Snap!

Using Mirobot to learn programming has always been one of its major aims. Most children start off their programming journey using a visual programming language (such as Scratch) and there’s been the Blockly interface for this since Mirobot Apps was launched. Being able to use the addons for programming is something I’ve always wanted to be able to do but unfortunately this was somewhat tricky to achieve in Blockly. Fortunately there’s a fantastic open-source visual programming language called Snap! that was much easier to integrate - it’s also much more similar to the Scratch environment that children are used to.

The Mirobot Snap! App now gives you direct access to the sensors which means you can do some neat reactive programming like you can see above. The piece of code above implements what was previously built in to the Mirobot firmware and enables learners to understand what is actually happening. You’ve also got all of the usual movement commands that you’re used to using already of course.

You’ll need the latest firmware to run this app as it adds a sensor access API. Happy snapping!