I didn't even notice - their IDE automatically displayed two servos for me. If you write the code in a certain way, then it should be easy to simulate both the transmitter and receiver/robot at the same time and see the servos move. They also let you graph and save serial data. I can see why teachers would like this system.
Edited to add: don't know about how they show the servo power. Looks likely to cause some problems for kids?
Edited to add: don't know about how they show the servo power. Looks likely to cause some problems for kids?
This looks correct. What's wrong with it? If it's a matter of current draw from the 3.3V regulator, those types of micro servos draw pretty low current. I don't think there's a brownout risk with tapping power off the board.
So far, micro:bit hasn't heavily involved other BBC properties, but quite easily, the folks in Broadcasting House could combine it with a little Doctor Who, Countdown, Top Gear, or Black Adder action. If you want to involve kids in programming, create a Dalek game with your little microcontroller.
I was worried that the same 3V is sent to the connector (therefore servo) and the nRF51822 chip, and that the nRF51822 might not tolerate the noise caused by the servo's current spikes . With the Go kit this supply comes from two AAA batteries. Maybe it's ok because the nRF51822 regulates this down. I didn't take the time to figure out how the micro:bit has configured the power supply. I believe it can use either an internal LDO or DC/DC converter.
Hmm... My son an his buddies were very much into Dr Who. We would all watch it together. Seeing as I'm an old kid that saw the first ever Dr Who episode in November 1963.
Well OK that was 8 years ago when he was 12 but Dr Who still a thing.
I guess Kids today neither know Dr Who, what a Dalek was or what Black Adder does. Even I don't now what countdown represents, but Top Gear, really?
You're joking, right?
Some shows, like Countdown (or its spinoff, 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown) are UK national institutions. Kids watch TV with their parents, and lots of dads still tune into Top Gear. As already mentioned, Doctor Who is still being produced, and thanks to syndication worldwide, is one of the BBCs biggest money-makers.
I was worried that the same 3V is sent to the connector (therefore servo) and the nRF51822 chip, and that the nRF51822 might not tolerate the noise caused by the servo's current spikes
From the drawings (and descriptions) these are those puny micro servos that Erco uses on everything. They draw minimal current, and produce negligible spiking.
It's likely there's some good output filtration on that 3.3V tap. This is a board where you don't want to require forking off to a separate supply for the servos just for a beginner project. Obviously, if you run a bunch of standard servos, those should have their own separate supply, and that can be presented as an intermediate project.
Acorn followed this up with the Archimedes but that didn't amount to much.
That made me chuckle. Whilst the Archi did not survive against the onslaught of the IBM PC the ARM processor that was developed for it is now in nearly every phone and tablet in the world!
And of course the Raspberry Pi and Micro Bit are ARM based. The circle is complete. The Pi has shipped 13 million units. Far more than the BBC micro ever did.
I would not say it did not amount to much!
Ok, I'll let you have that one! But, the Archimedes itself, didn't.
The Micro:bit is easy to use, but they do seem to have taken encapsulation to new levels. This code presents acceleration as a bar-graph.
Rachael Stirling had already been in a Doctor Who episode, but had she been cast as the new Doctor, that would have provided a neat little closure for millions of Who/Avenger fans (just look her up in Wikipedia if you're not sure who her mother is).
I think I have a copy of every singe episode of the Avengers that Diana Rigg appeared in. OTOH, I know what a dalek is only because I'm a fan of The Great British Bake Off. Dr. Who never registered on my conscious until quite recently. But not a big surprise. AFAIK, it didn't feature a beautiful woman, so how would it have gotten my attention? ;-)
Two guys sailing through time in a Tardis raises eyebrows. Two gals, not so much. The original series contained little or no sexual tension between the Doctor and his companion, and they might return to that, especially as Steven Moffat (and Mark Gatiss) are no longer heading the show. Not that their involvement with the series was detrimental, but it's about time for a change.
Come to think of it, I'd like to see Moffat return to his comedy roots (I admit I'm a Coupling fan). In both Sherlock and Who he sometimes (frequently?) resorted to storytelling tricks to create cliffhanger drama -- the "then he woke up" stuff gets tiring after a while.
AFAIK, it didn't feature a beautiful woman, so how would it have gotten my attention? ;-)
And here we return to the concept of the Companion. From the start, the reboot series featured Billie Piper as the Doctor's companion. I think it's fair that many would consider her good looking, if not 'girl next door' beautiful. (Laurence Fox, of the famous Fox family of British actors, certainly did.) They even went so far as to have the Doctor fall in love with her.
When Doctor Who restarted it was shown on Norwegian TV too. But it was insanely annoying that the episodes always ended with a trailer of the next episode, where everything that could have been a surprise would be revealed. Or was it that they showed the trailer at the start? Or both? I don't remember exactly anymore. And IIRC they even showed a trailer for the previous episode.. leaving the actual episode short too. In any case, it bothered me so much that I gradually stopped watching. I think I managed just the four first episodes before I gave up. And that seemed to be common for some of the British series (but not all - I don't think Red Dwarf suffered from that). Super annoying. I wanted the responsibles flogged at the time.
Well, I don't have a TV anymore.. why bother watching when it all goes downhill anyway.
I don't recall DR Who having that annoying issue with trailers and such 10 years ago. I always thought that was an annoying habit of American shows not British. But then I have hardly watched any TV for over 20 years.
It's now common in multi-part story arcs in both US and UK programming to show a "previously" and "next" segment. The next segment is largely superfluous, and depending on the skills of the editor, can kill viewership of the followup show. If the unfinished story elements aren't enough to get a viewer to return the next week, a "next" segment probably won't help.
That said, it's probably a hold-over from a time when TV was largely composed of stand-alone episodes. Each show was a complete story. Only within the last 10-15 years have they gone to these major story arcs, some of which aren't even finished by the end of the season. TV of the 50s through 70s often used a "next week" trailer, but they always introduced a new story.
I'm not up to the Capaldi Who's, but historically Doctor Who has very limited arcs of just two or three shows. Otherwise the pieces are more or less independent, with some recurring foes (Daleks, Cybermen, whatever).
What's really worse is to see these on a streaming service that provides a little too much detail in the description of the show. My wife and I are currently enjoying Loch Ness (The Loch in the UK), which is a six-part arc. Acorn TV insists on revealing the resolution of major story points from previous episodes in their writeups for the current episode. So we simply just skip it and go straight to the show. (Conversely, the writeups for the episodes of Grantchester, where there's right now a new season airing on PBS, only barely hint at the story line. They are done much better.)
Comments
Edited to add: don't know about how they show the servo power. Looks likely to cause some problems for kids?
This looks correct. What's wrong with it? If it's a matter of current draw from the 3.3V regulator, those types of micro servos draw pretty low current. I don't think there's a brownout risk with tapping power off the board.
So far, micro:bit hasn't heavily involved other BBC properties, but quite easily, the folks in Broadcasting House could combine it with a little Doctor Who, Countdown, Top Gear, or Black Adder action. If you want to involve kids in programming, create a Dalek game with your little microcontroller.
I guess Kids today neither know Dr Who, what a Dalek was or what Black Adder does. Even I don't now what countdown represents, but Top Gear, really?
maybe I am wrong, but 25+ years ago wont fit with kids today.
Enjoy!
Mike
Well OK that was 8 years ago when he was 12 but Dr Who still a thing.
Edited to add: hmm - maybe a weeping angel game of some sort?
You're joking, right?
Some shows, like Countdown (or its spinoff, 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown) are UK national institutions. Kids watch TV with their parents, and lots of dads still tune into Top Gear. As already mentioned, Doctor Who is still being produced, and thanks to syndication worldwide, is one of the BBCs biggest money-makers.
From the drawings (and descriptions) these are those puny micro servos that Erco uses on everything. They draw minimal current, and produce negligible spiking.
It's likely there's some good output filtration on that 3.3V tap. This is a board where you don't want to require forking off to a separate supply for the servos just for a beginner project. Obviously, if you run a bunch of standard servos, those should have their own separate supply, and that can be presented as an intermediate project.
Maybe this will do: #iwin
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jul/14/bbc-announce-13th-doctor-sunday
https://blog.benjamin-cabe.com/2017/01/16/using-mqtt-sn-over-ble-with-the-bbc-microbit#video-tutorial-and-wrap-up
It would be interesting to do something similar with a Propeller (FLiP?) and either RN-42 or Xbee.
Ok, I'll let you have that one! But, the Archimedes itself, didn't.
The Micro:bit is easy to use, but they do seem to have taken encapsulation to new levels. This code presents acceleration as a bar-graph.
basic.forever(() => { led.plotBarGraph( input.acceleration(Dimension.X), 1023 ) })I suppose this is an 'easy win' and will tempt the keen into looking into more detail as they get confident.
So, let's have Danny De Vito playing Mary Poppins next. Even Germain Greer must think that's feminism gone too far!!
If the Dr is female the natural conclusion is that the side kick(s) will be male.
That removes 50% of my motivation to watch the show right there.
Or alternatively there is something rainbow going on which is not going to hold my interest either.
On the other hand if they could pull it off like Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) and John Steed (Patrick Macnee) in the Avengers series then I'm hooked.
http://www.heavymetal.com/news/20-pictures-of-diana-rigg-as-the-deadly-adorable-emma-peel/
Two guys sailing through time in a Tardis raises eyebrows. Two gals, not so much. The original series contained little or no sexual tension between the Doctor and his companion, and they might return to that, especially as Steven Moffat (and Mark Gatiss) are no longer heading the show. Not that their involvement with the series was detrimental, but it's about time for a change.
Come to think of it, I'd like to see Moffat return to his comedy roots (I admit I'm a Coupling fan). In both Sherlock and Who he sometimes (frequently?) resorted to storytelling tricks to create cliffhanger drama -- the "then he woke up" stuff gets tiring after a while.
And here we return to the concept of the Companion. From the start, the reboot series featured Billie Piper as the Doctor's companion. I think it's fair that many would consider her good looking, if not 'girl next door' beautiful. (Laurence Fox, of the famous Fox family of British actors, certainly did.) They even went so far as to have the Doctor fall in love with her.
Well, I don't have a TV anymore.. why bother watching when it all goes downhill anyway.
That said, it's probably a hold-over from a time when TV was largely composed of stand-alone episodes. Each show was a complete story. Only within the last 10-15 years have they gone to these major story arcs, some of which aren't even finished by the end of the season. TV of the 50s through 70s often used a "next week" trailer, but they always introduced a new story.
I'm not up to the Capaldi Who's, but historically Doctor Who has very limited arcs of just two or three shows. Otherwise the pieces are more or less independent, with some recurring foes (Daleks, Cybermen, whatever).
What's really worse is to see these on a streaming service that provides a little too much detail in the description of the show. My wife and I are currently enjoying Loch Ness (The Loch in the UK), which is a six-part arc. Acorn TV insists on revealing the resolution of major story points from previous episodes in their writeups for the current episode. So we simply just skip it and go straight to the show. (Conversely, the writeups for the episodes of Grantchester, where there's right now a new season airing on PBS, only barely hint at the story line. They are done much better.)