The idea of ββwriting code without writing code (yes, yes, writing is the present participle of the verb write, now live with it) has repeatedly occurred to both smart people and just lazy people. A dream of a graphical interface in which you can throw some dice on others, draw mutual links and select object properties from cute drop-down lists, and then, by pressing the magic βCompileβ button, get a working code equivalent to the code of another (not so smart, of course) a programmer using an outdated manual printing method has always smoldered in the minds of both corporate bosses who dream of introducing every yesterday's student, whose intelligence allowed him to not miss the toilet bowl, and startuppers who want to make the whole world happy for an adequate price. Today we offer you:
crowdfunding project: Ezblock Pi.
The essence of the project: A graphical programming environment for the Raspberry Pi in tandem with an expansion board.
Platform: Kickstarter.
Project address: .
AuthorsCast: Georganne Chang, Reggie Lau.
Location: USA, Delaware, Wilmington.
Attempts to develop serious graphical programming environments slowly faded away; even the top bosses realized that the programming process was too complex to fit into a Procrustean bed of colorful cubes. Fortunately, there are still amateur programmers left, in the case of the crowdfunding project in question, Raspberry Pi lovers. In order not to promote naked software, the authors supplement the graphical development environment with an expansion board, which is designed to facilitate the process of connecting to external devices.
On the project page, in the title video, we are introduced to two robotic programmers, Robert and Emily. Robert, like every self-respecting wearer of a tie and glasses, is coding Python the old fashioned way, using a monitor and keyboard. In Amy, someone's caring hands, flying in from the edge of the frame, take away the keyboard, monitor and even the mouse, replacing it all with a beautiful white tablet. The tablet, in turn, runs a program called Ezblock Studio, which allows you to write for the now fashionable IoT in the Drag-n-Drop-n-be-happy style.
Naturally, while Robert fails an attempt for an attempt (perhaps due to the use of the game keyboard), Emily's robot successfully waters the plant with water from a glass, the girl herself receives notifications from the robot directly to her phone and even dictates response orders using voice control.
Since the squares still need to be glued together with some kind of logic, towards the end of the video, support for programming languages ββis finally announced, these are Python and Swift (the main character of the video, a tablet, has an apple logo). Only now Amy has to hammer on the on-screen keyboard, since no one has returned her normal one. Ezblock Studio is announced to support iOS, Android, Linux, Windows and macOS. Everyone is happy. Well, maybe except for Robert, who disappeared in the middle of the video; perhaps he went into a binge or quit.
Okay, I think that's enough literature. Let's see what the developers offer us for $35 without banter.
The Ezblock Pi project in a minimal configuration consists of three parts:
- the Ezblock Pi board itself, used as an expansion board for the Raspberry Pi;
- a basic set of 15 modules (there is also a set of modules for IoT, sold in a more expensive kit for $74, more on that below);
- access to Ezblock Studio, which allows you to write software for the Raspberry Pi through Drag-n-Drop manipulations;
- plastic case for assembling Raspberry Pi + Ezblock Pi;
- instructions.
With the body and instructions, I think everything is clear, let's take a closer look at the first three points.
The inside of the Ezblock Pi board can only be judged by the mention of βsupported by STM32 controllerβ and a fuzzy photo of the first prototype. Apparently, the board contains an STM32 microcontroller in a TQFP32 package. The cheapest MCU in this package, the STM32L010K4T6 (ARM Cortex-M0+), costs β¬0,737 in quantities of 100 or more; the most expensive, STM32F334K8T6 (ARM Cortex-M4) - β¬2.79 (Mooser prices). A 3.3 V linear stabilizer in a SOT-223 package is responsible for the power supply, for Bluetooth - a ready-made module, judging by its appearance, something like an ESP12E. Two 20-pin connectors and a breadboard in the center of the board are responsible for contact with the outside world.
The composition of the basic set of 15 modules for me, to be honest, remained a mystery, even after closely examining the illustrations for the project. If the complete set of modules for IoT is honestly photographed and named, then the basic set included in the initial package is classified more than the design of a new car before a major automobile exhibition. The base set allows you to "create 15 different projects", but the illustrations show 10 cardboard boxes that seem to contain some kind of electronic components inside, but the full composition of the base set is not deciphered anywhere.
As for Ezblock Studio, I already shared my skepticism at the beginning of the news. In my opinion, a system that can really master all the voiced options (recall: (block programming + Python + Swift) * (iOS + macOS + Android + Linux + Windows)) can be developed, but I would lay on the development of such software approximately like 5 man-years, or one year of a team of five people (how much would you give?), even when using some kind of multi-tool like Electron. Considering that the developers claimed only $10000 (the project looks very cheerful, so 400% of this amount has already been collected), it is completely incomprehensible what this team will eat during the entire development period. To the credit of the authors, we must add that the first version of Ezblock Studio is already available on Google Play.
The text of the presentation contains typos that are common for Chinese manufacturers, in this case the vibration motor included in the set of modules for IoT is called "Vabration Module" instead of "Vibration Module". However, this time the real developers do not think to hide; please, here is a group photo of the residents of the town of Wilmington, Delaware:
Don't misunderstand me, I'm not at all drowning for a negative attitude towards developers from China. This, in general, is a fait accompli - at first, Chinese programmers ate a significant piece of the Google Play and Apple App Store app stores, now they are winning their place in the sun with the help of crowdfunding sites. Crowdfunding is just what is good about it, because it allows almost any earthling who has the Internet and a bank card to tell the whole world about his development and sometimes make good money on it. The negative can only be caused by an overly strong shift in emphasis from the technical component of the project towards iridescent marketing, when [possible] design flaws are hushed up, and the emotionally joyful side is excessively exaggerated. Here's another illustration from the Ezblock Pi presentation:
Saved, as the video blogger Evgeny Bazhenov aka BadComedian says, "author's editing". Do you have any thoughts on how, being in a sober mind and sound memory, using the Raspberry Pi and the "Vibration Module" to construct THIS? Or is it still a call to our collective unconscious: βLook how cool, buy faster!β?
To take or not to take? First of all, let me remind you that 509 people have already donated $41000 (with the requested $10000), and there are still almost 3 weeks until the end of the campaign. People love it. Perhaps, if you are a fan of the Raspberry Pi, then you can also see the positive aspects in the proposed design, outweighing the reluctance to part with the amount from $35 to $179. Perhaps you, too, like Robert from the promotional video, are tired of "writing repetitive lines of code." Or maybe you just think that the guys are moving in the right direction and want to support them with your financial injection. Just remember that the Raspberry Pi itself is sold for the equivalent amount of $35 (I will not delicately mention the price of Raspberry Pi Zero and Raspberry Pi Zero W here at all), during the creation of which the engineering team had to really work, and on which there is ARM Cortex-A53 clocked at 1,4GHz, 1000Mbps Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.2.
I drive small from which I took this article. If you have an interesting DIY or Open source hardware crowdfunding project in mind, share the link and we'll discuss it too. Crowdfunding campaigns are short-lived and heavily tied to community support, and perhaps for some lone enthusiast, even a small number of orders that came from Habr will help bring the campaign to a victorious end.
Source: habr.com