Android Application To Control Robotic Arm/RC Car Using MIT App Inventor 2

ByEklavya Sharma

You’ve already learnt How To Make A Mobile Controlled Robotic Arm Using Arduino Uno and interface Bluetooth module Hc-06 with Arduino.  Now to control the RoboDroid using a mobile phone we’ll need an application that will be connected with our Bluetooth Module HC-06. The mobile application can be easily developed using the MIT App Inventor 2 tool.

What is MIT App Inventor 2?

MIT App Inventor is an open-source web application that allows the users to make software applications for Android operating system. Even with limited programming experience one can easily create a Android Application. App Inventor for Android is a visual language that relies on simple programming blocks that users can drag and drop to create software applications. It was made by Google and it is maintained by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). And MIT App Inventor 2 is the latest version of App Inventor.

To use MIT App Inventor 2 for Android, to develop mobile application you must use a compatible browser.
Currently the supported browsers are:

  • Google Chrome 29+
  • Safari 5+
  • Firefox 23+

Or you can also use the application RoboDroid developed by me.

RoboDroid application is able to control the movement of the base of the robotic arm as well as the robotic arm itself. For the successful operation of  the application you’re needed to switch on the Bluetooth of your smart phone. Now open the application which has a Bluetooth list picker option where you’ll find the list of nearby Bluetooth devices. From the list of Bluetooth devices you need to connect it with the Bluetooth module HC-o6. To connect the smartphone with Bluetooth module HC-06 password is needed. The default password for HC-06 module is 1234.  After the connection has been establish you can easily control you robot. The application is divided into two parts one is Car control and other one is Arm Control. The RoboDroid application developed using MIT App Inventor 2 –

Application To Control Robotic Arm
Application To Control Robotic Arm

Even with limited programming experience, you can easily learn to create Apps for the Android platform with MIT App Inventor 2 tool for Android.  App Inventor for Android is a visual language that relies on simple programming blocks that users can drag and drop to create Apps.  The block code for MIT App Inventor-

Block Code For MIT App Inventor 2
Block Code For MIT App Inventor 2

The HC-06 Bluetooth module is the Bluetooth client here the application is sending a character ‘a’ to the Bluetooth module which is read by Arduino using ‘Serial.read()’ function and which in turn drives the Robotic Arm in forward direction. Similarly, other cases for backward , left, right etc. functioning of Robotic Arm is controlled by sending other characters, you can assign any function in your Arduino programming for the characters received from your mobile application.

The designer view for RoboDroid Application in MIT App Inventor 2 is given below-

RoboDroid Designer MIT App Inventor 2
RoboDroid Designer MIT App Inventor 2

If you still have any doubts feel free to ask. Suggestions are welcomed. Thank you for reading.