Chapter 8: Coding

8.1 Blockly Coding Overview

No text-based code is required: you write programs by dragging and snapping together visual blocks to control the robot. The programming platform is XGO Blockly, which supports visual block programming, AI code generation, agent conversations, and a variety of system tools. The programming entry is the 2nd card 「Coding」 on the home screen.

8.2 Entering the Coding Interface

1. Navigate to the 2nd card 「Coding」 on the home screen and press D

2. The screen shows the Blockly Coding page with the robot's IP address (e.g., 192.168.31.81) and the Program List at the bottom

3. The robot's screen only displays the entry and information; programming is done in the web browser: open the address on any device on the same network

Program List

• The Program List at the bottom of the robot's screen manages all programs saved to the Raspberry Pi

• After writing and saving a program in the web browser, it will appear in this list

8.3 Interface Overview

After opening the programming page in a browser, you will see the XGO Blockly editor:

• Top toolbar: AI Code, New, Open, Save, Screenshot, Run, Reset, Status, Show Code, Tools, Docs, language switch, API Key, Encrypt

• Left panel: block categories, grouped by function

• Workspace: the editing area where you drag and snap blocks together, starting from the "🚩 Start" block

• Bottom-right controls: zoom in / zoom out and the trash bin for deleting blocks

• Bottom-left status indicator: shows the current state (e.g., Idle)

The detailed functions of each toolbar button are described in sections 8.5 ~ 8.8.

8.4 Block Categories

8.5 Running and File Management

Run & Stop

• Click Run to execute the program in the workspace; the button changes to Stop while running, and clicking it again stops the program

• You can also run the program by double-clicking a block in the workspace

• If the workspace is empty, clicking Run shows the message "Workspace is empty, please add blocks before running"

Reset

• Click Reset to reset the robot to its initial standing posture and stop all motion

• The execution log shows the reset process

Status

• Click Status to open the robot real-time status window, which shows:

• Battery level (e.g., 99%)

• Posture angles: Roll, Pitch, Yaw

• Servo angles: M11~M53, 15 servos in total (5 legs × 3 joints)

Save

• Click Save to open the save dialog, then choose:

• Save to Raspberry Pi: the program is stored locally on the robot (Raspberry Pi) and can be viewed and run from the Program List on the robot's screen

• Save to local: downloads the program as a .xml file to your computer for backup and sharing

Program List (Robot Screen)

• After saving a program to the Raspberry Pi in the web browser, it will appear in the Program List on the robot's screen

• Program List controls:

• A: move selection up

• B: move selection down

• C: go back to the previous screen

• D: run the currently selected program

• Press D to run the selected program immediately

Open / New

• Open loads a locally saved .xml program file

• New creates a new blank project (the workspace is cleared, keeping the "🚩 Start" block)

Screenshot

• Screenshot saves the current workspace as a PNG image

Show Code

• Show Code / Hide Code expands or collapses the right panel, showing the generated Python code and execution log

Encrypt

• Encrypt sets a password to protect the program

8.6 AI Programming Features

API Key Configuration

• The Agent, AI Code and Voice Chat features use the Tongyi Qianwen (Qwen) model; Doubao AI is used for multimodal experiences. Both require an API Key to be configured first

• Click the API Key button in the toolbar and fill in the corresponding API Key (see the links in the dialog: Alibaba Cloud Bailian console / Volcano Engine docs)

• API keys are stored locally only and never uploaded to any server; all AI calls are sent directly from your local device to the AI provider

• Note: real-name verification is required to call the large model APIs; for Doubao, you also need to enable the corresponding model (e.g., Doubao-Seed-1.6-flash) in the management console

AI Code

• Click the AI Code button, then describe what you want in natural language in the input box at the bottom-right (e.g., "draw a small sun", "dance") and press Enter

• AI generates the code automatically and loads it into the editor, perfect for beginners to get started quickly

• Defaults to the qwen3-max model; click the model name to switch to other models on Alibaba Cloud Bailian

Agent

• Intelligently plans tasks with customizable system prompts

• Supports long-term memory and knowledge base content

• Built-in tools: code execution, file operations, web search (Bailian web search) and XGO robot control

Doubao AI

• Directly calls the multimodal Doubao large model to experience its basic HTTP interface

• Configurable parameters: model ID, temperature, max tokens, etc.

Voice Chat

• Supports speech recognition and speech synthesis for voice conversations with the robot

8.7 AI Vision

The Interaction & AI → AI Vision category provides the following vision blocks:

• Face recognition: detect and recognize faces

• Gesture recognition: recognize gestures (e.g., number gestures)

• Ball recognition/tracking: detect and track colored balls

• Line following: follow a line on the ground

• AprilTag pose detection: detect AprilTag markers, returning the tag ID, family and pose information (translations and rotations), useful for following and obstacle avoidance

• Color detection: detect targets based on HSV color

• Object detection: general object recognition

• Get camera image: get the real-time camera frame

8.8 Toolbox

Click Tools to open the toolbox page, which contains 4 tools:

SSH Terminal

• File manager: browse the program directory on the robot (/opt/luwu-os/xgoBlocklyProjects), supporting create, upload, download, rename and delete

• Terminal: connect and run SSH commands

Color Range Editor

• Adjust HSV color space thresholds for color detection

• Supports updating the image from the camera, picking colors, inverting and resetting sliders

• Copy the tuned thresholds and use them with the AI Vision → Color detection block

Camera Calibration

• Print a 9×6 checkerboard and take at least 10 photos from different angles for calibration

• Calibration improves the distance and angle accuracy of the AprilTag pose detection block (default parameters are used if not calibrated)

Gamepad Mapping

• Configure Bluetooth gamepad button mapping, with support for re-learning buttons and joystick calibration

• Save, load and reset to default configurations

8.9 Useful Programming Tips

Module Initialization

• Before using Media, Vision, or Screen blocks, first add the INIT XGOEDU block to initialize

• Motion-related blocks require an XGO initialization block first

Loops

• Use the loop blocks in Programming Basics → Loops to repeat actions

• Set the number of iterations (e.g., repeat 5 times) or loop forever

Conditions

• Use the logic blocks in Programming Basics → Logic for conditional execution

• For example: if a face is detected, then wave

Action Sequences

• Blocks snap together from top to bottom and execute in order

• After each action finishes, the next one runs automatically

Debugging

• If the program behaves unexpectedly, click Reset and edit the blocks again

• Use Show Code to review the generated Python code for troubleshooting

• Use Screenshot to save a picture of your program

Block Operations

• Drag: click a block in the category list and drag it into the workspace

• Snap: align the protrusion of one block with the notch of another to snap them together

• Delete: drag a block to the trash bin icon in the bottom-right corner, or select it and press Delete

• Adjust parameters: click number inputs or dropdown menus on a block to modify its values

• Run by double-click: double-click a block in the workspace to run the program

• Zoom: use the + and - buttons in the bottom-right corner of the workspace to zoom in or out

• Stop during execution: click the Stop button at any time to terminate a running program

8.10 Coding on a PC

Programming is done entirely in the web browser; a computer browser is recommended:

1. Make sure the robot is connected to WiFi

2. Open the IP address shown on the Blockly Coding page (e.g., http://192.168.31.81) in a Chrome browser on the same network

3. The browser shows the XGO Blockly editor

4. Drag and snap blocks on the computer to write the program

5. Click Save to store the program locally on the robot (Raspberry Pi); it will appear in the Program List on the robot's screen

6. Click Run, and the robot executes the program synchronously

💡 Programs are written and saved in the web browser, stored locally on the robot, and can be run directly from the Program List next time.