This is the page you first see when launching Robot Mesh StudioTM. It includes:
When you use Robot Mesh Studio to write programs for your robots, you will use the Interactive Development Environment (IDE), shown below. The IDE is divided into six sections, each of which controls one part of the programming experience:
The top part of the programming page allows you to download and run your program, and to run it in debug mode. It is also where you can manage the name and location of your project.
Use the options in this section to create your user account, or to sign in to an existing account.
The Robot Mesh Connector (RMC) is the code that allows your program to access your computer's USB port so you can download programs to your robot.
The debugger supports several modes, which you can access through a drop-down list.
This is a great place to document how the project works. Educators can have students create content here which can be evaluated as part of the project for classroom use.
This is where you actually write your code for these programming options. It is not used for Python.
The Code tab is used for two things, depending on your programming language. For Python, it is where you write and test your code, and for our other languages, it is called the "Generated Code" tab and it displays the Python code that they generate.
Robot programming is unique, in that your code has to interact with either physical devices (a "real" robot) or a virtual robot (a mimic). This is where you can define the devices that are included in your robot, and how you want them configured. For VEX IQ and VEX V5, you can use the "Detect Sensors" button to poll a physical robot and fill most of this out automatically.
The "Connect" button downloads and launches a system program that allows you to control the devices on your robot or mimic using the Device Monitor. You only need to click this if you are directly controlling your robot. You do not need to click this if you are downloading code you wrote yourself. You cannot edit the Connect program.
The program status window does two things for you: it displays system messages during program execution, and it can be used as a "PRINT" output area for users in programs. This example is showing a compiler download error when a robot was not connected.
Privacy, three options:
Copy Project makes a duplicate of the project, with the "Copied Project Restrictions" applied.
Copied project restrictions affect the destination project in a copy command. Click on the text "Copied project restrictions" to see the options list. If you want the programmer to have full control of the new project, leave all the check boxes checked. If you want to customize access and privileges in the new project, select the options you want to apply. These features can be valuable for an educator that wants to make copies of a "master" project for student use. These should be self-explanatory, and each check is a Yes or No for that feature in the destination project. Remember that none of these change the settings in the SOURCE project, only in the DESTINATION during the copy process.
Port selection identifies the USB port to which you will download. The options are "none" which disables downloads, or "automatic."
Program Slot is used in programming VEX IQ robots. You can choose Slot 1 or Slot 2.
Mimic 3D Graphics Detail can be set to High, Medium or Low for a mimic project. If you have a slow computer or Internet connection, you might try Low, or try High if you have a fast computer with a good connection. Medium is, of course, in between.
Mimic 3D Physic Level can be set to normal or high. Faster computers can work with High, others should use Normal.
Show Mimic Physics Outlines is a Yes/No setting, and can also be turned on or off in the mimic controls. Outlines can make it easier to see edge details, but slows down the rendering.
OK saves the changed options settings and closes the dialogue.