Simple Arduino Robot - Block Programming for Kids

Arduino Robot project aims to enable kids to program their own robot through simple drag and drop block programming

In this project we will use mBlock, that is a Scratch variant with the same drag-and-dropping style. mBlock is an open source and enable write programs to control the robot or give it some intelligence.

If you didn't have mBlock, download it from http://www.mblock.cc/, also you need to add Arduino Rover extension to mBlock as following,

1. From Extensions menu item
2. Open Manage Extensions (short-cut Ctrl+shift+T)
3. Click Available button and search for "Rover"
4. Click Download

You can now write Arduino programs and build them direct from mBlock, from Edit menu switch to Arduino mode

2 X DC Motors

2 X Wheels

1 X Caster (or old roll-on bottle)

1 X LED

1 X 220 Ohm Resistor

1 X 10 Ohm NTC Thermal Resistor (Optional to limit DC motors max current)

1 X 100uF Capacitor

1 X 1N4001 Diode

L293D Motor Driver (or other Arduino Motor driver extension)

IR Remote controller + IR receiver Diode

7.0volts Battery (or 4 x AA batteries)

Breadboard 400 Tie Point

Arduino Uno (or other supported Ardunio board)

Download the attached RobotBase.pdf and use a cutter and cardboard paper to cut the robot base. Then mount the motors and caster using hot glue.

Wire all components as the above diagram.

Start mBlock IDE in Arduino mode, and select Arduino Uno board from Boards menu. check Arduino Rover Extension page for more information on how to use.

Attached below arduino_rover.sb2 a complete sample for Arduino Robot code.