Robots and Physical Computing

The incredibly cute robot Cozmo became even more engaging recently with the ability to program it. A recent update to the Cozmo app (see related links) to include Code Lab allowing programming of Cozmo  through of a graphical programming approach based on Scratch Blocks . An example of the code is shown below, getting Cozmo to: Start moving around Wait until it see a face       Says Hi Everybody        Moves forward       Sounds like a cat       Looks down and then raises it's forks       Acts 'grumpy'       Acts 'happy' The video at the end shows this in action. It is an easy to use tool and with a lot of the Cozmo actions available in the blocks, put a few blocks together and very quickly you have Cozmo doing some interesting and often funny actions. Is it very flexible, no; but it is not meant to be - it is meant to be easy to use and i...

Tried out the Junkbot controlled by a Crumble Controller (See here for  plans for it ) at the Code Club I help with at Roade Primary School, Northamptonshire. The first two images show the junkbot drawing the lines and dots on the paper just be using a spinning unbalanced motor. In the figure below (though you can't see it) the connection between the motor and the power goes through the Crumble to allow the motor to change direction. Some the 'code-clubbers' have played with lowering the power via the Crumble and found below certain values (percentage of the maximum power available through the Crumble ) the motor stalls. The simple code used to control it shown below. Links Build yourself a Crumble Junkbot Turning junk into 'robots' at Wicksteed Park Crumble Junk-Eggbot All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisat...

The Computing teams NAO robots seemed to have been a hit today:  Work in your favourite industry! The girls explore #engineering #INWED17 #womeninengineering @UniNorthants @STEMatUN @AspireNorthants pic.twitter.com/V6UGWnDxUv — RS Components (@RSComponents) June 22, 2017 The robots were a hit it sounds see below: #Engineering is not just for blokes! Is it for you? And what did you enjoy the most today? #INWED17 @UniNorthants @STEMatUN @AspireNorthants pic.twitter.com/OW5HbQtmlL — RS Components (@RSComponents) June 22, 2017 #Engineering is not just for blokes! Is it for you? And what did you enjoy the most today? #INWED17 @UniNorthants @STEMatUN @AspireNorthants pic.twitter.com/iEoTbEdQSe — RS Components (@RSComponents) June 22, 2017 All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation the Author has any association with. Twitter @scottturneruon

@UniNorthants MSc Computing student Hussein Ajam delivering lightning talk at prestigious ACM TVX conference. Very well done! #acmtvx2017 pic.twitter.com/lz8SDy544q — Mu Mu (@DRMMU) June 17, 2017 Ajam, H. ,  Ramdhany, R. ,  Hammond, M.  and  Mu, M.  (2017)  A middleware to enable immersive multi-device online TV experience. In:  Proceedings of the ACM International Conference on Interactive Experiences for TV and Online Video.  New York: ACM. Conference:  Association of Computing Machinery International Conference on Interactive Experiences for Television and Online Video (ACM TVX 2017)  Hilversum, The Netherlands 14-16 June 2017 Abstract:  Recent years have witnessed the boom of great technologies of smart devices transforming the entertainment industry, especially the traditional TV viewing experiences. In an effort to improve user engagement, many TV broadcasters are now investigating future generation con...

As an experiment, I looked at using the TAG too l to collect my tweets on the CAS conference. Used the TAGS searchable link  http://bit.ly/2rMnqLd Good morning #casconf17 pic.twitter.com/DfXI6iIWYZ — Lorraine Underwood (@LMcUnderwood) June 17, 2017 Mark Guzdial plenary talk #casconf17 pic.twitter.com/ssa97bGmdF — Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) June 17, 2017 Talking about prediction #CASconf17 pic.twitter.com/yTNAPm1r68 — Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) June 17, 2017 Parson's problems https://t.co/XhQQYDh87L #CASconf17 pic.twitter.com/sgTN0td7K0 — Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) June 17, 2017 Great to hear more on @jobadge s Iron Man project #CASconf17 pic.twitter.com/NCT3XVylSs — Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) June 17, 2017 It was good a session. #CASconf17 thank you @MattWarney @mrradburn for a good session https://t.co/80ECK0R2h6 — Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) June 17, 2017 Interesting insights on teaching ...

I recently received my Airblock drone from Makeblock funded through a kickstarter. If you want to see an Airblock in action this very funny video showing it being un-boxed from the Channel 5's Gadget Shown is worth a look.  Of course I had to play with it in Air mode, it is a drone I want to see it fly. But there options for creating hovercraft and your own designs. It is controllable via an app either by directly controlling or through Makeblock's own block based programming language Makeblock both are in the same app which is a feature I particularly liked. It can be annoying have to multiple apps for the same product. Selecting Air Mode (as below) means you can control it directly or chose New Project to program it. In a new project, in design mode you can set up the interface dragging buttons into the project and then write code to go behind them. I found I needed to add a power switch in the interface.   Click on the button and you can dr...