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There have been notable advances in Snap! projects that interact with the physical world during the past year. The addition of the MicroBlocks library to Snap! has facilitated this work. This library extends the Snap! Broadcast block so that it can communicate with sensors, motors, and actuators connected to microcontrollers. Provision of a standard built-in method in Snap! for communicating with microcontrollers facilitates the process of disseminating microcontroller-based projects.

This capability has enabled students to build custom game controllers by connecting a joystick and buttons to Snap! via a microcontroller. Once a MicroBlocks script linking the microcontroller to Snap! has been created, students can focus on building a game in Snap! with control of every aspect of the system, from the hardware through the game logic. Peter Mathijssen is exploring use of gestures and voice to control graphics and music. This can facilitate creative endeavors but also been useful in extending the capabilities of people with disabilities. Special education teachers enrolled in a maker class at the University of Virginia, for example, used this capability to create augmentative communication systems for their patients.

This “Birds of a Feature” session will provide an opportunity to share physical computing projects created during the past year and to discuss potential new directions and possibilities.