The post Tello! first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>
I want to start this article by stating that I am in no way compensated or sponsored by Ryze, DJI, or any other company for this article.
Recently Ryze released a drone (quadcopter) that uses technology from DJI and Intel to make a very stable user friendly drone for around $100. In the past I have owned several toy drones, and even have a Phantom 3 standard. In terms of stability and performance I would rate the Tello along the lines of the Phantom. It hovers very well, it is somewhat responsive to control, and is easy to maneuver. But what is most interesting about this drone and why I am writing about it, is the ability of a user to utilize Scratch and program routes and action for the drone from your computer. Yes, we have the modern Big Trak, but in drone form.
So what does one need to get started with programming this drone?
- You need the drone which you can get from DJI (I bought my from B&H Photo).
- You will need to download and install Node.js.
- You will need to have the Scratch 2 offline editor installed on your windows machine. (Sorry. I haven’t tried this on Mac yet).
- You will need to have some open space. My office is kind of small, and it found it a little disconcerting when the drone did not behave as expected and I had little room to get out of the way.
- You will need to have a WiFi capable computer. (I know. It had to be said.)
- You will need the Tello Scratch libraries.
Once you have all these things go ahead and unzip the Tello Scratch libraries and remember where you installed them.
Once everything is installed open powershell (ÿ + R, type powershell, hit enter). Change directories to where you unzipped the Tello Scratch libraries and type node tello.js. At this point you can open Scratch 2 and while holding shift select Import Experimental HTTP Extension. Select Tello.s2e.
At this point you should have all the Tello commands under More Blocks in Scratch.
To start I made a simple program which you can find here.
Here is what the code does. When you click start in Scratch, the drone will take off and we set the speed. (Play with this number to make the drone go faster or slower). The next command tells Scratch to wait. I found that if I didn’t put a pause in the code that commands would get skipped. Sometimes this meant we could not easily land the drone. The rotate CCW with angle 180 command tells the drone to rotate 180 degrees, and the flip with duration “r” instructs the drone to flip right. I am not sure why r is considered a duration. Direction seems to be more accurate, but it is what we have. Lastly we tell the drone to land. If you look to the right, I also have the space command so that I can land the drone if any commands get skipped.
Once you have loaded the code you will want to connect to your drone. Turn the drone on and go to your wifi setting and select the network that starts with TELLO.
Once you have connected you should be able to run your code and have the drone take off, rotate, flip and land. Pretty easy. Here is a video of mine.
In powershell you should see text like this scolling on your screen.
Let me know what fun and creative ideas you come up with for your Tello drone. And as always be careful and aware of others. The props on the drone can injure you or others. (I crashed into a rain coat of mine and cut a hole in it.)
The post Tello! first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>The post Build a Crossbow from Legos first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>I decided that I would release it as a slide show which is more helpful for a tutorial anyway. It’s a pretty long and complicated build so we split it into two slideshows.
DISCLAIMER: We are not responsible for irresponsibility — this crossbow shoots HARD. Please treat it respectfully and be careful.
LEGO Crossbow Tutorial Part I:
If you build this crossbow let us know how it worked for you. Please share any improvements or modifications you make – we love to see what you CONSTRUCT!
The post Build a Crossbow from Legos first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>The post We’re Now On Scratch! first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>But I just wanted to pop in with a really quick post to say, “Hey, we’re on Scratch!” If you are a Scratcher give us a follow – we would love to see your projects. If you are not on Scratch by all means check it out!
The post We’re Now On Scratch! first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>The post 3D Printing Over the Network Using Sketch-up and Octoprint first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>Sketch-up
If you are familiar with CAD software this is an easy one to pick up. You can create some interesting, complicated objects to print, but you need to follow a few steps first.
- Under Window on the toolbar select model info and make sure to set the format to Decimal and MM
- At least on my machine, the slicing software will sometimes ignore lines/forms that are narrower than the nozzle. For structural measures I take this a little further and try not to make anything less than 1 mm in any direction. The exception to this is if I am making a rabbit on the edge of an object. That tends to work out well.
You will need to download an extension to export out the stl files. Once you have the export file you can open it in CURA.
I like “SketchUp STL by SketchUp Team Import and Export STL files for 3D printing” but there are several in the extensions warehouse to choose from.
Cura by Ultimaker
Cura is nice slicing software. I started off using Cura to print directly to my Printrbot, and now use it to create the gcode files I upload to Octoprint. You can set up the software for your particular printer from a template or make your own custom printer layout. Once you have your stl file, you can simply drag and drop it into cura.
Based on your settings, Cura will render the object, show you where you can have problems due to the model, and let you save it out to a gcode file. The following image shows the slicing that Cura generates for this particular model.
Once you are happy with the results, save the object using the disk icon at the top, and upload it to OctoPrint.
OctoPrint
OctoPrint is a browser interfaced printer server for 3D printers. Scott Hanselman did a podcast with the author of octoprint back in April. If you get a little time you really should listen to it.
Anyway, I use octoprint to make my printer available to all my home users. I host it on a Raspberry Pi 2, and use it to monitor my prints from anywhere my WIFI reaches. I use the gcode viewer for every print to make sure I do not have any voids that would leave the object structurally unsound. I also appreciate the ability hook up a camera and see the print in real time without the need to run up and down the steps to monitor the print job.
This is just one way you can create and print your 3D designs. There are many many others. Please feel free to comment and describe your own methods for getting your models from concept to reality.
The post 3D Printing Over the Network Using Sketch-up and Octoprint first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>The post What is a Robot? first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>It is a queer feeling to know that I have made myself into a footnote in the history of science and technology for having invented the foundation of a science that didn’t exist at the time – and that I did it at the age of twenty-one.
~Isaac Asimov The Word I Invented
I thought I knew what a robot was until I sat in on the first of YETI Robotics summer lecture series by Dagna Bieda. I give credit to Dagna for making me aware of much of the information I share in this article. Some of the videos I was introduced to last year when I joined YETI Robotics but a few of the ones that I share we found on our own.
Dagna prefaced her lecture by saying that this was an introduction to the history of robots and that we would have to go find out more on our own. So I have been digging around reading more about the history of robotics and I was so surprised by how ancient some of the ideas are – the dove of Archytas, Leonardo da Vinci’s mechanical knight, Al-Jazari’s toy boat, and Su Song’s astronomical clock tower to name only a few.
In Dagna’s lecture I learned that while Isaac Asimov did coin the term ‘robotics’ in his story Runaround – which is collected in I, Robot – the actual word ‘robot’ was first used by Karel Capek in his play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots); but even then it was his brother’s idea. His brother, Josef, the first person to coin ‘robot’ was a painter!
Robot is derived from the word ‘robota’ which means serf laborer. And so even in it’s ‘fictional’ origin the idea ‘robot’ had a very specific purpose. Dagna gave us a definition that included an autonomous component – a robot carries out a program written by a human. We were left wondering – was our ‘robot’ which is tele-operated really a robot!?
So using this definition the very ‘first’ robot called Unimate was an industrial robot and it can preform more than 200 stored functions and movements.
But when we say ‘robot’ what we often mean is something a bit more humanoid. Then we tumble into AI and quickly begin asking questions about where this technology might lead us? Dagna introduced us to the ‘Three Laws of Robotics’ which were defined by Issac Asimov in the very same story where he coined the word robotics. At it’s very conception the idea ‘robot’ came with ethical implications and Asimov seemed to have grasped the answer to those dilemmas almost at once.
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except when it conflicts with the first law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws
~Wikipedia – The Three Laws of Robotics
So, you can follow Dagna’s advice, too, and go read more on your own. Now, let’s look at some amazing robots!
BigDog
I first saw BigDog by Boston Dynamics last September during our local FTC Kickoff Event. Watching it recover from being pushed and keep it’s footing on ice just blows my mind. (Warning: if you are in a quiet place the gas engine is loud!)
Nao
Nao (pronounced ‘now’), the cute little Japanese humanoid robot who can play sports and even dance. Enjoy a couple of these videos. Check out more on your own including one in which Nao becomes self aware.
Festo’s Third Hand
Festo is a company that designs robots that mimic bilogical life. Check out this robotic thrid hand inspired by the trunk of an elephant.
Spherical Robots
A new robot that we just became aware of because we follow James Bruton’s YouTube channel is an amazing prototype of BB-8. The boys also love his automated Iron Man costume.
The FTC team that David coaches has decided to build a demo bot inspired by James’s prototype. They spent a lot of time exploring videos of other spherical robot designs and really like this one.
But they think a robot like this one may be closer to something they can accomplish this year.
Do you see how each of those are based on the same concept but each is simpler than the previous one? This is what we meant by simplifying your project idea in our post Design Through Iterative Learning.
If you are still with us, thanks for sticking around! There are so many other amazing robots out there. Here is one last video we enjoyed watching. Leave us a comment or send us a tweet of an amazing robot video that you have seen – or that you have made!
More Humanoid Robots
The post What is a Robot? first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>The post Learn to Code Without a Computer first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>I first became aware of the idea of ‘programming without a computer’ two years ago when I came across the kickstarter campaign of a company called Primo. They had designed a game that taught programming logic using a series of blocks.
You can buy the toy Cubetto from Primo but they also have kits or even plans to make your own from scratch.
David said this was a lot like a toy he used to play with as a kid – the Big Track (which you can now purchase again on Amazon). This toy was one of his first programming experiences.
The older boys were already playing around with programming using things like Alice, Scratch and Python. You can read about a few of those things in Teach Your Middleschooler How To Code. But I wanted to know more about this idea of ‘hands on’ programming.
Since then I’ve found a few more resources that I would like to share with you:
LightBot
The first resource does use a computer, but you are learning logic and not syntax. David wrote a post about the programming logic that is taught in this game back in December: What Can You Learn From Playing Lightbot?
Domino Addition by Numberphile
Around that same time Numberphile aslo released this video – one of our favorites – in which they demonstrate how a calculator performs addition using binary. Essentially, they create logic gates out of dominos. The boys build these little domino computers over and over. They even built one at our local GeekFest last year.
This last resource is my current favorite.
CS Unplugged – Computer Science Without A Computer
This website is stuffed with ideas to teach programming through games and activities that don’t involve computers. One of my favorites is the Binary Numbers series . So far I have liked everything I’ve read on this site.
I have also heard good things about Lauren Ipsum but I have not read it yet. Do any of you recommend this book?
If you know of other resources for teaching programming in this way – with an emphasis on logic – please leave a comment and share them with us. Through our relationship with Yeti Robotics we have the opportunity to work with youth in our inner city and are always looking for new ways to grow our teaching.
The post Learn to Code Without a Computer first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>The post Craft and the Modern Maker Movement first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>~ Charlotte Mason An Essay Towards A Philosophy of Education
Humor me with a very short exercise. Wherever you are right now take a minute or two to physically copy this quote. If you have it, try a nice pen and paper or even a brush. If all you have is your phone just try it. Think about your hand as you form those words. Think about what each of those words means.
Now reflect – how did this exercise transform or transport you in that moment?
Now I’m going to jar you a bit with a different quote.
“I walked for hours and came to the realization that this was bigger than just losing a job. More important, I felt that in this work shakeup, my life story had been stripped away from me. My personal narrative – my sense of purpose and direction in the world – no longer made sense. I had spent so much time justifying my actions (and time spent as a slave to a computer monitor) with the rationale that I believed in the mission of our company. I tried to get back on track mentally by telling myself I’d get another job. I dusted off my resume – something I hadn’t needed to do in years – and just started at it. I reformatted and updated my experience, but after all the tweaks and sorts, something still wasn’t right. I kept questioning myself: What was I doing, really? No matter how I told my story, I realized, I couldn’t hide one glaring fact: The only thing I was qualified to do was to sit in front of a computer.”
~ David Lang Zero to Maker
I’m writing today about the importance of the modern Maker movement and it’s connection with craft. The act of making – it touches somehow the core of our humanity. An this act of making inside Maker culture is in many ways a complicated reaction against modern culture. That reaction against a mechanized culture is not something new – William Morris lead a whole group of artists to rebel against industrialization in the Arts and Crafts movement. As an aside that movement was both successful and unsuccessful – the beauty of the work in the Arts and Crafts movement was really only able to be enjoyed by the lower classes in industrialized knock offs.
In our culture there are many of us who feel much as Lang felt in the beginning of his story – purposeless and directionless – and there is something about the act of making that establishes identity. That’s what the term ‘Zero to Maker’ means in Maker culture. In the act of making you are transformed from being merely a consumer to being a Maker.
There are some other elements of Maker culture that are very interesting that we might talk about later – particularly the idea of open source and of shared tools and materials (that’s what a MakerSpace is).
For some, myself included, being a Maker or a craftsman is distinguished from being an artist. Making or crafting in Maker culture should serve two purposes – it should be something that is useful (the thing has a purpose after it has been made) or the thing that you make should help you understand how something works. My friend Quincy from MakerSpace Charlotte is serious about this kind of making – his passion is ‘Demystifying the world around us.’
So in addition to moving people from consumer to maker, the Maker culture is working to help us understand all of the electronic gadgets that surround us. Do you really know how a radio works? That phone that you carry around everywhere you go – what’s inside it?
So, yes, the idea of making – of craft – it’s important. Important enough that we should take it very seriously in the education of our children. Important enough that we should insist that it be in every curriculum. Important enough that we should purchase it with time.
So yesterday, when you were wondering why we were talking about weaving potholders in a series of posts about being a geek? This is why.
You’re probably not going to give a four year old a soldering iron but you wouldn’t hesitate to give him a potholder loom. But when he is old enough for that iron and sits in front of all those tiny pins of his arduino trying to carefully read a wiring diagram? Yeah, following all those weaving patterns – which color goes on which peg…it all begins to make sense.
The post Craft and the Modern Maker Movement first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>The post Design Through Iterative Learning first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>If you google ‘design process’ you will get lots and lots of examples but I like to keep things simple. The following infographic illustrates a simplified design process that I use on most of my projects.
You can use this flow to perform multiple cycles on a project. During each cycle you can increase in complexity or try a new variation. The key to this is start simple and perform multiple cycles. In many ways it is a natural process – one that you might perform without thinking whether it’s learning to make biscuits or folding a paper airplane.
One of the very first projects that all of our boys begin with is a woven potholder. Potholders make the perfect project. They are tactile, they are pretty simple to learn, you get instant feedback if there is a problem, and there is near limitless variety. Our boys have all been very excited to take there very first potholder off the loom and see it put to use immediately.
(They also came in useful to learn how to make a simple stop motion video!)
Once they have a grasp on the basics of weaving the boys have always experimented with colors and patterns right away – i think it’s instinct. It’s a natural iterative design loop. Each of the boys have figured out 3 or 4 color patterns all on their own and then they have all seemed to get stuck. They continued to make potholders – especially at Christmas – they just made different color variations of those patterns that they already knew.
Then just over a year ago while ordering more loops we stumbled accross the Potholder Pattern Wizard over at Harrisville Design. There were so many possibilities and potholder making was new again!
So, in this instance maybe we are short cutting design by introducing patterns, but as you can see the boys were very eager to learn these new patterns and what made them work.
You have the opportunity to play with this design process this week during our design challenge. Come over and fold paper airplanes – we are giving away a copy of The New World Champion Paper Airplane Book!
And if you make potholders we would love to see those, too. Tune in tomorrow if you are scratching your head about we are making potholders in a blog series about being a geek.)
The post Design Through Iterative Learning first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>The post New Homeschool Voices Page first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>We have a new place on the blog! Click on over to Homeschool Voices and take a look at our plans for this space. We would love to have you join the conversation.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program.
The post New Homeschool Voices Page first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>The post Welcome Secular Homeschoolers! first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>Before we get off the runway did you notice that the Professor has a construction cone on his head?! That’s becuase we would like to take a moment to invite you to sign up for our newsletter CONSTRUCT! You can sign up over there in the sidebar, but taxi right back for some fun, ok?
THE PAPER AIRPLANE
This spring we attended FIRST Championships with YETI Robotics in St. Louis, Missouri. It was a trip of epic proportions for our family, but one of the highlights of our trip was such a simple thing – the humble paper airplane. While waiting for the awards ceremony we were initiated into a FIRST tradition – engineering and folding a paper airplane that would fly from the highest balcony onto the stage of the Edward Jones Dome. The video below will give you a small taste of what it was like.
In an auditorium with tens of thousands of geeks and engineers only a handful of planes were successful – and their flights were beautiful. If you had asked us before that trip, ‘Can you make a paper airplane?’, we wouldn’t have blinked before answering, ‘Yes!’ Now we would pause and ask, ‘A paper airplane that does what?’
What makes an airplane fly?
There are four basic forces involved in flight whether that is the flight of a 747 or an 8 1/2″ by 11″ piece of paper. Those four forces are:
Thrust Drag Weight Lift
Hop on over to one of our favorite sites, Aviation For Kids and scroll down to the section ‘How Paper Airplanes Fly’. It’s one of the most well written explanations that I have found. Make sure you understand the role of each of those forces in flight before doing this weeks challenge.
Spend a few more minutes learning about the different kinds of paper airplanes and how they work. We suggest The Paper Airplane Guy. We love his website, videos, and book. This video is a bit long but it’s one of our favorites.
Now that you’ve done all this research it’s time for a challenge!
design your own paper airplane
1
Think about a paper airplane and how you would like it to perform. Do you want it to speed across the room? Do you want to throw it from the top of the stairs and have it gently land on the floor or do you want it to perform loops and tricks?
2
Now make your paper airplane and throw it. Don’t just fold a plane someone else designed – the challenge is to design your own and you have all week.
3
How did your plane fly? Jot down some notes, document the flight with a sketch, or even take some measurements.
4
Make another with modifications to improve on any performance issues you had. If you don’t know how to fix it google it.
5
When you get a plane that you are happy with post a picture or video on our FaceBook Page or tweet us @big_green_chair using the tag #homeschoolgeek #biggreenchair.
Come back this evening for a follow up post about this design process.
Share your picture or video using #homeschoolgeek #biggreenchair by 8pm on Friday for a chance to win a copy of The New World Champion Paper Airplane Book!
The post Welcome Secular Homeschoolers! first appeared on Big Green Chair.
]]>