Blockly goes to work: Block-based programming for industrial robots

Abstract

The block-based approach to programming is an effective way to engage young learners in programming and the powerful ideas of computing. In this paper, we explore the potential of using this same approach in a very different programming context: industrial robotics. Using a customized language built with the Blockly library, we created a block-based interface for programming a one-armed industrial robot. This paper presents a block-based robot programming language called Robot Blockly, focusing on how the various affordances of block-based programming were utilized to make the challenge of robot programming more accessible. We also present results from a small-scale study showing adults with no prior programming experience successfully programming a virtual robot to accomplish a pick and place task. The contribution of this work is in showing the potential for block-based programming beyond young learners and classrooms.