Robots and Physical Computing

On the 1st September 2017, during 'Force Friday', LittleBits launched their new kit Star Wars Droid Inventor Kit  an R2D2 shaped robot, though you are encouraged to customise it to form your own designs. It comes a number of tutorials, that take you through building a moving head, a proximity sensor to move away from you, and many others. So confession time, I am not the target audience for this kit, but I have enjoyed playing with it. The tutorials take you through building and dismantling the kit, doing a range of different activities and in most cases controlling it remotely from an iPad. You can even record your voice and have it played back from the Droid, in my opinion, the wide of sounds is one of the things that lift this from being just a nice kit -  I will get onto the other one soon. Though good fun, I was left with a question can it be programmed? This was my first time using a LittleBits kit I didn't know what the options were available for programming i...

As much as I like the simplicity and flexibility of Crocodile Clips connecting components to a Micro:Bit, it can get a bit of a rat's nest of wires (especially if you are as messy as I am!). 4Tronix's have released their Micro:Bit PlayGround ( http://4tronix.co.uk/store/index.php?rt=product/product&path=89&product_id=580 )which is a board that has 3.5mm jack plugs to connect to a range of Gizmos (their phrase not mine) to which the Micro:Bit is screwed into. The battery pack is integrated onto the board on its back (see image below) The Micro:Bit screws into the PlayGround via five screws which also for the connection between the PlayGround and the 'bit'.  Below via the three cables connecting 3.5mm plugs, I have attached a 'Dial' (a potentiometer ) and two Flames (neopixels) to change the LED/neopixel's colours by rotating the Dial. Pin 0 has the 'Dial' attached and Pin 1 has the two Flames (neopixels) attached the out from the f...