When Obama took office as the 43rd President of the United States in 2009, he promulgated the American Revitalization and Investment Act and the Race to the Top program, emphasizing the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and allocated funds to vigorously fund STEM education. Attaching great importance to STEM education will have a profound impact on ensuring the international competitiveness of the United States. Obama said: "The current fact is that if we do not make some better choices, our leading edge will gradually shrink. We need to let children participate in mathematics and science, not just a small number of children, but all people. All people should learn how to program earlier."

The mBot educational robot is a robot designed to popularize STEM education, let children contact programming earlier and cultivate programming thinking. Different from other educational robots, in addition to being more affordable, the mBot robot made with arduino development board has a lower programming threshold, which allows more children to program through the mBot educational robot. MBot encapsulates SCM instructions through function functions. Children do not need to learn complicated and professional SCM principles, but will focus on the application of programming innovation. This is a great thing.

The mBot educational robot tried by Lei Fengnet this time is a Bluetooth version (with wireless wifi version). It can send control commands to the Mbot robot by connecting to the mBot via mobile phone Bluetooth. The arduino development board, combined with the ultrasonic distance sensor and the light sensor, senses the surrounding environment, displays the status through the RGB and sound modules, and finally controls the two wheels of the mBot education robot through the arm/avr microcontroller to achieve forward, backward, left and right rotation, tracking, obstacle avoidance and other operations. Along with the mBot educational robot, there is also a mBot educational programming book, which transforms vivid stories into a process that is easy to understand, and develops programming thinking step by step, which can also be easily mastered by primary school students. The emergence of mBot educational robot makes robots and programming come into children's world and become reality!

Compared with other robots, mBot educational robot wiring is more convenient and fast! In the past, connecting the robot control motherboard with sensors, executive motors, displays and other devices required complex wiring, not only patience but also rigor. This is not so easy for children who are naturally playful and lively. If one wire is connected incorrectly, The robot will make an error in the control and cannot achieve the scheduled task, which greatly weakens the children's interest in robot programming.

The mBot educational robot innovatively designs the complicated wiring into the form of network cable interface, so that children will no longer be bothered by the unclear wiring, and complete the controller's control of sensors and actuators through simple plug and pull, putting more energy into the cultivation of programming thinking and the realization of control functions.

     Another advantage of the mBot educational robot is graphical programming. Children can implement programming control commands as simple as building blocks through graphical drag and drop that is easy to understand. Programming can be achieved without mastering C, C++, JAVA, arduino and other programming sounds. because The motherboard of the mBot educational robot is designed and manufactured by arduino, which also makes The mBot educational robot has absorbed many advantages of arduino open source. Children can download open source programs shared by other netizens The mBot educational robot can also control and upload more interesting programs designed by itself to the forum to share with netizens!

▲ Nunulong uses 3D printing laser engraving machine of arduino development board diy. The Arduino development board (mBot educational robot main control board) is adopted, and the white laser engraving machine bracket is printed by a 3D printer (3D printer - a device that turns creativity into reality and can print everything except ideas) The y-axis motor and laser transmitter are installed on the bracket, the equipment is connected to the arduino main control board, and the engraving program is burned to the arduino control board to realize the function of laser engraving.

▲ MBot educational robot series - 3D printer. 3D printer is also a kind of robot in terms of mechanical structure and control mode. By controlling the moving track of the nozzle in the x, y and z directions, it can generate any complex shape entity. The above figure shows the small elephant model printed by the 3D printer on the official website of mBot.

▲ The mBot dot matrix screen expression shared by the netizens of the mBot educational robot forum.

The following is the in-depth evaluation experience of the mBot educational robot in this trial:

The mBot educational robot is packaged with cardboard and printed on the front The outline drawing of the mBot educational robot and a major innovation in control - graphical programming interface. The back is Installation diagram of mBot educational robot, with The six product advantages of the mBot educational robot, after opening the product packaging box, The top and bottom surfaces of the mBot educational robot have foam gaskets to wrap the components. Scientific and reasonable packaging ensures that the components will not be damaged during transportation.

There is the main control board mCore of the mBot educational robot in the packaging box, which is the design version of the arduino development board. The programming language is compatible with the speech developed by arduino. An aluminum alloy robot trolley bracket ensures the installation accuracy and strength of the mBot educational robot. The support has matching holes for the installation of motors and sensors. The screws used for the installation of the trolley are installed in a fixed bag to facilitate searching and improve the installation speed. A four section No. 5 battery box and a rechargeable battery can provide power for the robot car. The car is equipped with an infrared receiving and transmitting module, which can send control commands to the car through the remote control. meanwhile The mBot education robot is equipped with a bluetooth module, which can also download the mbot app on the mobile phone to control the car through bluetooth. MBlolck small makers play with robots and explain the programming ideas step by step through small experiments, so that children can easily understand, learn and master. At the same time, there are logo drawings of the arduino development board, which is convenient for the trolley to use during line patrol.

▲ mbot function demonstration

Installation and commissioning:

After the rubber wheel is successfully assembled, fix the motor on the trolley bracket according to the position in the product installation instructions. There are three points on the motor for installation and positioning to ensure the correct direction of the motor during installation, which is the embodiment of details. At the same time, in order to facilitate installation, the trolley is equipped with a dual-use screwdriver to install cross and socket head cap screws respectively. The mBot motor is of excellent workmanship, with transparent rubber seals at the wiring nodes for easy replacement of wires and check whether the motor is in good condition. At the same time, the mBot educational robot is equipped with a set of gears for vulnerable parts such as motors, which can be easily replaced after bearing large stress and being damaged by impact.

Another innovation of the mBot education robot is that the sensor and the motherboard mCore wiring are different from the plug board of the arduino development board. Due to the positioning of children, in order to simplify the wiring, the socket form similar to the network cable is used for wiring, so that the direction and order are not considered. As long as the wiring is inserted into the interface, the wiring can be completed and the control function can be displayed. Of course, in order to enhance compatibility, the sensor of the mBot robot has also added pinhole wiring. After the pin is welded, it can also be connected like the arduino development board, which is very powerful.

Although the main control board of the mBot uses the arduino development board, more sensors such as light, infrared emission, receiving sensors, buzzer sensors and more buttons are integrated on the mCore. At the same time, the wiring methods on the mCore are also different. The serial numbers 1,2,3,4 can be used to connect four sensors and executive components, while the arduino development board often needs to be used together with the bread board to complete the wiring function.

▲ Wiring diagram of arduino development board

▲ Wiring diagram of mCore development board of mBot educational robot

use:

First, use the battery box or external power supply to supply power for the mBot. When the switch is turned on, the buzzer will prompt you to start the machine, and the RGB color light will also light up to prompt you. The Bluetooth module also starts flashing. Download the mBot app to the mobile phone to enable Bluetooth connection, and then you can operate the mBot through the mobile phone. The same function can be achieved by using the remote control without Bluetooth.

▲ mBot education robot remote control obstacle avoidance mode

▲ Remote control mode of external power supply for mBot educational robot

The black curve can be detected through the photoelectric sensor below the mBot, and set through the graphical programming interface. When it is detected that the black sideline is exceeded, the left and right wheel speeds will be adjusted to control the steering of the mBot to track along the logo curve of the black arduino development board. Similarly, the ultrasonic distance sensor in front of the mBot can also be used to detect obstacles in front of the trolley. When the distance reaches the set range, the steering will be started to prevent collision with objects. Of course, the sensor can also avoid obstacles, and can also track and move with the movement of objects. These functions can be achieved through mBot.

Mbot trace mode demo nunulong

The graphical programming interface of the mBot has a computer version and a mobile phone iPad version. It communicates with the mBot through wireless wifi, Bluetooth modules and data lines. These tutorials are detailed in the accompanying mBlock book. After downloading and installing the software, first install the arduino driver so that the computer can recognize the mBot data cable. Then set the communication port. The port can be viewed in the hardware port of my computer. In the software port setting, change it to the mBot port to achieve communication. Graphical programming is very intuitive, which can realize operation, logic control, cycle, user-defined variable and other settings. At the same time, it can also set specific motors, sensors, etc. of the mBot robot, which is very intuitive and convenient, and is very suitable for children to learn.

Of course, if you write complex programs, mBot can also use the efficient and fast arduino development voice to write them. Arduino voice combines many function functions for easy calling. At the same time, open source programs make Arduino the first development board for many makers. Without knowing the principle of MCU, memory definition, allocation and use, duty cycle and other variables, you can simply set and wire the pins, and then you can complete many interesting innovations. It is an intelligent hardware born for the era of interconnection of everything.

What's more powerful about mBot is that it can automatically convert the graphical program into the program code recognized by the arduino development board, which also facilitates the interaction and exchange of mBot creativity with the innovation of the arduino development board, and facilitates the subsequent upgrading.

The intelligent robot manufactured by arduino development board can realize multiple functions to verify many complex robot control algorithms. The strength of mBot lies in its origin in arduino. The success of the arduino development board lies in open source.

Note: The picture is from Baidu Photos

As early as before the arduino development board, there were also many popular development boards at home and abroad, such as the 51 single chip microcomputer development board, which realized the control idea by using the logic characteristics of the single chip microcomputer, combined with sensors to complete the perception of the surrounding environment, and finally achieved the purpose of control by executing components. SCM programming is the same as the C voice we learned in the computer. The difference is that the computer has much more memory capacity than the SCM, so when using the SCM, we should consider the allocation of memory, and the algorithm should also be optimized. Although the MCU in the figure above has different manufacturers, it can often achieve a certain control purpose through programming. For professional personnel, in order to be proficient in programming, in addition to the cultivation of thinking, they also need to learn more about the characteristics of each manufacturer's single-chip microcomputer in order to play its specialty. This is a tedious and lengthy process. The most powerful thing for human beings is not repetitive physical labor, but innovative labor to invent and create. The great thing about arduino is that it seals up some very professional things about SCM. What we can see is only a few pin definitions and the application of logic function functions. At the same time, the idea of open source allows makers around the world to experience the fun of programming together. Many interesting products, such as robots, 3D printers and UAVs, are realized through the arduino development board! This is a great achievement. The idea of open source has gradually been accepted by people. At present, Intel has also launched an open source development board to enter the robot field.

The mBOT integrates the advantages of the arduino development board and adds its own features, such as easy wiring, graphical programming, automatic generation of arduino codes, and expandable functional modules. All of these make this educational robot with a price of about 500 become the preferred product to cultivate children's programming thinking.

The experience of using mBot educational robot is as follows:

advantage:

1. Graphical programming is intuitive and very suitable for children to learn;

2. The connection in the form of network cable interface greatly simplifies the connection process and improves the correctness of programming;

3. Various sensor modules are available for selection. At the same time, the sensor has various wiring modes, which is convenient to connect with the arduino development board;

4. The arduino development board is used as the main control board mCore, which is compatible with the advantages of arduino open source;

5. The components of the mBot educational robot are packaged and classified clearly for easy assembly and storage;

6. The power supply has a battery box and rechargeable batteries. The robot has diversified power supply options, no longer troubled by insufficient power;

7. There are three control modes: mobile phone, computer and remote controller. Bluetooth and wifi wireless modules are available;

8. It is equipped with a programming book mBlock that matches the product, which is easy to understand, and develops children's programming thinking step by step;

Disadvantages: It can only be said that there is no shanzhai product, and the price rate of function expansion module products is high.

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