calliope

Got myself a micro:bit :)

Written by marcelpetrick on March 12, 2018

After gaining some experience with the Calliope mini I was eager to have look over the edge of the plate and found the Sino:bit with an even bigger matrix of 144 LED. BUT: there is still the humble predecessor, the BBC micro:bit. A very original and clever project to get ALL children at school started. At a price of around 17€ what can go wrong? Give ten children one for free and even if just one turns into a programmer/software-developer (or just gains a bit insight how their favorite electronic gadgets work), then it was worth but. But what do I say as german citizen. Hello Flugtaxi :’|
I plan to get my feet into the cold and muddy waters of robotics. Of course, assembling the :move mini with the bulldozer add-on will be nothing great, but I’ve craved to find out how to control a servo and how to put some life into the boring aspects of programming. Just kidding. But blinking LED and measuring values is nice, but … I want to build my own cat-feeder. Or at least something which moves and blinks to keep them a bit attracted.
And: the micro:bit and Calliope mini feature both Bluetooth-radios, so connecting them shouldn’t be a problem.
Another advantage: somehow the given libraries for the micro:bit are more advanced and diverse than the Calliope’s, could be due to the release in 2015 versus 2017. Also: micro:bit features microPython. C not ..

My first idea was to create a stress-test. Play a bit around with the buttons and the “run in background”-feature. Still not heating properly and fast enough.
Code is visible on my micro:bit-repository on github. Just like the one for the Calliope. Suggestions how to make the processing unit glow are heartily accepted 🙂

Let us get coding. Somehow I like the enviroment with blocks and the possibility to switch to Javascript. Not my favorite dialect, but … sometimes you have to embrace what is given to you <3

20 min-project of today: creepy squirrel

Written by marcelpetrick on December 1, 2017

Had in mind to play around with the “make LED shine directly via PIN”-feature of the Calliope Mini. Worked, nice 🙂
Actually for both “eyes” it is randomnly picked if they shall light up (and down) separately, but the GIF can can last just 3 seconds.

let ledpowerinverted = 0
let pin2 = false
let pin1 = false
basic.forever(() => {
   pin1 = Math.randomBoolean()
   pin2 = Math.randomBoolean()
   for (let ledpower = 0; ledpower <= 1023; ledpower++) {
       if (pin1) {
           pins.analogWritePin(AnalogPin.P1, ledpower)
       }
       if (pin2) {
           pins.analogWritePin(AnalogPin.P2, ledpower)
       }
       basic.pause(2)
   }
   for (let ledpower2 = 0; ledpower2 <= 1023; ledpower2++) {
       ledpowerinverted = 1023 - ledpower2
       if (pin1) {
           pins.analogWritePin(AnalogPin.P1, ledpowerinverted)
       }
       if (pin2) {
           pins.analogWritePin(AnalogPin.P2, ledpowerinverted)
       }
       basic.pause(2)
   }
   basic.pause(500)
})

let ledpowerinverted = 0

let pin2 = false

let pin1 = false

basic.forever(() => {

pin1 = Math.randomBoolean()

pin2 = Math.randomBoolean()

for (let ledpower = 0; ledpower <= 1023; ledpower++) {

if (pin1) {

pins.analogWritePin(AnalogPin.P1, ledpower)

}

if (pin2) {

pins.analogWritePin(AnalogPin.P2, ledpower)

}

basic.pause(2)

}

for (let ledpower2 = 0; ledpower2 <= 1023; ledpower2++) {

ledpowerinverted = 1023 - ledpower2

if (pin1) {

pins.analogWritePin(AnalogPin.P1, ledpowerinverted)

}

if (pin2) {

pins.analogWritePin(AnalogPin.P2, ledpowerinverted)

}

basic.pause(2)

}

basic.pause(500)

})

applied science ;3

Written by marcelpetrick on October 28, 2017

The surface-temperature of an average ~furry lazybutt~ housecat is 24°C 😀

For this important experiment you need: a Calliope Mini, a computer science-degree and too much free time ;’)
Just kidding, the code is quite simple:

input.onButtonPressed(Button.A, () => {
    music.playTone(262, music.beat(BeatFraction.Whole))
    basic.showString("" + input.temperature() + "°C")
})

input.onButtonPressed(Button.A, () => {

music.playTone(262, music.beat(BeatFraction.Whole))

basic.showString("" + input.temperature() + "°C")

})

Jubilate deo!

Written by marcelpetrick on July 4, 2017

Ok, today arrived the Calliope mini and after doing all my chores I spent one hour tinkering with the tiny star 🙂
An improved version of one of the suggested projects: the first part of “Ode to joy” from Beethoven together with a blasting animation. Start by pressing “A”.

input.onButtonPressed(Button.A, () => {
    basic.showLeds(`
        . . . . .
        . # . # .
        . . . . .
        # . . . #
        . # # # .
        `)
    music.playTone(330, music.beat(BeatFraction.Quarter))
    music.rest(music.beat(BeatFraction.Half))
    music.playTone(330, music.beat(BeatFraction.Quarter))
    music.rest(music.beat(BeatFraction.Half))
    music.playTone(349, music.beat(BeatFraction.Quarter))
    music.rest(music.beat(BeatFraction.Half))
    music.playTone(392, music.beat(BeatFraction.Quarter))
    music.rest(music.beat(BeatFraction.Half))
    music.playTone(392, music.beat(BeatFraction.Quarter))
    music.rest(music.beat(BeatFraction.Half))
    music.playTone(349, music.beat(BeatFraction.Quarter))
    music.rest(music.beat(BeatFraction.Half))
    music.playTone(330, music.beat(BeatFraction.Quarter))
    music.rest(music.beat(BeatFraction.Half))
    music.playTone(294, music.beat(BeatFraction.Quarter))
    music.rest(music.beat(BeatFraction.Half))
    music.playTone(262, music.beat(BeatFraction.Quarter))
    music.rest(music.beat(BeatFraction.Half))
    music.playTone(262, music.beat(BeatFraction.Quarter))
    music.rest(music.beat(BeatFraction.Half))
    music.playTone(294, music.beat(BeatFraction.Quarter))
    music.rest(music.beat(BeatFraction.Half))
    music.playTone(330, music.beat(BeatFraction.Quarter))
    music.rest(music.beat(BeatFraction.Half))
    music.playTone(330, music.beat(BeatFraction.Quarter))
    music.rest(music.beat(BeatFraction.Half))
    music.playTone(294, music.beat(BeatFraction.Eighth))
    music.rest(music.beat(BeatFraction.Half))
    music.playTone(294, music.beat(BeatFraction.Half))
    for (let i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
        basic.showLeds(`
            . . . . .
            . . . . .
            . . . . .
            . . . . .
            . . . . .
            `)
        basic.showLeds(`
            . . . . .
            . . . . .
            . . # . .
            . . . . .
            . . . . .
            `)
        basic.showLeds(`
            . . . . .
            . . # . .
            . # . # .
            . . # . .
            . . . . .
            `)
        basic.showLeds(`
            . . # . .
            . # . # .
            # . . . #
            . # . # .
            . . # . .
            `)
        basic.showLeds(`
            . # . # .
            # . . . #
            . . . . .
            # . . . #
            . # . # .
            `)
        basic.showLeds(`
            # . . . #
            . . . . .
            . . . . .
            . . . . .
            # . . . #
            `)
    }
    basic.showLeds(`
        . . . . .
        . . . . .
        . . . . .
        . . . . .
        . . . . .
        `)
})

input.onButtonPressed(Button.A, () => {

basic.showLeds(`

. . . . .

. # . # .

. . . . .

# . . . #

. # # # .

music.playTone(330, music.beat(BeatFraction.Quarter))