Robots and Physical Computing

I have recently been playing with Edublocks ( edublocks.org ) and the 4tronix's Microbit Playground (the appropriately named Super Kit)  controlling programmable pixels/neopixels   and a servo . Recently a beta version of the Edublocks (see above) has become available ( https://app.edublocks.org/ ) so I wanted to play with it a bit and, at the same time, combine control the servo motor and neopixels together via a potentiometer (see below). The block version of the code is shown below: The python version np = None port1 = None pot2 = None port3 = None from microbit import * import neopixel np = neopixel.NeoPixel(pin0, 8) pin2.set_analog_period(20)# your own code while True:   port1 = pin1.read_analog()   pot2 = port1//128   port3 = port1//8   np[pot2] = (255, 0, 128)   np.show()   pin2.write_analog(port3)   sleep(250)   np.clear() To see it action via GIPHY A few thoughts on the be...

Using the brilliant Edublocks specifically to microbit ( https://microbit.edublocks.org/  ) I have been playing with a  4tronix Microbit playground . Previously I played with getting the turning a potentiometer to selected which neopixel light up , in this post the potentiometer is used to control the direction of the servo motor. Below is the block code in Edublocks used to do this. Set up use the Potentiometer attached to Pin1 to control the direction of a servo motor on pin2.  The potentiometer output is turned into values between 0 (or 5 when I checked) and 1023; it is then divided, using the Floor operation (//, returns the integer part of a division), by 8 to decrease the sensitivity of turning the potentiometer. These values allow both clockwise and anticlockwise turning of the servo to based on the full range of the potentiometer. The line pin2.set_analog_period(20) was based on experimentation in a previous post . The text-based version...

Using the brilliant Edublocks specifically to microbit ( https://microbit.edublocks.org/  ) I have been playing with a 4tronix Microbit playground .  Set up use the Potentiometer attached to Pin1 to select which of eight neopixels is turned on. The potentiometer output is turned into values between 0 (or 5 when I checked) and 1023; it is then divided, using the Floor operation (//, returns the integer part of a division), by 128 to give a number between 0 and 7. This number is used to selected which pixel attached to pin 0 lights up. Each pixel is set to white. The text-based version of the python code is shown below np = None pot1 = None pot2 = None from microbit import * import neopixel np = neopixel.NeoPixel(pin0, 8) while True:   pot1 = pin1.read_analog()   pot2=pot1//128   np[pot2] = (32,32,32)   np.show()   sleep(50)   np.clear() via GIPHY It is going to be interesting to exp...

via GIPHY Lego Robot and Neural Networks An overview of using Lego RCX  robots for teaching neural networks present at workshop in 2011. Derby presentation from Scott Turne... Superheroes, Code Competition and Scratch A Coding competition for primary school aged children was recently launched;  aimed at helping teachers to become more confident with teach... Micro:bit, Servo control with Micropython or blocks You can control servos (small ones) from a Micro:Bit directly. Following a link from the David Whale (Twitter  @ whaleygeek ) , thank you, t... USB Robot arm control with Python and Raspberry Pi I was asked recently if the USB robot arm could be programmed - I knew the answer was yes. The Arm came from the CBiS Education Robot Arm ... PS3 Controller to move a USB Robot Arm Guest Blogger Hiren Mistry, Nuffield Research Placement Student working at the University of Northampton. How to use a PS3 Controller t...

A Coding competition for primary school aged children was recently launched;  aimed at helping teachers to become more confident with teaching coding skills. Any educator working with primary scjool aged children  (e.g. Teacher, Code Club Leader, etc) can run the   competition   whether they are familiar with coding or completely new to it.  All the session planning is done for you so you can learn alongside your pupils. The resources include  - 12 weeks of lesson planning for absolute beginners (children and teachers!)  or  - shorter 6 week version for those who already have a little experience with using Scratch.  The resources can be used   for computing lessons or   to run  within  an after-school club. It is open for children in years 4, 5 and 6 working in teams of 3 - 6 children.   The aim is to create a short computer game using Scratch featuring super heroes who use their super powers for good.  To...

In tweets (Big Bang Northamptonshire  https://www.learnbydesign.co.uk/event/big-bang-northants-2019/ ) Fantastic junkbots being built at Big Bang Northamptonshire #ttbbnorthants @UniNorthants @UoNComputing @UoNSchools pic.twitter.com/uGyYgSN6Oe — Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) February 27, 2019 Come and play with Red and junkbot #ttbbnorthants pic.twitter.com/WdbyL1AZLi — Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) February 27, 2019 Junkbot being built at Big Bang Northamptonshire #ttbbnorthants @UoNComputing @UoNSchools @STEMatUN @UniNorthants pic.twitter.com/EuH5rYOjZF — Dr Scott Turner (@scottturneruon) February 27, 2019 Thanks for your support. Every time I looked across at yr table you were surrounded by happy children learning about robots 😀 https://t.co/k2hy5Dn9iY — STEAM at UN (@STEMatUN) February 27, 2019 All opinions in this blog are the Author's and should not in any way be seen as reflecting the views of any organisation t...

via GIPHY Young   Code rs   Competition   2019 The Young   Code rs   Competition   is a competition   for primary schools aimed at helping teachers to become more confident with teaching coding skills. Any educator working with primary school aged children  (e.g. Teacher, Code Club Leader, etc) can run the   competition   whether they are familiar with coding or completely new to it.  All the session planning is done for you so you can learn alongside your pupils. The resources include  - 12 weeks of lesson planning for absolute beginners (children and teachers!)  or  - shorter 6 week version for those who already have a little experience with using Scratch.  The resources can be used   for computing lessons or   to run  within  an after-school club. It is open for children in years 4, 5 and 6 working in teams of 3 - 6 children.   The aim is to create a short c...