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ROBOTICS WITH MBROBOT

(Maqueen, Maqueen Plus, Maqueen Plus V2) 

The micro:bit is a programmable computer in credit card format, which is equipped with a 32-bit microcontroller, flash memory, some sensors and a USB interface. If you insert it into the simple but handy Maqueen chassis, it becomes a moving robot and offers an inexpensive alternative to the LEGO EV3 robot. In this tutorial we call it "mbRobot".

Using the standard Maqueen kit you easily demonstrate the most important programming concepts of robotics. For further applications in the field of Web programming and IoT, the mbRobot can be supplemented with a coprocessor (ESP 32).                   

 


The micro:bit is widely used in introductory programming courses, but also for interesting demonstrations in the field of physical computing.

Programming in Python using the TigerJython development environment is simple. However, we assume in this tutorial that the basic program structures, as they were introduced in other tutorials like Turtle Graphics are already known.


 

The robot movements and programmes using LEDs, alarms, ultrasonic and infrared sensors can also be executed in simulation mode. This option is interesting if you want to test the "program logic" efficiently or in a class when there are not enough real robots available.

The micro:bit (without the Maqueen kit) can also be used in computer science education for interesting applications in the field of physical computing.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)



 

The programmes in this tutorial can also be run with Maqueen Plus (mbRobot Plus). This has servo motors, multi-coloured LEDs and additional ports through which you can connect I2C sensors. However, the small mbRobot is better suited as a "moving robot" for the usual movement tasks. Maqueen Plus is bigger and heavier and (with the same motor power as the small mbRobot) moves somewhat sluggishly, especially at low speeds.

Since the hardware is different, a different library must be imported in all programmes..
For mbRobot: from mbrobot import *
For Maqueen Plus: from mbrobot_plus import *



 

TigerJython also supports the latest model Maqueen Plus V2. This robot is not compatible with the two models Maqueen and Maqueen Plus in terms of hardware and needs a customised library.

In the first line of all programmes one has to import the module mbrobot_plusV2.
from mbrobot_plusV2 import *