Pose curriculum

It is a simple set of instructions on how to download and setup everything and then create a

sequence for it. In this case, it has been made the Bolide do a short, quick kick for hitting a small

soccer ball. We think this tutorial will help people trying to get started on their Bolide.

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Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 3

Software Setup ................................................................................................................................ 4

Arduino Installation ..................................................................................................................... 5

Library Setup ............................................................................................................................... 5

Robot Motion Editor Installation ................................................................................................ 7

Arduino ........................................................................................................................................... 9

Uploading the Robot Editor Program .......................................................................................... 9

Returning Robot to Default Settings ......................................................................................... 11

XYZrobot Editor ............................................................................................................................. 13

Creating a Pose .......................................................................................................................... 15

Creating a Sequence .................................................................................................................. 16

Creating an AVR Format ............................................................................................................ 17

Programming ................................................................................................................................ 18

Uploading Code to Arduino ....................................................................................................... 18

Programming the Control Panel ................................................................................................ 21

Programming the Remote Controller ....................................................................................... 22

Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 24

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Introduction

In this tutorial you will learn how to give a customized pose to your XYZ Bolide Edutainment

Robot. This tutorial assumes that you already have a fully assembled XYZ Bolide Y-01 Robot that

operates with complete functionality. It is important to visit the link posted below to download

the files that will be necessary for this process. You can also find this page by visiting

us.xyzprinting.com and clicking the “Support” tab. Next, click “Downloads” and navigate to the

“Robot” tab. Finally, click “Bolide” and you will be brought to a page with all of the necessary

downloads. Keep in mind that Mac and Windows users require different files, both of which are

included. It might be a smart idea to create a new folder called “XYZ Robot” or something

similar in order to keep all the files organized and in one place. The “Bolide User Manuel”

provides a more technical description of what will be explained below.

http://support.xyzprinting.com/us_en/Help/download/bolide?productName=Bolide

4

Software Setup

There are two important software programs that must be downloaded in order to complete

this tutorial. The first one is called “Arduino” and is used to send new and updated firmware to

the robot’s microchip. The other is the “Robot Motion Editor”, and this is going to be the

program we will work with in order to create a new pose. You can find the download files for

both software in the link provided above. The Arduino download link can be found in the

firmware section and will look something like this:

The “Robot Motion Editor” can also be found on this page, and will look like this:

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Arduino Installation

1. The first step of the Arduino installation is to click the download link provided on the

“Bolide Downloads” page listed above. Follow the setup instructions to complete

installation, and make sure to note which driver it is installed on.

It must be noted that the “Bolide Y-01 Robot” supports Arduino version 1.0.6, and any other

version of the Arduino software may produce undesired results. If you have a newer version of

Arduino currently installed, simply uninstall it and reinstall the correct version. Also, be sure to

download the correct file according to your operating system (Mac or Windows).

Library Setup

The next step is to add customized libraries to the Arduino program to provide effective

communication with the robot. This can be completed by following the steps below.

1. First, download the file called “XYZrobot Pack” on the “Bolide Downloads” page. It

contains four folders within it named “Arduino Setting”, “Bolide Y-01 Default”, “Bolide

Y-01 UserMotion” and “XYZrobot Editor Driver”. Unzip the files and save the folders

listed above to the XYZ Robot folder that you created earlier.

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2. Open the “Arduino Setting” folder and then open the “hardware” folder within it. Copy

the folder named “XYZrobot”.

3. Locate the drive on your computer containing the Arduino application (it was installed

on my C: drive). Paste the “XYZrobot” folder within Arduino’s “hardware” folder.

4. Next, you will repeat this step except with a different folder. Again open the “Arduino

Setting” folder, but now this time open the folder that says “libraries”. Select and copy

the folder named “BOLIDE_Player”.

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5. This time we will paste the copied folder into the Arduino “libraries” folder.

6. Now Arduino should have one extra hardware folder (“XYZrobot”), and one extra library

folder (“BOLIDE_Player”).

Robot Motion Editor Installation

Installing the “XYZrobot Editor” software is fairly simple and a very straightforward process. The

steps below will help guide you through the process.

1. Click the link associated with your operating system to download the program. It is

shown below, circled in red.

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2. Once the download is complete, open the .exe file to begin the installation process. If a

pop-up window appears with Chinese symbols, simply click the option that includes the

“(A)”. The red arrow below shows the correct option.

3. A new window will pop-up and simply click the “Install” or “OK” button to complete the

installation process. Once the software installation is complete, the program will open

and display a screen that looks like this:

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Arduino

Now that we have the Arduino libraries updated and the XYZrobot program installed, we can

continue forward in giving the Bolide Robot a customized pose. The next step is to upload the

Bolide Y-01 drivers to the robots controller board. This requires the use of the Arduino software,

and can be easily completed by following the steps below.

Uploading the Robot Editor Program

1. The first step is to connect the Bolide Robot to the computer via USB port, and then

power on the robot. The servos should be locked and the robot should be in its default

position.

2. Find the folder named “XYZrobot_Editor_Driver_v1.0” within the “XYZRobot Pack” that

was downloaded or within the XYZ Robot folder that you created earlier.

3. Within that folder, double click the file called “XYZrobot_Editor_Driver_v1.0.ino” to

open it in the Arduino environment.

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4. Next, from the menu toolbar select “Tools”, then “Board”, then “XYZrobot (1280)”. This

will provide the correct settings for the board within the Bolide robot.

5. Again, select “Tools”, but this time select “Serial Port” and choose the COM port

associated with the serial port drivers. This will allow for communication between the

computer and the robot’s board via USB cable.

6. Click “Verify” to compile the codes and ensure there are no errors. Then, click “Upload”

to send the compiled code to your robot’s board, found below underlined in red. To

confirm this was done successfully, you will see the words “Done uploading” appear

near the bottom. This is shown with the yellow arrow.

You will now be able to control your robot and create customized poses and sequences with

the XYZrobot Editor software.

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Returning Robot to Default Settings

The process is of returning the Bolide robot to default settings mode is very simple and

extremely similar to the process described above.

1. Again, connect your robot to your computer via USB cable and power it on.

2. This time navigate to the “Bolide_Y-01_Default_v1.1” folder within the “XYZrobot Pack”.

Double click the Arduino file called “Bolide_Y-01_Default_v1.1.ino” to open it.

3. Check the “Tools” menu and make sure the “XYZrobot (1280)” is selected for the “Board”

option. Also, ensure that the correct COM port is selected for “Serial Port”.

4. Again, click “Verify” to check and compile the code. Then “Upload” the default code

back into the robot.

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If you encounter this error message while trying to upload either of the files listed above,

simply recharge the battery to full capacity and try again.

If this process was done correctly you will hear the Bolide robot beep and return to its default

position. Now back in default mode you can use the controller to control the robot. Also, the

pre-programmed sequences can be performed by pressing one of the buttons on the back of

the Bolide robot.

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XYZrobot Editor

This is the main screen of the XYZrobot Editor environment. The main toolbar is found at the

top in red. The Project tab contains options such as “New”, “Open”, “Save”, and “Save As”.

These options are pretty self-explanatory and correlate to the current project. The Tool tab

allows for switching between the pose editor and sequence editor screens. It also has the

option of exporting the current settings as a .h file. The Config tab establishes communication

between the computer and the robot. Lastly, the Help tab will show information about the

software, as well as an option to change languages.

The movement controls are found at the bottom in the yellow box. Relax stops electrical signal

to the servos, allowing for manual rotation of each motor. Capture records the value of each

servo, essentially capturing the pose. Set sends an electrical signal to the robot for the current

pose. Live Pose Update activates live pose mode. The words will turn red and you will be able

to control the servos with the slide bars in the program.

The pose list controls are located in the bottom right of the screen in the green box. The

options Add, Remove, and Rename are all very self-explanatory and will allow you to perform

actions within the pose list.

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This screen shows the sequence editor screen. It has a very similar layout, but functions as the

editing screen for the entire sequence rather than just a pose.

The sequence editor screen is used to create a sequence out of multiple poses. The movement

controls can be found at the bottom in a yellow box. Again, Relax stops the electrical signal

being sent to the servos, and allows for manual rotation of the motors. The Run command will

run the sequence once. The Loop command will loop through the sequence over and over until

you click the Halt command to stop the current sequence.

The sequence list controls can be found in the top right of the screen in a pink box. These

commands are self-explanatory, and when clicked will Add a new sequence or Remove an

existing sequence.

The pose list controls are important for building sequences and are found in the lower right of

the screen. Pose list commands are used to determine the order and timing of the poses in the

sequence. Again, all options are self-explanatory and easy to use.

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Creating a Pose

1. The first step is to connect the computer to the robot via USB cable. Once connected,

power the robot on.

2. Find and open the “XYZrobot Editor” application. Select the “New” option within the

Projects tab and create an appropriate name. Make sure to choose “Bolide Y-01” for the

“Model” option.

3. Under the Config tab select the “Port Setting” option. Select the appropriate COM port

to establish communication with the robot.

4. Click “Add” in the pose list controls (green box) to add and name a new pose.

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5. There are two ways to adjust the robot’s position when creating a pose.

a. In Method 1, click Relax in the movement controls at the bottom.

b. The servos will now be unlocked, allowing you to twist and move the robot until

the desired pose has been created.

c. Once robot is in its desired position, click Capture to save the servo values.

d. Click Set to confirm position.

OR

a. In Method 2, select a pose from the list. Then click the Live Pose Update option.

b. The words “Live Pose Update” should turn red and remain that way until clicked

again. While these words are red you will be able to adjust the robot’s position

by moving the sliding bars within the application. Ensure the robot has enough

room to move freely.

c. Click Set to confirm position.

Creating a Sequence

1. The setup for creating a sequence begins in the same way as creating a pose. Refer to

Steps: 1-3 above for guidance.

2. In the Tool tab select “Sequence Editor”. Then click “Add” in the sequence list controls

(pink box) to create a new sequence. Give the sequence a descriptive name.

3. Select an available pose from the drop down list and choose the Delay between poses

(in milliseconds), then click Add. Use Move Up and Move Down to reorder the list.

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4. Once the desired order has been determined, the sequence can be tested using the

motion controls (Relax, Run, Loop, and Halt). Click Run to run the selected sequence

once. Click Loop to run the selected sequence over and over. And click Halt at any time

during the sequence to stop all motion.

Creating an AVR Format

It is important to save the sequence as an AVR formatted file when editing is completed. This

specific format compiles all the sequence information that is used in the “XYZrobot Editor”

application and re-formats it into readable Arduino code. This requires only one very simple

step.

1. Once editing is finished, click on the Tool tab at the top. Select the option “Export to

AVR” to save the sequence as a .h file. This compiles the information and makes it

available to use in Arduino.

Make sure to save this file somewhere that you will remember, because we will be using it in

the upcoming section.

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Programming

The title of this section can be misleading because we won’t actually be programming anything,

however this process can still be confusing and frustrating when done incorrectly. This section

will explain the process of performing your newly created sequence just by pressing a button

on the robots control panel or on the XYZ robot controller.

Uploading Code to Arduino

Before starting, make sure that you have successfully saved your sequence as a .h file by

selecting the Tool tab and choosing “Export to AVR”.

1. Open the Arduino application and create a new project. Click Save As and save the file

to the XYZ Robot folder you created earlier. Choose an appropriate name.

2. You will now have a folder named after the saved file. Within that folder you should

have an Arduino file with the exact same name as the folder, except with a “.ino” added

to the end.

3. Next, copy and paste the .h file that you created earlier into the new folder that you

have just created. Below you can see the folder pointed out with the black arrow.

Within that folder you have an identically named file with a .ino ending, pointed out in

blue. Within that folder you will also have the .h file that you recently pasted, pointed

out in orange.

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4. Next, double click the .ino file to open the Arduino application. Once Arduino is open,

select the tab with the .h file that you created. You should now be able to see your

sequence compiled as Arduino code. Copy the information shown in the red box below.

5. Find the “XYZRobot Pack” you previously downloaded, or go to the XYZ Robot folder you

created earlier. Open the folder named “Bolide_Y-01_UserMotion_v1.0” and within that

folder open the Arduino file named “Bolide_Y-01_UserMotion_v1.0.ino”.

6. You will see three tabs located at the top. Select the one that says “USER_MOTION.h”.

Within that file, find the line that says “////===== User Motion =====////”. Follow the

instructions in the comment and paste your code below.

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7. Once the updated code is pasted you will want to define this sequence. Find the line

that says “////==== User Sequence Setup ====////” and change “UserSequenceName”

into whatever you named your sequence. It can be found in the last line of code that

you just pasted. The two words underlined in red must be identical. In this case my

sequence is name “Set”.

8. Once this step has been completed simply click the Save icon to save the updated code.

We will now be able to change other sections within the code so that it will run the sequence if

a button is pressed on the robot’s control panel or on the XYZ remote controller.

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Programming the Control Panel

Before starting this section, make sure that you have successfully completed the steps above.

1. To begin, open the Arduino file that is named “Bolide_Y-01_UserMotion_v1.0.ino”.

From here navigate to the tab named “USER_MOTION.h” and find the line of code that

says “////==== Robot Button ====////”. The buttons on the control panel of the robot

are defined from left to right as RB_1, RB_2, RB_3, and RB_4 respectively.

2. Find the line that says “#define RB_1”; this represents the far left button on the robot’s

control panel. Change the number that comes after this to match the number that you

assigned your sequence name to. It should be different from the default number.

3. Next, make sure your “Board” setting is set to XYZrobot (1280) and the correct “Serial

Port” is selected.

4. Finally, click “Verify” to compile the code. If there are no error messages, then click the

“Upload” button. You will hear the default code if done correctly. Save the file.

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Programming the Remote Controller

This section is extremely similar to the previous one and should not be too difficult.

1. Again, begin by opening the Arduino file called “Bolide_Y-01_UserMotion_v1.0.ino” and

selecting the tab that says “USER_MOTION.h”. Find the line of code called “//===

Remote Control ====”, and change the number to match the sequence number you

assigned earlier (just like step two from above).

2. After you’ve done this, make sure that your “Board” is set to “XYZrobot (1280)” and that

the correct “Serial Port” is selected.

3. Finally as always, click “Verify” to compile and check the code. If there are no error

messages shown, then click “Upload” to send the new updated code to your robot’s

board.

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4. Note that each number corresponds to a specific button or joystick movement on the

XYZrobot controller. Below you will find a button map describing what represents each

button or joystick.

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Conclusion

This tutorial cover multiple topics from downloading software to updating Arduino codes to

setting a customized sequence for your robot. There are many pictures provided throughout

the tutorial to give visual aid and help you complete the tutorial. There are many simple

mistakes that can result in the robot sequence not working, so make sure to follow the steps

carefully. As I mentioned above earlier, on the “Robot Downloads” page at us.xyzprinting.com

you can download the Bolide_Y-01_UserManuel, which will give a more in depth explanation of

the process described above.

I hope that this tutorial was informative and helpful toward giving your Bolide Robot a

customized sequence. Now that you understand the process, there is no limit to the

possibilities of things the robot can do. For example, you can give the robot specific punches or

attacks, and then challenge someone who also has a Bolide Robot to a battle. Or maybe, teach

your robot to throw something by creating a specific sequence and then set up targets and try

to make your projectiles into them. Like I said, there is no limit to the possibilities, just make

sure to have fun with it.

Thank you for taking the time to read and complete this tutorial. More information can be

found in the link listed below.

http://us.xyzprinting.com/

http://support.xyzprinting.com/us_en/Help/download/bolide?productName=Bolide