Robotoy Tutorial

If you find that this page doesn't provide enough information, or feel that you would like some additional information about controlling the robot placed here, the please feel free to contact Robotoy.

Introduction

The robot is not difficult to control. One of the key factors in trying to control the robot is patience. Depending upon the quality of your connection to Robotoy, you may find it takes a long time to upload some of the images. We've tried to keep the images as small as possible without sacrificing too much quality. You might find that occasionally the robot does not respond to any commands. This generally means that the robot has put itself in an error state. Presently, the mechanism for taking the robot offline is not automated, so it will appear to you like the robot is not responding. If this happens, bookmark us and try again another day.

We've found that Internet Explorer doesn't deal with our pages very well, in particular the page used for controlling the robot. Stopping IE from caching images is very difficult. So, when you first attach to the robot, IE will cache the first image of the robot. From this point, each time you command the robot to move, the first image you saw when you first connected, will flash up very quickly and then the new image stream will appear. There doesn't appear to be an easy fix to this problem. In the meantime, use Firefox or most other browsers if you have an option.

Using Robotoy

When you first attach to Robotoy, you see a frame that looks something like this;

This shows Robotoy in it's home position and the controls surrounding the picture. Each axis is controlled separately. Clicking on the pull-down menu for each axis will give you the option of moving clockwise and anti-clockwise, or up and down, as is appropriate with each joint. Next to each of the axis directions is a number which indicates the maximum value you can use. Since the robot does not provide the web server with any actual values of joint position, these maximum values are not always precise. By and large, you will not need to go anywhere near these maximum values in order to pick up any of the blocks.

Once you've selected the direction you wish to move to joint in, you can then click in the box to the right of these menus and select the angle. You can enter an angle for each axes if you wish, or move each joint separately. When you're happy with the values you've entered, click on the "Move Robot" button to move the robot to the position you've programmed. If the move is within range, the robot will move their and you'll see updated pictures as the robot moves. When the pictures stop arriving, the robot should be in it's final position. You can then enter another move. If the move is out of range, you should get an "Invalid Move" message. Re-enter the angles and try again.

You can also select to view the robot from two different cameras. One from the side, as in the above picture, or one from above the robot. The second camera, the above view, makes it easier to position the gripper over the block you are attempting to pick up. When you choose the view from an alternate camera, there may be short delay before the image changes. Be patient.

We try to keep the blocks as accessible as possible, but sometimes if they've been picked up and dropped the move out of range of the robot. Clicking on the "Home" button should return the robot to a position similar to that in the above picture. If it doesn't, the the home position has been lost (remember it is set by software) and the limits of movement of the robot axes may be confused. When you've finished with the robot, leave it by pressing the "Detach" button.

During your time attached to the robot, nobody else will be able to control it. If you remain idle for greater than 5 minutes, then if someone else tries to attach, you'll be logged off and someone else will get the opportunity to take control of the robot. Reasonable Robotoy Etiquette would be to return it to the home position prior to detaching from the site.

Good luck and have fun. Some of the problems described on this page will disappear in time as work on the robot continues. We hope you enjoy your visit.

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