Old School Programming Idea

This is what "old school" programming looks like. Punched cards and tapes for controlling things became what we think of as programming! It would be fun to develop a reader (color, line, light, other) as an input for a robot as a way of playing a musical tune! What do you think friends? 

S3 Onboard OLED Ping)))Dar Works!

Parallax S3 Onboard OLED Ping)))Dar uses BlocklyProp and imported Blocks for the FLiP and Propeller Activity Board WX. Can be used with Ping))) or LaserPing))).

Photos below show cable ganging, mounting of a small breadboard using tacky putty, all clear green circle, blocked all around red circle and the overall hack. Photos show LaserPing)))

The video shows the BlocklyProp code in action with the original Ping))). OLED Communication Blocks are downloaded as a group from a new project using the Propeller Activity Board WX and then appended into an S3 project. The code is shared for your review in project 37622 and linked here - http://blockly.parallax.com/blockly/editor/blocklyc.jsp?project=37622

Here is what the OLED display shows as the S3 scans the 180-degree sweep. Here the bot is stationary for the purpose of filming the display. I drop in an obstacle and then remove it.

Women & Technology

I love this commercial for the University of Phoenix encouraging women to enter tech fields. Their YouTube page says this about the one-minute spot (there is a 30-second version too), "As automation takes over manufacturing jobs, a single mom chooses to adapt instead of being left behind. In this inspirational video, she finds the motivation to rise above her circumstances, reinvent herself with updated skills and become more relevant in today’s workforce. We can do it."

Parallax - National Robotics Week Robot Challenges

The folks at Parallax have issued some robot challenges for National Robotic's Week. Here is the announcement (all the links should be live):

Celebrate National Robotics Week with 5 Parallax Robot Challenges!

Although every week is robotics week here at Parallax, we are ready to celebrate National Robotics Week with our community by sending out a little challenge for April 7th - 15th. Complete an activity challenge with your Parallax robot and post the results to our Forums, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to share (be sure to tag us). Get those AB360, S3, Boe-Bot, and Shield-Bot robots ready! We've got 5 challenges lined up to make next Monday through Friday rock and roll, and we hope you join us.

Are you up for the 5 Robotics Week Challenges?

Making Robots

Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist science-fiction drama film directed by Fritz Lang. It features the evil inventor Rotwang's creation of the robot, Maria.

My friend, Carol Lynn Hazlett, just 3D printed her own Maria (see below).

Making robots and programming them is just plain fun! The image on the YouTube video at timestamp 0:25 and following capture how I feel every time a robot I build or programs works as planned! I am sure Carol agrees. 

I still say you don't have to be evil to build robots!

Rotwang and Maria are featured on the sidebar of this blog and have been since its beginnings.

S3 BlocklyProp Onboard OLED Test

S3 BlocklyProp Onboard OLED test of a line moving in a circle as a fast-moving "second hand." This uses the trig functions in BlocklyProp. The goal of this work is eventually an onboard PingDar display. The speed of the sweep of the "second hand" can be adjusted by a variable.

OLED blocks are saved as a block file from FLiP or Propeller Activity Board WX and then uploaded into an S3 BlocklyProp file using the append function.

See OLED Display with BlocklyProp on learn.parallax.com for reference.
OLED pins - GND to GND, VCC to 3.3V, DIN to P0, CLK to P1, CS to P2, D/C to P3, RES to P4 on the S3 Hacker Port. BlocklyProp Code is #37085 - http://blockly.parallax.com/blockly/editor/blocklyc.jsp…

Domino’s Pizza goes Robotic!

Domino's Pizza has created a way for the customer to slice a pizza any way they wish via a slicing robot. The company says, "A state-of-the-art robotic pizza maker that you control, it’s the closest thing to working in a Domino’s yourself. Awesome! The future of pizza making is in your hands. Literally."