Hello again, @nrodi and @reaster here! We forgot to give an update last week so here it is. We got the PI working and connected to the internet. We also connected it up to the Pico and the arcade controls. Everything works well running the block code and in general. One thing that took a long time and was tricky to figure out was updating the firmware on the Pico, but we got it working!
Photos:
Hello! @reaster and @nrodi back again! This week we were able to assemble the arcade casing. We were able to install the joystick and the buttons. One issue we had was that it took a lot of messing around to determine which wires went to each input for the joystick. Other than that everything has been straightforward.
Looking cool so far! Can’t wait to see it in action!
I am Ryan S. Novitski, ITEEA (www.iteea.org) STEM Center Director. Next week I am scheduled to teach a STEM workshop at Savannah State University. One of the projects is going to be creation of a Snap! Arcade! I am spending this week working with a team at a beach retreat in North Carolina. During this week, I plan to create a "Beach Retrocade." It may even be decorated with shells. I have just finished wiring the arcade controls.
We are using a raspberry PI pico to send the arcade controls to a single board linux computer. More to come soon!
Just curious: What's the purpose of the asymmetrical joystick constraint hole that you're not using in the green plastic board?
The green plate is to restrict joystick movement to replicate different arcade configurations. For example, the right position allows for movement in four directions: up, down, left, and right. The middle cut out allows for the four basic directions plus diagonal ones. The left most cut out only allows up/down or left/right movement.
Since this particular joystick operates using four microswitches, we've found that using it as a controller for Snap! programs works best if we use the four directional cut out and program the connected microcontroller to emulate the arrow keys of a keyboard being pressed.
There's no reason someone couldn't use the other constraint holes if those work better with their program though.
Ah, I see, I'm supposed to think of that big asymmetrical left hole as two holes!
We had completed the arcade control bar, and tested it with a Libre single board linux computer. As you can see, following the beach theme, we decorated the arcade control bar with shell creatures; putting the arts in STEAM.
Hey! My name is Austin Feith. I am a senior at Fluvanna County High School, and this summer I worked at an internship with the MakeToLearn Lab to create a Snap! Arcade build. I went with a tabletop physical design along with an asteroids-style game, and it turned out really well! The full process is detailed on this website, on the page titled "Internship": [Austin Feith]
Hi @glenbull,
I loved the talk about the Snap!Arcade at Snap!Con. The Snap!Arcade would be great for CoderDojo meetings. If I have the time, who knows, I will make one. I am already thinking on who could help me. Maybe some parents during CoderDojo or some help from the Library where we are located. The children are to young, at least for the technical stuff. They could paint the outside.
I think there could/should be a Snap!Arcade blog post for the MicroBlocks blog. Blog - MicroBlocks
It is a another great collaboration between Snap! and MicroBlocks.
@jmaloney Great idea ... when John Maloney has a free moment, perhaps he will be able to post something on the MicroBlocks blog.
We find that creation of an arcade control bar that connects to a laptop is a good intermediate step on the way to creation of a fully realized arcade cabinet. The overhead is lower ... this could probably be readily done with the picobrick (for example). Development of an arcade control bar gives students a better conceptual understanding of the way in which all the components interact and involves much less overhead. Then, students who are particularly engaged can go on to develop a full arcade cabinet.
The age of the children at a Dojo are most of the time between 7-12. That's why I said maybe they could do the painting 
My immediate reaction was that this would be tokenistic, like cleaning the erasers (I wonder how many of the people here have ever seen a chalkboard!), but it would be more meaningful if preceded by a class discussion to choose a theme for the arcade, e.g., maze games, space games, painting programs. Then the walls could match the theme, sort of the way pinball machines' artwork follow the story line.
If properly structured, our experience is that fifth and sixth grade students can both create an arcade game in Snap! and connect the hardware. It is a matter of providing the proper scaffolding, and of course, ensuring there is sufficient hands-on time. They have also constructed arcade cabinets from cardboard, which works very well. So, given sufficient staff support and resources, there is no inherent barrier to participation in all phases ... or perhaps they could divide up in teams and focus on different aspects in different groups, coordinating their efforts.
It is possible that younger children - fourth grade and lower - could participate as well. We are not working with children that young, but from what we have observed in other settings, it could be feasible. Liz Whitewolf, director of the eduFab Foundation, told us about a recent workshop that she conducted for a group of teachers in the middle east. During the lunch break the son of one of the teachers, who was in upper elementary school, created a driving game, and connected it to the hardware controller to create a steering wheel. (Of course, as a result, she felt obligated to leave the hardware controller with him at the end of the workshop so that he could continue to develop the game.)
Of course, as always, your mileage may vary. [smile]
@bh, @glenbull Yes, you are absolutely right. I would absolutely involve the kids in any part of the project. We see our kids (ninja's) once every two weeks for 2 hours so we would have to see how we go about that. We have a group of children that are there every time but also a group that is more fluid.
What we also have is a steady group of motivated parents that stay during our dojo's to help their kids.
CoderDojo isn't a school setting so that makes it somewhat different I guess.
It also works on the Pico.
We have observed that the soldering takes a great deal of time, especially for novice. We're exploring ways of developing connectors to the arcade controls that don't require soldering, perhaps through spade lugs or something of the sort. If anyone has any suggestions, we would welcome ideas.
Look up Wago Lever-Nuts®. Amazon sells them.
P.S. The ones I have are for audio or power wiring, so AWG 24 to 12. I dunno if they make ultra-thin ones.
