BB Kino

Interactive Livebook widgets for controlling and monitoring BB robots.

Features

BB Kino provides a suite of interactive widgets for working with BB robots in Livebook:

• Safety Widget - Arm/disarm controls with real-time state indicators
• Joint Control Widget - Sliders for controlling joint positions with limit enforcement
• Event Stream Widget - Real-time message monitoring with path filtering and pause/resume
• Command Widget - Dynamic forms for executing robot commands with argument validation
• 3D Visualisation Widget - Interactive Three.js rendering with real-time joint updates
• Manage Robot Smart Cell - Unified dashboard combining all widgets

Installation

Add bb_kino to your dependencies in mix.exs:

def deps do
  [
    {:bb_kino, "~> 0.1"}
  ]
end

Usage

In Livebook

The easiest way to use BB Kino is with the Manage Robot smart cell:

1. Click + Smart in your Livebook notebook
2. Select Manage robot
3. Enter your robot module name (e.g., MyRobot)
4. Select which widgets to display
5. Evaluate the cell

Individual Widgets

You can also use widgets individually:

# Safety controls (arm/disarm)
BB.Kino.safety(MyRobot)

# Joint position control with sliders
BB.Kino.joints(MyRobot)

# Real-time event stream
BB.Kino.events(MyRobot)

# Command execution forms
BB.Kino.commands(MyRobot)

# 3D visualisation
BB.Kino.visualisation(MyRobot)

Combined Layout

Create a custom dashboard layout:

Kino.Layout.grid([
  Kino.Layout.grid([
    BB.Kino.safety(MyRobot),
    BB.Kino.joints(MyRobot),
    BB.Kino.events(MyRobot)
  ], columns: 1),
  Kino.Layout.grid([
    BB.Kino.visualisation(MyRobot),
    BB.Kino.commands(MyRobot)
  ], columns: 1)
], columns: 2)

Widget Details

Safety Widget

Displays the current robot state (disarmed, idle, executing, error) and provides buttons to arm and disarm the robot. The disarm button is only enabled when the robot is in the idle state.

Joint Control Widget

Shows all robot joints with:

• Current position display (in degrees for revolute joints)
• Target position sliders respecting joint limits
• Visual indication of simulation mode vs real actuators
• Sliders are disabled when the robot is not armed

Event Stream Widget

Real-time display of BB PubSub messages with:

• Path-based filtering (e.g., sensor.joint1)
• Pause/resume functionality
• Message count display
• Expandable message details
• Automatic scrolling with newest messages

Command Widget

Dynamically generates forms for robot commands:

• Tab-based navigation between commands
• Automatic form fields based on argument types
• State-aware execution (commands only available in allowed states)
• Result/error display

3D Visualisation Widget

Interactive Three.js-based robot visualisation:

• Real-time joint position updates
• Orbit camera controls (rotate, pan, zoom)
• Support for box, cylinder, and sphere geometries
• Reset view button

Requirements

• Elixir ~> 1.19
• BB framework ~> 0.4
• Kino ~> 0.18

Documentation

• Interactive Control in Livebook - getting started tutorial
• Create Combined Widget Layout - custom layouts

Full API documentation is available at HexDocs.