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#1 2008-07-06 13:25:01

room209
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-03-17
Posts: 94

Uses for Boards

Thank you for adding this section to the forum.

I am curious to learn about the sorts of projects people are doing with the boards.  Could we start a list?

From my limited experience:

--Game controllers of various designs

--"Virtual genie"-- manipulating an object outside the computer gets the "genie" program to answer a question (sort of like playing magic 8-ball); an example project was a student who made a bowl and spoon, then when the spoon touched the bowl, the Scratch program's bowl of alphabet soup arranged letters as a message

--Switches for an adaptive technology service learning project (making other than keyboard interfaces for students with limited physical mobility)

--Sound meter to test and graph school sound levels (this one didn't work, because the sound routinely maxed out the sensor reading range and we couldn't figure out a way to scale the graph to fit it)

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#2 2008-07-07 13:54:14

chalkmarrow
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-05-18
Posts: 100+

Re: Uses for Boards

I am working on a few applications, but haven't figured out the best way to put them up on the site so that people without boards will still see some form of demo.

I hadn't heard of the "virtual genie" application, but that sounds pretty clever.

Do you have any more info on your keyboard interfaces for limited-mobility students? I'd like to see what the interfaces look like.

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#3 2008-07-07 16:39:07

room209
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-03-17
Posts: 94

Re: Uses for Boards

chalkmarrow wrote:

Do you have any more info on your keyboard interfaces for limited-mobility students? I'd like to see what the interfaces look like.

The students we did the project for (all five and six year olds) needed big, single-push switches, operated by hand or by cheek. We looked at commercial versions, then my kids did their own with cardboard and tin foil.  One example was two sheets of board with a sponge in between as a spring.  One side was pink, the other purple and corresponded to the colors for dress choices in the Scratch project. (The non-Scratch board version is posted at: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/room209/57965)

I"m part of a Scratchboard teacher workshop next week, so would appreciate learning more about your applications, ready to post or not!

Karen

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#4 2008-07-08 09:20:40

Lutz
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-05-18
Posts: 27

Re: Uses for Boards

I really like making projects that use the sound sensor to animate a character. I have a few projects that use the PicoBoard on my profile. There is one that uses almost all of the avaiable sensors (the monkey at Media Lab) :
-The light sensor turns out the lights in the room, and brightens the characters eyes
-The sound sensors makes the character speak
-The touch button makes the character burp
-The slider moves the characters arms up and down

I'm working on integrating the resistance sensors, and will update he project when I get around to doing that.

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#5 2008-07-08 09:47:49

Bluestribute
Scratcher
Registered: 2008-01-24
Posts: 1000+

Re: Uses for Boards

Lutz wrote:

I really like making projects that use the sound sensor to animate a character. I have a few projects that use the PicoBoard on my profile. There is one that uses almost all of the avaiable sensors (the monkey at Media Lab) :
-The light sensor turns out the lights in the room, and brightens the characters eyes
-The sound sensors makes the character speak
-The touch button makes the character burp
-The slider moves the characters arms up and down

I'm working on integrating the resistance sensors, and will update he project when I get around to doing that.

Wow, sounds interesting and makes me want one! But I doubt I can at the moment. Personally, I am broke and my parents just got us videos games yesterday (which is how I got broke. Need to pay them back). Though in the future, I will definitely think about getting one!


http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/1204/bluestributett4.jpg
That's my PSN ID. I know tons of COD4 glitches. Add me as your friend. Oh, and get a headset

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#6 2008-07-08 12:14:27

chalkmarrow
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-05-18
Posts: 100+

Re: Uses for Boards

One of the things that is of interest to me and my kids is how to incorporate feedback into the scratch / sensor board setup. The challenge we had was this: Suppose you take a cheap light sensor (e.g., one that comes with those radio shack electronics kits) and connect it to one of the resistance inputs, then hold the light sensor up to the computer screen running Scratch in presentation mode, how do you write a Scratch program that estimates the (x,y) location of the light sensor?

The method we eventually came up with can solve it within a second or so, with a reasonable (but fairly large) error. The reason we use a separate light sensor instead of the one that is on the board itself is that it is cumbersome to move the board around on the screen, and it covers up a good portion of the display. But you can use the on-board light sensor if you want.

I'm curious how Scratchers would go about approaching this challenge  smile

As a clue, how do you think that old Atari Duck Hunt game worked (the one with the orange plastic "gun".

As extra credit, suppose you don't care how long the process of finding the light sensor takes. Can you come up with a "distributed" method where little creatures (like cockroaches) move around the screen and collectively figure it out?

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#7 2008-07-08 12:18:07

chalkmarrow
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-05-18
Posts: 100+

Re: Uses for Boards

Another project in process involves making a simplified version of the balance board used with Wii Fit, where two resistive force sensors (or properly placed strain gauges) are incorporated into two side of a spongy pad and hooked up to two of the resistance inputs. This of course can be modified so that there are four force sensors to sense forward/back motion as well.

Last edited by chalkmarrow (2008-07-08 12:19:23)

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#8 2008-07-08 17:30:41

room209
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-03-17
Posts: 94

Re: Uses for Boards

Interesting board ideas.  I hope more get added.
Here's a link to the Virtual Genie class postings from the Science Museum of Minnesota.  The class was developed there by Keith Braafladt--this site has a older version of Scratch and the boards.

http://www.smm.org/lt/class/Virtual-Genie-06/

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#9 2008-07-15 22:48:00

keithbraafladt
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-03-14
Posts: 25

Re: Uses for Boards

We've been working with the Scratch/Pico sensor board for a while now, but even if you don't have a Pico sensor board, a fun and cheap way to get started thinking outside the computer - is to use sensor that's either built in or easy to get for your computer - a microphone.

Its a fantastic way to think about creating a project with a sprite that's controlled by a group of youth or adults clapping, shouting or singing ( I even got a group of teens to hum a sprite around a screen)

I searched the scratch forums for the project SoundGraph that comes with Scratch. It's really a nice starter project and it looks like a lot of Scratchers have worked on versions of the project idea.

http://scratch.mit.edu/pages/results?cx=010101365770046705949%3Agg_q9cry0mq&cof=FORID%3A11&q=soundgraph&safe=active&sa=search#1090

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#10 2008-07-15 22:59:02

joeyman
Scratcher
Registered: 2008-03-28
Posts: 1000+

Re: Uses for Boards

Can you get it NOT online?


Joeyman: On Scratch since March 28, 2008.
Over 142 projects! (And recently a Brony, and PROUD of it!)

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#11 2008-07-16 08:51:06

Lutz
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-05-18
Posts: 27

Re: Uses for Boards

chalkmarrow wrote:

One of the things that is of interest to me and my kids is how to incorporate feedback into the scratch / sensor board setup. The challenge we had was this: Suppose you take a cheap light sensor (e.g., one that comes with those radio shack electronics kits) and connect it to one of the resistance inputs, then hold the light sensor up to the computer screen running Scratch in presentation mode, how do you write a Scratch program that estimates the (x,y) location of the light sensor?

The method we eventually came up with can solve it within a second or so, with a reasonable (but fairly large) error. The reason we use a separate light sensor instead of the one that is on the board itself is that it is cumbersome to move the board around on the screen, and it covers up a good portion of the display. But you can use the on-board light sensor if you want.

I'm curious how Scratchers would go about approaching this challenge  smile

As a clue, how do you think that old Atari Duck Hunt game worked (the one with the orange plastic "gun".

As extra credit, suppose you don't care how long the process of finding the light sensor takes. Can you come up with a "distributed" method where little creatures (like cockroaches) move around the screen and collectively figure it out?

I am familiar with the 'light gun' idea. I would love to see your projects that use this. How far from the screen does the light sensor need to be?
Fun!

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#12 2008-07-16 18:47:01

chalkmarrow
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-05-18
Posts: 100+

Re: Uses for Boards

Lutz: I'll try to get something online before the conference. The light sensor we use came from a radio shack set, which has the actual sensor inset within a cylindrical housing by about 0.5 inches. Since the project performs a quick calibration step at first, and consistency is key, the sensor is actually held in contact with the screen.

The project I described above works in the following way. During a calibration step the user holds the sensor against the screen and presses a button. The scratch project then sequentially displays a white, gray50, and black background and reads the sensor value for each. From this it derives a simple linear relation. During operation, when the scratch project wants to figure out where the sensor is, it quickly flashes a horizontal gradient and the a vertical gradient and records the sensor values. From these, and the calibration values, it tries to figure out the x and y coordinates.

The trick, of course, is that a light sensor hooked up to your resistance input is far from linear (in fact, it's not even a well-behaved log function), so the gradient that you draw with the scratch paint program won't work (large non-linear errors as you approach edge of screen). To get around that, we simply created our own gradients interactively to force a linear relation (we used horizontal and vertical strips whose brightness we could control, and then stamped them one by one across the screen). It works for our setup, but I'm not sure it will work with anyone elses  smile

The duck hunt project is much easier, since all you have to do when the "trigger" is pulled is hide everything, change the target to a white circle, change to a black background, and see if the sensor is above some threshold. We haven't built the sensor for that project, but expect it to be something like harry potter's wand with a switch on it...

Last edited by chalkmarrow (2008-07-16 18:49:43)

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#13 2008-07-16 21:40:03

keithbraafladt
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-03-14
Posts: 25

Re: Uses for Boards

chalkmarrow wrote:

Lutz: I'll try to get something online before the conference. The light sensor we use came from a radio shack set, which has the actual sensor inset within a cylindrical housing by about 0.5 inches. Since the project performs a quick calibration step at first, and consistency is key, the sensor is actually held in contact with the screen.

It would be great if you could post this project - we have some resistance - type light sensors as well and it would be neat to try your program with them. This is an issue that we're thinking about too - how do we incorporate found/recycled/purchased sensors - pressure, temp, light, etcetera -  and calibrate them to use with the sensor board.

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#14 2008-07-17 06:18:53

Lutz
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-05-18
Posts: 27

Re: Uses for Boards

chalkmarrow: Wow, amazing! I can't wait to examine the stacks in that project. Thanks for sharing with us.

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