Programming Guide for ROBOTIS DREAM with R+Block, R+Task & Python

The video tutorials can be accessed at this YouTube videos playlist.

The full Table of Contents is available here.

You can download excerpts from the book here.

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To access the example codes, please email a proof of purchase to "roboteer@comcast.net" and please allow up to a 24-hour turn-around.

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This book was written to leverage special features of the Chromebook so that 3 Robotics Programming approaches could be presented to readers/users with different skill levels:

1. “Block Coding” with R+BLOCK for the youngest beginners.  R+BLOCK accesses the robot’s actuators and sensors directly from the Chromebook at runtime.

2. “Menu-Guided Programming” with R+TASK for users with intermediate skills.  R+TASK uses a Menu-driven IDE which lets the user choose various commands to interact with the robot’s actuators and sensors, via a compiled program which operates on the robot’s Controller CM-150/151 at runtime. 

3. Standard Python Programming with THONNY IDE and Chromebook’s LINUX Virtual Environment for more advanced users who can develop and run Standard Python programs via a “helper” Python module named “CNT_Block.py”.  This module contains Utility Functions that have a one-to-one match with the R+BLOCK commands that access the robot hardware.  This feature is designed to help R+BLOCK programmers transition to Python usage.  This Python module is designed to work with a companion TASK code (CNT_Block.tskx/tsk3) that works as an extension of the CM-150/151 Firmware.

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This book has 4 chapters:

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1)  Chapter 1 presents an overview of the DREAM II hardware and software capabilities, and its relationship with the Chromebook environment.  The Sense-Think-Act (STA) paradigm used in developing the contents of this book is also described in this chapter.

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2)  Chapter 2 is written for beginners who want to learn Block Programming.  It will guide the reader from R+BLOCK Programming Basics (Sequence, Function, Condition, Loop, Remote-Control and Autonomous-Behavior) to a Structured Approach for Project Analysis and Solution based on the STA Paradigm.

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3) Chapter 3 is written as an independent path for beginners who want to learn TASK Programming instead.  It will also guide the reader from R+TASK Programming Basics (Sequence, Loop, Function, Condition, Remote-Control and Autonomous-Behavior) to a Structured Approach for Project Analysis and Solution based on the STA Paradigm.

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4)  Chapter 4 starts as a guide for using the Module “CNT_Block.py” as a black-box to redevelop in Python the solutions to the same 8 projects demonstrated in Chapters 2 and 3.  Chapter 4 ends with a “Look Under The Hood” for the inner processes between Module “CNT_Block.py” and its companion TASK code “CNT_Block.tskx/tsk3” to provide the reader with a more expansive “Robotics Programming” outlook beyond the Chromebook and DREAM systems.