board-explorer

board-explorer is an experimental interactive board project. The aim is to learn mixing electronic components with gaming in mind. Code is provived as is mostly for educational purpose.

Base components are Raspberry Pi, micro:bit, arcade controllers and an IR frame (optional) for localisation.

MakeCode

There's a dedicated repository for the MakeCode associated with this project:

micro:bit Direct link : https://makecode.microbit.org/_frdR5xctm0Rt

Code : https://github.com/storagebits/board-explorer-makecode

WARNING: this project is at early stage and is subject to change often.

Getting started

Setting up your micro:bit

board-explorer communicate with micro:bit(s) component(s) via BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy). It sends commands on the BLE UART which are then interpreted localy on the micro:bit. So we need first to flash our micro:bit(s) with the following makecode project :

Direct link to makecode project

This is the easier way to get started, you can open the makecode project with following link and flash your micro:bit : https://makecode.microbit.org/_5up1Y89u5J5X

Repository of the makecode project

If you need more infos you can check the corresponding repository here : https://github.com/storagebits/board-explorer-makecode

Setting up your USB joystick

In the best way it should just work plug'n'play ! just plug it before launching board-explorer.

Build board-explorer

In the bin folder you'll find a binary compiled on a Raspberry Pi with GOARM=5 build option.

If you're running on a Rapsberry Pi you can run this one (see Run paragraph below) or build your own with following command :

foo@bar:~/board-explorer $ go build board-explorer.go -o bin/board-explorer

Run board-explorer

Now it's time to powerup your flashed micro:bit(s) and launch board-explorer :

foo@bar:~/board-explorer/bin $ sudo ./board-explorer -player1 microbit1name [-player2 microbit2name]

note: You can retrieve your micro:bit name in your Android or IOS micro:bit app

note: to avoid sudo you could set following setcap rights to board-explorer binary :

foo@bar:~$ sudo setcap 'cap_net_raw,cap_net_admin=eip' ./board-explorer

What's done ? What's in progress ? What's next ?

What's done ?	What's in progress ?	What's next ?
Bluetooth LE support	IR frame support	LEDs
USB arcade joystick support	RFID support	Scoring
micro:bit support		Furnitures / Design

Educational purpose

This code is provided as is. It is mean to be-reused in other educational projects, classrooms or in any experimental electronic board experience.