STEMLabs

     A recent post on the SparkFun website introduced the idea of using a 3D printer to produce a Lithophane. As the post explains, lithophanes are "...a specific kind of artwork that can only be seen clearly when backlit, meaning light is an element of this creative technique. Traditionally, a lithophane is a thin porcelain tile with an etched artwork on one side. Porcelain has a translucent quality when the walls are thin enough, so by carving into a thin tile, artist were able to make lithophanes by hand."      The post provides a link to a free lithophane generator here: http://3dp.rocks/lithophane/ ,  It's very easy to use, you upload a photo, choose a format (flat, curved, cylinder) and it quickly creates an .stl file for downloading. The Sparkfun post provides some example pictures and they turned out pretty well. I decided to try this out with a color photo of my own. I chose one that was a bit complicated, a photo of my granddaughter painting at her easel,

     The Finch Robot is a small robot produced by BirdBrain Technologies , the same company that makes the Hummingbird board. If you're familiar with the Hummingbird board, you'll find the Finch very easy to work with, especially if you use the Finch version of Visual Programmer.  One way to think of the Finch is that it's very much like a Hummingbird board with sensors, motors, and LED's already connected and the whole thing is placed inside a robot body.      The Robot costs $99.00 but make sure you check into the 10% Educator's discount.  It comes completely assembled, with a long USB cable that links the bot to your computer.  Like the Hummingbird, it must be tethered to the computer but the long cable gives you plenty of room to test  your programs.  You can program the Finch in a number of languages including Visual Programmer, Snap, and Scratch.  The website, www.finchrobot.com , provides lots of helpful information and some really good tutorials.

     While the Micro:bit on its own provides a great way to learn programming, you can really extend the learning by making use of the accessory kits provided by Sparkfun.com   Students will still use the online Microbit.org site for coding and downloading their program to a bit, the kits allow them to plug their programmed bit into a weather station, vehicle, or arcade game.       I've worked with two of the kits (weather station and vehicle) and they are very easy to assemble and they work as advertised.  I especially like the Micro:bot kit.  Being able to code then quickly test your code with a robot you just assembled provides a great learning experience.  I know you can do this with a number of other robots - sending your code via Bluetooth, Wireless, or cable - but the act of plugging the "brain" into your robot and then seeing it execute (or not) your instructions is somehow a better experience. The SparkFun micro:bot kit, found here,  https://www.sparkfun

I had a brief post about the Micro:bit back in early September but I wanted to go into some more detail about the board and what you can do with it.  Sparkfun.com is still a great source for the Micro:bit and all of the accessories I'll talk about today - and they also have some great video tutorials for learning about the bit and the extra kits.  Here's the site:   https://www.sparkfun.com/microbit The Micro:bit Go Bundle is a great start, it costs only $16.50 and you get the bit, USB cable, and battery pack with batteries.  Prices on Amazon are a bit higher so I'd recommend buying from Sparkfun. Once you have the bit you can start programming at the Micro:bit site, www.microbit.org   Actually, you can start programming without the bit, since the site provides a very good interactive simulation of the board.  Once you're at the site, choose the Let's Code option from the menu bar.  If you are new to programming you can then choose the J avaScript Blocks Ed