Minibloq

Minibloq is a graphical development environment for Arduino[1] and other platforms. Its main objective is to help in teaching programming.[2] It is specially used in robotics at elementary, middle and high schools. It's widely used in Argentina, where in the San Luis province alone, more than 60000 children have been trained with this software in public schools.[3]

Minibloq
Developer(s)Julián da Silva Gillig
Stable release
v0.83 / April 29, 2015 (2015-04-29)
Written inC++ / wxWidgets
Operating systemWindows, Linux
TypeVisual programming language
Websiteminibloq.org

How it works

Minibloq is basically a graphical code generator with some IDE capabilities.[4] It's self-contained and every distribution includes the complete [toolchain] needed to compile (or interpret, depending on the selected target) and deploy the code to the selected hardware target. Every code block is configured in XML. Since its first public version, the code is generated in real time (for this purpose uses Scintilla). Here are some examples of code generated for Arduino:

  • Blink: Blocks and codes.
    Blink: Blocks and codes.
  • Simple counter, with serial OUT.
    Simple counter, with serial OUT.
  • Tones (with a buzzer) varying the frequency.
    Tones (with a buzzer) varying the frequency.
  • Sprites for screens like "LED-Matrix".
    Sprites for screens like "LED-Matrix".
  • Speed variation of one motor with one analog sensor.
    Speed variation of one motor with one analog sensor.
  • Sending numbers through a serial port. Numbers are received from an IR remote control RC5.
    Sending numbers through a serial port. Numbers are received from an IR remote control RC5.

Since the v0.82 version, it also can be used as an IDE for conventional programming of Arduino and other physical computing boards.

miniSim

Since the v0.82 version,[5] miniBloq includes miniSim: a small 2D robot simulator, aimed specially for kids. It's a very simple tool to help teaching basic robot programming to kids whom do not own a real robot. miniBloq features some simple blocks that controls a small simulated robot with some remembrances to Logo, where the robot can draw a small environment (a maze, for example) and then use a sensor to interact with that environment. miniSim is under the same license as miniBloq, and has been programmed in Python, using PyGame. miniSim is the official simulator software used by the Educ.Ar educational program from the Argentine Government.[6]

Operating systems
Minibloq + OLPC + Arduino.

miniBloq runs under Windows and Linux, in principle, without dependencies. The v0.81 version is distributed both as a Windows installer (exe) or as a single multiple OS compressed file, which contains the Windows and the Linux versions. This last distribution was designed to be portable, so the user can run in from a pen drive in any of these operating systems. The version v0.82 comes only in Windows version, since the Linux is under development. However, a preliminary Linux version can be downloaded from a branch from miniBloq's GitHub repository.

Derivative software

There are derivative versions of miniBloq made for specific platforms by third party teams or private companies:

References
  1. "miniBloq: el entorno argentino para programar robots usado en escuelas de todo el mundo". RedUSERS. May 8, 2014.
  2. Tomoyose, Guillermo (May 9, 2014). "miniBloq, el lenguaje de programación argentino para robots que llega a todo el mundo". La Nación.
  3. "Todos a la Robótica, Gobierno de la Provincia de San Luis". Universidad de La Punta, Gobierno de la Provincia de San Luis, Argentina. 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-10-05.
  4. "Minibloq: IDE para aprender a programar robots". NEOTEO. May 8, 2014.
  5. "Latest Version Of Minibloq Released – Minibloq.v0.82". Maker Masters. May 31, 2014.
  6. "Colección Vocaciones y Nuevas Tecnologías: Robótica". Ministerio de Educación, República Argentina. 2014.
  7. "African Robotics Network 2103/2014 Design Challenge winners". AFRON. 2014.

Publications

There are some activity books available online as PDF about miniBloq and educational robotics:

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