1. Non-Blocking Code Blocks

In normal programming code, each code block must be executed completely before the next block is run. This means, for example, that the robot normally cannot blink and move at the same time.

But we can get around this restriction by using a special type of block called Non-Blocking (NB) blocks. With a "non-blocking" block, RoboBlocky will start the block's execution and then immediately move on to the next blocks in sequence while the non-blocking block continues executing. That is, the "non-blocking" block does not block execution of later blocks (thus the name "non-blocking"). 

2. Blinking and Moving at the Same Time

The blinkLED code block allows us to blink the LED light on the robot (whether it's a virtual robot or a hardware robot). But it doesn't enable the robot to blink and move at the same time. To do this, we use the "blinkLEDNB" code block, where "NB" stands for non-blocking:

When RoboBlocky executes a blinkLEDNB block, it starts the blinking sequence and then doesn't wait for it to end, but continues on immediately with executing the code that comes next.

Two important things:

1. If RoboBlocky comes to the end of the program before the blinking is done, it will prematurely end the blinking as well. If you don't want the program to end until the blinking is done, then you must use the blinkWait command at the end of the code:

That tells RoboBlocky to wait for the non-blocking blinking to finish before ending the program.


2. If you just want to specify a color for the blinks, put the setLEDColor block before the blinkLEDNB block.

Click the  Video  button at the top left to learn more about the blinkLEDNB instruction and the non-blocking concept.