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TurtleBlocks is block computer programming language to create designs for [[laser cutting]] or a[[cutting plotter]] created by [http://cs.wellesley.edu/~fturbak/ Franklyn Turbak], and collaborators of the [http://www.tinkerblocks.org/ TinkerBlocks research group] at Wellesley. It is based on turtle geometry invented by Papert and the [[Logo]] community. | TurtleBlocks is block computer programming language to create designs for [[laser cutting]] or a[[cutting plotter]] created by [http://cs.wellesley.edu/~fturbak/ Franklyn Turbak], and collaborators of the [http://www.tinkerblocks.org/ TinkerBlocks research group] at Wellesley. It is based on turtle geometry invented by Papert and the [[Logo]] community. | ||
[[PictureBlocks]] is a twin project, {{quotation|which facilitates the construction of complex geometric designs from simple primitive pictures by transforming (rotating, flipping) | [[PictureBlocks]] is a twin project, {{quotation|which facilitates the construction of complex geometric designs from simple primitive pictures by transforming (rotating, flipping) pictures and composing them (putting one picture above, beside, or over one another).}}<ref name="turbak2012"> Franklyn Turbak, Smaranda Sandu, Olivia Kotsopoulos, Emily Erdman, Erin Davis, and Karishma Chadha. Blocks Languages for Creating Tangible Artifacts. In Proceedings of the IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VLHCC 2012), Innsbruck, Austria, Oct. 1--3, 2012.</ref>. It is based on Henderson's picture language based on functional geometry. | ||
Both these environments aim {{quotation|to introduce non programmers to computational thinking [5] and give them hands-on experience with techniques like procedural abstraction, modularity, and divide/conquer/glue problem solving.}} <ref name="turbak2012"/> | Both these environments aim {{quotation|to introduce non programmers to computational thinking [5] and give them hands-on experience with techniques like procedural abstraction, modularity, and divide/conquer/glue problem solving.}} <ref name="turbak2012"/> | ||
Revision as of 20:07, 23 January 2020
Introduction
TurtleBlocks is block computer programming language to create designs for laser cutting or acutting plotter created by Franklyn Turbak, and collaborators of the TinkerBlocks research group at Wellesley. It is based on turtle geometry invented by Papert and the Logo community.
PictureBlocks is a twin project, “which facilitates the construction of complex geometric designs from simple primitive pictures by transforming (rotating, flipping) pictures and composing them (putting one picture above, beside, or over one another).”[1]. It is based on Henderson's picture language based on functional geometry.
Both these environments aim “to introduce non programmers to computational thinking [5] and give them hands-on experience with techniques like procedural abstraction, modularity, and divide/conquer/glue problem solving.” [1]
Notice: There exists a similar language called Turtle Blocks JavaScript, or sometimes as "Turtle Blocks". Formerly called "Turtle Art", it draws colorful art based on snap-together visual programming elements. Since it allows exporting to SVG, it could be used as a substitute for the original TurtleBlocks.
Environment and availability
So far, we could not identify available software. The Wesley team seems to have reoriented its work on improving MIT App Inventor.
It is maybe possible to export to SVG from another block language. E.g. Turtlestitch can do that and we have to test if creating laser cutting designs is practical.
Links
- TurtleBlocks at TinkerBlocks.org, the website of the Wesley team working on block languages.
- Home page of Franklyn Turbak, leader of the the TinkerBlocks research group, whose goal is to democratize computing by creating blocks programming languages that are more expressive and easier to use.
Bibliography
Cited references
Other
- H. Abelson and A. diSessa,Turtle Geometry: the Computer as a Mediumfor Exploring Mathematics. MIT Press, 1981
- M. Eisenberg, N. Elumeze, L. Buechley, G. Blauvelt, S. Hendrix, andA. Eisenberg, “The homespun museum: Computers, fabrication, and thedesign of personalized exhibits,” inConf. on Creativity & Cognition(C&C’05), 2005, pp. 13–21.
- M. Eisenberg, A. Eisenberg, L. Buechley, and N. Elumeze, “Computersand physical construction: Blending fabrication into computer scienceeducation,” inInt. Conf. on Frontiers in Education: Computer Science& Computer Engineering (FECS ’08), 2008, pp. 127–133.
- P. Henderson, “Functional geometry,” in ACM Symposium on Lisp and Functional Programming, 1982, pp. 179–187. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/800068.802148
- P. Henderson, “Functional geometry,” Higher Order and Symbolic Computation, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 349–365, 2002. Preprint ?
- S. Papert, Mindstorm: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. BasicBooks, 1980.