The Finch was co-developed by Tom Lauwers at CMU’s Create lab. It’s designed to be an interactive, programmable teaching aid to get students into computer science and robotics.
Programmable with Java and Python, the bird-like bot runs on a 15-foot USB cable and comes with temperature and light sensors, a bump sensor, and a three-axis accelerometer that can be used as a mouse.
The machine has a four-color LED beak, speakers, and a pen mount in the tail for drawing capability. It can be programmed to act as an alarm clock or used in a variety of assignments available on its Web site. It’s made of sturdy plastic, can survive falls from a table, and is portable in a backpack.
Lauwers launched a start-up called BirdBrain Technologies to produce The Finch and now sells it for $99 apiece. He says it has been tested in high school, university, and after-school programs.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
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