover can change its wheel alignments and so its path. These play a major role in turning cases of the mars rover. The front two and the back two-wheel assemblies are connected with one servo motor each. Some important turns:

Turning left on the same point:
Turning right on the same point:
Turning left on a circle:
Turning right on a circle:

Note: The middle wheel assemblies on either side are not connected to servo motors.

The fifth servo motor is connected to the head portion of the Mars rover so that the rover can rotate its head to detect obstacles.

Connecting Mars Rover 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:

First, connect Quarky to your laptop using a USB cable.
Next, open PictoBlox on your desktop.
After that, select Block or Python Coding as your coding environment.
Then, click the Board button in the toolbar and select board as Quarky.
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.

And voila! Quarky is now connected to PictoBlox.

Mobile

Follow the steps below for connecting Quarky to PictoBlox:

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

And voila! Quarky is now connected to PictoBlox.

Mars Rover Extension in Block Coding

Click on the Add Extension button and add the Mars Rover extension.

Once loaded, you will find the fresh blocks of Mars Rover in the block palette.

Mars Rover Extension in Python Coding

Click on the Add Modules/Libraries button and add the Mars Rover extension.

To access the library functions, you have to add the object declaration.

quarky = Quarky()
rover = MarsRover(4, 1, 7, 2, 6)

PictoBlox Blocks

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.