What's new in RoboMind 6.0
Dec 1, 2015
- Custom robot:
- Change the looks of Robo to your likings. Via the step > Settings > View screen you can change the head and body of the robot.
- Sound Effects:
- Listen to Robo beeping and buzzing as he's moving around the environment. You can turn the sound on/off in the menu bar, or disable it entirely in the settings menu.
- Pro-tip: try customizing the sounds by adding your own sound theme. Have a look RoboMind's installation folder: /sfx/themes.
- Lego EV3:
- You can now make your RoboMind scripts work on Lego's EV3 by following these instructions.
- Generate maps:
- Generate an infinite amount of unique maps straight from a convenient menu.
- See step > Open map > Generate map...
- Of course you can still use things like this in your script:
- # map: maze(10,10)
- Goto command:
- RoboMind just got a "goto" command. By typing goto(5,3), Robo will find its way to the location x=5 and y=3 without bumping. It returns the number of tiles travelled (e.g. try show(goto(5,3))).
- Tip 1: use [F9] to show grid coordinates.
- Tip 2: When you opened the remote control, hit the middle mouse button somewhere in the map, and Robo goes to the indicate place (if it is possible).
- People with programming experience should't be too alarmed about this new addition to the programming language:)
New in RoboMind 5.3 (Dec 1, 2015)
- 3D Model Export:
- Export maps as 3D collada models that can be opened in Google Sketchup (via step > [Map] Save as...). If you have access to a 3D printer you can now use models that are generated by your RoboMind scripts!
- You can choose to export the walls, white or black paint of a map.
- This version fixes several things:
- Sparki export for Mac OS X
- Proper auto-formatting of code that contain operators
- Stability improvements when running certain scripts
New in RoboMind 5.2 (Dec 1, 2015)
- Sparki robot export:
- Export RoboMind scripts to Sparki (via step > Export). Sparki is an affordable, easy to use Arduino based robot kit.
- Map editor:
- The browser-based map editor is now also included in RoboMind and can be used offline.
- Text maps:
- Generate maps with walls to form a text of your choice. Start you script with: #map:text(Hi there!) and see what happens!
- Range sensors:
- The frontIsClear, leftIsClear, rightIsClear commands now not only tell you if an adjacent location is empty, but even how many cells are clear in that direction.
- Japanese:
- RoboMind now speaks Japanese (Hiragana).
- The script editor allows you to:
- Duplicate selected lines with [Ctrl]+D
- Delete selected lines with [Shift]+[Delete]
- Move selected lines with [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [arrow]
New in RoboMind 5.1 (Dec 1, 2015)
- Debugging:
- It is easier to solve problems in your script thanks to the new debugging tools.
- By clicking on the line numbers, a break point is added. A break point pauses execution automatically when the command on that line is about to be executed. It is is to step or continue running the code afterwards. By clicking the red circle again,
- When hovering the line numbers when execution is paused, it shows the procedures being called and the values of all variables.
- RoboMind now speaks Bengali (Bangla)
- Improvements:
- support for boundless maps
- safer use of variables
- user interface improvements
New in RoboMind 5.0 (Dec 1, 2015)
- Variables and arithmetic:
- Due to popular demand, the RoboMind scripting language now lets you define variables.
- Where you first were pushed to come up with smart tricks to remember state by changing the environment, you may now store values like a seasoned hacker does.
- Return values:
- With variables and arithmetic introduced, it makes sense to start returning values in procedures. That means you can define your own functions.
- By default a procedure returns zero, but you can explicitly return a desired value. All basic commands (such as forward, pickUp, ...) now return a "success" value as well. So how many squares the robot actually moved (until it bumped), or if a pickUp succeeded.
- Case insensitive:
- You don't have to watch the use of upper/lower case characters anymore. For compatibility with the online RoboMind Academy (and therefore mobile devices with unhandy keyboards), you can now write "Forward", "FORWARD", "forward", etc.
- Default arguments:
- To make simple programs even simpler, basic commands now have default arguments (in case they have any). Also, writing empty brackets "()" is not needed since version 3.0.
- So, forward(1) = forward() = forward
- Forests:
- Generate an infinite amount of forest worlds. Start you script with: #map:forest(20,20) and see what happens!
- Dungeons:
- Generate an infinite amount of dungeon worlds. Start you script with: #map:dungeon(20,20) and see what happens!
- Islands:
- Generate an infinite amount of island worlds. Start you script with: #map:islands(20,20) and see what happens!
- Caves:
- Generate an infinite amount of cave worlds. Start you script with: #map:cave(20,20) and see what happens!
- Clouds:
- To celebrate RoboMind now also runs in the cloud, the world now shows... clouds! (Use [F8] to turn them off)
- Many improvements, such as:
- better Mac OSX support,
- Lego export script fixes,
- save maps from the menu,
- zoom to mouse cursor for quicker navigation,
- new map elements.
- License:
- RoboMind is now only free to use for 30 days, by creating a free RoboMind Academy account. Prices are listed at the download page.
New in RoboMind 4.3 (Dec 1, 2015)
- Reformat code:
- Did your script become a bit messy?
- Simply press [Ctrl]+[Shift]+F to format the code automatically! You can also use [Ctrl]+[Alt]+F if you like to have your code blocks start on a new line.
- Bug fixes:
- This version includes some bug fixes.
New in RoboMind 4.2 (Dec 1, 2015)
- RoboMind is now available in Italian and Bulgarian
New in RoboMind 4.1 (Dec 1, 2015)
- RoboMind is now available in Slovenian
New in RoboMind 4.0 (Dec 1, 2015)
- More native support for RoboMind, Thai, Korean, Hungarian, Czech translations and French translation improvements.
- LEGO NXT Support:
- Now you can not only quickly test and evaluate your script in a simulation, but also let your creation work in the real world on LEGO NXT robots with a push of a button.
- By selecting the new Lego Skin, you can program in style.
- Generate Maze maps:
- Generate an infinite amount of maze worlds. Start you script with:
- #map:maze(10,6) and see what happens!
- Similarly use #map:area(20,12) to create big empty spaces.
- Statistics:
- Show statistics on how many instructions Robo performed to solve a task (View > Show stats).
- Print:
- Print scripts directly from RoboMind.
- Code completion:
- Code completion also works for programming structures and pop-ups the insert menu when anything is possible. So try out [Ctrl]+[Space] more often to reduce typing!
- EatUp command:
- Get rid of beacons entirely by eating them up. Give eatUp a try!
- Search bar:
- A new concise search bar improves quickly browsing your code in style.
- When you start to run a correct script, shortly a balloon is shown to animate that Robo is storing your script in his Mind.
- Many small improvements:
- Many small improvements have been made to make the graphical interface more user friendly.
- License:
- The RoboMind license changed from this version on. Unfortunately it is no longer open source since it seemed impossible to fund further development without introducing a more commercial license. The full version of RoboMind stays free for home use. However, schools and commercial users now need to buy a license.
New in RoboMind 3.0 (Apr 3, 2012)
- Simulation speedup:
- RoboMind can run much faster. This can be very useful when you want to make your robot do a lot of work!
- Code completion:
- Insert your code faster by starting to type the command and then press Ctrl + Space. Select the desired command from the pop-up and press Enter.
- Text zoom:
- Make the script larger by holding Control and scroll the mouse wheel. Especially usefull for digital school boards.
- Block comments:
- Quickly place a selected text block in a comment by placing # in front of lines, by pressing Ctrl + /. Selected code can be uncommented with Ctrl + Shift + /.
- Improvements:
- more flexible maps allowing big images
- drop scripts and maps on RoboMind to open them
- robot can be controlled with arrow keys via the remote control
- an extra "to start" button in the run panel
- close pop-up windows with the Escape key