Get some free Python, Raspberry Pi and Scratch books

23 March 2020

I've been thinking about how I can help as the country undertakes a collective effort to stay at home to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. I have some spare copies of my books, and I'm willing to post them to people who might find them useful for home schooling or for developing their own skills while at home. The books are free, one per UK household, to those who can make use of them.

I have copies of the following titles available:

• Scratch Programming in Easy Steps: I only have review copies of this book available, but if you're interested in writing a review, please do get in touch. It's been updated for Scratch 3 and includes projects for the Raspberry Pi Sense HAT, micro:bit, and covers new Scratch 3 features including text to speech and dynamic sound effects. Find out more about what's in the 2nd edition of Scratch Programming in Easy Steps here.

  

• Raspberry Pi For Dummies: A best-selling guide to using the Raspberry Pi, including introductions to electronics, Scratch and Python. Here's a video that shows you the Minecraft maze maker project from the book: [Sorry - all my copies of this are gone now, but Raspberry Pi For Dummies is still available to buy if you want to give it a go]

• Mission Python: Discover how to create a space adventure game using Python. This is the perfect project for someone who wants to build something fun during this prolonged period at home. Here's a video to show you what the final game looks like: [Sorry - all my copies of this are gone now, but Mission Python is still available to buy if you want to give it a go]

• Cool Scratch Projects in Easy Steps: This book includes a pair of 3D glasses and shows you how to create 3D games, a drum machine, a maze generator and many more fun projects. This book also includes an introduction to Scratch Jr, which is a free app aimed at younger children. Here's a video that shows you all the projects: [Sorry - all my copies of this are gone now, but Cool Scratch Projects in Easy Steps is still available to buy if you want to give it a go]

If you'd like one of these books, please contact me here. Tell me which book you'd like, and send me your postal address. This is only open to UK addresses, one book per household. Offer available as long as practical, which includes while stocks last, and also while I am able to get to a post office that will accept the parcels [Update: to clarify, I'm printing the postage at home and putting them in the postbox, so there's no risk to anyone. I can do this as long as the Royal Mail sustains its service]. I'll be pleased to see these books put to good use.

I have a limited stock available, so I'll update above when they are gone. If you would like to read these books but I don't have any left, or if you'd like to support retailers and publishers and feel able to do so, these books and my other coding books are also available to buy online. If your normal retailer is not able to supply them, you can try ordering directly from the publisher. Find links to buy all my books in my shop here.

Stay safe. Stay at home! And I hope you have fun coding!

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How to use the micro:bit with Scratch

18 March 2020

When I wrote the updated version of Scratch Programming in Easy Steps, I was keen to cover devices such as the micro:bit and the Raspberry Pi Sense HAT, which are not covered in most other books. Using the new Extensions feature in Scratch 3, it's now possible to add blocks to the Blocks Palette to support these devices. In this blog, I'll tell you more about using the micro:bit.

The micro:bit is a small device (about 6cm measured diagonally) that provides an easy introduction to physical computing with Scratch. It includes a 5x5 grid of red LEDs, two buttons, and tilt sensors. There are also GPIO pins that enable you to connect up circuits easily using crocodile clips. At about £15, the micro:bit is a great investment.

You can use all of these micro:bit features from the latest version of Scratch, by connecting to the micro:bit over Bluetooth. To set up your micro:bit for Scratch, follow these steps:

1. Install the Scratch Link software on your PC, if you haven't done this already.
2. Connect your micro:bit to your PC using a USB cable. Download the HEX file and copy it to your micro:bit using drag and drop in Windows. You only need to do this once.
3. Run Scratch Link.
4. Start Scratch. In the bottom left, use the Add Extension button to add the micro:bit extension.
5. You'll see any available micro:bits with their code. When connected to power, your micro:bit scrolls its identity code across it too. Select your micro:bit to connect.
6. You can now use the new Scratch blocks in the Blocks Palette to interact with your micro:bit.

The new blocks are shown below:

These blocks include hat blocks to start a new script when the A, B or either button is pressed; when the micro:bit is moved, shaken or jumped; or when the micro:bit is tilted in a particular direction or in any direction. There are also blocks you can use to find out whether the micro:bit is tilted in a particular direction, or what the tilt angle is in a particular direction.

For the updated edition of Scratch Programming in Easy Steps, I created a game called Balloon Floater as a documented example to show how the micro:bit works with Scratch. To play it, you tilt the micro:bit to change the velocity of a balloon as it floats through a cave. I included "zoom to end" and "brake" controls using the A and B buttons. The game looks like this:

I've also written a project for the latest issue of micro:mag magazine, which is available for free download or pre-order in print. You can download the Scratch file for this project here. (UPDATE: Download the article PDF here!). This is an audio game, which uses the new text-to-speech extension to tell you how to move the micro:bit and times how long you take to do so. As written, the game is fairly easy but it becomes a test of focus, the longer the game goes on. The arrows in the game are irrelevant and are there to try to confuse you! How long can you focus on responding quickly? The game can be adapted so it challenges you to repeat a pattern, or requires you to respond quickly to stay in the game. Here's a video demo:

Here are some observations I made from this project, and the Balloon Floater project:

• If you want to detect a deliberate tilt motion look for the tilt angle being more than 20 or 30 degrees. If you use the "tilted?" or the "when tilted" blocks, it's easy for accidental movements to register. That was a problem particularly with the audio game. For that reason, I didn't use the "when tilted" blocks, and instead used a loop that continuously checks whether the tilt angle is more than 20 or 30 degrees in each direction.
• I couldn't include the jump or shake movements in the audio game (which would have been a fun addition), because those motions also triggered the tilt motions. It was difficult to separate them out. There might be workarounds, but within the confines of creating a simple tutorial, the code required to use hat blocks for some movements and if blocks for others was too complex anyway. I'm not sure it's possible to guarantee that a jump or shake registers as one of those movements before it is detected as a tilt.
• You can use Blu Tack to fix the battery pack to the back of the micro:bit. I'm sure fancy cases are available, but a blob of the blue does the job just fine. It enables you to move the device freely so you can play the game effectively.
• The new text-to-speech function in Scratch 3 is great. You can use it to say predefined text out loud, but it can also read out variable values, including numbers. That might be obvious to some, but it is such a cool feature, I think it's worth mentioning. When I updated Scratch Programming in Easy Steps, I also used this feature for the word game inspired by Hangman and the simple chatbot project.
• The new pitch change effects make the music higher and faster with each successful round of the audio game, which creates tension. This effect could be used well in arcade games too, and can also be used for music. I used it in my Space Opera project (in the book) to change the pitch of a singing sound effect for a virtual instrument.

The article in micro:mag shows you how to build the audio game, and I hope it will prove a fun basis for experimentation for teachers, students and hobbyists. I hope the article is clear, but if you're experiencing difficulties, here are some debugging tips that didn't fit in the magazine:

• Don’t hear anything? Check your PC volume. The sound comes from the computer, not the micro:bit.
• Game behaves strangely? Check there are no extra spaces wherever the “game over” variable is being used.
• Movements not working correctly? Check the “get player’s move” and “set up variables” scripts.

I'd like to give a shout out to the team that puts micro:mag together, including Joshua Lowe, Kerry Kidd and Luke Castle. It really is an awesome resource for the edtech community, and they are all volunteers, making it happen. You can support the mag by sharing it, buying it or the associated merchandise, or contributing. You can also donate to the magazine, or place an advert if you have a related product.

Find out more about micro:mag and download the latest issue here. There's more information about the new edition of Scratch Programming in Easy Steps on my blog here. You can find my hub for Scratch resources here.

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