Embedded Files
We'll be using Sphero SPRK+ robots and the Sphero EDU app for this workshop . The app is available for many different platforms; see the link for details. The user interface was updated during the summer of 2018 to more closely mirror Scratch. Find the Programs icon and let's start by creating a new program.
Give your program a name that will make sense to you later when you come back to it.
We are focusing on Block based coding today, but you can also "code" with drawing in the Sphero EDU app or code with JavaScript.
We are using Sphero SPRK+ devices today, but as you can see there are a number of different options for different robots that can be programmed with the Sphero EDU app.
As of October 2018 there are 10 different color-coded block types in the app when using SPRK+.
- Movements
- Lights
- Sounds
- Controls
- Operators
- Comparators
- Sensors
- Events
- Variables
- Functions
Some of these are self explanatory and others require some deeper investigation and not every function works with every Sphero device. There is a lot of new functionality that has been added with the release of the Sphero BOLT, though we won't get into those today.
As part of the Sphero update to look more like Scratch, the shapes of different block parameters have changed. You can see that strings have squared ends, numbers have rounded ends, booleans are hexagonal, and colors are octagonal . This helps distinguish where each type of value can be used in your program and is a nice visual clue as you build your code.
Report abuse