Robots and Physical Computing

In a previous post,  Adafruit Circuit Playground reacting to music (updated with simulator)  using vibrations to change the RGB of pixels on the Circuit Playground Express was played with (it is too much fun to not). Here I am going to go even simpler, using the sound level directly, again using MakeCode. The circuit playground includes a microphone so sound levels can be used directly, by using them to vary the RGB inputs and brightness of the pixel (see the code above). You can try the idea out on the simulator below; the circle bottom left can be used to simulate varying the sound level.  Please feel free to alter the code and share; the code is available at  https://makecode.com/_8UPY8oD54bmE 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

In a earlier post on using micro:bit ( Playing with microbit emulator-dancing bot )  a simple dancing robot image (using the 5x 5 grid was created).  A dancing bot - 3x3 box for the body, with two legs.  Thanks to a loan of a Micro:Bit from Lancaster University I can experiment with an actual micro:bit ( @SCC_Lancaster @LMcUnderwood ) Experiment  1 - Using the buttons So the functions for the idea were: Button A - Move to the left and then back to the starting position; Button B - Move to the right  and then back to the starting position ; Buttons A+B - Jump up  and then back to the starting position; Shake - 'Crouches'  and then back to the starting position On the Microbit Experiment 2-  To add left and right tilting to it. So if the micro:bit is tilted to the right the 'bot'  moves to the right, and the same for the left. The tilting operation here is essentially - when the x on the accelerometer is...

In a earlier post on using micro:bit ( Playing with microbit emulator-dancing bot )  a simple dancing robot image (using the 5x 5 grid was created). In this post of modified version using the events to do pretty much the same thing (except the two button action)-  A dancing bot - 3x3 box for the body, with two legs.  So the functions for the idea were: Button A - make it bob up and down; Button B - makes it move to the left and right; On shake - make it jump up and down. 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.

The micro:bit ( https://www.microbit.co.uk/about ) has been in the press quite a bit recently - rightly so.  At the moment I have not got my hands on an actual one, though someone generously (more in later posts on that) will be lending me one to play with. Luckily you do not need the device to start playing; the code editor  ( https://www.microbit.co.uk/create-code )  has an emulator built in, so you can start playing. This post reports on my first go. So, I am starting with experimenting with the editor, using Microsoft's Block Editor - which is similar to Blockly and Scratch as an interface. What I built is simple but that is fine - A dancing bot - 3x3 box for the body, with two legs. I wanted to play with getting some interaction that uses the buttons (A and B) and shaking. So the functions for the idea were: Button A - make it bob up and down; Button B - makes it move to the left and right; Shaking it - makes it appear to jump and land (see below)...