Getting Started

Step 1: Assemble MAX

The Assemble Manual for Your Reference

Click to download the MAX Assemble Manual (PDF)

Video Tutorial

Click to watch the Assemble Video Tutorial

The assembled MAX:

Step 2: Master 4 Factory Built-in Programs of MAX

• Download the factory program of MAX in the factory firmware below:`

  

Obstacle Avoidance

Use Method:

① Confirm that all the wires are properly connected.

② Then install 4 AA batteries.

③ Turn on the power switch, and the main board RGB lamp will emit red rotating light.

④ Put MAX on the ground, MAX will turn to the other side if there is an obstacle about 30cm ahead.

Click to watch the video display

Line-tracking

Use method:

① Take out the line-tracking map and lay it on the floor.

② Turn on the power switch and press the function button once, then the top light of the main board will emit a green rotating light.

③ Put MAX on the black line, and he will run along the line.

Click to watch the video display

Light-following

Use method:

① Turn on the power switch and press the function button twice, the RGB light will emit a blue rotating light, which means it is switched to the light-following mode.

② Turn on the flashlight function of the mobile phone and illuminate the light sensor next to the ultrasonic wave. Then MAX will follow the strong light.

Click to watch the video display

Bluetooth Remote Control:

Use method:

① Search "GOBLE" in the Apple APP Store or scan the QR code to download the "GOBLE" Bluetooth remote control program.

② Turn on the power and press the function button three times, then the mainboard 4 RGB lights will display 4 colors which means it is switched to Bluetooth mode.

③ Hold the device close to MAX, Bluetooth will be automatically connected. After that, the MAX LINK light will be on, and the Bluetooth logo in the software will turn green.

④ Operate the direction button on the right side, MAX will drive in all directions.

Click to watch the video display

Step 3: Prepare for Learning Programming

Preparation

Turn on the power of MAX, switching the function button, we can realize different functions, such as line-tracking, obstacle avoidance, light following, Bluetooth control and so on. But how are these magical functions implemented? Now, the programs to control the robot will be given one by one. Before the study, we need to do some preparatory work.

Please Prepare the Following Tools

1. One assembled Explorer Max, as shown below:

2. One computer and one A-B USB data cable, as shown below:

Download and Install Arduino IDE Software

1. Download Arduino IDE

Open a web page and input website Arduino IDE.

After entering the page, you will find the section shown below.

Windows users: click and download Windows(ZIP file)

Mac, Linux users: choose the correspondent system

Unzip the file after the file is downloaded:

Put the entire Arduino 1.6.12 folder in a familiar location on your computer so you can find it easily.

Open the Arduino 1.6.12 folder, What you will see is as follows.

2. Install the driver

Plug one end of the USB into the MAX main board and the other end to the computer. After the two sides have been successfully connected, the red power indicator of the MAX board will light up.

Then, open the control panel and select device manager as shown below:

Find other devices > Arduino-xx, right-click and select Update Driver Software. As shown below:

In the pop-up dialog box, select next page --> manually seek and install the driver software. As shown below:

Find the Arduino IDE installation location where the above unpacked file is placed. Select the search path to the drivers (as shown below), and click Next

Select to always install this driver software (Figure 1), and then the Figure 2 will appear, which shows the successful driver installation.

At this time, a serial port number will be displayed on the device manager port. (As shown below)

3. Change the language of the interface

Open the Arudino IDE, and then the editing interface of the Arduino IDE will appear. (As shown below)

An English interface will appear at first. If you are not familiar with it, you can select preferences in the menu bar -->File. (As shown below).

Then select Simplified Chinese as the Editor language (as shown below) and click OK. Re-opening the Arduino IDE, it will be the Chinese interface.

Download and Install the MAX Runtime Library

1. Click to download MAX library file. How to install the library?

2. Extract the downloaded runtime library and copy it to the libraries folder of the ArduinoIDE installation package.

Get to Know Arduino IDE

Arduino IDE is the software editing environment for Arduino products. Simply put, it is used to write and download code. For all Arduino products, users need to download the code first before running.

The hardware circuits we built must work with auxiliary code, and both of them are indispensable. Just as a person controls the physical activity through the brain. If the code is the brain, the peripheral hardware will be the limb, and the activity of the limb depends on the brain.

So the hardware implementation relies on the code.

The requirements of Arduino IDE have been shown in the upper picture. Most white areas in the above image are the editing areas to input the code. Please note that when input the code, you have to switch to the English input method.

The black area below is the message prompt area, which shows whether the compilation or download is ok.

Run the MAX

In the previous chapter, we have got the assembled MAX, the Windows computer, the USB cable, downloaded and installed the ArduinoIDE. We also got familiar with the interface and operation of the ArduinoIDE. Next we will upload a simple program to further learn the ArduinoIDE compilation and download program to MAX. Run the MAX

Open the Setup Development Board and Serial Port

1.Click on icon to open the default interface as shown below:

2.Before downloading the program, we must first tell the Arduino IDE board model and the corresponding serial port.

Arduino includes a variety of versions of the main controller, the most common ones are the controllers of the Uno, Leonardo and Mega series. In the board, you need to select the board according to the firmware type of the master hardware you choose. (Using Uno as the controller for MAX in the example) Tools > Development Board > Arduino Uno

Tools > Ports > xx, the xx here should be selected to be the same as seen in your PC Device Manager

Compile and Download the Program

1.Enter the following codes into ArudinoIDE (You must use English input method to programme, and the code is case-sensitive)

#include <DFRobot_MAX.h>
DFRobot_MAX myMax;
void setup() {
myMax.begin();
}
void loop() {
myMax.forward (150,150);
}

2.Click the "Verify" button, and the compiler will prompt that the compilation is finished (see Figure 1 below). (If there is an error, the program will fail to be compiled and report the error (see Figure 2 below).)

3.Connect MAX to a computer with a USB cable, as shown below.

4.Press "upload" button to upload the program to the MAX.

Start MAX

1. Make sure that the left and right electric motors are connected to the motor ports of the main board (see Figure 3 and Figure 4 below).

2.Install 4 AA batteries (or lithium batteries) for MAX and turn on the power switch (see Figure 5 and Figure 6 below).

Turn on the switch and we can see MAX running forward!

MAX Robot tutorial

Next, you can browse the tutorials to continue learning how to program the MAX robot.
MAX Robot tutorial.pdf