Remote Sensor Protocol?
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Daniel Green
Member
May 08, 2012
This came up in questions for the Scratch 2.0 Preview webinar and I don't recall the answer. Scratch 1.x has a remote sensors protocol that allows connecting devices like a picoboard, game controller, Arduino, SenseBoard, and other devices that have recognizable and programmable inputs and outputs. Is there some facility like this planned for Scratch 2.0 such that I'll be able to use picoboards, game controllers, Arduinos, etc. in class? Thanks. Best regards, -- DanG
Mikolaj
Hi, Mat.
We plan to support the WeDo and Scratch Sensor Board, as in Scratch 1.4. We also plan to extend the WeDo support over time to to support multiple WeDo hubs and control over multiple motors. And, in the long term, we'll make it possible others to connect Scratch to other sensors and devices (e.g. the Microsoft Kinect) with a mechanism similar to the current Remote Sensors Protocol. However, we want to get Scratch 2.0 lauched as soon as possible, so it may launch without some or all of these features and they will be introduced over time.
As of now, we don't plan to do anything with Scratch and LEGO Mindstorms -- but thanks for the suggestion. Note that, unlike the WeDo, Mindstorms is npt designed to remain "tethered" to the user's computer, so once the Mindstorms was programmed it would not interact with Scratch. It would be nice to have Scratch-like tool for programming the Mindstorms, but such a tool would be better as it's own thing, rather than as an extension of Scratch.
-- John
John, thank you for your reply and the positive news on Lego WeDo + 2.0 !!!
Lego Mindstorms: Actually it features bluetooth so it can be interacting with the computer directly, as far as I understand.
(see eg: http://mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/bluetooth/default.aspx )
Vaguely related: I found a very interesting project called ModKit Micro, which is a graphical programming language to program micro crontrollers (Arduinos) that is very much inspired by Scratch. Check out their kickstarter funding page:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/modkit/modkit-micro-the-easiest-way-to-program-microcontr
(BTW, I note both the Scratch team and the ModKit team are MIT based, so maybe you know eachothers ;-)
Again, thank you for your kind answer John!
/Mat
Hi, Dan.
In the long term, I hope to have something similar to the remote sensor protocol. However, I can't promise that it will be available in the first release of Scratch 2.0 since there are some many other things that must be done.
-- John
Thanks - something similar to the remote sensor protocol would be great, there are projects like ScratchConnect (yengawa.com/ScratchConnect) that use the existing remote sensor protocol to good end. Hardware projects like WeDo, picoboards, SunSPOTs, Mindstorms, Arduino are all extremely useful if ther'es a way to hook into them using Scratch for workshops and various projects. Thanks so much for keeping remote sensor protocol on the drawing board as a to do item for Scratch 2.0! Best regards, -- DanG
Oh... Scratch+WeDo is one of the main reasons why I'm interested in Scratch for my own kids and considering introducing it to their school: I can think of no better way to show kids that programming is also about the REAL (physical) world! It would definitely be a pity if children are either directed to use the old Scratch or the very limited WeDo software.
Actually (...and now I almost feel rude for mentioning it) - I was in fact hoping that Scratch 2.0 would address not only Lego WeDo but also the "next step", namely Lego Mindstorms. Mindstorms is the closest there is to a de facto standard for robitics for kids out there. Dare I ask if Scratch+Mindstorms is even mentioned among the developers? (Note: I'm aware of the Enchanting modification for Mindstorms but this is not only based on Scratch).
Thank you very much (...and I'm really hoping WeDo will be prioritized)
/Mat
wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/Remote_Sensors_Protocol is what I'm referring to, apologies for omitting that.