Robots and Physical Computing

Poster presented at PyCon UK 2016, 17th September 2016. Pyconuk16 junkbots   from  Scott Turner DOI:  10.13140/RG.2.2.28682.67520 For more details on the three builds: Raspberry Pi based:  http:// bit.ly /2c87qex Basic Micro:Bit build:  http:// bit.ly /2cmJo0B Radio Control Micro:Bit  Junkbot :  http:// bit.ly /2cMHpDa 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

  PiJam  event on Saturday 16th April 2016, in Newton Building, University of Northampton, NN2 6JB. This is a free event, open to those who either want to found out more about the Raspberry Pi; want to share with others what they have done with the Pi; or just want to talk with others about them. Most of all (I hope) to have some fun. The event has been supported by the University of Northampton providing the rooms. Tickets (Free) are available at:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/northamptonshire-raspberry-jam-tickets-20886649531 Examples of possible 'show and tell ' items include: -Minecraft running on a Raspberry Pi with movement controlled with gesture control of an Star Wars styled X-Wing - Raspberry Pi controlling a 'junk robot' More updates to follow.  Tickets (Free) are available at:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/northamptonshire-raspberry-jam-tickets-20886649531 All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way b...

I was fortunate to get a place at Picademy (#picademy) this week. It was a fantastic opportunity and great fun, especially as most of it was about Physical computing. In the screenshot above I was playing SonicPi ( http://sonic-pi.net/ ) programming music (or trying to create music in my case). If you haven't had a go at throughly recommend it. It is great that SonicPi is available on the Mac and PC as well.  Playing with connecting Python and Minecraft is very engaging and fun, but programming LEDs and Motors through either the the GPIO or using an HAT (see the images below) is just what I enjoy the most. In the above image was my attempt at a simple 'Dalek' - essentially a cup and straw, with a wheeled motor inside. Controlled using python,  Pi through an ExplorerHat. It essentially moved in a circle either clockwise or anti-clockwise. Rise of Rabbitsapien - A team of us put together a project of a robot with a rabbit (no other soft toys were ava...

I have want to write this for a while, a short series of blog posts on why I think this is in an incredible time to be interest in robots and physical computing. Three posts in the series: - Introduction - Small robots - Social robots It only takes a quick look on line to see a vibrant and growing network of people who are sharing and supporting each other to use physical computing to do imaginative things. They might go under different names PiJams, Makerspaces, etc but essentially it is about bring people with similar interests (and those are wide) in physical computing together. That is just, physically, but now adding a on-line community that also shares and supports each other you have something that is worth being involved in. If you are unsure  what I mean by this have a look at some of the following people's twitter timelines: @whaleygeek ( https://twitter.com/whaleygeek ) @ martinohanlon ( https://twitter.com/martinohanlon ) @simonmonk2 ( https://twitter.com/simo...