<div dir="ltr">Jon,<div><br></div><div>Amazing project. Very cool. Any chance you have a walk-through video? I would like to see a "Blink" demo, perhaps at the Triembed meeting if nothing else. </div><div><br></div><div>Separately I would love to learn a little about the tools and development process you used for the project.</div><div><br></div><div>Shane</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Jan 25, 2015 at 1:53 PM, <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jonjwolfe@anibit.com" target="_blank">jonjwolfe@anibit.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><u></u>
<div style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif">
<pre>I'll take this opportunity to plug/solicit feedback on a new tool I came up with that coincidentally is targeted at teaching Arduino programming to kids and beginners. I've adapted code from the MIT app inventor and a similar project for Arduinos named Blocklyduino. (Both are based on the 'Blockly' graphical programming library) I'm working on some code clean-up and then I'll publish it on github under Apache license. My adaptation has a focus on the Pololu 3Pi robot, but should be usable with generic Arduinos too.
The app itself runs in a web browser, and you can cut and paste the resulting code into an Arduino IDE. It does run on tablets, though not very well, I hope to fix that eventually. (It also has major problems in IE, but works fine in Chrome/Firefox/Safari)
You can play with it here: <a href="https://anibit.com/webtools/3pi/" target="_blank">https://anibit.com/webtools/3pi/</a>
The "Getting started" help is not written yet.
I'm working on a Windows version that runs the webapp internally and talks to the Arduino IDE to let you upload you code in one click. I have proof of concept working for that, but I need to add some polish and clean-up and I'll publish that too.
As far as economy programming devices, I'm torn between the Adafruit ISP and the Pololu One. The Pololu programmer is a hair cheaper ($19.95) and also has UART functionality, and an ultra low bandwidth scope. As an aside, AVR ISP devices that can work at 3.3V seem to be hard to come by. The AVR Dragon can do it, it has built in level shifters to use the target voltage. The Dragon is more expensive at ~$50, but it really is the Cadillac of cheap AVR programmers, it also does JTAG and and debugging too, just treat it delicately.
--Jon
On 2015-01-24 19:31, Pete Soper wrote:
> You imply a key point, Shane: it would be very frustrating for a
> whole class full of kids to share a single computer. My experience has
> been with settings where kids are going from place to place such that
> only a few are at any one thing at a time. I totally lost sight of
> that with my posting to the list. The other significant headache with
> the RPI approach is the pile of free little monitors out in the world
> do not support HDMI and the pile of free mice and keyboards are often
> PS2 vs the necessary USB type. Then there's power supplies, etc. To
> make even a small number of these systems would involve scrounging a
> lot of stuff.
>
> I looked at the slides and poked around in the Eagle files for the
> project Shane pointed to and have a few comments.
>
> I agree this project could provide an INCREDIBLE experience for 6+
> graders. But to emulate the format described in the slides would
> require some number of programmers (they used one per pair of
> students). Jon Wolfe of Anibit might make a deal on a batch of
> Adafruit USBtinyISP programmer kits but they're retail price is about
> $22.
>
> But one additional pain might be that edge connector. I really
> expected to see a 2x3 or 2x5 PIN header connector on this board. But
> it appears this board would require some kind of edge to pin header
> connector (that feels like it could cost a few bucks a throw) or else
> an adapter cable (guestimate a buck a piece). The Adafruit programmer
> comes with a 2x5 connector/cable (in addition to 2x3). In my opinion
> step one for pursuing this would be to tweak the PCB design to use a
> standard 2x3 male header to eliminate the need for some weird adapter
> lashup.
>
> -Pete
>
> PS I've come to terms with this Adafruit programmer and don't hate it
> any more. I discovered why it wouldn't work some times (and anybody
> considering buying one of these should ping me for the details to
> avoid some real heartburn). My remaining issues with it that aren't
> germane to a student project are that a) it's unbelievably slow
> compared to it's somewhat more expensive cousins and b) it applies
> over four volts to VCC no matter what the power jumper setting is.
> That's highly stressful to discover after the fact if your circuit
> board contains devices that forbid voltages this high.
>
> On 01/24/2015 05:00 PM, Shane Trent wrote:
>
>> Slightly different approach but I was impressed when I read about
>> this effort (Raleigh guy too, might be on the list) to show kids how
>> to blink an LED on a tiny cheap board. I suspect you could raise
>> enough donations to build enough for a classroom.
>>
>> <a href="https://learn.sparkfun.com/blog/1193" target="_blank">https://learn.sparkfun.com/blog/1193</a> [3]
>>
>> Shane
>>
>> On Sat, Jan 24, 2015 at 4:49 PM, Pete Soper <<a href="mailto:pete@soper.us" target="_blank">pete@soper.us</a>> wrote:
>>
>> I've done a few things in area elementary schools and school
>> carnivals and a Durham library but mostly helping kids play with
>> "Squishy Circuits [4]" (and "Banana Piano", but IMO that's not at
>> all relevant to this topic).
>>
>> But my cohorts showed the kids how to play with Scratch [5] (which
>> comes preinstalled as part of Raspbian Linux for RPI these days). If
>> I were going to do something like you're talking about, and could
>> put a little time into it I'd jumper a Raspberry Pi to a solderless
>> breadboard with a few LEDs and piezo beeper, et al on it and use
>> Scratch, show the kids how to use it, then stand back and watch. If
>> you google "raspberry pi scratch gpio projects [6]" there's a lot of
>> stuff available to help shorten the learning curve.
>>
>> I'm semi-confident somebody on this list would be glad to loan you
>> an RPI for a reasonably limited time to facilitate this. I've got
>> extra breadboards, LEDs, beepers, and six other things that could be
>> used for this that you're welcome to borrow. (My RPIs are either
>> tied up or the old, 1/4gb RAM flavor)
>>
>> -Pete
>>
>> On 01/24/2015 03:19 PM, jonathan hunsberger wrote:
>>
>> Hi all,
>> I'm pretty much an embedded n00b, lurking on the list to learn some
>> things (pretty successful in that so far!) I work in IT, doing
>> systems engineering / infrastructure architecture, but when my
>> daughter's Computer Skills (mostly typing, plus a little bit of
>> other stuff, including "hour of code") teacher found out I was a
>> "computer person", she wanted me to come talk to the class about
>> writing code. I am not a software developer, but like most people I
>> do write a lot of scripts, etc. to make my job easier. And at home
>> my latest free time sink has been playing with microcontrollers,
>> etc. So.. I had two ideas:
>> 1. Talk about ways that some level of coding skills can be useful
>> even when you aren't a software developer for a living.
>> 2. Talk about how you can use code to do things "in the real world"
>> with all of the easily-accessible microcontrollers that are on the
>> market these days.
>>
>> Kind of leaning toward the second one since it seems more like
>> playing than working. For kids who have just come out of "hour of
>> code" and maybe a few hours of codecademy, I was thinking it might
>> be cool just to bring in an Arduino and some common peripherals
>> (sensors, LEDs, etc.) and show how easy it is to quickly get
>> something working using SparkFun/AdaFruit tutorials and
>> running/modifying example sketches that come with the Arduino IDE.
>> Generally show them how accessible it can be and give them the basic
>> info about getting started with it if it is interesting to them.
>>
>> Have any of you done anything like that? Does anyone have advice on
>> specific things to demonstrate, ways to organize the presentation,
>> etc.? This would be for middle school students. 6th grade for
>> sure, not sure about 7th and 8th.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Triangle, NC Embedded Computing mailing list
>> <a href="mailto:TriEmbed@triembed.org" target="_blank">TriEmbed@triembed.org</a>
>> <a href="http://mail.triembed.org/mailman/listinfo/triembed_triembed.org" target="_blank">http://mail.triembed.org/mailman/listinfo/triembed_triembed.org</a> [1]
>> TriEmbed web site: <a href="http://TriEmbed.org" target="_blank">http://TriEmbed.org</a> [2]
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Triangle, NC Embedded Computing mailing list
>> <a href="mailto:TriEmbed@triembed.org" target="_blank">TriEmbed@triembed.org</a>
>> <a href="http://mail.triembed.org/mailman/listinfo/triembed_triembed.org" target="_blank">http://mail.triembed.org/mailman/listinfo/triembed_triembed.org</a> [1]
>> TriEmbed web site: <a href="http://TriEmbed.org" target="_blank">http://TriEmbed.org</a> [2]
>
> --
>
> A blog about some of my projects. <a href="http://fettricks.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://fettricks.blogspot.com/</a> [7]
>
>
>
> Links:
> ------
> [1] <a href="http://mail.triembed.org/mailman/listinfo/triembed_triembed.org" target="_blank">http://mail.triembed.org/mailman/listinfo/triembed_triembed.org</a>
> [2] <a href="http://TriEmbed.org" target="_blank">http://TriEmbed.org</a>
> [3] <a href="https://learn.sparkfun.com/blog/1193" target="_blank">https://learn.sparkfun.com/blog/1193</a>
> [4] <a href="http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/SquishyCircuits/" target="_blank">http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/SquishyCircuits/</a>
> [5] <a href="http://scratch.mit.edu/" target="_blank">http://scratch.mit.edu/</a>
> [6]
> <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=raspberry+pi+scratch+gpio+projects&oq=raspberry+pi+scratch+gpio+projects&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i64.13625j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8#q=raspberry+pi+scratch+gpio+projects" target="_blank">https://www.google.com/search?q=raspberry+pi+scratch+gpio+projects&oq=raspberry+pi+scratch+gpio+projects&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i64.13625j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8#q=raspberry+pi+scratch+gpio+projects</a>
> [7] <a href="http://fettricks.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://fettricks.blogspot.com/</a><span class="">
>
> _______________________________________________
> Triangle, NC Embedded Computing mailing list
> <a href="mailto:TriEmbed@triembed.org" target="_blank">TriEmbed@triembed.org</a>
> <a href="http://mail.triembed.org/mailman/listinfo/triembed_triembed.org" target="_blank">http://mail.triembed.org/mailman/listinfo/triembed_triembed.org</a>
> TriEmbed web site: <a href="http://TriEmbed.org" target="_blank">http://TriEmbed.org</a>
</span></pre>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:HelveticaNeue-Light,'Helvetica Neue Light','Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif;font-size:16px">A blog about some of my projects. <a href="http://fettricks.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://fettricks.blogspot.com/</a></span><br></div></div>
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