Please help if you can

[Bigal]

Hi I have been very sick for the last 2 years with severe depression in and out of hospital so many time I can not remember. But at last things are improving still can not go out alone but lots better than before.
My grandson 8 has been a big help always a ray of sunshine so I promised him we would build a robot when I got better he is a great doctor who fan even though most of it is watched trough his fingers.
To him I am fit and well again and I suppose to what I have been I am a lot better.
We have managed to get the basics done the mechanics but now am stuck Some one I know told me to look at the videos you and other people have on YouTube and I was so impressed I think with some help we could write all kinds or things for a mk2 robot to do.
I am going to purchase a copy of flow code as soon as funds allow because I think I will be able to get my head around it soon.
Sorry about rambling on now for my question for the mk1 robot could you tell me if the following is possible in flow code
1. When turned on an LCD would ask you to pick a program number 1 to 4
2. If program 1 is picked it would display program name say " move 1"
3. Would ask you to move robot to start position and press # to recoded position on keypad this would store the start position
4. Would ask you to move to end position and press # to recoded this position
5. Then would move by it's self back to start position this would all be in a straight line as we only have 1 stepper motor at the moment.
6. Would then ask you to select step size ie 250 steps ect
7. Would ask you pause size in secs
8. Would ask you how long to fire 2 outputs on for
9 when all this was done ask you to press # again to start program
10. Then the robot would move from the start in the step size slected pause fire the outputs on then off then move again till it reached the end position the reason for this is I have a small flat and do not want him to damage it on the walls.
he should be able to control it himself then the outpus will turn on a light I fitted and an arm that moves.
One last thing your eblocks look an easy way to do what I want to do could you advise me the part numbers of the ones I need to do the above and where I can buy them in the uk please
Thank you so much for your time in advance
Al

[Benj]

Hi Al,

Glad to hear your feeling better and that your getting into robotics, a very entertaining passtime.

Flowcode is capable of doing all the things you mentioned though you will need to gain an understanding of how to tackle a problem and work around it logically. We have videos, examples and courses most of which are free to help you to do this.

Regarding hardware we have a formula flowcode robot which may serve well. Other then this you might want the motor control E-block along with a programmer board of your choosing. The ECIO programmer boards will suit the job nicely and allow you to connect up E-blocks or your own circuitry.

[Bigal]

Hi Benj
Thank you for such a quick reply are the parts available in the uk and if so where from please.
Is the program I outlined difficult to do for a beginner as I was holding to have it ready for his birthday in a month.
Al

[Benj]

Parts are available from the MatrixMultimedia website in the UK or from dealers such as Farnell and Elektor.

http://www.matrixmultimedia.com/formflow.php

The program should not be too difficult and given a month should be achievable. If you get stuck then post your problems here and we should be able to help you along.

[Bigal]

Hi thank you for your help just a few questions I found one of the board you mentioned on farnells website but could not find the motor board.
Also as I mentioned it will be programmed from a keypad and LCD display are they extra to the boards you mentioned.
I have been out of work for 2 years so cash is very tight is it possible to get any parts second hand
Al