[Edu-sig] Summer Fruits - Proce55ing & PyBot

[Jason Cunliffe]

Some summer fruits you may enjoy...

1. A cool MIT alternative to Flash using Java. An obvious candidate for
Jython.

"Processing"  by Ben Fry and Casey Reas
http://www.proce55ing.net/

"Processing is a context for exploring the emerging conceptual space enabled
by electronic media. It is an environment for learning the fundamentals of
computer programming within the context of the electronic arts and it is an
electronic sketchbook for developing ideas.

The software is currently in a prerelease stage, but bug fixes are being
made as we head toward a more complete "1.0" release. Processing will be
free to download and available for Mac, PC, and Linux."

2. PyBot ??

I see there is an amazing new birth in hobbyist electronics based on
programmable STAMP devices. Great to see an alternative to LEGO Mindstorms
that encourages people to whip out breadboards and soldering irons. The cool
thing is there is new lots of good information and tools [hard and soft] to
support this kind of activity. Mainstream books stores carry affordable $25
range books. [The local mediocre Barnes and Noble in Brooklyn is crude
litmus test]. The first were just battlebots. But now much more varied
fare - more emersed in real world interfacing. The coolest one I saw today
is "Junkbots". So next time you see a dead calculator, phone, TV/VCR
appliance give it a budding junkbot builder. Kids please DO try this at
home!

STAMP seems to be based on BASIC, but here are others, notably Parallax who
offer BASIC/Java/Assembly interface.

So naturally I am wondering with PyGame, Jython etc, how near/far is Python
today to BotDom ??

KITS & ROBOTICS
http://www.parallax.com/
http://www.kitsusa.us/store/index.cfm?frm=prod-view&scid=46

BOOKS
The Robot Builders Bonanza [2000]
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0071362967/qid=1060218185/sr=1
-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-2698402-8575801?v=glance&s=books

JunkBots, Bugbots, and Bots on Wheels: Building Simple Robots With BEAM
Technology [2002]
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0072226013/103-2698402-8575801
?v=glance#product-details

Programming and Customizing the Basic Stamp [2001]
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0071371923/103-2698402-8575801
?vi=glance


OTHER BOOKS..
Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity [1995]
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201442302/qid=1060218293/sr=2-2/ref=
sr_2_2/103-2698402-8575801#product-details

Where Mathematics Comes From: How the Embodied Mind Brings Mathematics into
Being [2001]
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0465037712/qid=1060218228/sr=1
-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-2698402-8575801?v=glance&s=books


- Jason