Robots and Physical Computing

In the   last post I was playing with 4Tronix's   Bit:Bot . In this post I will show the initial experimentation with an artificial neuron controlling the Bit:Bot to follow the edge of a line (it follows the left-hand side of the line). The neurons (well two separate ones, S1 and S2) are produced using weighted sums - summing the weights x inputs [ right-hand sensor (rs) and left-hand sensor (ls)] plus a bias for each neuron in this case w[0] and w[3].                         net=w[0]+w[1]*rs+w[2]*ls           net2=w[3]+w[4]*rs+w[5]*ls   If weighted sum >=0 then its output 1 otherwise 0       if net>=0:          s1=1     else:         s1=0     if net2>=0:         s2=1     else:       ...

When I first heard of this robot, my first thought was what a great idea; a robot with neopixels (I know I should be saying 'smart RGB LEDs' but neopixels is so much more snappier) controlled via a micro:bit. A good starting point for learning more about this robot, is the details on the 4Tronix site/blog , which includes build guidance and programming instructions for micropython and PXT. Though for the micropython code you might need to change pinX.digital_write() to pinX.write_digital()  where X is the pin number. My play code was to randomly select which neopixels to light up, I didn't include code to turn them off so multiple ones can be on. The robot is driven forwards, waits, backward, waits, turns to the right and then the left; and then repeats.  Code: from microbit import * import neopixel, random np = neopixel.NeoPixel(pin13, 12) def forward(n):     pin0.write_digital(1)     pin8.write_digital(0)  ...

The long awaited Hackaball has been released to those who backed as a kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hackaball/hackaball-a-programmable-ball-for-active-and-creat  , designed as a tough, easily programmable device for children that can be thrown around and (within reason) treated roughly. Further protected by an outer shell. The microcontroller is surrounded by a tough what appears to be a silicone (or similar) ring and encased in a two rubbery halves of a ball. In included within are  sensors (accelerometer and gyro), vibration motor,  LEDs, rechargeable battery, and a speaker (that can be programmed to make some interesting sounds, that go down well with children and adults). The two halves of the ball are translucent and diffuse the LEDs effectively. The computer you can throw, was the campaign's strapline and that is not an idle boast, I have let a six-year throw it around a large room with hard floors and even harder wall...

1. Single Neurone Instructions: Set the inputs by pressing the buttons marked input 1 and input 2 (Red is off(False or 0) and Green is on(True or 1)) Change the weights by changing weights 1 to 3, wx goes with input x and weight 3 is the bias. To activate the neuron you need to click on the the yellow ball ('the neuron'). The video below show it in action and explains the code. To see the code go to  https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/131892234/  . A slight modification click on the bell to change the weights The code is available at  https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/171190294/ 2. Training a Neurone In this part, the training of a neuron all written in Scratch is tackled. The video shows it action and you can have a go at using the software yourself at the end of the post. The Scratch code can be found at  https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/132915502/ All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any ...

Kamibot was a recent kickstarter ( https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kamibot/kamibot-teach-your-kids-to-code ) from the interesting named, Korean company, 3.14 Co., Ltd as a robot you can dress up in paper outfits. It is actually quite a nice little kit that can be controlled via Android, IOS or PC (available at  http://www.kamibot.com/default.php along with some of the plans for paper outfits). The software is a simple Scratch/Blockly style interface and programming is simple. Connecting the robot to the, in my case, an iPad was relatively easy. I would welcome a Mac version of the KamiBlock software but apart from that nice robot kit, that allows you to get programming quickly if you have used Scratch, Blockly or Crumble.  They have recently twitted about new piece of software for Android device - using cards on the screen in combination with their paper mapboard. Kamicard, now available for download to Android users! Who says you ...

A recently released book  Teaching Computing Unplugged in Primary Schools   edited by Helen Caldwell (University of Northampton) and Neil Smith (Open University) has a number of interesting chapters by authors who are passionate about how computing is taught in schools. The central theme is unplugged activities, without using computers, but still teach the fundamental of computational thinking. Ok, confession time. I co-wrote, along with Katharine Childs (Code Club), Chapter 3 Artists so I am biased here, but I believe in the central theme of Unplugged Computing. Computing, and Computational Thinking in general,  is not  just  about programming and using a computer (though using computers and  programming are vitally important to Computing) but it is also about many other things including problem-solving, being creative and working collaboratively. Chapter 3 is about linking these computational thinking ideas to produce visual art, by app...