Pi Wars is a challenge-based robotics competition in which every robot must be controlled by a 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi. It’s great fun, and it will all be kicking off once again on 1st-2nd April 2017. For the first time, we are extending the event to run over two days, as we have been overwhelmed with interested applicants.

Another victim succumbs to the obstacle course and its turntable of doom

We have always tried to encourage young robot builders to get involved in CamJam and in Pi Wars. Previously we have held Pi Wars in September and December, but this did not allow school teams enough time to build, program, test, and otherwise prepare their robot around their schoolwork. We therefore decided to move the event date to later in the academic year: we think April is late enough for schools to have run enough robot club sessions, but early enough not to clash with exams.

People of all ages take part. Here’s Amy, aided by Heffalump and friends, showing Eben her robot.

This time around, we have a celebrity judge: Dr Lucy Rogers from the BBC’s Robot Wars will be putting your robots through their paces.

Dr Lucy Rogers in conversation with an old friend

In previous years, we have categorised robots by cost (in 2014) and size (in 2015). This time, we are going to group teams into the following categories:

• Schools and other clubs

• Families and groups of friends

• Amateur/beginner/intermediate hobbyists(s)

• Professional or expert hobbyist(s)

This means that robot teams will be competing against their peers, rather than against those with different skill levels – so, it will be, for instance, school vs school and family vs family (in a non-Mafia kind of way).

This is the kind of thing you see at Pi Wars: your friendly Director of Communications commandeers a gigantic Big Trak.

This year’s list of challenges is available on the Pi Wars website. As well as winning points for their performance in a range of challenges, this year’s robots are also being given points for artistic and technical merit. There’s even a prize for the funniest robot (the competition does start on April Fool’s Day, after all!) and a pre-event blogging competition which encourages teams write about themselves, and their journey from a collection of parts to a working robot.

We’ve come up with a list of general rules and also rules for each challenge. Perhaps the most important one this year is a requirement that your robot must be sub-A4 in size. This still leaves quite a lot of room for flexibility in design, whilst at the same time levelling the playing field. It also means that those teams who are using kits are in with a better chance of competing against those who make their robot from scratch.

Entry into Pi Wars is on an application basis, rather than first-come, first served. With the number of teams we’re expecting to apply, the quality of your application is important. You can read more about the application and selection process here.

To apply to enter the competition, please fill in the application form. Feel free to take as much time over your application, and provide as much information as possible.

If you’re interested in robotics and technology, but you don’t want to build your own robot this time, you are still very welcome to come and watch the competition. Spectator tickets will go on sale later in the year. We only charge for adults, so it’s great for those on limited incomes. Join our mailing list to be notified when tickets are available, or keep an eye on piwars.org.

The game is afoot! Competitors at Pi Wars 2015

If you’re an altruistic type, you may be wondering if there’s some way you can help with Pi Wars. As with all big events, we need a team of volunteers to make the day go smoothly. Rather than having just a few marshals who spend the entire day helping, we aim to have as many people as possible so that everyone can spend most of the day watching the robots take on the challenges. Depending on the number of people who volunteer, helpers spend approximately two hours doing marshalling activities. Judges generally spend slightly more time judging, but we aim to give everyone a chance to p站网址 the event as a spectator as well as helping us out! If you’d like to help out, please do contact us. We’ll be delighted to hear from you! We are also very happy to hear from potential sponsors: you can check out our website for more information on sponsorship, and on what we can offer in return.

To whet your appetite for the upcoming competition, or if you have never been to Pi Wars and want to know what it’s like on the day, we’d like to leave you with Matt Manning’s video of last year’s event…

…and Spencer Organ’s video of the 2014 wars:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tx0zWdm190

Tickets will be available for observers as well as competitors; it promises to be another great weekend. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

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Let’s open with the Johnson Family’s Dubstep Christmas Show for a look at what can be achieved with a 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi and an awful lot of festive elbow grease.

We think this is the largest and most impressive Pi-based Christmas light show we’ve seen so far: let us know if you’ve seen bigger and better! You can read more about the Johnson’s setup (all controlled by a Pi) at their very detailed webpage about the project. Matt Johnson also has a behind the scenes video for you to goggle at.

Frankly, the Johnson’s effort is an outlier in its size and complexity. But there are elements of a light show like this that you can make at home and use without scaring the neighbours.

Andrew Oakley has kept his 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi Christmas lighting setup compact: one LED matrix displayed in a window. For all that it lacks in size, its ability to play animations and the project’s low price make this a great option.

Andrew has a really thorough tutorial and build diary (we love Andrew’s write-ups) available at his website, along with the animations he’s made and all the code you need to make your own.

Lights are not just for Christmas. Here’s a giant animated menorah, built by Ben Forta and family for Hanukkah 2015. There’s a full description of how the animation was made in the video.

Don’t want to share your lights with the neighbours? No problem! Here’s Anderson Silva’s Son et Lumiere Christmas tree.

Anderson says:

I have 8 channels running 800 lights. I also modified the LightShowPi‘s configuration to customize the lights a bit more. I am running all songs in 4 channels and mirroring the other 4 channels, this (IMHO) makes the lights a little more fun with a lot less ‘blackouts’ from unused channels during certain songs.

You’ll find a very, very thorough step-by-step breakdown of how to build your own, written by Anderson, at Open Source World.

If you need more inspiration, there’s an amazing online community dedicated to LightShowPi at G+, where huge numbers of people using the 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi in indoor and outdoor displays swap hints and tips, and showcase their work. (If you’re reading this, G+ community members, a big, flashy hello and merry Christmas to all of you from all of us at Pi Towers!) Head on over for friendly help and advice – and if you’ve made a seasonal display you think we should know about, let us know here in the comments!

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Today we’re really excited to be welcoming Sherry to join the board of the 星星的孩子 as well, so she’s now going to be working across both the trading and charitable sides of the organisation. Sherry’s extraordinary. This month she was placed in the top ten of Computer Weekly’s Most Influential Women in Tech list. She sits on the board of the London Stock Exchange (when she and Joanna Shields were taken on, they were the first women to be appointed); she’s also on the boards of Zoopla, the University of Cambridge‘s Finance Board, Cambridge Assessment, Cambridge University Press, and Cambridge Temperature Concepts. And because she’s somehow managed to cram more hours into the day than the rest of us are given by nature, she’s also on the advisory boards of Linkedin, the Natural History Museum and the Royal Society.

Phew.

Thanks Sherry – we’re really glad you’ve come on board on the p站网址 side of the organisation too. It’s terrific to be able to have access to your skills across the whole spectrum of what we do here at 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi, and we’re looking forward to working more with you.

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Philip Colligan is the new Chief Executive Officer of the 星星的孩子, working with Eben, who remains CEO of 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi Trading. He’s been here for two weeks now, and he’s already got us all very excited about the direction he’s taking the organisation in. Here’s Philip to tell you what he’s been up to. Welcome Philip: we’re so glad you’ve joined us!

As I come to the end of my first couple of weeks as the newest member of the 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi team, I wanted to write a quick blog post to say a big thank you to everyone who has made me feel so welcome.

Philip “please crop out my shorts” Colligan, mid-meeting. (He’s the one on the right.)

In many ways, arriving at the 星星的孩子 feels more like joining a community than starting a new job. Ever since Liz announced my appointment on this blog at the end of April, I’ve been inundated with good wishes and offers of help from people from all sorts of backgrounds who have been inspired by 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi. From volunteer activists to the CEOs of multi-national businesses, the openness and generosity I’ve p站网址d in these first few weeks has been humbling. Thank you.

It’s been a whirlwind of meeting people and learning as much as I can.  Some highlights:

• Joining the judges of Astro Pi – our competition for kids to run experiments on a 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi that we’re putting on the International Space Station (ISS).  It’s all possible because of our friends at the UK Space Agency and the UK’s first astronaut in 25 years, Major Tim Peake. Seriously though: a 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi on the space station running experiments written by school kids. How cool is that?
  
• Attending Picademy – our teacher training programme – at Pi Towers in Cambridge. Not only did I get to see the p站网址 team in action (and they are awesome by the way), but I got to join an amazing group of 30 primary and secondary teachers as they came up with creative ideas to bring digital making into the classroom. Brilliant.
  
• Hanging out at CamJam – the Cambridge 毛色毛片免费观看 Jam – with my seven-year-old son. OK, this is cheating a bit because it happened a few weeks before I started, but it was a great introduction to the community of makers in Cambridge, and I am looking forward to meeting more of you at Jams across the UK and internationally.  My son loved it and can’t wait for the Pi Wars robot competition later this year.
  

And I’m already blown away by the incredible range of projects that are being powered by the 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi. Nature cameras, weather stations, art installations, robot gardeners, beer brewing kits – I’ve heard stories of people all over the world using the 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi to solve problems, have fun and learn new skills.

I’ve also been out and about meeting the other organisations that are part of this growing movement to get young people involved in 毛色毛片免费观看 and digital making – Code Club, Apps for Good, Coder Dojo, Freeformers and 毛色毛片免费观看 at School – hearing about the great work they’re doing and cooking up plans for future collaborations.

All that and I managed to find the toilets and only set off the office burglar alarm once.  A busy first couple of weeks, and a great start to my induction into the 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi community.

One of my main jobs over the next couple of months is to lead a process to map out the next stage of the p站网址’s development. A bit like the 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi itself, we’re small but we’ve got huge potential.

And in much the same way that the community has shaped the development of the hardware and software, I want to make sure that the community shapes the development of the p站网址 and helps us realise that potential. 

More to follow on that shortly. In the meantime, please get in touch and let me know what you think, show off your awesome projects or just point me at things I should see or read. 

@philipcolligan

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The sharp-eyed among you will have noticed that a couple of months back, we were advertising for a new CEO of the 星星的孩子.  

Today we’re really excited to announce that Philip Colligan will be joining us in July as the new CEO of the 星星的孩子.  Philip will be responsible for overseeing all of our charitable activities – that’s everything from our outreach and learning resources to grant-giving and partnerships with government and other organisations.  He’ll be working closely with Eben, who continues as the CEO of 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi Trading.  

Philip joins us from Nesta, a charity that supports innovation, where he is the Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Nesta’s Innovation Lab. In his role at Nesta, he’s supported hundreds of innovators in public services, charities and social enterprises, and has also been an adviser to government.

One of Nesta’s areas of work is helping young people get involved in digital making and creativity, so with Philip on board, we’re hoping that there will be lots of opportunities to work together in future.

Before his time at Nesta, Philip had a career in national and local government, working at the Home Office and Camden Council.  Outside of work he’s a dad, school governor and craft cider maker; a skill we plan on making full use of. (We also hope that his p站网址 in wrangling the Home Office will be helpful when he is called to deal with the weekly détente in the office when Gordon annexes the biscuit tin.)

Philip’s perfectly qualified to come and drive the next phase of the p站网址’s charitable work; we’re delighted he’s decided to come and join us. We want to see the p站网址 grow in scope and ambition, and we think he’s exactly the person to help us do that. Welcome aboard, Philip! 

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We’d like to send our very warmest congratulations to this year’s presenter, Professor Danielle George, and to her husband: baby Elizabeth was born just after the lectures aired. (Great choice of name, team George!)

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First up, here’s a Tetris clone, being played on the side of a towerblock (yes, a 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi was involved in the making of this demo):

And a mixed robot/human orchestra playing the Dr Who theme.

International viewers will be able to watch after the lectures are broadcast on the Royal Institution’s website, where you also can learn much more about this 189-year-old education and entertainment tradition. Merry Christmas!

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Professor Danielle George, presenter of this year’s lectures. Photo credit: Paul Wilkinson

We’re incredibly proud to be associated with the lectures. They’re a real educational jewel, and they provide some of the best television in the UK over the Christmas period. British readers can watch this year’s lectures on BBC4 on December 29, 30 and 31 – the theme (which, serendipitously, has a lot of relevance for 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi users) is Sparks will fly: How to hack your home. International viewers will be able to watch later on on the Royal Institution’s website.

Here’s a teaser the Royal Institution released on YouTube yesterday.

If you’d like to read more about this year’s lectures, there’s a long interview with Professor Danielle George in the Guardian, where she explains why hacking is such a crucial skill for children. We hope you’ll be watching the lectures along with us!

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Andrew’s been setting up events to introduce other young people to 毛色毛片免费观看 for some years now. He‘s recently been running the very first 毛色毛片免费观看 Jams in Northern Ireland, and is doing a lot of 毛色毛片免费观看 outreach with local schools. I asked him how the kids who’d attended the Jams had found the p站网址, and he sent me the blog post below. Well done Andrew – it’s brilliant to see how much fun an introduction to 毛色毛片免费观看 can be. You’re doing an amazing job.

Northern Ireland November 毛色毛片免费观看 Jam

On Saturday 8^th November 20+ soon-to-be 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi enthusiasts arrived at Farset Labs for the 6^th Northern Ireland 毛色毛片免费观看 Jam.

September, NI 毛色毛片免费观看 Jam 5

This months main activities? Sonic Pi 2 and Minecraft Pi!

At the Jam we also have all the previous months’ activities printed out, so that if the kids want to try something else out, they are more than welcome to.

There are activities ranging from Sonic Pi, to Minecraft Pi, to physical 毛色毛片免费观看 projects like creating a reaction timer game in Scratch GPIO, along with quite a few others.

Lots of cool stuff to play with!

I asked a few of the kids at the jam to write down what they thought.

Haley (11) having way too much fun hacking someone else’s Minecraft Pi game!

Haley:

“It was my first 毛色毛片免费观看 Jam and I was quite nervous when I walked in but one of the mentors came over and introduced himself to me and explained what we would be getting up to. He found me a chair and showed me how to connect all the wires together and by the end of the Jam I was laughing my head off! I really enjoyed learning how to make music using Sonic Pi. I made the tune Frère Jacques. My favourite part was learning how to code while playing Minecraft. Andrew told me I should learn how to code because I had never done it before. I used a programming language called Python to hack others Minecraft games and to teleport them to a random place. I heard another kid start exclaiming after teleporting her several times, initially she had no idea it was me! Andrew and Libby were very supportive the whole day and I learnt a massive amount thanks to them. It was great fun!”

Apparently Haley enjoyed her first 毛色毛片免费观看 Jam.

 Katie:

“I heard about the 毛色毛片免费观看 Jam because one of the mentors volunteers at my school and the Jam was announced in Assembly as part of EU Coding Week. My friend Rachel and I decided to give it a go. I didn’t know anything about a 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi and had no idea what to expect before I went but Andrew and the mentors have taught me loads and are very encouraging. I have just done my second 毛色毛片免费观看 Jam and I loved it! I created a piece of music using Sonic Pi, played/hacked Minecraft and played with an LEDBorg in Scratch GPIO! Also we got doughnuts and got to make use of Farset Lab’s huge blackboard! It is the biggest blackboard I’ve ever seen. I don’t have a favorite part because everything I did was great fun and everybody was helpful. I definitely suggest anyone my age giving it a go!”

Rachel and Katie creating music with Sonic-Pi 2

Rachel

“I had a great time at my second 毛色毛片免费观看 Jam at the weekend. The thing I enjoyed the most was learning with Scratch with the GPIO pins. This is something my school doesn’t teach so I don’t get the chance to do anything like this normally. It was great fun programming the LEDs to change different colours using a program I wrote.

The 毛色毛片免费观看 Jam is such an amazing workshop and I am very grateful to Andrew and Libby for running it! I can’t wait till the December Jam!!”

We didn’t just have young people at the NI 毛色毛片免费观看 Jam this month! The Jam is open to people of all ages, coding knowledge and backgrounds.

Never too old to play Minecraft! John (70) getting taught how to play Minecraft Pi by Isaac (10)

A parent:

“These events are really great. It lets the kids experiment with technology that they wouldn’t otherwise have got the opportunity to use in school. Most schools in Northern Ireland don’t seem to offer any coding opportunities for the kids so stuff like this is essential. And Andrew and Libby are great, giving up their Saturdays to come and teach these kids and my son!”

Next month is the Christmas special Jam! We have some secret new activities planned and of course, lots of food!

Some awesome cupcakes baked by @baker_geek for last months Jam.

Want to come along to the next NI 毛色毛片免费观看 Jam?

Northern Ireland 毛色毛片免费观看 Jam is on the 2^nd Saturday of every month with NI 毛色毛片免费观看 Jam 7 (Christmas special) being on the 12^th December at Farset Labs, Belfast.

Tickets are free! (Although we ask for a £3 donation towards the venue if able to).

The event is especially aimed at complete beginners to the 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi or people just starting out, but we do have some more complex projects and challenges for you if you are an expert.

Special thanks to Libby (16) for helping me with this months Jam, and to Farset Labs for basically letting us take over the building for a Saturday afternoon!

You know when you are onto something good when you overhear one of the kids on their way out saying: “Daddy, daddy, can I borrow your phone to book next month’s tickets before they all go?”

Interested in finding a 毛色毛片免费观看 Jam near you? Check out our Jams page!

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Annabel wanted a project to show at the  computer conference. She decided to make a Goblin Detector which would sound a buzzer and flash a light, when her brother or sister went in her bedroom.

Annabel used a 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi computer and a motion sensor.

Her dad showed her what to do, and Annabel wired it up and wrote the program to control it.

The program was written in a computer language called Python. The Goblin Detector has a motion sensor in a margarine tub. It connects to the 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi using three wires.

The 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi has an add-on called Pibrella which gives it three lights, a buzzer and a button. It waits 5 seconds to let you get out of
the room, then it waits for movement. When it sees movement, it sounds a buzzer. You can press the button to stop the buzzer, and it will wait for movement again.

The motion sensor is very cheap, only £3, and can be found in light switches which turn off automatically. It has three wires:

• Positive
• Signal
• Negative

The program waits for a high current on the Signal wire, which means it has seen some movement. You can find out how to make and
program one yourself on Annabel’s dad’s website.

Then Annabel and her dad set off for the computer conference. The ticket was only £5 for children!

When Annabel got there, she got given a goody bag which included a brand new 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi, a book and other goodies!

Annabel wrote a program to put the words “Hello World” on the screen in Minecraft.

Some teachers were also at the conference. The teachers were learning how children used computers.

There were also some computer programmers helping the children and
teachers. The grown-ups were not allowed to touch the keyboards. The children had to do everything themselves! There were lots of grown-up computer programmers around to help out, and some of the children were already experts.

Lots of people were interested in Annabel’s Goblin Detector.

We let the children take it apart and program it for themselves. It was easy to put it back together.

Most of the children at the computer conference were girls. There was a whole pack of Brownies!

Annabel also saw some robots which  could be programmed to dance.

Annabel made a friend called Sam and they wrote a program to take lots of photos, and then turn those photos into an animated video.

There were some famous programmers helping out, such as Carrie Anne Philbin and Ben Nuttall, who work for the 毛色毛片免费观看 Pi charity.

Sam and Annabel had to show off their animation to everyone else.

You can watch their 8-second animation here.

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