Robot-Specific Blocks

Introduction

The Rover Rescue Playground features blocks exclusive to the VR Rover, including custom Drivetrain, Actions, and Sensing category blocks.

The VR Rover has access to the standard VR Events, Control, Operators, Variables, My Blocks, and Comments blocks.

Below is a list of all available Playground-specific Blocks:

Drivetrain - Move and monitor the VR Rover.

• Actions

  • drive - Drives the VR Rover continuously forward or in reverse.

  • drive for - Drives the VR Rover for a set distance.

  • turn - Turns the VR Rover continuously left or right.

  • turn for - Turns the VR Rover a specific number of degrees.

  • turn to heading - Turns the VR Rover to face a specific heading.

  • go to object - Turns and drives the VR Rover to the selected object.

  • stop driving - Stops all rover movement.

• Settings

  • set drive velocity - Sets the speed for drive blocks.

  • set turn velocity - Sets the speed for turn blocks.

  • set drive heading - Manually sets the rover’s heading value.

  • set drive timeout - Limits how long drivetrain blocks wait to reach their target.

• Values

  • drive is done? - Returns whether the drivetrain is no longer moving.

  • drive is moving? - Returns whether the drivetrain is currently moving.

  • drive heading - Returns the drivetrain’s current heading in degrees.

Actions - Interact with the rover’s resources, enemies, and built-in AI systems.

• Actions

  • minerals action - Picks up, drops, or uses minerals.

  • absorb enemy radiation - Absorbs radiation from an enemy.

  • standby - Puts the VR Rover into standby mode until a battery threshold is reached.

• Values

  • rover sees - Returns whether the VR Rover sees an object in its vision range.

  • rover detects - Returns whether the VR Rover detects minerals or enemies in its detect radius.

  • minerals in storage - Returns how many minerals the VR Rover is carrying.

  • storage capacity - Returns the VR Rover’s current carrying capacity.

  • rover direction - Returns the direction to an object in degrees.

  • rover distance - Returns the distance to an object in millimeters or inches.

  • rover location - Returns the X or Y coordinate of an object in millimeters or inches.

  • under attack? - Returns whether the VR Rover is currently under attack.

  • enemy level - Returns the level of the closest detected enemy.

  • enemy radiation - Returns the radiation of the closest detected enemy.

  • battery level - Returns the VR Rover’s current battery level in %.

  • level - Returns the VR Rover’s current level.

  • XP - Returns the VR Rover’s current experience points.

  • when under attack - Runs attached blocks when the VR Rover is attacked.

  • when level up - Runs attached blocks when the VR Rover levels up.

Sensing - Detect nearby objects with the rover’s Distance Sensor.

• Distance found an object? - Returns whether the Distance Sensor detects an object.

• object distance - Returns the distance to the nearest detected object.

The examples on this page use the default Playground start position.

Drivetrain

Actions

drive

The drive block moves the drivetrain forward or in reverse using the current drive velocity. This block runs continuously until another Drivetrain block interrupts it or the project stops.

  drive [forward v]

Parameters	Description
direction	The direction the robot drives: forward reverse

Example

  when started
  [Drive forward, then stop.]
  drive [forward v]
  wait (2) seconds
  stop driving

drive for

The drive for block moves the drivetrain forward or in reverse for a specified distance using the current drive velocity.

  drive [forward v] for (200) [mm v] ▶

Parameters	Description
direction	The direction the robot drives: forward reverse
distance	The distance the robot drives, as an integer or decimal.
unit	The unit of measurement: mm inches
expanding arrow	By default, this is a waiting block, so the drivetrain will finish moving before running the next block. Expand the block to say and don’t wait to make it non-waiting.

Example

  when started
  [Drive forward for 500 mm.]
  drive [forward v] for (500) [mm v] ▶

turn

The turn block turns the drivetrain continuously left or right using the current turn velocity. The drivetrain will keep turning until another Drivetrain block runs or the project stops.

  turn [right v]

Parameters	Description
direction	The direction the robot turns: left right

Example

  when started
  [Turn right, then stop.]
  turn [right v]
  wait (2) seconds
  stop driving

turn for

The turn for block turns the drivetrain left or right for a specific number of degrees using the current turn velocity.

  turn [right v] for (90) degrees ▶

Parameters	Description
direction	The direction the robot turns: left right
angle	The number of degrees the robot turns, as an integer or decimal.
expanding arrow	By default, this is a waiting block, so the drivetrain will finish turning before running the next block. Expand the block to say and don’t wait to make it non-waiting.

Example

  when started
  [Turn left, then turn right.]
  turn [left v] for (90) degrees ▶
  turn [right v] for (180) degrees ▶

turn to heading

The turn to heading block turns the drivetrain to face a specific heading using the current turn velocity.

  turn to heading (90) degrees ▶

Parameters	Description
heading	The absolute heading the drivetrain will turn to, from -360 to 360 degrees.
expanding arrow	By default, this is a waiting block, so the drivetrain will finish turning before running the next block. Expand the block to say and don’t wait to make it non-waiting.

Example

  when started
  [Turn to face east.]
  turn to heading (90) degrees ▶

go to object

The go to object block turns and drives the VR Rover to the selected object.

  go to [minerals v] ▶

Parameters	Description
object	Which object the VR Rover will go to: minerals enemy base
expanding arrow	By default, this is a waiting block, so the rover will finish moving before running the next block. Expand the block to say and don’t wait to make it non-waiting.

If the VR Rover detects multiple minerals or multiple enemies, it will move to the closer option.

If minerals or an enemy are not detected in the rover’s visual range when the block runs, the robot will not drive. The base can always be targeted.

Example

  when started
  [Drive to the closest mineral.]
  go to [minerals v] ▶

stop driving

The stop driving block immediately stops all movement of the drivetrain.

  stop driving

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  [Drive forward, then stop.]
  drive [forward v]
  wait (4) seconds
  stop driving

Settings

set drive velocity

The set drive velocity block sets the default movement speed as a percentage for all subsequent drive blocks in the project. By default, the drive velocity is set to 50%.

  set drive velocity to (50) [% v]

Parameters	Description
velocity	Sets the default movement velocity from 0% to 100%.

Example

  when started
  [Move faster.]
  set drive velocity to (100) [% v]
  drive [forward v] for (100) [mm v] ▶

set turn velocity

The set turn velocity block sets the default velocity as a percentage for all subsequent turn blocks in the project. By default, the turn velocity is set to 50%.

  set turn velocity to (50) [% v]

Parameters	Description
velocity	Sets the default turn velocity from 0% to 100%.

Example

  when started
  [Turn faster.]
  set turn velocity to (100) [% v]
  turn [right v] for (90) degrees ▶

set drive heading

The set drive heading block sets the gyro’s current heading to a specified value.

  set drive heading to (0) degrees

Parameters	Description
heading	The heading value to assign, in degrees.

Example

  when started
  [Set the heading, then turn to 0 degrees.]
  set drive heading to (90) degrees
  turn to heading (0) degrees ▶

set drive timeout

The set drive timeout block sets a time limit for how long a Drivetrain block will wait to reach its target. If the robot cannot complete the movement within the set time, it will stop automatically and continue with the next block.

Note: The drivetrain’s time limit is used to prevent Drivetrain blocks that do not reach their target position from stopping the execution of other blocks in the stack.

  set drive timeout to (1) seconds

Parameters	Description
time	The maximum number of seconds a Drivetrain block will run before stopping and moving to the next block.

Example

  when started
  [Drive for at most 1 second.]
  set drive timeout to (1) seconds
  drive [forward v] for (25) [inches v] ▶

Values

drive is done?

The drive is done? block returns a Boolean indicating whether the drivetrain is not moving.

• True - The drivetrain is not moving.

• False - The drivetrain is moving.

Note: This block only detects movement from blocks that can expand to show the and don’t wait option.

  <drive is done?>

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  [Start turning when the drive is complete.]
  drive [forward v] for (200) [mm v] ◀ and don't wait
  wait until <drive is done?>
  turn [right v] for (360) degrees ▶

drive is moving?

The drive is moving? block returns a Boolean indicating whether the drivetrain is moving.

• True - The drivetrain is moving.

• False - The drivetrain is not moving.

Note: This block only detects movement from blocks that can expand to show the and don’t wait option.

  <drive is moving?>

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  [Print while the rover is moving.]
  drive [forward v] for (200) [mm v] ◀ and don't wait
  while <drive is moving?>
  print [Still Moving...] ▶
  wait (0.1) seconds
  clear all rows
  end
  print [Done!] ▶

drive heading

The drive heading block returns the drivetrain’s heading angle as a decimal number, in the range 0 to 359.99 degrees.

  (drive heading in degrees)

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  [Display the heading after turning.]
  turn [right v] for (90) degrees ▶
  print (drive heading in degrees) ▶
  set cursor to next row

Actions

Actions

minerals action

The minerals action block interacts with minerals in the Rover Rescue Playground.

  minerals [pick up v]

Parameters	Description
action	What to do with minerals: pick up - Places minerals in the VR Rover’s storage. drop - Drops carried minerals. use - Consumes minerals on the ground to restore energy.

Picking up minerals stores them in the VR Rover until they are dropped or used.

Using minerals replenishes some of the VR Rover’s energy. Minerals can only be used if they are on the ground.

The VR Rover gains Experience Points (XP) by using minerals or dropping them at the base.

Example

  when started
  [Drive to the closest mineral and pick it up.]
  go to [minerals v] ▶
  minerals [pick up v]

absorb enemy radiation

The absorb enemy radiation block absorbs radiation from an enemy in the Rover Rescue Playground.

  absorb radiation

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  [Drive to the closest enemy and absorb radiation.]
  go to [enemy v] ▶
  absorb radiation

standby

The standby block puts the VR Rover into standby mode until the specified battery threshold is reached.

  standby until [50] % battery

Parameters	Description
percent	The battery threshold that causes the VR Rover to exit standby mode, from 0 to 100.

While in standby, the VR Rover uses its battery more slowly, but the Number of Days Survived counter increases at a higher rate.

When the battery reaches the selected threshold, the VR Rover exits standby mode and returns to normal battery usage and day progression.

If the selected threshold is equal to or above the current battery level, the VR Rover will not enter standby mode.

Example

  when started
  [Wait in standby until battery reaches 35%.]
  standby until [35] % battery
  go to [minerals v] ▶

Values

rover sees

The rover sees block returns a Boolean indicating whether the VR Rover sees the selected object using its built-in AI technology.

• True - The selected object is within 1000 millimeters of the VR Rover and within its field of view.

• False - The selected object is farther than 1000 millimeters away and/or outside the field of view.

  <sees [minerals v]?>

Parameters	Description
object	Which object to check for: minerals enemy base obstacles hazards

The VR Rover’s field of view is 40 degrees, shown in the mini-map as the gray translucent cone extending from the front of the rover.

Example

  when started
  forever
  if <sees [minerals v]?> then
  go to [minerals v] ▶
  end
  end

rover detects

The rover detects block returns a Boolean indicating whether the VR Rover detects minerals or enemies using its built-in AI technology.

• True - The selected object is within the rover’s detect radius.

• False - The selected object is not within the rover’s detect radius.

  <detects [minerals v]?>

Parameters	Description
object	Which object to detect: minerals enemy

The VR Rover’s detect radius is 800 millimeters, shown in the mini-map as the yellow circle around the rover.

Example

  when started
  forever
  if <detects [minerals v]?> then
  go to [minerals v] ▶
  end
  end

minerals in storage

The minerals in storage block returns the current amount of minerals the VR Rover has in its storage.

  (minerals in storage)

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  print (minerals in storage) ▶
  set cursor to next row

storage capacity

The storage capacity block returns the carrying capacity of the VR Rover’s storage.

  (storage capacity)

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  print (storage capacity) ▶
  set cursor to next row

rover direction

The rover direction block returns the direction from the VR Rover to the selected object in degrees.

  ([minerals v] direction in degrees)

Parameters	Description
object	Which object’s direction to report: minerals enemy base

For minerals and enemies, this block only reports values when the selected object is within 1000 millimeters and inside the rover’s 40 degree field of view.

If base is selected, the direction is reported even when the base is not in the field of view. For the base, this block reports a value from -180 to 180 degrees.

Example

  when started
  print ([minerals v] direction in degrees) ▶
  set cursor to next row

rover distance

The rover distance block returns the distance from the VR Rover to the selected object.

  ([minerals v] distance in [mm v] :: custom-actions)

Parameters	Description
object	Which object’s distance to report: minerals enemy obstacles hazards base
unit	The unit used to report the distance: mm inches

For minerals and enemies, this block only reports values when the selected object is within 1000 millimeters and inside the rover’s 40 degree field of view.

If base is selected, the distance is reported even when the base is not in the field of view.

Example

  when started
  print ([minerals v] distance in [mm v] :: custom-actions) ▶
  set cursor to next row

rover location

The rover location block returns the X or Y coordinate of the selected object using the rover’s built-in AI technology.

  ([minerals v] location [X v] in [mm v])

Parameters	Description
object	Which object’s location to report: minerals enemy obstacles hazards base
axis	Which coordinate to return: X Y
unit	The unit used to report the coordinate: mm inches

For minerals and enemies, this block only reports values when the selected object is within 1000 millimeters and inside the rover’s 40 degree field of view.

If base is selected, the location is reported even when the base is not in the field of view.

Example

  when started
  print ([base v] location [X v] in [mm v]) ▶
  set cursor to next row
  print ([base v] location [Y v] in [mm v]) ▶
  set cursor to next row

under attack?

The under attack? block returns a Boolean indicating whether the VR Rover is currently under attack from an enemy.

• True - The VR Rover is under attack.

• False - The VR Rover is not under attack.

  <under attack?>

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  forever
  if <under attack?> then
  drive [reverse v] for [500] [mm v] ▶
  end
  end

enemy level

The enemy level block returns the level of the closest enemy detected by the VR Rover.

  (enemy level)

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

When no enemies are detected in the VR Rover’s detect radius, this block returns 0.

Example

  when started
  forever
  if <(enemy level) [math_equal v] [1]> then
  go to [enemy v] ▶
  else
  drive [reverse v] for [500] [mm v] ▶
  end
  end

enemy radiation

The enemy radiation block returns the radiation of the closest enemy detected by the VR Rover.

  (enemy radiation)

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

When no enemies are detected in the VR Rover’s detect radius, this block returns 0.

Example

  when started
  print (enemy radiation) ▶
  set cursor to next row

battery level

The battery level block returns the current battery level of the VR Rover as a percent.

  (battery level in % :: custom-actions)

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  print (battery level in % :: custom-actions) ▶
  set cursor to next row

level

The level block returns the current level of the VR Rover.

  (level)

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  print (level) ▶
  set cursor to next row

XP

The XP block returns the current number of Experience Points the VR Rover has.

  (XP)

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when started
  print (XP) ▶
  set cursor to next row

when under attack

The when under attack block runs its attached stack each time the VR Rover is attacked by an enemy.

  when under attack

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when under attack
  absorb radiation

when level up

The when level up block runs its attached stack each time the VR Rover moves from one level to the next.

  when level up

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

  when level up
  print [The VR Rover has leveled up!] ▶
  set cursor to next row

Sensing

Distance

Distance found an object?

The Distance found an object? block returns a Boolean indicating whether the Distance Sensor has detected an object within 2000 mm.

• True - The Distance Sensor has detected an object.

• False - The Distance Sensor has not detected an object.

  <[distance v] found an object?>

Parameters	Description
distance sensor	Which Distance Sensor to use. In this Playground, the available sensor is distance.

Example

  when started
  [Turn until the Distance Sensor detects an object.]
  turn [right v]
  wait until <[distance v] found an object?>
  stop driving

object distance

The object distance block returns the distance of the nearest object from the Distance Sensor.

  ([distance v] in [mm v])

Parameters	Description
distance sensor	Which Distance Sensor to use. In this Playground, the available sensor is distance.
unit	The unit of measurement: mm inches

Example

  when started
  [Wait until the Distance Sensor detects an object, then print the distance.]
  turn [right v]
  wait until <[distance v] found an object?>
  stop driving
  print ([distance v] in [mm v]) ▶