So much awesome. My 12yo son has been doing some Scratch programming, so I’m sure he’d love to try this, as would my 8yo.
I had gotten the SparkFun Digital Sandbox (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12651) for my 8yo, so it will be very interesting to compare/contrast the experience of working with the BrainPad to that, since it’s probably the nearest comparable Arduino environment.
But being able to tie in with Scratch is a really great way to expand the reach of the project! 
@ devhammer - I just looked at that board and it looks similar except we clear things even further by clearly showing the flow from and to the brain!
We also have a color display and an expansion port.
The brain pad will very much cover elementary level to college level…or at least this is what we are aiming for 
@ devhammer - and the price is MUCH lower
My point wasn’t about competition, though you are correct that what you’re offering for the price is pretty amazing.
I just thought it would be interesting to compare the experience of the two boards through the eyes of my 8yo.
@ devhammer - yes absolutely
Which would be great to know as we work on projects and curriculum.
Thanks @ scardinale for this work. Can I take a guess? I think you have used C# to VB translator.
I have looked at the VB code briefly, there are parts that could be improved. For example, [em]Exit Select[/em] statements are not needed, [em]OrElse[/em] instead of [em]Or[/em] operators could be used in multiple places, the following could be simplified:
Public Property Frequency() As Integer
Get
Return m_Frequency
End Get
Set(value As Integer)
m_Frequency = value
End Set
End Property
Private m_Frequency As Integer
Public Property Duration() As Integer
Get
Return m_Duration
End Get
Set(value As Integer)
m_Duration = value
End Set
End Property
Private m_Duration As Integer
Public Property Delay() As Integer
Get
Return m_Delay
End Get
Set(value As Integer)
m_Delay = value
End Set
End Property
Private m_Delay As Integer
to
Public Property Frequency as Integer
Public Property Duration As Integer
Public Property Delay As Integer
Some things could be improved looking at Resharper suggestions.
[quote=“Gus”]
@ ianlee74 - where did I say it is not open? And how would the community contribute off it is not open? In fact, the code is already posted in this thread. :)[/quote]
I guess I was confused by this statement…
@ Gus - Sent, still waiting on a reply.
@ Squeebee - It may be in my inbox, I have been on vacation, I will be getting caught up today, just in case it’s not there, can you re-email me?
Find a why to make it Kill someone, and everybody will be onboard.
Now let’s not make this negative Mr. Smith. ;D
The kids in the beginning of this video make me think of the BrainPad
Here’s an image of the first successful connection between Scratch and a BrainPad running Firmata. I have Firmata drivers for Cerbuino Bee, Cerbuino Net and BrainPad (and will add drivers for each of the GHI boards in turn).
I am currently working on the Scratch blocks for the BrainPad (you can use the standard Arduino blocks for Cerbuino boards). I am also wrapping up work on a protocol gateway and deployment tool that allows you to configure your boards and deploy the Firmata firmware without using Visual Studio (including some Gadgeteer configuration). The Scratch for .Net version of Firmata works over serial or ethernet. For serial, you must either have a second USB-to-serial dongle (see image), a Bluetooth ‘Bee’ daughter board, or be running firmware that allows your USB port to be reconfigured for serial, which is not supported in all models and firmware.
This is an open source project and source code will be made available. Binary installations and instructions will be available on a dedicated web site. This project was made possible through the generous support of Gary and Gus and GHI Electronics.
@ mcalsyn - I really want to give you a hug right now
Long distance relationships rarely work out. I will settle for a cold beer though.
Gus is a hugger, there is no way around it, I will never forget my first employee review! :whistle:
@ mcalsyn - Great work. I’m more excited about using the Brainpad with Scratch than anything else. However, if that’s the configuration then I think we really need a second USB port on the board. That’s not going to work for the kids classes. Once the server is running on the board is it possible to direct the 2nd serial communications through the main USB port?
@ ianlee74 - My personal preference would be enabling the redirection of the existing USB as seen here : https://www.ghielectronics.com/community/codeshare/entry/859
But that means updating at least the firmware, and maybe the USB hardware too (I’m not clear on that) so that the code above works correctly. Redirection works on some GHI boards, but not the Cerbuinos or the BrainPad for now.
The sidecar serial solution is just a temporary fix so that I can complete the Firmata server code for the BrainPad. I agree that it is probably not practical for normal use.
@ ianlee74 - this is a prototype still. Of course no one will need to do this on the production board.