Programming Guide for ROBOTIS MINI

The MINI™ programmable humanoid robotic kit was released by ROBOTIS® in 2014. It comes with a free Mobile App called MINI that allows beginner users to control and operate the MINI through its pre-programmed motions such as bowing, walking, gymnastics and dancing moves. But the potential use for this kit in educational robotics is largely untapped due to lack of information and practicum sources for users to develop projects and to learn about humanoid robotics programming. This book is designed to fill that void by using a unique approach of developing MINI projects using 2 main software tools:1.ROBOTIS own software tools such as TASK, MOTION and R+m.PLAY700.2.EDBOT™ software tool to allow the use of standard development environments such as SCRATCH and PYTHON. This approach allows MINI users to assess the capabilities and constraints of these tools in the development of their existing or potential project ideas. The author strives to create a book that is useful to two main groups of users:Existing owners of the MINI kit who are ready to go beyond the features that the MINI Mobile App provides.Beginners in humanoid robotics who look for a firm foundation in robotics concepts and problem-solving techniques. This group includes self-learners as well as instructors who need a programming guide for the MINI that can be used for themselves as well as for their students, as detailed programming techniques are provided with the reasoning behind them. This book has 8 Chapters: Chapter 1 provides a systemic view of the MINI kit from its hardware components and compatible software tools to its many operating configurations. Chapter 2 provides pre-assembly and post-assembly tips for the MINI kit. Chapter 3 focuses on the use of the ROBOTIS MANAGER tool in updating/testing/recovering the firmware for the main robot controller, actuators and sensors used in the MINI robot.Chapter 4 provides MOTION foundational concepts such as KEY-FRAME, TIME-LINE and MOTION-UNIT as well as how-to techniques to use the ROBOTIS MOTION tool in creating human-like movements for the 3-D MINI model in its Graphical Environment. It includes a Motion Creation Practicum to illustrate various MOTION components such as MOTION-UNIT, MOTION-LIST/PAGE, MOTION-GROUP and more advanced tools such as EXIT-MOTION and JOINT-GROUP. Chapter 5 is a review of the features provided in the MINI App.Chapter 6 provides foundation knowledge in computer programming structures and techniques with the ROBOTIS TASK tool. It uses a Beginner’s Approach based on the “Sense-Think-Act” Paradigm to provide a step-by-step procedure to go from specifications for the robot’s tasks to the writing and testing of the actual TASK codes that allow the robot to perform the original user-assigned tasks. It uses a “Spiral-Teaching” approach applied through a series of projects designed to deepen and broaden the reader’s understanding in several robotics areas. Chapter 7 illustrates the use of the R+m.PLAY700 App to access the Smart Device features in a TASK program which allow the MINI’s Hardware Controller to access the Multimedia Services of a mobile device such as a Smartphone or Tablet. Selected features are demonstrated: Touch Areas, Text Displays, Instruments Play, Text-to-Speech, Speech Recognition and Color Tracking with Mobile Video Camera.Chapter 8 assumes the reader to have some programming experiences in using SCRATCH 2 and PYTHON. It demonstrates the use of EDBOT software to obtain control of two MINI robots from a single SCRATCH 2 or PYTHON program. It showcases Remote/Autonomous/Mixed Control applications using the SCRATCH 2 “Multi-Sprite” and “Broadcast-Message” features, while it demonstrates the use of the “Threading” and “OpenCV” modules in PYTHON applications.For projects videos, please visit https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtix7rPAJwqwkDlu-bCcrtez1Qb433nYt and for a complete list of my books, please visit https://www.amazon.com/author/c_n_thai. Read more