Scratch Challenges Revisited

One thing I started last year, which has worked well for us is a Monthly Scratch Challenge!

Usually, I get the inspiration from discussion in class, when a student says something like, “Wouldn’t it be great if…”

This month, the inspiration comes from the Secretary of State for Education in England. I told my class about the way my Twitter feed transmogrified into the Roger Hargreaves appreciation society in the wake of the debate he has stimulated, and the link one colleague had shared to a Mr Men avatar generator – as an example of a Twitter-based PLN providing access to ideas and resources you might never have the time to uncover on your own.

“But I’m not that impressed,” I said. “It has potential, but I wouldn’t have done it that way!” And so, the challenge was set. If you had to make your own avatar generator, what features would you include?

My initial proof of concept is pretty rough round the edges. Certainly, it makes plenty of random Mr Men-style avatars I can screenshot and use as sprites in another application – but I’m sure my students can do better.

If you would like a year’s supply of monthly Scratch Challenges, and you’re in Prague this weekend, you’re more than welcome to pop in to Scratch in Control – our free Scratch Day event.

I’m starting to plan a follow-up event on November 30, as our contribution to European Robotics Week. If you would like to know more, drop me a line….

Food for Thought…

You’ve heard your parents say, “Don’t play with your food!” If you’re a parent, you’ve probably said it yourself, even if you vowed a million times that you would never turn into a carbon-copy of your parents…

The Makey-Makey changes all of that. Most food is conductive – so what you eat, can become a button to click…

One of my GCT colleagues recently released this short instructional video on the art of making marshmallows talk.

I had to respond by releasing this footage shot earlier this year:

and

enjoy…

Those of you who want to see a performing candy band in action – come to Scratch in Control

Showing Off – with S4A

During our Gifted and Talented day, one of the project ideas proposed by a student was a no-touch game paddle using light sensors to detect when a hand is placed over one side of a controller, putting it in partial shade.

Of course, I like this idea so much, I’ve decided to steal it and build a prototype of my own.

First of all, I needed a Scratch game in S4A that would suit this type of interface. So, I wrote one – a simple space game which included left and right thrusters as well as a missile to fire.

Screenshot of the finished game. The numbered asteroids move in an elliptical path while you fly around, wrapping if you exit the screen, trying to shoot the things

Next, I needed some components – one R/G LED and two light dependent resistors. Cost of parts: about the equivalent of US$2.

I also needed a design for the controller – I used Scratch to draw me a net

The net for my controller – all I needed to do was screenshot, crop and enlarge it before printing…

Having printed this out on card, all I had to do was cut it out, make some holes in it for the components to be inserted through and use some conductive tape to give me a base to solder them to some jumper wires. I then plugged these into an Arduino, added some blocks to enable the Arduino to communicate with the program

The analog inputs are for the two light sensors – the digital outputs are for the red and green components of the LED.

..and played the game.

You move your hand close to the left light sensor to switch on the left thrust motor – this rotates the ship to the right as it moves through space. If you do the same with the right, the right hand thruster rotates the ship anticlockwise. Put both in the shade, and the ship fires a purple pulse torpedo. To tell you what’s going on, an indicator light flashes red, green or yellow on top of the controller.

The controller connected to a laptop running the game in presentation mode…

Yes, it’s just another bizarre user interface – but far simpler to make than you might think. What sort of games would you make with it?

I’m planning to distribute more detailed instructions for this – and similar – construction projects for teachers who want to get their hands dirty at Scratch in Control. Obviously, this might not be the sort of task a beginner would choose to do – it involves a little bit of soldering for a start. But, if it’s something you’ve always wanted to try out in a safe and encouraging environment; and possibly win a prize – then come and join us in Prague on May 18.

The One Hour Scratch Robot Challenge

One of the topics we’ll be doing a short case study on at Scratch in Control is the place of coding as a problem solving tool in Gifted and Talented provision. To summarise the approach we’ve used successfully: where appropriate, allow for a coded option to stretch G/T students. If you want to know more, either join us at our Scratch Day event in Prague, or buy us lunch

Today, we’ve had a G/T curriculum enrichment day for Junior High (KS3) students. Many of them already have some Scratch experience, but not so much familiarity with control technology. With only an hour, projects needed to be simple I decided that the best approach would be to offer three differentiated challenges.

Level 1: His Master’s Voice

I showed the group a script for a voice activated robot on the screen, by varying the loudness and timing of my commands, it (usually) performed as expected, spinning, jumping and dancing when ordered to. We discussed possible improvements and refinements that they could make if they were to take on this challenge.

 

Screenshot of a voice activated robot that responds to different commands (most of the time)

Level 2: Make Yourself a Cyborg

I then showed the group my simple Robot of Truth controller, connected to a Makey-Makey. We discussed different user-interfaces that they could draw with a 2B pencil. Some of them had existing projects that they wanted to enhance by making their own custom controllers.

The 2B pencil skeleton of the Robot of Truth – clips attach to the bottom (middle clip is GND/earth). When you touch the left/right hands, it completes the circuit for true/false questions. A Light Louse looks on, bemused by it all…

Level 3: Activate Skynet!

A Makey-Makey will let you easily make almost anything into a button for Scratch, but if you want more options involving both input and output , S4A with an Arduino make a great combination. I set up a simple breadboarded circuit including a light sensor and a DC motor; showing how just a few blocks of code would enable you to use the LDR as a simple proximity sensor to set off the motor. We discussed some possible projects, and I had a couple of students prototyping a contactless game controller and a Rube Goldberg burglar alarm.

An Arduino connected to a light sensor (via a resistor) and a DC motor (via a transistor). When the light sensor is put into shade, the motor starts…

In short, it was a very fruitful afternoon spent with two groups of creative and enthusiastic students.