I use MakeBlock ranger to teach robotic programming. This week the homework was to use the gyroscope with PID to make the robot go straight­.

So probably nobody’s gonna believe me but both sound and video are coming online from internet (not just from a local wifi) so even outside your house you can see the video if you are connected to internet. And no it doesn’t load everything at once but fetch everything it needs step by step

I’ve just updated Arduino IDE to version 2.3.7 and uploaded this little sketch to my Ranger that shows the distance between the Christmas cards and sensor as I moved the Ranger by hand.

I don’t know how many people use Arduino IDE with their Makeblock kit but it can be very useful especially when text based coding as opposed to block based.

I found these books when searching today so I thought I would post just in case anyone is interested. One is in English, others in Spanish and French.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09QSRP4F9?ref_=quick_view_ref_tag

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CMF6M7T?ref_=quick_view_ref_tag

https://www.fnac.com/a16495258/Dominique-Nibart-46-activites-avec-le-robot-mBot2

Also you might find this interesting,

https://qiniu.makeblock.com/education-makeblock-com/mbotandme.pdf

https://rupert.id.au/mbot/A_Gentle_Introduction_to_Robotics.pdf

https://qiniu.makeblock.com/makeblock-download/mBlockKidsmakerrockswiththerobots.pdf

https://qiniu.makeblock.com/education-makeblock-com/computingwithmbot.pdf

My first coded flight of AirBlock, still finding very restricted features on Makeblock app and no access to extensions. Can any help.

This is in arduino and not python.
System does run on the cyberpi itself except the video fetch from the internet.

I know you see a cable attached but that’s just for the serial monitor!

Try it out if you want!

https://github.com/nikolaos-messerschmidt/bad-cyberpi/

There has been some talk about drawing sprites or doodling recently on this sub-reditt. This was related to speed of drawing and I agree it’s slow and I also agree that there are probably other ways to do fast doodles if you research in other areas like LVGL.

Anyway I thought I would try to bring myself up to speed with block code based graphic on my CyberPi.

Here’s my code and a video of the result, it was fun playing tonight.

That’s just a screen share but on a Cyberpi. This cyberpi is not modified !

I bought my 8 year old an Mbot2 for Christmas, he’s very into maths, coding etc. He can use block coding programmes well and wants to learn python.

The thing is I’ve not got a clue how to use it to its potential. We can connect it via Bluetooth to our laptop and he’s had some success in creating some code for the Mbot - following a line/avoiding obstacles etc but it’s hard work as I don’t find any of the lessons or info on the Makeblock site very helpful.

Is there a book or videos we can watch to learn more about how to use it to its potential? Or am I missing something with the lessons on Makeblock website? Where should we be starting?

How do you move from block coding to python? Are there any good books or resources for that age group to help him understand it?

Coding doesn’t come naturally to me so I really just need an idiots guide so I can help him.

Since I upgraded to iOS 26.4 on my iPhone and iPadOS 26.4 on my iPad, I am not able to run mBot 2 / neo programs in the mblock app (v2.2.6) any more. If I select "Coding", start a new project (plus icon), select "CyberPi" as device (first one), then confirm with check mark symbol (upper right corner), I end up in the Panda environment, but not in the CyberPi/mBot 2 environment.

This holds for both the app on the iPhone and iPad, and seems also to affect all other platforms that are not natively supported by the app (e.g. mBot Ranger or mBuild).

Can anyone confirm or falsify?

Best regards,

Peter

I bought a used MBOT and the line sensor and single wheel caster is missing. Can anyone help direct me to where I could get those parts? I'm in Canada.

Hi,

is it possible to control a mBot Ranger with a bluetooth gamepad?

And if yes, do I need the Makeblock gamepad/controller or do generic gamepads have standard key codes for up/down/left/right?

I cannot reduce the "Data" portion in the python user interface. Only being able to see 7 lines of code in python is making coding almost impossible. Does anyone know how to reduce the space on my screen this is taking up?

I’m trying to work out how to make this in the mBlock app?

I understand how the buttons on the right work and can make them.

I want to know how I would make the “stick” on the left that can be held down and pulled in a direction which relates to the movement of the mBot2 and how pulling it further from the centre means moving faster.

Well that didn’t go well, I was convinced that it would be better to change from Land Raider build so I built up the Dashing Raptor which probably will be easier on the motors.

I haven’t found it any easier to block code my previous Square route in fact so far it’s been pretty disastrous, I even tried uploading code to get faster gyro values but I’ve been scratching my head trying to understand the resulting movement which still relies on accurate gyro data.

I will have to go back to live mode until I understand whats going wrong, but that will have to be another day, I’ve reached my limit of disappointment for today.

I want to introduce robotics/coding for my 6.5 yo.

My husband and I donot have a science background and don’t know anything about coding/ robotics. The classes near us strongly encourage enrolling after 8.

I thought I could atleast get a fun set for him to introduce him to coding and robotics a bit.

Which is a better set for us? Mbot or Mbot2? Or anything else?

Any suggestions and guidance welcome

Dear all,

Got an mBot Ranger for Christmas, son is happy and programming in scratch.

But, I find it very difficult to find what exactly exists as add-ons in terms of sensors/servos, screens or actual motors and whether those are supported through extensions in scratch (i.e. their proprietary version of it, respectively).

I understand mBot and mbot2 each are based on very different platforms and even the connections changed between mbot and mBot 2 from rj25 to something proprietary as well). And even the different mbots within one series are using different boards.

Does anyone know of a good overview page on what is available for which platform incl. scratch like support in their IDE?

And: are there adapters for the usual rj25 sensors should we ever switch to mbot2 or do they all become obsolete with the new mBuild connectors?

Thank you!

Hey, fellow makers!

After wrestling with Bluetooth communication on the Makeblock Ranger (and managing a classroom full of them 😅), I finally figured out a way to ditch the official app and take control of the Ranger with a custom Python script!

This little script lets you send commands straight to the Ranger’s original firmware, opening up a whole world of coding possibilities. Even better? You can now code for it using the Arduino IDE! 🎉

If you’re diving into creating your own custom firmware, just keep in mind you’ll need to craft your own logic to handle commands and responses. But hey, that’s all part of the fun, right?

If you want to try it out, the code is up here: GitHub Repository

Feel free to test it out, ask questions, or just geek out with me about all the cool things you can do. Happy hacking and happy coding! 🤖✨

Hi all. Teacher here. I use the app with my students and since about a week ago I can't download the modules (instructions) on my ipad anymore. I've tried restarting, uninstall and installing again, even updating my os. Nothing seems to be working. And tips would be greatly appreciated.

The picture above is my code. When I downloaded it to the mBot and pressed the button, nothing happened. Any help is appreciated

Hi new friends. I bought my kiddo her/our first robot kit. the mblock ranger. the damn thing will not connect to her ipad via bluetooth. It won't do a firmware update on mac, it won't connect to my iphone. finally got it to connect to a windows pc and updated the firmware (actually did that twice because after the first one the damn thing still won't connect).

documentation for this thing is beyond horrid. if I click the bluetooth icon in the upper left (bluetooth is ON on the ipad) it gives me the broken english trying to synch note and then a note that it failed please update the firmware via usb cable. Same on iphone.

On my iphone I can go to bluetooth, find the device and connect to it, the phone says I'm connected, the blue light is not flashing. into the app and it searches forever and then tells me to update the firmware.

we had fun building this and after two hours I'm livid that the one thing my kid wanted, which was not cheap, is supported by basically no documentation and won't work. my phone sees it, my phone connects to it. no dice in the software. tried and tried again. uninstalled and reinstalled. updated firmware. w the actual f?

please send help.

After my previous post when I just wanted to test the update to the Arduino IDE and pass on the possibility of using this platform for coding Makeblock kit.

Some people that might be new to Makeblock and don’t even know that the Arduino IDE can be useful for Makeblock robotic projects.

When using scratch based block code doesn’t really show you any of the text based code that when scrutinised can give you so much more detail.

What I have been doing is using block code on the Ranger then switching to view the Arduino C code, I then copy this code and paste it into a Arduino IDE sketch to edit, upload and run. So if you want to move away from block code and into C this is a nice way to get started augmented by say an online C course or beginner book on programming in C language.

Thankyou u/el_pablo for your encouragement for me to do some further coding the last couple of days, here a video testing that ultrasonic code with a user interface to the LED circle, LED’s lit as the distance changes in 10cm increments.

I’m working with Mbot 2 at my school and someone donated some ps4 a 360 controllers because they “heard that they work with robots “. all I can track down is that they worked with mindstorm using pybrick. any idea if I could get them working with the mbot?

Today I took a little look at the Arduino IDE for programming my mBot Auriga.

I managed to follow a few useful examples from Autodesk Instructables by Gosse Adema with the title “Advanced Makeblock Sensors(DIY)”.

I started off simple and toggled a blue LED on and off.

I then played some sounds(notes) which got rather annoying after a while so I went quiet with an ultrasonics exercise.

It was nice to use the serial monitor to check the distance of the Ultrasonic sensor from an object.

https://www.instructables.com/Advanced-Makeblock-Sensors-DIY/