pitsco Smart Buddies 45895 User manual

Quick-Start Guide
45895

Content advising by Sharmi Albrechtson, Kristina Davis, and Jesper Nissen.
Photography and desktop publishing by Crista Cunningham.
© 2019 Smart Buddies,1585 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
All rights reserved. This product and related documentation are protected by
copyright and are distributed under licenses restricting their use, copying, and
distribution. No part of this product or related documentation may be reproduced
in any form by any means without prior written authorization of Smart Buddies.
All other product names mentioned herein might be the trademarks of their
respective owners.
A downloadable PDF of the most recent version of this guide can be found at
www.smartbuddiesworld.com.
PE•1010•0000•00 45895

1
Getting Started
This quick-start guide explains what is included in your Smart Buddies pack and
introduces you to each of the basic activities.
Intro to Smart Buddies™
With Smart Buddies, we are on a mission to help more children identify with
STEM, be much more inspired to continue their coding and STEM education
journey, and ultimately contribute to bringing much-needed diversity to the STEM
workforce.
What’s in the Box
Your Smart Buddies coding pack includes four buddies and four Siggys. The pack
also includes a charger and cable to charge the Siggy when it’s low on energy.
Note: Buddies will ship separately from the 4-pack, but the 4-pack has room to
store them with the Siggys.
4 buddies of your choice
4 programmable vehicles
Charging
cable
Charger

2
Charge Your Siggy
Each Siggy is installed with a powerful li-ion rechargeable battery and comes with
about 50% charge. When fully charged, the Siggy will run for five to seven hours,
depending on activity level.
Start Siggy
1. Attach your Smart Buddy to the Siggy using the wrist clips on the vehicle. Also,
to ensure the Siggy is able to balance properly, it is important that the buddy’s
feet be placed inside the footings on the base of the vehicle.
2. Turn on the Siggy, and it will beep.
3. Carefully place the Siggy upright on its wheels on a smooth surface away from
edges and obstacles. Hold it in that position for a few seconds until you hear a
beep. The headlight should be off.
4. Let go of the Siggy and it will balance.
5. After three to five seconds, the Siggy should
self-calibrate and double beep. It is now
ready to connect to your device. The headlight
should now be blinking.
6. Launch the Smart Buddies app and tap the
Choose Siggy tab on your device to connect
your Siggy to the app. Note: Be sure that your
device has Bluetooth turned on.
7. Each Siggy is marked with a unique identifier
in the form of a license plate on the front and
back of the vehicle. Be sure to choose the
Siggy in the app that matches the license
plate number of your unique vehicle. This is
important especially when there are multiple
Siggys in a single environment. Choose your
Siggy, and a green check mark should appear.
The headlight on your Siggy should now constantly
be on.

3
Smart Buddies Activities
On the app, there are six different activities. Activities are designed to move the
control of the Siggy from free playing with the tablet to coding with block code.
Some activities introduce problems to be solved and show hints and answers
when required.
Choose Activity
• E-books
• Free Play
• Path
• Learn
• Sandbox
• Missions
E-books
The E-books icon brings up a library of eight
books, one for each character, as well as a primary
and intermediate reading level to choose from. The
arrow in the lower-right corner will bring up the
next shelf of e-books.
Free Play
The Free Play icon brings up a joystick that
gives the user full and free control of the Siggy.
Additionally, there are preprogrammed moves
available.
All Free Play moves can be recorded and stored
for later replay using the Record, Save, and Load
buttons.
Path
Path gives the user the ability to draw a path for
the Siggy to follow. The path is to scale of the Path
grid.
• Tap Show on screen, and a virtual Siggy
will drive the path.
• Tap Drive on floor, and the path will be
downloaded to and executed by your Siggy.
◦Note that Drive on floor will be visible
(green) only when a Siggy is connected.

4
Learn
Learn takes the user through 10 coding lessons that
teach basic block coding elements. Each lesson
poses a problem that introduces new elements that
build on knowledge acquired from previous lessons.
After Learn code is executed by the Siggy or
on-screen, the result is displayed on-screen thereafter. Learn also gives the user
hints and eventually the solution if he or she has problems.
Sandbox
In the Sandbox activity, users implement their
knowledge gained from the Learn activity. All
coding elements are available including some
additional blocks to explore, such as the Dance
blocks.
Missions
Missions are the real thing! In each of the four
tasks, the user has to code the Siggy’s path
through a maze using techniques previously
acquired. The task has to be solved accurately.
Missions will correct the user and give hints to
solutions as needed.
Settings
The Settings tab gives a number of possible initial
settings for the Smart Buddies app, including
the option to select the use of metric or imperial
measurements.
The classroom feature can be enabled by tapping
the check box next to “Set up closed pairing.”
It was developed to make it easy to work with many Siggys in a classroom
environment.
• When the classroom feature is enabled, the Smart Buddies app locks onto
the connected Siggy; it will automatically show and be connected to only
this Siggy until it is unlocked.
• The lock is visible on the Choose Siggy tab.
• The Siggy can be unlocked from the Choose Siggy tab.
• The Siggy unlocks automatically when the app is closed or when 20
minutes pass after the app was last used.

5
Software Blocks Overview
Move
Speed
The Speed block sets the
speed at which the Siggy will
move.
Move
The Move block sets the
direction the Siggy will move
for a set distance.
Turn
The Turn block moves the
Siggy right or left for a set
number of degrees and
distance.
Audio
and
Visual
Horn
The Horn block enables users
to control the use of the built-in
horn on the Siggy.
Lights
The Lights block controls all
the lights on the Siggy. Users
can turn on/off the headlight,
front lights, back lights, and
blinkers.
Music
The Music block enables users
to use the SmartGurlz theme
song within their code.
Execution
Repeat
The repeat block repeats
the enclosed blocks a defined
number of times.
Pause
The Pause block pauses the
Siggy for the amount of time
entered.
Load file
The Load file block enables
users to load a previously
saved program created in Free
Play, Path, or Sandbox into a
new program.
Distance
The Distance block uses
the Siggy’s built-in ultrasonic
sensor, which detects the
Siggy’s distance from an
object. In the example to the
right, the block is set for the
ultrasonic sensor to detect
when the Siggy is 20 cm from
an object.

6
Dance
Shake It
The dance blocks are
prerecorded dance moves for
the Siggy to execute.
Swirlin
Left
Swirlin
Right
Cha
Cha
Cha
Zumba
Left
Zumba
Right
Getting to Know the
Siggy
The Siggy is self-balancing like a Segway, which gives it the
unique ability to perform agile zero-radius turns and
operate in a small area. It also gives users full visibility
of the buddy at all times.
However, this also means that the Siggy has a bit of
its own volition because it always tries to remain
balanced; this means it cannot be physically forced
while it’s running. So, help the Siggy balance when
it falls, but otherwise control the Siggy with the
app.
If the Smart Buddy is picked up at any point, the
wheels will speed up and stop; you’ll hear two
beeps. When this happens, the Smart Buddy can no
longer balance on its own. To reset the Smart Buddy, stand it
on a flat surface until it can balance on its own again.
Visit Smart Buddies
• Watch getting-started tutorials for a quick
introduction to Smart Buddies coding
concepts.
• Find out where to buy Smart Buddies.
• Access technical support.
www.smartbuddiesworld.com

7
SmartGurlz™ and
Smart Buddies
Smart Buddies have been specifically designed
for use with school classrooms. To ensure the
best performance and classroom experience,
the SmartGurlz product available online cannot
be used with the Smart Buddies app. Similarly,
the Smart Buddies Siggy cannot be used with
the SmartGurlz SugarCoded app.
Siggy Power
The Siggy comes with a built-in power module that can be
charged with the included charger or any other phone or
tablet USB charger. The power module secures five to
seven hours of operation time, and charge time is about
two to three hours.
The headlight tells you the Siggy’s status.
• When the Siggy is connected to the app, the
headlight is constantly on. A green check mark will
appear next to the Siggy in the Choose Siggy tab
of the app. If you’re having problems, check
to be sure your Siggy is not connected to a
device other than yours.
• When the Siggy is not connected to the
app but is ready to connect, the headlight
is blinking. On all devices in range, the Siggy will
appear on the Choose Siggy tab of the app
without a green check mark.
• When the Siggy is not ready to
connect to the app, the headlight is
off. This can happen when the
Siggy is balancing but not yet self-
calibrated or when it is driving
on a surface not conducive to
Siggy like shag carpet.

8
Take Care of the Siggy
Do not disassemble the Siggy. Doing so will void any warranties, implied or
otherwise. Be careful with handling the Siggy. Applying excessive force or
dropping it might cause permanent damage.
To reduce the risk of fire and burns, do not attempt to open, disassemble, or
service the battery pack. Do not crush, puncture, short external contacts, expose
to temperatures above 60°C (140°F), or dispose of battery pack in fire or water.
Battery chargers used with the device are to be regularly examined for damage
to the cord, plug, enclosure, and other parts and, in the event of such damage,
must not be used until the damage has been repaired. Battery is 7.4 V, 600 mAh.
The maximum operating current is 1,300 mAh.

All rights reserved © 2019
Smart Buddies
www.smartbuddiesworld.com