TRIK help — a guide for working with the free robot programming environment TRIK Studio. You can find the open-source TRIK Studio code in our repository at GitHub.

The help also describes how TRIK Studio interacts with supported platforms:

• TRIK controller.

• LEGO EV3.

• LEGO NXT.

• Pioneer Kit.

Main window

After starting TRIK Studio, you will see the start page that displays the version of TRIK Studio, quick access to recent projects, and buttons for opening an existing project and creating a new one.

Project creation

To create a new project, click the "New project" button on the TRIK Studio home page.

Or select File → New project from the main menu.

A window opens with a new program in the visual programming language:

Read about programming in a visual language in the article:

Read about creating a new text program in the article:

Launch an existing project

To start an existing project, click the "Open project" button on the TRIK Studio start page.

Or in the main menu, select File → Open....

By default, TRIK Studio searches for files in the *.qrs format or the last open format (for example, *.js). If you need an existing project in a different format, select the desired format (for example, *.py) or All files (*.*).

TRIK Studio — free robot programming environment.

It allows you to solve problems using both visual and textual programming languages.

A distinctive feature of TRIK Studio is an interactive simulation mode. You don't need to have a constructor to learn how to program.

TRIK Studio — universal software for teaching programming basics. It provides a smooth transition from diagrams to text languages.

Supported platforms

TRIK Studio supports 4 platforms:

• TRIK controller.

• LEGO EV3.

• LEGO NXT 2.0.

• Pioneer Kit.

Download

You can download the latest version of TRIK Studio on the website trikset.com.

Recommended system requirements

• RAM: 4 GB or more.

• Operating system:

  • 64-bit Microsoft Ⓡ Windows 10.

  • Ubuntu 16.04 and later.

  • macOS 10.12 Sierra and later.

The TRIK Studio version is displayed in the window title.

And also on the start page.

The main menu of TRIK Studio contains a set of basic operations and environment settings:

• File

• Edit

• View

• Tools

• Settings

• Help

File

• New project — create a new project.

• Recent projects — open one of the recently used projects.

• New diagram — create a new chart in the current project.

• Open… — open a saved project. Projects are stored on disk in files with the .qrs extension.

• Save — save the current project.

• Save as… — save the current project to the selected location. Subsequent saves will be made to the selected file.

• Save diagram as a picture… — save the current image on the scene to disk.

• Print — print a chart or text using the standard print dialog.

• Quit — exit the program.

• Restore default settings and Quit — restore the default settings and exit the program.

Edit

• Undo — cancel a completed action.

• Redo — make a canceled action again.

• Copy — copy the selected item.

• Paste — insert the selected item.

• Cut — cut the selected item.

• Find... — open the search dialog for the project.

• Find and replace — open the project search dialog and replace.

View

• Zoom in — zoom in on the scene.

• Zoom out — to reduce the scale of the scene.

• Panels — enable/disable the display of various windows.

• To main page — go back to the main page.

Tools

• Mouse gestures — open a tab with a list of available mouse gestures (see the "Adding blocks with mouse gestures" section).

• Run — start execution of the diagram currently displayed in interpretation mode (the item is available only in interpretation mode).

• 2D model — switch the interpretation mode to a two-dimensional model.

• Real robot — switch the interpretation mode to control the real robot via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or USB, depending on the platform used and the settings for connecting to the robot.

• Robot settings — open the settings window of the robot model with which you work in TRIK Studio (for more details see the "Robots" section in the article "TRIK Studio settings").

• Save as task… — save the current diagram and two-dimensional model as an exercise for students. In an exercise, you cannot modify some parts of a solution. For example, the location of objects in a two-dimensional model or the configuration of sensors. Selecting this menu item opens a dialog in which you can select the parts to be frozen (for more information about exercises, see the article "Exercises").

• Subprograms — subprograms management (for more details see the article "Subprograms").

• Generate code — open a tab with the generated code corresponding to the current diagram and the selected text language (this item may look like "Generate JavaScript code", "Generate Python code", "Generate C code", etc.). The code is not downloaded to the robot and is not executed, but can be edited and downloaded later.

• Upload program — only generate code and upload to the robot without executing.

• Upload and execute program — generate the code corresponding to the current diagram, load it and execute on the robot.

• Stop robot — interrupt the execution of the program and send the robot commands to turn off the motors.

• Connect — establish a connection with the robot. The robot must be turned on. The item is available only if the selected mode of working with the robot requires a constant connection (for example, interpretation of the program via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi).

Settings

• Preferences… — open the TRIK Studio environment settings window (see the article "TRIK Studio settings").

• Show grid — enable/disable grid on the scene.

• Show alignment — enable/disable the display mode for vertical and horizontal guidelines for positioning objects relative to each other.

• Switch on grid — enable/disable automatic grid alignment.

• Switch on alignment — enable/disable vertical and horizontal guidelines for positioning blocks relative to each other.

• Show all text — enable/disable displaying all block properties directly on the diagram. If the text below the blocks is disabled, properties can be viewed and edited in the property editor at the top left.

Help

• Small help — open help.

• About TRIK Studio — view brief information about TRIK Studio.

• Open logs — open a folder with log files.

• Check for updates — get information from the Internet about the availability of a new version of the environment or any of the plug-ins, and run auto-updates if necessary.

The graph is scaled automatically so that the readings curve fits entirely in height.

From the drop-down list below you can select a sensor, the values ​​from which will be displayed on the graph.

When you hover over a point on the graph, the value at that point will be displayed.

To the right of the graph there are four buttons for working with it:

Interface language can be changed in the TRIK Studio settings.

2. Choose the "Behaviour" tab in the opened window.

3. Select necessary language. Now TRIK Studio supports English, Russian and French.

“<System language>” means that the TRIK Studio interface language will be determined by the language of the operating system.

4. Press "OK".

5. Restart TRIK Studio to apply the changes.

Robot settings in TRIK Studio can be opened in two ways.

Way 1

Using the toolbar button:

Way 2

2. In the opened window open the tab "Robots".

TRIK Studio modes

The TRIK Studio interface depends on the selected mode. TRIK Studio has two modes:

1. Editing mode It is intended for creating a robot control diagram and executing it in the generation mode.

2. Debug mode It is intended for executing and debugging a program on a 2D model or in interpretation mode on a real robot.

Switching between modes

There are three ways to switch modes:

1. Keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+1 / Ctrl+2.

2. Mode switching panel.

3. Status bar.

Editing mode

TRIK Studio in edit mode has the following interface elements:

• Editor window/scene

• Main menu

• File panel

• Edit panel

• View panel

• Interpreter panel

• Generators panel

• "Others" panel

• Panel for switching between editor and debug mode

• Property editor panel

• Sensor settings

• Palette (set of blocks for diagrams creation)

• Variables panel

• Status bar

Editor window/scene

The scene displays the diagram and allows you to edit it.

Read about creating a new project and working with the diagrams in the articles:

Editor mode also displays the current executable block when interpreting diagrams.

Main menu

The main menu of TRIK Studio contains a set of basic operations and environment settings:

• File

• Edit

• View

• Tools

• Settings

• Help

For more information, see the article:

File panel

The "File" panel repeats the main operations available from the "File" menu.

Edit panel

View panel

The View panel contains buttons that allow you to scale diagrams.

You can also zoom the scene using:

1. Hold down the Ctrl key and roll the mouse wheel.

2. Keyboard shortcut Ctrl+= и Ctrl+-.

Interpreter panel

The Interpreter panel contains the commands for starting and stopping the execution of a program, buttons for switching interpretation modes between a two-dimensional model and a real robot, as well as a button for opening robot settings available from the Tools menu.

When working with a real robot in interpretation mode, this panel also contains a "Connect" button.

Generators panel

The Generators panel contains commands for generating code and loading the program to the robot.

"Other" panel

"Other" panel may contain various information depending on the chosen platform.

For example, for the TRIK kit this panel displays the IP address of the controller to which you are connecting.

Panel for switching between editing and debugging modes

The panel for mode switching displays the current TRIK Studio mode and allows you to switch between editing and debugging modes.

Property editor panel

The property editor is used to display and edit the property values ​​of selected objects (blocks, links).

About working with the property editor see article:

Sensors settings panel

Sensor settings allow you to specify which sensors are used on which port. The same can be done from the robot settings dialog.

Palette panel

The Palette panel contains a set of available blocks and the relationships between them, which can be added to the diagram.

How to add and remove blocks to the scene in TRIK Studio read in the article:

Variables panel

Displays the list of variables used when executing the diagram with their current values, including sensor variables. When executed in the interpretation mode on a two-dimensional model or a real robot, they are taken from the robot in real-time. Not used in the generation mode.

Status bar

The status bar displays the current TRIK Studio mode (editing or debugging) and allows you to switch between modes. To switch between them, just click on the status bar.

Debug mode

The elements of the TRIK Studio interface in debug mode repeat the elements in edit mode, except for the editor window, property editor panels and palette. Instead of these elements, the next elements are displayed:

• 2D model window

• Error panel

• Robot settings panel

• Plots panel

2D model window

The 2D model window opens if a 2D model is selected as the program execution mode.

The window allows you to set the environment in which the robot will be executed, set the robot sensors and observe how the program written in edit mode will work.

Read more about the 2D model in the article:

Robot settings panel

The robot settings panel displays the type of controller and robot parameters that depend on the selected platform.

Opening robot settings panel

Error panel

In the case of syntactic and semantic errors in the TRIK Studio, a window with the corresponding messages appears.

To view the block where the error occurred, click on the message.

Plots panel

The Plots window displays the values sent by the sensors in real-time.

Read more in the article:

Add blocks to the scene

You can add blocks to the scene in TRIK Studio in three ways:

1. Drag and drop the corresponding icons from the palette of elements onto the diagram.

2. Using mouse gesture.

3. When creating a new connection between blocks using a linker.

Drag and drop from the palette

Left-click on the necessary block located in the Palette panel. Without releasing the mouse button, move the block onto the scene.

Use mouse gestures

Draw on the scene a special image of the block with the Right mouse button. The block appears in the center of the drawn image.

Gestures can be drawn with a few strokes. The gesture input ends if the strokes have not been drawn for some time (you can set the time in the settings window on the Behavior tab).

Available conditional images can be found in two ways:

1. In the "Mouse Gestures" window, which opens through the main menuTools → Mouse gestures.

2. In the tooltip that appears when you hover over a block in the Palette panel.

Add block when creating a new connection

1. Start creating a connection using the linker (a colored circle to the right of the block that appears after the block is selected) and release the left mouse button when the cursor is on an empty section of the diagram.

2. In the menu that appears, select "Create new element". A new menu with blocks will appear.

3. Select the block you need.

Delete block

Deleting a block from the scene is possible in two ways:

1. Select the block with the left mouse button and then click the "Delete" button on the keyboard.

2. Right-click on the block and select "Delete" in the menu that appears.

Delete several blocks

1. Select the necessary blocks in one of the following ways.

1.1. Hold down the "Ctrl" button and right-click the necessary blocks.

1.2. Right-click on an area in the scene with the necessary blocks.

2. Delete the selected blocks in one of the following ways.

2.1. Press the “Delete” button on the keyboard.

2.2. Right-click on any selected block and select "Delete" from the menu that appears.

Replace block

To replace the block on the scene:

1. Right-click on the block and select "Replace by..." in the menu that appears.

2. Select the block that you want to put instead of from the list.

2D model coordinate system

In the 2D model window the axes located as follows:

An XML file creation

To create an empty XML file you should use your OS' standard tools such as Notepad in Windows or whatever.

To save the world model created in TRIK Studio:

4. Specify the location and file name to save.

Editing an XML file

The XML file contains tags and attributes.

Tags

Tag is a markup language element. There is the start (opening) and end (closing) tags. The text contained between the start and end tags is displayed and placed according to the properties specified in the start tag.

Example:

Attributes

Attributes are tag properties that provide additional text formatting capabilities. They are recorded as a combination of "attribute name-value". Text values are enclosed in quotation marks.

In the above example, the attributes are:

begin="200:-200" id="{a3ede76b-1d7e-4c72-9ed4-08d8ea9af4bf}" end="200:150"

The simplest virtual world model without objects in .xml the format is as follows:

Robots

The following tags are available for describing robots:

<robots>...</robots>

Defines a robot on stage. Used as a container, has no attributes.

<robot>...</robot>

Adds a robot to the scene. Can be used as a container.

Attributes

Example:

<sensors>...</sensors>

Defines sensors on a robot. Used as a container, has no attributes.

<sensor/>

Sensors ports configuration.

Attributes

There are 5 types of sensors for TRIK and 9 types of sensors for EV3:

Example:

<startPosition/>

Defines the starting position of the robot.

Attributes

Example:

<wheels/>

Motor ports configuration.

Attributes

Example:

Objects

The following tags are available for describing objects:

<wall>

Adds a wall to the scene.

Attributes

Example:

<skittle>

Adds a skittle to the scene.

Attributes

Example:

<ball>

Adds a ball to the scene.

Attributes

Example:

<line>

Adds a line to the scene.

Attributes

Example:

<cubicBezier>

Adds a Bezier curve.

Attributes

Example:

<rectangle>

Adds a rectangle.

Attributes

Example:

<ellipse>

Adds an ellipse.

Attributes

Example:

<stylus>

Defines a stylus for drawing.

Attributes

Example:

<stylusLine>

Allows you to draw arbitrary shapes using the stylus. This block of code consists of many segments.

Attributes

Example:

<region>

Allows you to add regions to the scene. There are 2 types of regions:

• rectangle

• ellipse

Attributes

Example:

2D model setup example

The "Barcode" task

You need to draw a barcode. The barcode consists of white and black lines of the same thickness. The black line specifies 1 in a binary number, and the white one 0. The first black line in the robot path is the first bit of the number.

The barcode lines order: 1001011011.

World creation

In this task, the lines should be the same thickness and length. It’s very difficult to draw lines by hand using the Line or Stylus tool, so edit the lines manually:

1. Draw 10 lines on the scene.

2. Save the model of the world.

3. Open the resulting XML file in any convenient editor. Pay attention to the code block with the<line...>tag.

4. For convenience, name each line black1-black5 and white1-white5. You can do this in the "id" attribute. Name the lines in the order shown above.

5. Specify the line thickness "50" in the stroke-widthattribute.

6. Assign the color to each line: #ff000000 is black, #ffffffff is white. You can do this in the attribute fill. Assign colors so that you get a barcode.

7. Set the position of each line in the beginand endattributes without gaps, so that you get a smooth barcode.

The result

Main diagram

Subprograms

Read more about subprograms in the article:

Settings window

The left bar contains the next tabs:

Behaviour

User Interface

• Language — environment language. After the change, a restart of TRIK Studio is required. The setting "<System language>" means that the language will be determined by the current language of the operating system.

Automatics

• Autosave — the option to enable or disable autosave of an open project, as well as set the autosave interval in seconds.

• Delay after gesture — the time period of the system expectation between the finishing of a mouse gesture and its execution. Delay allows you to draw a gesture in a few strokes. The value is indicated in milliseconds.

• Check for updates on start — connect at startup with the update server and start auto-update if necessary.

Touch

• Touch mode — enable user interface optimization for touch screens.

Widgets

• Dockable mode — detaches windows for free alignment.

Miscellaneous

Graphics

• Antialiasing — the line drawing mode with smoothing improves the appearance of diagrams due to a slight decrease in the speed of the system.

Other

• Show splashscreen — enable / disable the display of the splashscreen with the TRIK Studio logo at startup.

Images

Set of icons to use to display the diagram.

Toolbars

• Size — configure the size of the buttons on the toolbar.

Editor

Font

• Use some of system fonts — replace the font for displaying labels on the diagram with one of the fonts installed in the system. The sizes of the labels on the blocks are set rigidly, so changing the font can lead to the crawl of the labels on each other, but you can experiment.

Grid

• Show grid — display the alignment grid on the scene of the diagram editor.

• Activate grid — align blocks on a grid.

• Show alignment — display alignment lines on the scene of the diagram editor. Alignment lines appear when a block is on the same horizontal or vertical line with another block, and help align the blocks in the scene.

• Activate alignment — align the blocks along the alignment lines.

• Width — thickness of alignment lines. Adjustable depending on the brightness of the monitor or projector.

• Cell size — size of one cell. The default size is selected so that the block covers four cells.

Node Elements

Edge

• Line mode — mode of drawing links on the diagram.

  • broken — links are drawn as broken lines with break points that are added by the user.

  • square —connections are drawn as broken lines, each segment of which is parallel to the coordinate axes. Break points in this case are automatically added by the system.

  • curve — connections are drawn as smooth curves, the curvature of which can be set by the user.

• Loop edges indent — indent size for loop connections.

Embedded Linkers

• Indent — indent of the built-in linker from the block icon.

Palette

• Representation — choice between the mode of displaying icons and names or only icons in the palette.

• Count of items in a row — the number of icons per line of the palette with the selected "Icons" mode.

Robots

The composition of this tab depends on the installed plug-ins and on the currently selected platform. Typical tab items are described below.

Robotics construction kit

Robot model

Choosing the type of execution model for the selected constructor. In most cases, this is a 2D model or a real robot, but for some robotics kits one of the models may not be available, in this case this item would not be displayed.

2D robot image

The appearance of the robot in a 2D model.

Connection settings

Kit-specific settings for connecting to the robot, such as the IP address for TRIK controllers or the COM port of the Bluetooth connection for Lego NXT controllers. If a connection in the selected mode is not required, the item would not be displayed.

External tools settings

Kit-specific settings for programs not supplied with TRIK Studio, which must be installed on the computer. For most operating modes, additional installed programs are not needed, so the corresponding items are not displayed in the window.

Sensor settings

The section indicates which sensors are connected to the ports of the robot.

Uploading & Running

• Running after uploading — run the program immediately after downloading it to the robot or not. Applicable only for some modes of some kits (for example, for Lego NXT in generation mode).

Graphics watcher update interval

• Sensors — interval in milliseconds after which a new point with a sensor reading is added.

• Autoscaling — the interval in milliseconds after which the graph automatically changes its scale to optimally display the values.

• Text info — the interval in milliseconds after which the labels with values ​​are updated on the chart.

Shortcuts

This tab allows you to set or change hotkeys for the most commonly used actions. To do this, select the cell corresponding to the action, and in the "Combination" line at the bottom of the window, press the desired key combination.

The "Clear" button removes the key combination from the cell.

All hotkeys installed by default, you can find in the article:

Export settings

TRIK Studio allows you to export the current settings to a file for uploading them to another computer. To do this, click the "Export" button at the bottom of the window.

Import settings

TRIK Studio allows you to import settings from a previously exported file. To do this, click the “Import” button at the bottom of the window and select the desired .ini file.

Links between blocks in TRIK Studio indicate the control flow of interpretation between blocks.

Example

Create links

Links can be created in two ways:

Using mouse gestures

Hover over a block, hold down the right mouse button and draw a line to the second block. The line shape can be arbitrary. It is important that it starts strictly on one block and ends on the second.

If you move the mouse cursor over the link, gray markers are displayed at its ends. By pulling on one of these markers, you can control the link. To attach one of the ends of the connection to the block, you need to pull the corresponding gray marker and release it on the block of interest.

Using linkers

If you drop this relationship on an existing element, these elements will be connected.

If you release the left mouse button when the cursor is on an empty section of the diagram, a menu with the following items will appear:

• Delete

• Create new element

When you select the "Delete" menu item, the created link will be deleted.

When you hover over the menu item "Create a new element" a new menu appears, listing all the possible elements to create. When you select one of these items on the diagram, the corresponding element will be created and join the current link.

Delete links

Add a new block on the link

If you need to add a new block between two linked blocks, drag a block from the Palette panel to the link. Release the mouse button when you hover over a link (not a block).

Create breakpoints

Links in TRIK Studio can be broken lines. To add a breakpoint, move the mouse cursor over the link, click the left mouse button and drag the gray marker that appears.

If the breakpoint of the connection is positioned so that it and the two nearest to it will be located approximately on one straight line, this will lead to the destruction of this breakpoint and smoothing of the broken line in this place.