Robots and Physical Computing

Speech Recognition in Scratch 3 - turning Hello into Bonjour! The Raspberry Pi Foundation recently released a programming activity Alien Language , with support Dale from Machine Learning for Kids , tha... PS3 Controller to move a USB Robot Arm Guest Blogger Hiren Mistry, Nuffield Research Placement Student working at the University of Northampton. How to use a PS3 Controller to... Scratch Robot Arm It is not physical but CBiS Education have release a free robot arm simulator for Scratch.  Downloadable from their site  http://w... Tinkercad and Microbit: To make a neuron The free online CAD (and so much more) package Tinkercad  https://www.tinkercad.com/ under circuits; now has microbits as part of the list ... Escape the Maze with a VR robot - Vex VR You don't need to buy a robot to get programming a robot, now there are a range of free and relatively simple to start with robot simula... Easy, Free and no markers Augmented Reality - location based AR For a few years...

The last of the posts on the Hug avoider and the 4Tronix's Eggbit 4Tronix's Eggbit (in fact I bought three of them  https://shop.4tronix.co.uk/collections/bbc-micro-bit/products/eggbit-three-pack-special   :-) recently) is a cute add-on for the microbit. In three previous posts I looked at eggbit using microcode to  produce a hug avoider - warns when people at too close. - https://robotsandphysicalcomputing.blogspot.com/2021/12/hug-avoider-2-4tronix-eggbit.html -  4tronix Eggbit - cute and wearable - hug avoider Hug Avoider 3 - experiments with Python and 4Tronix Eggbit In this post using the buttons and adding (via Microbit V2 with its speaker) simple speech 1. Buttons Pins for the buttons pin8 - Green button pin12 - Red button pin14 - Yellow button pin`6 - Blue button     if pin12.read_digital()==1:         #Red Button         blank_it()     if pin8.read_digital()==1:         #Green but...

via GIPHY 4Tronix's Eggbit (in fact I bought three of them  https://shop.4tronix.co.uk/collections/bbc-micro-bit/products/eggbit-three-pack-special   :-) recently) is a cute add-on for the microbit (see above).  In two previous posts I looked at eggbit using microcode to  produce a hug avoider - warns when people at too close. - https://robotsandphysicalcomputing.blogspot.com/2021/12/hug-avoider-2-4tronix-eggbit.html -  4tronix Eggbit - cute and wearable - hug avoider This post replicates  some of this, but this time using Python and shows the stages of the build Get the ultrasound to find the distance; Produce smile and surprise on the eggbit's 'mouth'; Produce rainbow on the neopixels or all the pixels turning red; Bring it all together so if the person is too close, less than 30cm it reacts.   1. Ultrasonic detection Probably the most challenging bit of this was getting the ultrasonic distance measrement working. It actually is not that difficult; e...

In an earlier post this year (   4tronix Eggbit - cute and wearable - hug avoider ) I played with 4Tronix's Eggbit (in fact I bought three of them  https://shop.4tronix.co.uk/collections/bbc-micro-bit/products/eggbit-three-pack-special   :-) recently). In that one I used a microbit V1. In this post, I am using a microbit V2 and replicating the idea but with adding a sound; when people get too close as a bit of fun and surprise for relatives at christmas.  The code written using Makecode for Microbit ( https://makecode.microbit.org/ ) and the extension for it 4Tronix's developed (see  https://4tronix.co.uk/blog/?p=2485 for more details)   is shown below: Essentially the device goes on; puts a message on the LED display "Hug Avoider 2" and then puts a rainbow on the neopixel syle LEDs and a smile on the small 'mouth' - if the ultrasonic sensor doesn't pick up anyone in front. If the ultrasonic sensor picks up anyone in front; LEDS change to red, a sped-up v...

Easy, Free and no markers Augmented Reality - location based AR For a few years, I have been a fan of Aframe and AR.js - these are fantastic tools for creating web-based Virtual and Augmented Reality.  CrowPi2 - Raspberry Pi laptop and much more. Elcrow in 2020 released on kickstarter and now in pre-order their own site , an interesting take on the Raspberry Pi laptop - Speech Recognition in Scratch 3 - turning Hello into Bonjour! The Raspberry Pi Foundation recently released a programming activity Alien Language , with support Dale from Machine Learning for Kids , tha... June 2021 - 10 Most viewed Blog posts on Robots and Physical computing Blog . Tumbling Turing 1 - initial play with the Turing Tumble @TuringTumble A product that has kept  popping on to my radar has been the intriguing Turing Tumbles    @TuringTumble   Explaining the Tinkercad microbit Neural network In a previous post, I looked at developing a neural network in Tinkercad around the ...

A product that has kept  popping on to my radar has been the intriguing Turing Tumbles    @TuringTumble  I admit to being initially hesitant (is just a gimmicky marble run? - it isn't!) a marble powered computer. The idea is using mechanical ideas to visualise computing concepts is thought-provoking and I have always loved marble runs and 'Heath Robinson'/'Rube Goldberg' style machines; so  bit the bullet and brought one and I am impressed; it is great fun (more than just as a marble run).  Let's start with the packaging and components it is and feels like a high quality product. The components feel sturdy and well designed, the storage for the components also feels sturdy (see figure 1). The project book with the exercises etc is a mixture of puzzles and challenges, alongside a short graphic novel/comic; it all feels well executed and thought through. Online there is now a growing community  https://community.turingtumble.com/ where new puzzels are p...

Elecrow in 2020 released on kickstarter and now in pre-order their own site  (or Amazon.com ) an interesting take on the Raspberry Pi laptop - a laptop with a built-in sensor lab. e Image taken from: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/elecrow/crowpi2-steam-education-platformand-raspberry-pi-laptop/description  It builds on their earlier Crow Pi system but looks much more like a laptop with a secret sensor kit. It includes a wireless mouse and a keyboard, with the cool idea that the keyboard fits over the sensor kit and can be used as and looks like a laptop. The version I received comes with a fantastic range of items, including the Raspberry Pi; power bank; books on python and scratch; RFID keyfob; remote control; game controllers; and many other components. A wide range of software and learning materials are installed on the SD-Card; including software to learn about AI. At the moment I have mainly been playing with it as a Pi based laptop but I am looking for...

  The National Teaching Repository https://ntrepository.wordpress.com /home/ based at Edge Hill University was set up to provide a resource for sharing teaching resources. Members of Canterbury Christ Church University play a role in the curation process. To search the Repository  https://figshare.edgehill.ac.uk/The_National_Teaching_Repository    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

4tronix Eggbit - cute and wearable - hug avoider / The ever-brilliant 4tronix have produced Eggbit https://shop.4tronix.co.uk/collections/microbit-accessories/products/eggbit;  a cute, wear... Pimoroni Enviro:bit - Finally got to play with something that has been my list of things to play with, the Pimoroni Enviro:bit Weather Kit  https://learn.pimoroni... Speech Recognition in Scratch 3 - turning Hello into Bonjour! The Raspberry Pi Foundation recently released a programming activity Alien Language , with support Dale from Machine Learning for Kids , tha... Pimoroni Envirobit - Light and LED In a previous post, the Envirobit (  https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/enviro-bit  )  for the Microbit was played with getting temperature,... Microbit and Environment Measurement - Using Python In two recent posts, Makecode was used with the Enviro:bit from Pimoroni to try out a few ideas ( https://robotsandphysicalcomputing.blogspo... 10 mosts read posts on the Robo...

In two recent posts, Makecode was used with the Enviro:bit from Pimoroni to try out a few ideas ( https://robotsandphysicalcomputing.blogspot.com/2021/06/pimoroni-envirobit.html  and   https://robotsandphysicalcomputing.blogspot.com/2021/06/pimoroni-envirobit-light-and-led.html ). In this post Pyton using the Mu editor was used to try out the Enviro:bit. As in the makeCode version, Pimoroni has provided both a python library (via Github) but also within the Readme.md useful installation instructions. There is at the time of writing a possible typo; to get the BME280 sensor (temperature, pressure, humidity sensor) to work; you need to add parenthesis in the line  bme = bme280.bme280() After that, it works fine and includes potential altitude measurement which I don't think is in the Makecode version (though I could be wrong); I need to play with it a bit more. To experiment the code below was used test reading temperature (in Centigrade), humidity (%), and altitude (f...

In a previous post, the Envirobit (  https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/enviro-bit  )  for the Microbit was played with getting temperature, humidity and pressure  ( https://robotsandphysicalcomputing.blogspot.com/2021/06/pimoroni-envirobit.html ).  In this short post a quick experiment using the sound and light sensor, to turn LEDs on the board to turn off and on beyond on light level. The code is set up when a clap happens nearby, light level is used to 'decide' whether the LEDs are turned on or off, below a threshols the LEDs go on above it the LEDs are turned off, Makeecode  Using Makecode makes this relatively easy to implement and fun. 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

Finally got to play with something that has been my list of things to play with, the Pimoroni Enviro:bit Weather Kit  https://learn.pimoroni.com/tutorial/tanya/building-the-enviro-bit-kit  (see below)- a nice kit based around Pimoroni's enviro:bit device which uses microbit and adds a number of sensors including temperature, pressure and humidity; as well as a microphone. Programming is via MakeCode; extensions can be added using the Extension option and searching for envirobit. Getting sensor information: So a quick experiment to work through the temperature, pressure and humidity sensors, a brief bit of code to do this is shown below: Responding to sound The microbit used with the kit was a V1, so this device added a microphone to the systems (V2 already has the microphone built-in). In the code below the microbit to react to a clapping sound. To develop further. There is still various things to try out the like the light sensors. As well as the expert blocks - what their fu...