FLOG: Light Blue Bean

FLOG (Failure Log) Alert:

In a previous post, I started exploring the Light Blue Bean, also referred to as the Arduino Bean.  I had little difficulty getting it set up on my PC, and I was excited to try to my first real project, but I made a serious miscalculation by jumping right into a project without prototyping first (something that would have been easier to do with more than one Bean).  As a result, I ended up making a soldering error that caused the Bean to stop connecting to the power pin.  After several hours of playing around, taking things apart, and re-soldering did not solve my problem, I suspected that I'd damaged the gadget beyond repair.

Another error that I made, when attempting to solder header pins to my Bean (an idea that I took from Lucie's post), was making an assumption that Beans work in the same way as a typical bread board.  I mistakenly thought that all of the pins in column 1, for example, could be programmed in the same way as the first pin in that column. Since all of the holes in the first row of my Bean already had solder in them from my first project, I figured I'd just move down a row and start over. This did not work!  Only the first pins in each column are directly programmable via Arduino or an iOS device via the Bean Loader or the Tickle app.

Success at Last:

To make a long story short, +Craig Lyndes identified and repaired my power issue and encouraged me to try prototyping again, this time moving my header pins from the second to the top row!  I am happy to report that I've got my Bean working again!

Now, I am able to make LEDs blink on demand from a PC, iPad, or iPhone, and I have a working Bean to use exclusively for prototyping.  Although I will need to buy an additional one for a future project, I have learned a lot from this process!  Thanks +Lucie deLaBruere and Craig.

Lanterns for the River of Light Parade

Today I attended a lantern building workshop at Thatcher Brook Primary School, taught by +MK Monley and +gowri savoor. These brilliant educators are in the midst of preparing for the 6th annual River of Lights parade, which will be held in Waterbury on Saturday, 5 December.

MK invited me to attend this workshop after we collaborated to teach some of her third and fourth grade students basic paper circuitry, which they will be integrating into their own bug-inspired lantern projects later this month.

Having the opportunity to create my own bug lantern, and hearing about some of the various ways that they are constructed and illuminated around the world, was incredibly fun! We started out by taping willow branches into square-based pyramids.  After designing them (I was inspired by ladybugs) we glued coffee filters to outside, for the light to shine through.

Please check out the official River of Light site to learn more, or enjoy this video from 2012's parade.

How to Solder Surface Mounted LEDs in Paper Circuits

The video below is cross-posted with BlingtheBook.blogspot.com.

DoInk Green Screen Job Aid

I'm gearing up for another Green Screen workshop at RETN, so I thought I'd share this updated job aid.   Do Ink Green Screen Job Aid (Revised 2 Mar 2016)

 (Updated 2 Mar 16)

Google Certified Educator (Levels 1 & 2) are Complete!

I earned my Google Certified Educator badges!

Reflection:

The tests were different than the ones that I took last year as part of the Google Educator certification. They cost less money and were more performance-based (which was a bonus).  The practice scenarios, however, required a lot more focused concentration, because of the level of detail in them.  I struggled at times with cognitive overload, as a result of having to tab between detailed scenarios and the work space itself.  I typically use the Tab Scissors extension when I want to read directions on one screen and follow them on another.  I didn't think to add it in during the tests (which were both taken in incognito mode).  

I learned more than I thought I would during the training modules, leading to the obvious conclusion that there are always capabilities being added to Google that are easy to miss.  For example, I learned how to use the Autocrat add-on, which I hadn't used before.  I also learned about the uses of different types of charts in Google Sheets!

Exploring the Light Blue Bean

Earlier this summer, I ordered a Light Blue Bean from punchthrough.com/bean, a gadget I wasn't ready to play with until today.  This small chip, which you can see blinking on the left, is a wirelessly programmable microprocessor that uses the Arduino IDE and Bluetooth.  It is about an inch tall by two inches wide and is powered by a 3V coin cell battery. Since it communicates over Bluetooth, there are no wires to connect when programming!  So far, I've only uploaded a couple of sample sketchs and started playing around with the settings.  I haven't yet committed to a sample project, but I'm interested seeing where this exploration leads.  One of the tutorials on their website has directions for creating an "evil goat" with LED eyes that can be controlled by an iPhone!  What's not to love about that?

This is what the Bean Loader looks like in Windows 10.  I've got a special version of Arduino opened up on the the left.  Once you've uploaded the code there, it goes into a folder on your hard drive. From there, you select, "Program" to wireless upload the code to the device.

123D Circuits For Cloud-Based Arduino Prototyping

Last week, while attending the Create Make Learn Summer Institute, I noticed that a lot of people were using AutoDesk to access Tinkercad and other free online design tools.  As a result, I checked it out and discovered 123D Circuits and the Electronics Lab, which allows users to simulate working on a breadboard, write and compile the code, and then test it out digitally.

This might not seem like a revolutionary thing, but here's why I'm hooked:  I've found this tool to be an efficient way to code and prototype ATtiny85 microprocessors.

My digital breadboard, testing out code that I wrote for an ATtiny85

Small microprocessors such as the ATtiny85 can be incredibly tedious to prototype, often requiring multiple boards and lots of wires.  If you've ever tried connecting alligator clips to one, then you know that it's super tricky to keep the clips from touching one another while you're testing out your code.

That's where 123D Circuits can come in handy!  Rather than having to set up a breadboard (or get out the alligator clips) every time you want to test your code, you could use a digital breadboard to do it instead. Then, once you've verified that your code is doing what it's supposed to do, you can save it (along with your breadboard), making it easy to access and build upon later.

Paired with CodeBender and a Chromebook, I've found that not only can I test my code and wiring virtually, but I can also upload it right to my ATtiny85, using Arduino as an ISP.

Potential Pitfalls:
Although 123D Circuits has a lot of useful digital components, such as LEDs, resistors, and switches, I have not been able to figure out how to digitally test out a light sensor on an ATtiny85.  Also, there doesn't appear to be a sound sensor.