1.8: Remote Control

Step 1

Getting Started

KEYBOARD BLOCK USE HAS BEEN UPDATED

The functionality of keyboard presses has been updated so it is compatible with Blockly and matches Python behavior. Please make sure to read through this lesson to learn how they work. Read the rest of the updates on our release notes.

PRE-FLIGHT WARNING

Our drones are durable, yet not indestructible. Please exercise caution while piloting your drone. To prolong the longevity of your drone, avoid flying into walls or other objects. Prior to takeoff, please review lesson 0.2 “Before You Fly”.

Make sure that your drone is connected with Blockly before starting the lesson! If you are unsure of how to connect, go back to the first lesson to review!

Step 2

Set LED

You may be wondering how to use the keyboard to control CoDrone EDU. In this activity, you will learn how to use conditionals to control your LED and flight movements. Start your program with the light off so you can turn it on later by inputting commands with the keyboard.

Step 3

Forever Loop

Since you want your program to constantly check if you are pressing a key, you will need to implement a forever loop. For this example, use a repeat loop block and connect a true block from the “Logic” menu.

Step 4

Get keyboard input

Now it’s time to check for keyboard input! Go to the “Events” category and insert a get key press block in your loop.

This block will request user input in the console. When you type in a letter and press “Enter” on your keyboard, it will save as your keyboard input.

Step 5

Conditional

Next, add the conditional if statement block from the “Logic” category and connect it to the when key press block from the “Events” category. This block allows you to input single character key presses:

numbers 0-9
letters a-z

The default value selected is ‘0’ (zero). Right now, this feature only works for single characters.

Now use the dropdown to change the key to ‘r’ and make the drone LED turn red.

Important!

Include an extra “else if” statement to break from the loop. For example, if you input ‘q’ (q for quit!) then the loop will break and the program will stop.

Add your break out of loop block from the “Loops” category. Then, test your program. Input ‘r’ and then input ‘q’.

Step 6

More Keys

If you want to check for multiple key presses, you will need to include an else if statement for each new key. Add four new else if statements:

when ‘w’ key press
when ‘a’ key press
when ‘s’ key press
when ‘d’ key press

Step 7

Adding Flight Commands

Now add flight movements. Use the go block from “Flight Commands” to add 4 movements. We recommend forward, backward, left, and right to get started.

Step 8

Add takeoff and land

Don’t forget the take off block! This block should go before the while loop. If it’s inside the while loop, the drone will keep sending the takeoff over and over again.

The land block needs to also go outside of the loop at the very bottom. When you press ‘q’, the loop will break and the drone will land!

Step 9

Challenge

Challenge: Reverse Controller

For this challenge, let’s challenge your mind. Write a keyboard controller with all the controls reversed. For example, the ‘w’ key will move the drone backward and the ‘s’ key will move the drone forward.

Build an obstacle course and try to fly to the finish line using your reverse controller. If you need to, adjust the values of the delays and add more keys for more functionality!

Step 10

Lesson Complete

In this lesson, you learned how to program your very own remote using all the blocks you have learned about so far. You also had the chance to design your own obstacle course to test your flight skills with your custom controller!

This lesson works with:

Grade level:

Approx. time required:

CSTA

CCSS