pitsco LUMA User Manual

LUMA USER GUIDE

Getting Started

LUMA is compatible with PCs, Macs, and Chromebooks; the device must have a USB port and access to the

Internet. LUMA's USB cable uses a Type-A port to connect to the device. Many computers and devices have

Micro or Type-C USB ports. If this is the case, you'll need an adapter to convert to the port to a Type-A port.

Micro USB

LUMA has its own web app for creating and uploading programs to the robot. It is highly recommended to

use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge as your browser when running the app. You might be able to create

programs using the app in other browsers, but Chrome and Edge are the only browsers that allow access to

the USB ports of the device for uploading code to the robot. The app can be accessed at luma.pitsco.com.

Turn on the "Ask Where to Save..." feature

Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge both allow you to toggle on a feature that asks where to save each

file before downloading. It is recommended to toggle this feature on. With this feature toggled off, both

browsers usually default to saving files to a downloads file on the device (although the default location can

be changed). The problem with this is the program will automatically be named "code.blockly" or "code"

followed by a number if a "code.blockly" file already exists. This is not ideal because students will need to

rename this file according to the instructions in the activities so they can be easily identified and reloaded at

a later time.

Toggling the "Ask Where to Save..." feature on will bring up a dialog box when students click the Save icon

in the app. The dialog box allows them to name the file according to the instructions as well as choose a

specific location on their device. It is recommended to have them create a LUMA folder to save all their

programs to on their device.

Type-A

Type-B

Type-C

Table of Contents

Do you have a question about the LUMA and is the answer not in the manual?

Page 1 Compatible Devices and Computers LUMA is compatible with PCs, Macs, and Chromebooks; the device must have a USB port and access to the Internet. LUMA’s USB cable uses a Type-A port to connect to the device. Many computers and devices have Micro or Type-C USB ports.
Page 2 To toggle on the “Ask Where to Save…” feature in Chrome or Edge: 1. Click the three dots icon in the top right corner of the browser. 2. In the menu on the left, click Downloads. 3. Toggle on the “Ask Where to Save…” feature. •...
Page 3 6. When connected, you can upload code to LUMA by clicking Upload on the left side of the screen. 7. Click OK on the pop-up box. Make sure you don’t unplug the USB cable or turn LUMA off while code is uploading.
Page 4 • Make sure there is not an error in the logic of the program. • LUMA uses the web serial API to connect and to write programs to the robot. As of the time of the creation of this document, only Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge fully support the web serial API.