Coding

Getting Started

Programming is difficult, especially when you don't know where to start. For those without access to programming classes or extracurriculars via their learning institution, we recommend CodeAcademy's Learning Python. This course is a great way to learn the fundamentals of Python AND is fully virtual, so you can take the class wherever or whenever you want!

In addition to learning the language, you'll also need a program to code in. We recommend Visual Studio Code and its accompanying Python extension. This is actually the program we use write code for RoboCo and it comes with a variety of different customization options and extensions to fit all your coding needs (including Java and C+)! You can also try Notepad++ and Sublime if Visual Studio Code doesn't interest you.

Additionally, RoboCo requires players to use its custom API Documentation. This is the way in which players "talk" to their robots and includes instructions for how to program the different sensors and other controllable parts within the game. You can access the API here or by clicking the API button in the Microcontroller interface within RoboCo.

Current Available Sensors

Sensors are programmable parts that allow a robot to interpret the physical world into processable data. You could think of them as the robot equivalent to our eyes or ears. The robot can be instructed via code to take actions based on the sensor data it receives, which is what allows a robot to complete tasks on its own (like delivering a sandwich across a crowded restaurant or launching a soda can across a room).

Because there are so many different tasks and environments to tackle in RoboCo, we wanted to start with a wide variety of sensors! The ones that are currently available to players are listed below:

Name	Icon	Description
Touch Sensor		A part that sense touch input
Force Sensor		A part that senses the forces applied to it along 6 axes
Inertial Sensor / IMU		A sensor for measuring acceleration, rotation, and angular velocity
Distance Sensor		A part that senses the distance to the first object it encounters
Color Sensor		A camera that senses the color in front of it

How to Load a New or Completed Script

The first step to accessing the programming interface in RoboCo is attaching the microcontroller to your robot. This is the "brain" of your robot, and this can be found in the Powered section of the Parts inventory.

Once you've added the microcontroller to your robot you can either hit the "New" button to create a new script or the "Load" button to upload a previous or already completed script from your desktop. Currently, all your scripts for RoboCo live in a folder called "Scripts" which you can access via the "Open Script Folder" button or by going to This PC --> Documents --> my games --> RoboCo --> (Your Steam Username) --> Scripts.

Once you've loaded in your code correctly, you should see a preview of it in the interface!

How to Assign Ports

RoboCo has two options when assigning ports: manual or automatic. If you want to automatically map your ports, simply click the auto-assign button in the Microcontroller interface. If you want to manually map your ports, follow the instructions below:

Step	Description	Example
Step 1	Add the microcontroller to your robot to access the script interface
Step 2	Choose to either create a new script or load an already-created script
Step 3	Assign your parts to ports manually or use the “automatically assign” button
Step 4	Press the play button (or spacebar)
Step 5	If an error occurs, use the in-game debug console to fix your code

Troubleshooting

If you're having trouble getting your robot to work, please join our Official RoboCo Discord and submit your questions to the #coding-and-automation-help-desk channel. Once submitted, one of our developers or equally knowledgeable Discord members should be available to help you with your code. Keep in mind though, if you're looking for help from a developer or one of our staff specifically, that we operate on a 9 AM to 5 PM CST work schedule and similarly aren't at our desks Saturday or Sunday. However, we will do our best to answer you within 24 hours of your request!