Connecting BombiniBot

Pairing with BombiniBot

Power on the BombiniBot and pair it with your computer using the Bluetooth settings tool provided with your computer.

BombiniBot will be listed as id: OE1234. The numeric characters are different for each bot and are written in white on the BombiniBot board under "id No". (as 1038 in adjacent picture)

The default Bluetooth passcode to pair the BombiniBot is 1234.

Pairing BombiniBot on Windows 8 or 10

	Open Settings on your Computer, and look for Bluetooth settings. Open 'Bluetooth settings', and let your computer to search nearby Bluetooth devices.
	On Windows 8 (or Windows 10), Open 'Change Bluetooth settings' that tool will display two COM Ports for your BombiniBot (one port is incoming, and other is outgoing). Note the Outgoing COM Port, and always use the Outgoing COM Port to connect in the BombiniBot panel.

Pairing BombiniBot on Mac

	Ensure that your BombiniBot is powered on. Open Bluetooth Settings on your Mac. Wait for a few seconds until it finds the BombiniBot id. Click on the 'Pair' button to pair with your BombiniBot.
	Ensure that Passcode is correct. If pairing fails, click on Options and enter the default BombiniBot pairing passcode mentioned in the above section, " Pairing with BombiniBot".

BombiniBot Panel

Open the program 'bbbpanel'.

This panel lets you connect to BombiniBot and start the Scratch programming environment.

The message area of the BBBPanel will prompt you for next action and the status bar will show its connection status.

Select the outgoing bluetooth comport and click the 'Connect' button to connect to your BombiniBot.

Click on the 'Run Scratch' button to open the Scratch programming environment.

Scratch should open to an empty BombiniBot program. When writing your own projects, be careful not to modify this default program. Always click file>save as when saving.

BBBPanel translates commands from Scratch and sends them to the BombiniBot.

It also receives messages from BombiniBot and sends them to Scratch for further action.

For BombiniBot to work with Scratch programming, the BBBPanel must be running at all times.

BombiniBot Programming Environment

BombiniBot uses BYOB, an advanced version of Scratch Visual Programming Language.

Picture below shows a typical view of the environment:
scratch-environment

Palette
Each Palette contains several useful blocks to choose from when writing your programs.
Blocks
Each block performs a specific task. To use a block in your program simply click, hold, and drag the block on to the section labeled “Scripts” (picture - “Drag blocks here to write your code.” )
Palette Selection
There are eight palettes, all containing several blocks. Click on a palette to see its blocks.
Stage
Any visual output from your program will be seen here.
Sprite
A character that can be manipulated by your program.

Run / Stop Programs
Use the control buttons to run, pause, or stop your program.

BombiniBot Programming Palettes and Blocks

	Running BombiniBot The blocks for BombiniBot motion control are found under the 'Motion' palette.
	There are two categories of blocks: BombiniBot blocks (these control complete bot). motor Blocks (these control individual motors). Some of the blocks take parameters. Their limits are as follows: The speed value parameter ranges from -100 to 100. (negative value will run it in reverse direction). The steps value ranges from 1 to 100 The encoder value ranges from 1 to 1000
	Reading Sensor Values look for them under Sensing palette
	The Sensor values are available as variables under the 'Sensing' Palette. (look for label with 'Sensor value'). In particular, to read the value from tentacles (front antennas), use the variable 'tentacle'.
	Controlling BombiniBot LED The LED related blocks are available under the 'Looks' palette.
	The 'led on' and 'led off' blocks will turn the LED On or Off. Where as 'led blink' block will blink the LED repeatedly based on the supplied parameters. The blink block accepts 'ON' time and 'OFF' time as parameters. These time values are in milliseconds. (1 second = 1000 milliseconds).