Lesson 2: Design a Personalized Digital Pet

Have you ever dreamed of having a digital pet that belongs only to you? In this project, we’ll use the UNIHIKER K10 screen to create your very first “digital companion”! By designing a unique pet image and giving it expressive, animated facial changes, you’ll experience the joy and companionship that a digital pet can bring.

This is the moment—your very own digital pet is about to come to life on the screen. Ready to start this fun and heartwarming journey? Let’s set off together!

Task Objective

Design a "dynamic expression" on the UNIHIKER K10 screen by using static images to create a simple animated effect for displaying your pet's emotions. Additionally, you can display a welcome message and the pet's name on the screen.

Knowledge Points

1.Understand the significance and purpose of machine expressions

2.Learn how to display images on the UNIHIKER K10 screen

3.Understand the mechanisms of image loading, switching, and refreshing

4.Master the text display function on the screen to show the pet’s name

Materials List

Hardware List:

Software Used: Mind+ Programming Software (Version V1.8.1 RC1.0 or above) ×1

Download Link:https://mindplus.cc/

Practical Exercise

In this project, you will gradually complete the initial design and presentation of your digital pet through two main tasks. Task 1 focuses on building the pet’s facial expression. Task 2 adds image switching to create animation effects, making your pet more lively and interactive.

Task 1: Static Display of Pet’s Expression and Name

Design the pet’s facial expression and display both the expression and the pet’s name on the UNIHIKER K10 screen.

Task 2: Image Switching for Dynamic Effect

Automatically switch images at set intervals to create an animation effect, simulating moving facial expressions.

Task 1: Static Display of Pet’s Expression and Name

1.Hardware Connection

Use a USB 3.0 to Type-C data cable to connect the assembled robot car to the computer.

Note: The Type-C end should be connected to the UNIHIKER K10.

2.Software Preparation

Open Mind+ and complete the software setup as shown in the following illustrations.

3.Programming

Before you start writing the program, you need to download the prepared “resource” files to your computer. In this project, we will mainly use the images from the “01-General” folder.

Display the pet’s expression on the UNIHIKER K10 screen. Use the “Cache local image” command to display the image at coordinates (X: 0, Y: 40).

Since we are displaying a local image, click the “Settings” icon in the middle of the command, select “Open” from the dropdown menu, and then choose the expression image from the local folder (where the image is saved).

When setting the image properties, set the width to 240 and the height to 240 to ensure the image is fully displayed on the screen.

To successfully display images on the UNIHIKER K10 screen, you must use the “show cached content” command. Its function is to actually present the contents of the cache on the screen.

Note: All screen-related commands (including displaying images, text, etc.) must be used together with the “show cached content” command for the content to appear properly. Otherwise, even if the content is set up, it will not show on the screen.

After displaying the pet image, we can add a welcome text above the image to show the pet’s name. Please use the “Cache text” command to display the text “Hello, I am...” on the first line of the screen.

Don’t forget, the “Cache text” command also needs to be used together with the “show cached content” command to actually show the text on the screen. The complete program is as follows.

Tip: You might notice that there are actually two different versions of the “Cache text” command. Interested students can try comparing their usage and effects to see what differences there are!

4.Program Execution

Before running the program, please make sure the UNIHIKER K10 is properly connected to the computer via the USB cable. Once the connection is confirmed, click the “Run” button in the software. After the program runs, the UNIHIKER K10 screen will display the digital pet image and the pet’s name you designed.

Note: After the program upload is complete, you can unplug the USB cable from the UNIHIKER K10. Then, turn on the two power switches on the robot car to let the program run in car power mode.

5.Give It a Try

The current expression image has a black background, while the default background of the UNIHIKER K10 screen is white. To make the overall effect more harmonious, we want to set the screen background color to black, matching the expression image.

So, how can we do this? You can use the “set background color ” command to change the screen background to black, allowing the image to blend naturally with the background and making the display look more unified and visually appealing.

Task 2: Image Switching for Dynamic Effect

1.Programming

This task builds upon Task 1 by further improving the program.

Open the “01-General” image folder that we downloaded, and you will find it contains 4 different expression images. By switching these images sequentially through the program, you can create a dynamic expression effect on the screen, making the digital pet “come alive.”

During the image switching process, to make the expressions appear smoother and more natural, we can use the “Wait 1 seconds” command to control the display time of each image. Set the wait time to 0.1 seconds so that the images switch quickly, producing a continuous animation effect that makes the expressions look like they are truly moving.

After completing the switch to the first image, we continue by switching to the second image. The operation method is the same as before—just follow the same steps!

Next, switch to the 3rd and 4th images in the same way, one after another. Don’t forget to add a “wait 0.1 seconds” command between each image to make the motion appear smoother. The complete program is as follows:

2.Program Execution

Before running the program, please make sure the UNIHIKER K10 is properly connected to the computer via the USB cable. Once the connection is confirmed, click the “Run” button in the software. After the program runs, the expressions will animate on the screen by switching between different images.

3.Give It a Try

Let’s think about it: if we change the image switching duration from 0.1 seconds to 0.2 seconds, how will the animation look different?

Knowledge Corner

1.Understanding the Significance and Function of Robotic Expressions

In human-machine interaction, expressions play a crucial role.

Although robots do not possess real emotions, we can give them the ability to "express emotions" by designing different facial images.

Expressions not only make robots appear more friendly and approachable, but also help humans quickly understand the robot's current state or intent. For example, a "happy" face might indicate task completion, a "confused" face could mean the robot needs assistance, and an "angry" face might suggest a problem has occurred. Such visual emotional feedback makes communication between humans and robots more natural and effective.

In this project, we will use screen animations to design unique expressions for our digital pet. By doing so, you will experience how programming can enable machines to "have expressions and understand emotions," laying the groundwork for a smarter and more emotionally aware robotic future.

2.How Do Animated Images "Move"?

Have you ever seen those "moving pictures"? They're not actually a single image in motion—instead, they're made up of many still images shown one after another very quickly. This creates an illusion for your eyes, making it look like the picture is moving!

It's just like a flipbook animation—each page is static, but when you flip through them quickly, the image appears to move. In our program, we simulate this effect by "switching expression images at timed intervals" to create an adorable animated facial expression for our digital pet. Doesn't it feel like you're becoming a little animator yourself?

Challenge Yourself

In the resource folder, we've also prepared other expression images for you. Now, choose one of them and set a new emotion for your digital pet!