We went to Java to talk about Python
- Colin Bell
- Oct 28, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 25, 2024
In October, we went to Yogyakarta- which is on the island of Java in Indonesia- to attend Pycon APAC, which this year took place at Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama (UNU). I was there to present a workshop on programming microcontrollers.
At Pycon in Kuala Lumpur a couple of months ago, during a kind of have-your-say session at the end of the conference, one delegate said that although he had enjoyed the conference, he wished there had been more inclusion for people starting out on their Python journey. So I decided that I would try to do exactly that, by presenting an introductory workshop on programming robots. Getting an actual physical robot moving around is always more engaging than a program that just runs on a screen.
In the workshop, we used BBC Micro Bit microcontrollers fitted into a small wheeled robot (an Elecfreaks Smart Cutebot). The Micro Bit can be programmed using a block-based language or using MicroPython, which is what we used in the workshop. The robots have LEDs, line sensors and a distance sensor (basically a modified HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor) on board, so we gave the group a number of challenges based on getting the robots to do various tasks including following a line and avoiding obstacles.
We only had 90 minutes, so after some basic introductory descriptions we divided everyone into small teams and handed out our robots (we had six of them) and let the teams get on with it... the layout of the room wasn't really ideal for group work but after a while we had robots scooting everywhere around the floor and driving around our home-made line-following course. We could have carried on for much longer, but the workshop sessions were strictly time-controlled, so when our time was up we had to gather up the robots and make way for the next presenter.
I have now presented workshops on different topics at three Python conferences in different countries- the UK, Malaysia and Indonesia. I am already thinking up topics for next year (and thinking about which countries to visit).
