The mBot is an educational robot that is easy to use. It is designed to facilitate children to learn programming, Arduino and robots. Let children stop indulging in mobile phones and computer games. Cute and cool shape, control at will. Satisfy children's inner robot world. Cultivate children's hands-on ability, train their programming thinking, develop their brain intelligence, play and learn while having fun. A real educational toy.

The mBot robot is packaged in a color paper box. From the box, you can see that this machine has a very cute shape. The instructions of the packing box are all in English, so no detailed introduction is required here. The only Chinese let me know The mBot robot is blue (Bluetooth version).

Open the packing box, and the instructions are on the top. The mBot robot is not a finished product, and these parts must be assembled together to accompany the children's hands-on ability. The interior is packed with pearl cotton and divided into two layers, the upper layer is the frame and circuit board, and the lower layer is the motor, battery and screw. A dual-use screwdriver is also attached with the machine, which can be used for assembly. I got it The frame of the mBot robot is blue. It is completed by stamping and folding, and some round holes have been tapped. These are mainly installation holes, and the rectangular holes in the middle are used for leads. The holes on both sides are used for mounting wheels, positioning and fixing. Multiple openings at the front and back are reserved for later expansion.

Relevant functions and interfaces of the main board of the mBot robot are shown in the figure above. It should be explained here that there are two indicators on both sides of the lithium battery interface. When charging the lithium battery, the left side is the charging indicator, and the right side is the full charge indicator. The left and right LED color lights are the indicators of the two motors. The two color lights are red and green when moving forward, red when moving backward, and corresponding lights when moving left and right. This can judge the signal transmitted by your remote control from the indicator light. Of course, you can also use software to define infrared radio frequency, which will be discussed later.

The functions of the four RJ25 interfaces are mainly used by external sensors. The specific interface number is shown in the figure above. The software development in the later use period must be clear. This is The ultrasonic sensor of the mBot robot is like two lights. These two lights can measure the length of the object in front. There is an indicator light on the circuit board. When the ultrasonic sensor detects an object at a set distance in front, it will send a signal, and the main board will execute relevant actions according to the set program.

Line patrol sensor is actually a proximity switch for color recognition. There are two indicators on the circuit board, as long as The indicator will light up when a non black object is detected. When using the line patrol mode, if both indicators are on, the robot will keep moving forward. Only when one side detects black or a certain height from the ground, the indicator will be off.

This module does not need my introduction. It is a Bluetooth module, mainly used for wireless connection. It can support 2.0 and 4.0 versions, can be connected to a mobile phone to control the robot, and can also be used to pair with a computer for wireless programming. When installing the two wheels of the mBot robot, the two "tires" should be put on the wheels first. This remote control uses button batteries. Take out the insulating sheet of the battery before use. Several default modes and function keys are set on the keyboard, and the function of each key can also be defined and changed later. These are two small DC motors that provide kinetic energy for the robot to walk. The rest is the battery and the necessary fasteners for installation. Several screws delivered are spare, which can be used for later expansion. Since the screws connecting the motherboard and chassis are hexagonal socket screws, a dual-use screwdriver is also provided.

Another picture of the circuit board and the remote control. Now we will begin to assemble the robot.

How to assemble these scattered parts into a robot? There are corresponding parts lists and installation steps in the instructions, and ordinary people can complete the assembly as long as they follow the assembly process instructions. In the whole process, only pay attention to the installation sequence and the corresponding serial number when wiring.

Attached here MBot robot Animation of the installation process and my installation video. If there are children in the installation process, they can complete it together, so that children can enjoy their own achievements. It only takes a few minutes to After the installation of the mBot robot, let's show it again Beautiful photos of the mBot robot from all angles. The mBot robot official also provides various expansion modules, which can customize more sensors and allow children to develop more applications in their own ways. Of course, if you think the robot is not beautiful enough, you can work with your children to improve its appearance and package it more beautiful.

The software development of the mBot robot can use the graphical block programming software mBlock and Arduino C language for programming. mBlock This is a graphical programming software developed based on Scratch2.0. For specific software usage, see Get started with mBlock. This software will be available to children soon under the guidance of adults. Now children's learning ability is much stronger than ours. The use of software is not evaluated here.

As an education oriented robot, mBot robot, It is suitable for children over 6 years old. It will not only attract children to create, but also let children learn more knowledge from games, which is beyond doubt. Using simple graphical programming software, we can continuously develop various functions of this robot. However, in the process of use, although the rocker and other modules can be expanded to achieve direction control, it is recommended to develop a handheld controller, or build more functions in the mobile phone APP, such as defining the robot's walking direction with the mobile phone's gyroscope, or even completing simple commands directly with the mobile phone's voice.