kids-toy

In a previous article on the RoboCam program, it was described how to control the EV3 robot in the first person. But the designs of robots and mechanisms can be different and each requires its own unique control. If you have developed a new robot, then the question arises, how to share the settings you have made with other people, transfer them to another smartphone, or just copy them? There is a solution. The new version of the RoboCam application adds functions for importing, exporting, copying and sending robot settings.

The article describes the new features introduced in version 1.1 of the RoboCam application. You can find all articles about the RoboCam application here. The RoboCam app can be installed from the Google Play Store.

Export settings to a file

First, let’s see how to export settings. Go to the settings of the RoboCam application, to do this, click on the gray button on the right.

Then select the “Robot” section.

Select the setting you want to export, such as EV3 Explorer.

After the robot settings are displayed on the screen. Tap the button on the top right with three dots and select “Export to file” from the menu that appears.

If you have Android version 6 and above, then you can see such a request for permission to access the shared folders of your smartphone, see the picture below. As a rule, you only need to give permission once, after which Android will remember your choice. Click “ALLOW”.

After that, the settings will be immediately written to a file, and a message will appear on the screen where to find this file. As you can see, the file is saved in the downloads folder, for me it is “/storage/emulated/0/Download”. The name always starts with the prefix “RoboCam”, then the name of the settings and the current date. If there is a file name match, for example if you export the settings 2nd time in a row, then the previous file will not be overwritten, but a second file will be created in the same folder with a suffix 2 in the name, then a suffix 3, and so on.

Please note that the settings will be written to the file with the unsaved changes made. For example, if you open the settings “EV3 Explorer”, change the name of the robot to “My EV3 Explorer”, export the settings to a file and close the settings without saving the changes, then the name of the robot will be “My EV3 Explorer” in the file, and “Explorer” will remain in the settings. EV3.

Sending robot settings

Now let’s learn how to send settings to another smartphone via Bluetooth or in a letter by mail. To do this, just as in the case of export, open the desired robot settings, touch the button with three dots on the top right and select the “Submit” menu item.

If you have Android version 6 and above, then you can see such a request for permission to access the shared folders of your smartphone, see the picture below. As a rule, you only need to give permission once, after which Android will remember your choice. Click “ALLOW”.

After that, a dialog will appear for selecting the device or application with which you want to send the file. Not all possible options will appear here, but only those with which you can send an xml file with settings. The dialog you see in the picture below will be different in different versions of Android. Choose how you want to send the settings file and then proceed, depending on the choice and your version of Android. For more information about sending files to Android, see the instructions for your device.

Please note that the settings will be sent with the unsaved changes made. For example, if you open the settings “EV3 Explorer”, change the name of the robot to “My EV3 Explorer”, submit the settings and close the settings without saving the changes, the file with the name of the robot “My EV3 Explorer” will be sent, and the settings will remain “EV3 Explorer “.

Please also note that the file being sent is saved in the “/storage/emulated/0/.robocam” folder, and if you change the settings without waiting for the send and send them again, the file will be overwritten and as a result the changed settings may be sent twice.

Making a copy of the settings

You may need to create a copy of the settings if you want to make settings for a new robot based on existing settings. Making a copy is very easy. To do this, just as in the case of export, open the desired robot settings, touch the button with three dots on the top right and select the “Make a copy” menu item.

Immediately after that, the settings will be copied, about which you will see a message. Returning to the list of settings, you will find the copy made.

Import settings

Importing settings is very easy. Let’s say you downloaded a file and placed it in your downloads folder “/storage/emulated/0/Download”. Open the list of robot settings and click on the button with three dots on the top right. Select “Import from file” from the menu that appears.

If you have Android version 6 and above, then you can see such a request for permission to access the shared folders of your smartphone, see the picture below. As a rule, you only need to give permission once, after which Android will remember your choice. Click “ALLOW”.

After that, a navigator for your file system will appear. Use it to find the settings file that you want to import. Click on folders to open them. Use the arrow or the smartphone’s “Back” button to exit the folders. The “Cancel” button immediately closes this navigator.

Once you have found the settings files, select the one you want to import.

After that, the settings are immediately imported, about which you will see a pop-up message, and you will see them in the list at the top. As you can see, the number 2 has been added to the name. If you import these settings again, the number 3 will be added to the name, and so on. Once imported, the settings can be used.

After we figured out how to import the settings, I offer you ready-made settings for several robots. You can download them below. You can also watch videos showing how to control robots using these settings.

Formula 1 EV3 Race Car Control Settings

Three joysticks are made in these settings. The first two joysticks are the vertical and horizontal joysticks. One makes the rear wheels of the car rotate, and the second serves as a steering wheel. The third joystick is the second control option. With it, you can simultaneously control the speed of the car and turns. Three joysticks are specially made so that you can understand how the switching between joysticks 1-2 and 3-4 occurs. I fixed the smartphone with the help of two corners and two rubber bands so that the front wheels get into the camera of the smartphone in order to better feel the dimensions of the car.

And here are the files with the settings for the standard and high-speed versions of the machine:

Files:

You can see the race car assembly diagram and description here.

Settings for controlling a robot with a claw

To control the robot with a claw, a round joystick and arrows are made. The round joystick controls the movements of the robot, i.e. wheels, and the arrows – a claw. I secured the smartphone with a few additional details so that the claw would get into the camera. So you can immediately see what and how I grab.

Here is the configuration file for the claw robot:

Assembly diagram and description for the robot with a claw can be found here.

Settings for controlling the EV3 Selenohod

Controlling the Selenokhod is a little more difficult than for previous robots. Arrows are used here as joysticks. The first joystick only sends touch coordinates to the EV3 Brick (mailboxes), and then these coordinates are processed by a specially written program inside EV3. Therefore, in order for the robot to move, you need to run the SelenokhodFPV.ev3 program on it before connecting the RoboCam application to the robot. The video also demonstrates a local connection to the RoboCam server, i.e. from the same smartphone.

The settings file and EV3 software can be downloaded below:

Assembly diagram and description of Selenohod EV3 can be found here.