Roamer User Guide - Valiant Technology
Contents
1. Saving Battery Power oR W P When the Roamer is switched on but not in use it will sound a warning after five minutes After six warnings it will switch to a low power mode and lose the contents of its memory Switch the Roamer off before restarting Battery Life The life of the batteries depends on how the Roamer is used It uses less power when it is being programmed than when it is running around If you run it on a rough surface like a carpet or use accessories such as motors or lights more power is consumed than when the Roamer is running on a smooth surface SWITCHING ON Once you have loaded the batteries switch ON the Roamer by sliding the switch away from Roamer s centre The Roamer should beep You are now ready to start teaching your Roamer NOTE If you switch off the Roamer pause for at least three seconds before switching it on again to allow the microprocessor to reset If the Roamer does not beep when you switch it on or makes a strange sound switch it off Wait for three seconds before switching it on again Switch off the Roamer when it is not in use 2 Programming Instructions TEACHING THE ROAMER The Roamer moves forward and back turns left and right waits and makes sounds You teach the Roamer to do this by pressing keys on the top of its body There is a key for each of these functions and a set of number keys To enter an instruction press a key followed by a number This tells the Roa2. the note will be pitch To play a note press Mioliowed by a number from 1 to 8 for its duration and another number from 1 to 13 for its pitch If you want a rest silent note enter 14 for the pitch A note of short duration at low pitch A medium duration rest A note of long duration at high pitch UNITS OF DISTANCE AND TURN When you switch the Roamer on it moves forward and back in units equal to its body length 30cm and turns in angular units of 1 degree You can change the units of distance and turn This allows the teacher to set the most appropriate units for each teaching period Once the units are set they remain unchanged until you redefine them or switch the Roamer off Clearing the GO Memory does not change the last unit setting To clarify which bracket opens and closes a list and have been used instead of Changing the Units of Distance To change the unit of distance press Ln p followed by Then press a number between 1 and 99 The number determines how many centimetres will be in each unit of distance Then press again The GO Program must be run before the change becomes effective Moves the Roamer ND forward 30 cm the default setting ALDE Sets the units of J distance to 10cm TV a Moves the Roamer back 20 cm PCH Sets the units of distance to lem cy g Moves the Roarner forward 5 cm ceo oo When GO is pressed a second time the first instruction 2s 1 moves t
3. Roamer User Guide 1 Introduction UNPACKING Your Roamer package contains e The Valiant Roamer batteries not included e The Roamer Activity Book e The Roamer User Guide e Programming Sheet e A set of Face Shapes BATTERIES The Roamer uses two lantern batteries e g Ever Ready PJ996 or the Valiant Rechargeable Battery Pack WARNING The Valiant Rechargeable Battery Pack incorporates features essential for the safety and protection of the Roamer If you use unapproved rechargeable batteries you may damage the Roamer and will invalidate the warranty The international specification for lantern batteries is IEC 4R25 four cells in series 6 volts with spring contacts Loading the Batteries 1 Make sure the Roamer s slide switch located in a depression at the front of the Roamer is OFF towards the Roamer s centre Turn the Roamer upside down Loosen the battery cover fasteners with a coin fig 1 Remove the battery cover Insert the batteries Make sure that the springs are correctly located against the battery contacts 6 Replace the battery cover 7 Turn and push the battery cover fasteners until they click into place When to Remove the Batteries If the Roamer is not in use for more than one week remove the batteries to avoid corrosion of the contacts Remove the batteries from your Roamer when you are transporting it e g posting it If the cells leak the Roamer could be damaged
4. and see what happens The Roamer s keyboard sound cues and simple programming structure support this exploratory process With a minimum of teacher intervention children can achieve remarkable success They quickly learn how to make the Roamer move about and make sounds Some teachers have found it useful to mask some of the keys during this early stage The exploratory process can lead to more purposeful work where children program the Roamer to behave in a particular way for example teaching the Roamer to move through an obstacle course As their expertise and confidence grows children are able to tackle more substantial projects Again with its Repeat and Procedure facilities the Roamer supports these developments WRITING ROAMER PROGRAMS It is advisable first to write programs on paper then to key them into the Roamer There are several positive results to be gained from this discipline 1 It develops planning and thinking skills 2 It develops the important skill of recording information 3 It provides the child and the teacher with a record of their programs and the processes involved in achieving their objectives The programming sheet included with your Roamer suggests a technique for writing Roamer programs BENEFITS OF USING PROCEDURES Roamer Procedures have four distinct advantages 1 Procedures support Bottom Up programming The Bottom Up programming approach is to solve new problems using existing knowle
5. dge If the Roamer has been taught a procedure it can be used in the performance of new tasks For example suppose that Procedure P1 plays a tune which has previously been taught to the Roamer A student now wants to use the tune to make the Roamer into an ice cream van AD DD Move to the first location Play the tune to tell the children the van has arrived Serve the ice cream Move to the next location Delivers the ice cream 2 Procedures facilitate Top Down problem solving The Top Down approach of dividing a complex problem into smaller more manageable problems is an important life skill The Roamer s Procedure facility encourages this approach For example a class project could be divided into group projects The first group s program is contained in procedure P1 the second group writes P2 and so on The first group can solve their problem using basic Roamer instructions or procedures P11 P12 P13 Group 2 uses procedures P21 P22 P23 etc The main procedures PI P2 etc are finally combined in the GO Program 3 Procedures increase the Roamer s action capacity DD ioo L DO A procedure consisting of 30 instructions The Roamer will perform 182 actions compared with the 59 action capacity using single instructions 4 Procedures simplify the process of changing a program To change the GO program the GO memory must be cleared and the whole list mus
6. ecting program The program was not considered successful unless the Roamer returned more or less to its starting point This involved a process of trial and error Although the game originally included a competitive element the children became so absorbed that they began to help each other The children had to estimate distances and angles They used words like perimeter in the correct context As their understanding of these ideas grew their game strategies became more efficient An interesting development began when children decided which type of litter to collect Each child wrote a program to collect a particular type of rubbish The other children had to guess the rationale behind the selection One child programmed the Roamer around items that would go rotten The children disagreed with some of his selections so it was decided to conduct experiments to discover what would rot Other children selected paper objects or food containers One child selected large objects partly because it was easier to drive the Roamer around them She justified her choice by saying They covered more area During discussions afterwards one child noticed the similarity between selecting objects in this way and formal Uenn diagrams The children fitted the Roamer with a pen and drew lines around the different sets The mathematical links were obvious What was surprising was the interest the children developed in litter The Roamer caught their imagina
7. efined the Roamer will ignore it before executing the last instruction lt 2 3 ONGI Starts definition of Procedure 9 End of Repeat list J Ends the definition of Procedure 9 Go The Roamer executes P4 then PS and finally moves forward 3 units Procedures can be nested to any depth memory permitting CHANGING A PROCEDURE To change a procedure simply redefine it 0 DeL Erasing a Procedure Starts definition of P6 Enters P into the GO Program The Roamer moves forward 50 waits 10 seconds and turns right 20 Redefines F6 P6 is still in the GO Program and executes the new definition back 7 To erase a procedure from the Procedure Memory enter Pana the procedure number followed by and RULES ABOUT USING PROCEDURES 1 A procedure cannot use itself Roamer procedures are not recursive The Roamer moves in a square pattern Erases the definition of P12 Nothing happens because PIZ is now undefined Not allowed Pressing any other key gives an illegal instruction sound 2 You can define only one procedure at a time 3 A procedure cannot include a procedure with a lower number is a valid instruction is an invalid instruction This means that Procedure 1 can call all other procedures and Procedure 99 cannot call any 3 Teachers Section PROGRAMMING ROAMER The natural response when first meeting a Roamer is to prod a few keys
8. he Roamer forward lem in accordance with the last setting wale Changing Units of Turn To change the unit of turn press j or g followed by Then press a number from 1 and 999 This number determines how many degrees will be in each unit of turn Then press again The GO Program must be run before the change becomes effective Sets the unit of turn to 90 Turns the Roamer 180 to the left Changing the tempo and octave Roamer sounds may be played at one of five tempos and one of three octaves To change tempo or octave press Dinen Press a number between 1 and 5 for the tempo 1 is fastest 5 is slowest Press a number between 1 and 3 for the octave 1 is lowest and 3 is highest Press O again omt Sets the fastest tempo and the lowest octave DDD Plays the Roamer s lowest shortest note PLO Sets the slowest tempo and the highest octave AGH Plays the Roamer s highest longest note When you press GO the Roamer starts with the tempo set at 3 and the octave set at 2 Musical equivalents a When defining the pitch 1 represents C 2 represents C 3 if represents D etc up a chromatic scale Ta When defining the duration 1 is equivalent to a VAA semiquaver 2 is equivalent to a quaver 4 is equivalent to a lik crochet etc i fj Setting the tempo at 1 produces 170 beats per minute 2 3 die 4 and 5 produce 140 100 80 and 60 respectively wird SOUND CUES When y
9. his is like putting one box inside another You can place up to five boxes within boxes i e nest repeats 5 deep Start the first repeat start second repeat End second repeat End first repeat The Roamer turns through 360 units Every 60 units it stops and plays 2 notes four times mre 3 PROCEDURES A procedure is a list of instructions named P plus a number from 1 to 99 The list is enclosed in brackets Starts the definition of Procedure 4 First instruction of P Second instruction of P Ends the definition of P Nothing happens P4 is not yet part of the GO Program Enters P4 in the GO Program P4 is executed forward 3 left 90 Removes P4 from the GO Program but leaves it in the Procedure Memory When keying in instructions in a procedure definition sound cues for valid and invalid instructions are still made However a different pitch is used to inform the programmer that the instructions are part of a procedure not part of a GO Program Putting a Procedure Inside Another Procedure A procedure can be part of another procedure OI Starts definition of Procedure 1 Procedure 4 already defined is the first instruction in P1 Procedure 9 as yet undefined is the second instruction in F1 The third instruction in Pl J Ends definition of Procedure 1 DTD Puts Procedure 1 in the GO Memory 60 The Roamer executes P4 Since PS is und
10. mer how far to move how much to turn how long to wait or what sound to make There are three other function keys Sense Two State Outputs and Stepper Motor ROAMER PROGRAMS There are two types of program the GO Program and Procedures The GO Program is a list of instructions carried out when you press GO A Procedure is a list of instructions with a name Once you have defined the list its name e g P1 is used like any other instruction When you enter its name in the GO Program the Roamer will carry out the whole procedure list MEMORY The Roamer has two types of memory GO Memory and Procedure Memory The Roamer will remember up to 59 instructions and its powerful programming facilities enable it to carry out hundreds of actions When its memory is nearly full the Roamer will sound a warning similar to the sound you hear when you press GO MEMORY Instructions in the GO Memory are carried out when you press GO If you add more instructions after executing the GO Program they will be added to the GO Program and carried out the next time you press GO The Roamer waits for two seconds after you press GO lt fore executing the GO Program CLEARING THE GO MEMORY Pressing COM siears the GO Memory and allows you to enter a new GO Program It does not clear the Procedure Memory The first time you press CCM warning is sounded Pressing CM second time clears the GO Memory If you press CCM mistake press an
11. other key or wait 10 seconds The Roamer will then carry on with its GO Memory intact DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM If you press GO ater you switch on the Roamer it will carry out the Demonstration Program This can be used to show beginners the basic Roamer functions REMEMBER TO CLEAR THE DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM FROM THE GO MEMORY BEFORE PROGRAMMING Ah FORWARD AND W BACK Pressing Aw y followed by a number from 1 to 99 tells the Roamer to move forward or back that number of units See UNITS OF DISTANCE AND TURN AO Moves the Roamer forward 10 units ve Moves the Roamer back 3 units Executes the GO Program forward 10 back 3 These examples are illustrated in the style suggested on the programming sheet AND TURN Pressing j or 3 followed by a number up to 999 turns the Roamer to the right clockwise or left anticlockwise that number of units See UNITS OF DISTANCE AND TURN Turns the Roamer 45 5 units to the right Tums the Roamer 0 TOS 106 units to the left Executes the GO Program right 45 left 106 w WAIT Pressing Wioiowed by a number from 1 to 99 tells the Roamer to be still and quiet for that number of seconds Ly The Roamer moves forward 30 ww D The Roamer is still and quiet for 5 seconds Vae The Roamer moves back 20 ouo The Roamer has a programmable sound facility You need to specify how long each note will last duration and how high or low
12. ou press a key the Roamer makes a sound If the instruction is valid the sound is positive Invalid instructions produce a negative sound STOPPING THE ROAMER If the Roamer is carrying out a list of instructions and you want to stop it before it has finished hold down any key until it completes the current instruction This feature allows the children to stop the Roamer if it is not doing what they wanted it to do CE CANCEL ENTRY Pressing G ni the last instruction or part instruction from the GO Program r Gives two positive sounds Gives a positive a negative then a positive sound The Reamer turns right 9 units Gives three positive sounds Gives a positive sound followed by a 2 second pause then the Roamer moves forward 1 unit turns right 9 and then left 90 units Back key pressed in error Cancels the last entry Y7 The Roamer turns left 40 moves forward 3 and turns right 90 Cancels the last entry 90 The Roamer tums left 40 and moves forward 3 Cancels the last entry The Roamer turns left 40 Pressing followed by a number up to 99 will make the Roamer repeat a following list of instructions that number of times The list must be enclosed in a box by placing before and after the list D Repeat 4 times Forward 3 Left 90 J End the repeat The Roamer moves through a square Repeat lists can contain other repeat lists T
13. over carpet Attach things to the Roamer body with Valiant Suction Pads sticky tape or Blu Tack Don t use adhesives Clean the Roamer s shell with a damp cloth Don t use solvents or abrasives It is not recommended that you decorate the Roamer with pens or markers as they leave an indelible trace Glue and marker pens can be safely used on the Roamer Jackets ee IF YOUR ROAMER IS MISBEHAVING Roamer is designed to be simple and reliable If you have problems check the batteries Swap them over Even if you bought them recently they may have been on your supplier s shelf for some time and be weak Ask for them to be exchanged Try another pair in the Roamer If you have a Valiant Rechargeable Battery Pack recharge the cells If there is still a problem telephone the Valiant HELPLINE Many difficulties can be resolved by speaking to our support staff WARNING Do not remove the Roamer s shell This will invalidate your warranty
14. t be rekeyed with the modified instructions If instructions are entered as procedures only the procedures need to be redefined AD OS DE ADT 80 Roamer executes P3 PS P and P51 DD L j Redefines Procedure 3 J 60 Roamer executes the new P3 and the original P5 P6 and P51 DT D DDO HoD 60 Executes P7 then P4 then P10 and Com finally P21 Com Clears GO Memory Fe Oe OTe a TO Go Executes P21 then P4 P7 and P10 ACTIVITIES USING THE ROAMER The Roamer Activity Book contains tasks and games for children of different ages and abilities These ideas use the basic Roamer and do not need any Accessory Packs Each activity involves several educationally valuable ideas which children approach through experimentation and exploration Children playing Collecting Rubbish may use arithmetic linear and angular measurement programming trigonometry and geometry The activities should not be used prescriptively They are starting points around which the teacher may create opportunities for pupils to develop their understanding by testing and revising their own solutions to the problems The following case study illustrates this approach Two boys and two girls from a class of 8 year olds played the Collecting Rubbish game from the Roamer Activity Book They collected a selection of discarded items from the playground and scattered them around the classroom floor Each child wrote a Rubbish Coll
15. tion Because they were actively doing the topic was approached at the correct level for their understanding Their interest grew and they wanted to help other children realise the wider ecological issues involved Alan Coode Headteacher Southmead Junior School South London ROAMER CONTROL FEATURES You can expand the Roamer s range of activities with a Roamer Control Box This provides the Roamer with a Sense Input Line four Two State Outputs and a Stepper Motor Output They are controlled by the following keys is for Sense T for the Two State Outputs M for Stepper Motor The instructions on how to program with these keys are supplied with the Roamer Control Box Connecting sensors and motors greatly extends the scope for Roamer characterisation Mophead the Roamer guard dog could be programmed to prick up its ears and bark when it hears a sound Fiona the Fire Engine could flash her light raise her ladder and play her siren The Roamer Bee could flap its wings and hum Flight of the Bumble Bee Roamers can be programmed to respond to light sound touch temperature etc The motors can be used to raise and lower a pen operate a robot arm raise a flag stir a cup of tea or even play cricket If the child can think of it the Roamer can probably do it 4 Looking after your Roamer CARE OF THE VALIANT ROAMER Check regularly that Roamer s drive axles are free from dust and fibres particularly if you run Roamer
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