Using blokdots & ProtoPie Connect

blokdots is a code-free software to build interactive hardware prototypes with Arduino.

The blokdots & ProtoPie integration is available to all users, regardless of their plan. However, when used with ProtoPie Connect, it unlocks new possibilities, such as the ability to create hardware-software interactions involving three or more devices.

The typical blokdots & ProtoPie Connect ecosystem involves:

• ProtoPie Studio, to create interactions.
• ProtoPie Connect and blokdots plugin, to enable communication between ProtoPie prototypes and blokdots app which connects to Arduino and sensors.

Getting Set Up

1. Open the Pie file in ProtoPie Connect.

2. Connect blokdots to ProtoPie Connect.

1. Open the blokdots application on your computer and make sure that you’ve activated the “blokdots pro” plan or start the 14-day trial.
2. If you’re running ProtoPie Connect and blokdots on the same computer, the connection should happen automatically
3. If you’re running ProtoPie Connect and blokdots on different computers, open the connection settings and enter the URL of the ProtoPie Connect server

Once blokdots is connected to ProtoPie Connect, the connection indicator at the ProtoPie icon in the bottom-left corner(under “Connections”) should turn green. You will see a Connected message in ProtoPie Connect as well.

3. Plug in the Arduino board.

Once you see that your board is ready in the top-left corner of blokdots, you can start setting up your components.

4. Connecting the components

This step is necessary for blokdots to know which components of the Arduino board to control.

a. Click on Connect A New Component and pick the ones you want to connect.

b. Chose an available Grove slot or hardware pin from the list

c. Click on Set Component.

5. Configure the components cards.

a. Start configuring each component card.

*The blokdots app allows ProtoPie and Arduino to send messages from one to another. To make this happen, you will need to set up Send and Receive in ProtoPie Studio. To learn more about how messages are sent and received between ProtoPie and Arduino, click here.

6. Run the project.

Click on the Run Project button in blokdots to run your project.

In ProtoPie Connect you’ll be able to see messages coming through the blokdots plugin as you control your Arduino board.

To learn more about the blokdots and ProtoPie Connect integration, click here.