Welcome to Our Telerobotics Workshop!
WORKSHOP FACILITATORS
Dr. Chris Rogers is a Mechanical Engineering professor at Tufts University and a founding member of the Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO). 
Julia Zelevinsky is a rising sophomore at
Tufts University studying Mechanical Engineering and Computer
Science. 
Anna Quiros is a rising junior at
Tufts University studying Mechanical Engineering and Music Engineering.
A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE WORKSHOP
What is the goal?
In this workshop, we want to demonstrate the process of building, coding, and connecting telerobots (remotely controlled robots) over long distances. To do so, you will send commands to Airtable (described in the next section), and these commands will be read by a receiving source that then runs the corresponding action to the command.
To do so, follow the tabs at the top of the page in order!
How will we communicate with the robots?
Airtable lets you create a base which holds all of
your tables.
Tables are like spreadsheets that you can update from anywhere, and they can hold all sorts
of values, like numbers, strings, and dates! Inside a table, there are fields.
Each field has
a datatype
assigned to it, so numbers can only go in number fields, and so on. The rows that hold the data are called records.
In this workshop, we will use Airtable to allow our computers and robots to communicate over long distances.
We will post commands to an Airtable that a receiving robot subscribes to, and when the robot recognizes a
command, it will then run the corresponding code.
Based on documentation originally written by Dr. Ethan Danahy
Dr. E's Lab
How is this used in the real world?
Pediatric cancer patients connect through a robot
Young cancer patients use telerobots to attend school and their friends.
The Future of Remote Work is in Telerobotics
Tactile Telerobot
Robocath_First telerobotic procedure in Europe
SPECIAL THANKS TO...
Ethan Danahy, James Dwyer, Rachel Hsin, Sebastian Fernandez, and Gabriel Sessions
WORKSHOP DESIGNED AND DEVELOPED BY:
Content is Copyright 2022 by Chris Rogers
LEGO®, the LEGO® logo, the Brick, SPIKE™, and the Minifigure are trademarks of ©The LEGO®
Group.
All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. All rights
reserved.
This workshop and content isn’t affiliated, authorized, or endorsed by The LEGO Group.
Build a robot that can move around holding a device (phone, tablet, computer, etc.)
When you’re building, think about…
- How can you make your telerobot sturdy?
- Does the robot move the device around to allow for different camera angles?
- What is the best way to secure the device on the robot?
- What other action (other than moving forward, backward, etc.) can you add to your telerobot to enhance its features?
ROBOT BUILD EXAMPLES
The tall telerobots were built by Rachel Hsin, and the GIF robot was built by Julia Zelevinsky and Sebastian
Fernandez.
Code your robot and move it using the arrow keys!
1. Visit the LEGO SPIKE App (or another IDE)
to write and download 4 movement and 1 "extra action" program to your hub.
Make sure you download the code to the right slots! (see below)
2. Connect to ServiceDock (click on the icon to the right, select your robot, and wait for the circle to turn
green).
3. Move your robot using the arrow keys below.
SLOT 0
SLOT 3
SLOT 1
SLOT 2
SLOT 4
CHECKPOINT: Can you drive your robot around your room?
Create an Airtable, fill in the blanks below, and update the table using the buttons!
Use this guide to set up your own Airtable.
CHECKPOINT: Can you see the "forward" command in your Airtable after clicking the forward button?
Use your Airtable to control your robot!
Make sure your robot is still connected to ServiceDock :)
CHECKPOINT: Can you see changes being made in your AirTable as you drive your robot around your room?
CODE TIPS
What code should go where?
Code Example: Moving Forward Using MotorPair
This code was made using the LEGO Education SPIKE Web App.
CONNECTING TO SERVICEDOCK
What is ServiceDock?"ServiceDock is a Javascript framework that allows incorporation of LEGO SPIKE Prime and third party services in interactive web pages." (CEEO Innovations)
USB:
- Close any external programs that your SPIKE Prime Hub could be connected to (e.g. the SPIKE App)
- Connect your SPIKE Prime Hub to your laptop's physical port using the cord.
- Click the ServiceDock icon in the top right of the page.
- On the top left, you should now see a list of devices/ports to connect to. Select the device named "LEGO Technic... ". It may be named slightly differently depending on your computer.
- Click the connect button.
- Close any external programs that your SPIKE Prime Hub could be connected to (e.g. the SPIKE App)
- Unplug any SPIKE Prime-to-computer USB connections.
- Go to your computer's Bluetooth settings (e.g. where you can connect Bluetooth headphones, or a speaker)
- Hit the Bluetooth advertising button on the top right corner of SPIKE hub.
- Connect to your SPIKE Prime hub. (It should appear once it starts advertising itself.)
- Return to this website and click on ServiceDock icon on the top right of this page.
- Mac: Click on the LEGOHub option that appears.
Windows: Choose "Serial Port Profile". If you are unsure which one is correct, disconnect your SPIKE from your computer in your Bluetooth settings. Compare the list of COM ports you see now to the ones you see when you are connected to your SPIKE. The new "Serial Port Profile" option that appears after creating the computer-SPIKE Bluetooth connection is the one you want.
SERVICEDOCK ISSUES
- Are you connected to ServiceDock? Make sure the dot is green.
- The word "Paired" next to devices in the Serial Port options does not guarrantee that your SPIKE is connected. You also need a green dot on ServiceDock.
- Don't worry about multiple devices being "paired". Only the one you click on will create a connection to ServiceDock. Refreshing the page breaks this connection and unpairs your device (even if the device still says "paired" in the Serial Port options. )
- Are you connected to the correct device?
- Change from Bluetooth to a USB cord (use a direct connection). Click on the "LEGO Technic..." option.
ROBOT ISSUES
- Is your hub on?
- Have you loaded in the correct programs to slots 0, 1, 2, 3?
- Try clicking over to a slot on the SPIKE and running the code in the slot. Does it work?
- Is your hub connected to ServiceDock or another SPIKE program in another window? If so, close out of that window or disconnect your hub from that program.
AIRTABLE ISSUES
- Have you inputted the right Airtable information?
- For more information on how Airtable is set up, check out this link.
- Make sure that you are using the Table Name and not the Base Name
OTHER ISSUES
- Try reloading the page
- Restart your hub
- Other questions? Contact us! Chris Rogers (crogers@tufts.edu), Julia Zelevinsky (julia.zelevinsky@tufts.edu), or Anna Quiros (anna.quiros@tufts.edu)
HELPFUL RESOURCES
- Airtable
- Airtable Setup Documentation
- LEGO Education's SPIKE App Software Download
- LEGO Education's SPIKE Web App
- Want to learn more about ServiceDock? Check out this link by Dr. Ethan Danahy.