Robots and Physical Computing

The microbit is a great piece of kit, not least of which because of the range of programming languages and tools that can be used with it - officially JavaScript and Python and but there is also a range of third-party ones. A useful place to look for what languages/tools  are available is  http://microbit.org/code-alternative-editors/ ; listing both official and third-party tools (there was a few I wasn't aware of ). One I was aware and meaning to play with, is the brilliant Edublocks by Josh Lowe ( @ all_about_code ) or more   specifically in this post Edublocks for BBC Micro:bit  ( https://microbit.edublocks.org/ ). Edublocks for the microbit (and Edublocks in general) allows graphical blocks of code, in a similar way to languages such as Scratch, to be dragged and dropped into places. That in itself would be great, but the really useful thing here is though, whilst doing it you are actually producing a Python program (technically in th...

The Beta version of Scratch 3 ( https://scratch.mit.edu/microbit ) allows certain physical computing devices to interact with the Scratch; including the micro:bit. This post looks at a little experiment with the micro:bit; producing a pen that moves around the screen controlled by tilting a micro:bit. Set-up In the video above an example of the pen moving under micro:bit control is shown. Also, some discussion of setting up Scratch to work with the micro:bit is included. The best source for the instructions to set up the micro:bit/Scratch combination and the links needed is  https://scratch.mit.edu/microbit . The key features are: - The programming of the Micro:bit via Scratch is not done by downloading a new .hex file each time as you do with the python or the javascript blocks but is done through the Scratch Link which has to be run separately to the Scratch editor each time you have a session using Scratch and the Micro:bit. There ...

Just started playing with one of BinaryBots latest Totem robots - Crab  https://www.binarybots.co.uk/crab.aspx , which as the name suggests is a crab-like robot kit with controllable via a Microbit a claw.  It is early days playing at the moment, but some initial thoughts. You get a solid looking (and is solid) robot when it is built via a 'meccano-esque ' like construction material - Totem . A brief note on the Totem system is it is nice to build with, the design around the square nuts mean they slot into the structs and stay there - a nice feature, and the all the tools needed to build the structure come with the kit. The only thing missing from the kit is the micro:bit, but if you buying the kit you probably already have one (or more) microbits; or you can get one at the same time as buying the kit. Two boards come with the kit. First one, the power board, has the battery holder and connections for motors. The second the BinaryBot sensor ...

In a previous post , I tried to persuade you that using A-Frame it is not too hard to use for some simple Augmented Reality (AR) for free, via a browser, but also runs on a mobile device. Well I going to continue and put objects with images imposed on them into this AR system - which could be quite a quick way to get an organisations logo into AR. Summary In the first post  WebVR playtime 1: Basics of setting up, images and rotating blocks ,  I looked at setting up a scene, rotating an object.   S econd pos t, recapped the basics, then look at adding video, 360 degree video, and models developed elsewhere.  The third post  started looking at using WebVR as part of an augmented reality solution building on the great resource  Creating Augmented Reality with AR.js and A-Frame  by Jerome Etienne, creator of AR.js. This gave us the starting code.  In this post, the ideas are extended further to adding or ...

I am going to try to persuade you that using A-Frame it is not hard to do some simple Augmented Reality (AR) for free, via a browser, but that also can run on a mobile device. Introduction This is part of a short series of articles about some experiments with WebVR Web-based Virtual Reality - in this case based on the wonderful A-Frame  ( https://aframe.io )   .  In the first post  WebVR playtime 1: Basics of setting up, images and rotating blocks ,  I looked at setting up a scene and then rotating an object.  In the second pos t, recapped the basics, then look at adding video, 360 degree video, and models developed elsewhere. In this post we are going to start looking at using WebVR as part of an augmented reality solution. I going to start by building on the great resource Creating Augmented Reality with AR.js and A-Frame by Jerome Etienne, creator of AR.js - the starting code below and the basis of the solution ...

On 26th June 2018 I was very pleased to talk about the work members of the Computing team at the University of Northampton have been involved in, around games within the teaching of problem-solving and programming. The recent #WomenEd meeting, in Milton Keynes, organised by Anita Devi ( @Butterflycolour ), Anne Goldsmith ( @AnneMGoldsmith ) and Jay Rixon( @teaching_think ) (focused on Games in Education and a lively discussion on this topic was had, after a number of presentations. Below are the slides to my presentation. Games in Teaching Programming: HE Perspective   from  Scott Turner DOI:  https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.6726032.v1 Some of the tweets from the event #Edgames as promised here is my crib sheet on games and tech in the classroom- feel free to share it or download it! https://t.co/rha6Zt4LMU — ThinkTeaching (@teaching_think) June 28, 2018 Thanks for coming @cookiehj1 it was such a rich discussion! Thanks...

Some of the activities were lead by Computing staff at the University of Northampton's Women into Engineering Day on the 19th June 2019. Three activities were lead by the team - Meet Red the Robot -Blinking LEDs - Web programming Facilitated by Scott Turner, Liz Coulter-Smith and Iain Douglas. Below are some of the tweets from the day Red the ⁦ @NaoRobot ⁩ getting ready to met students at #INWED18 @inwed1919 ⁦ @UniNorthants ⁩ ⁦ @STEMatUN ⁩ pic.twitter.com/itD7vpjodo — Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) June 19, 2018 Well we hope Red has a great time inspiring women in Engineering #UoN — UniofNorthampton (@UniNorthants) June 19, 2018 Great to be showcasing leather technology, robotics, computing, life sciences, engineering, non destructive testing and photography @UniNorthants @INWED1919 event tomorrow. Exciting activities offering girls 11-14 opps to explore STEM #INWED18 @AspireNorthants @thewisecampaign — STEAM at UN (@STEMatUN) ...

I have recently been teaching a module on Internet Programming on a MSc Computing programme (see related links), and was looking for a way to introduce a little bit of physical computing to finish of the module - micro:bits offer a route. So a bit of context; most of the students on the module had first degrees in either networking or software engineering; so before they start the module they are competent in programming with Javascript, HTML, CSS and PHP. Therefore the module looked to develop new areas such as introductory blockchain ,  virtual reality via the web (e.g. WebVR), using social media sources; but lastly looking at physical computing leading to an insight into the Internet of Things (IoT). As part of this last topic gaining some experience of programming and very simple networking was looked at using the micro:bit. An activity was produced where: they, in pairs, initially replicate some code and work out how it worked; they then took the code and experim...

On the 17th April 2018 I had the honour of presenting a public talk on robots for the Northampton Branch of the Britsh Computer Society (BCS). This post aims to summarise the session. The session was really from a personal perspective and journey, covering where I think robots in home and schools are going, and an overview of some of the projects I have been involved. First, part was the presentation - the slides are shown below. Robots Talk British Computer Society Northampton_17_4_2018 from Scott Turner The videos used in the presentations are shown below. The first video is an introduction and welcome from Red the Nao robot. Next video shows a programmed Cozmo, using Anki's graphical programming language. Second section of the session was playing with the robots. Red the Nao , an Anki Cozmo and an UBtech Alpha2 and having a play with a Crumble -based junkbots.  Crumble junkbots were used on PC and Raspberry Pi via Pi-top CEED . Red ...

This is really part two of a set of post  in response to a question from Carl Simmons ( @Activ8Thinking ) concerning building a   micro:bit  simple neuron.  In the previous post a single neuron was produced. This post looks at producing a network of neurons, ie. neural network; looking to solve the problem that a single neuron can't solve, making an Exclusive OR gate (XOR) 1. Quick Overview 1.1 The neuron itself Inputs are going to be binary Weighted sum is bias+W1*input1+w2*input2 If weighted sum>=0 then the output is True (T on the LEDs) or '1' If weighted sum<0 then the output is False (F on the LEDs) or '0' 1.2 The XOR Essentially for the two input case if the two inputs are different then the output is True. The figure below shows the arrangement of the connections; pin 2 is the output of the neurons. The two micro:bits/neurons on the left of the picture taking in the two inputs, the same inputs go to these two neurons; the ...