1. Overview of the GoGo Board
The GoGo Board is a programmable device with sensor inputs and outputs that can control motors and other types of actuators. It is designed especially for young learners ages 10-18 and those who are new to electronics. The design principle is to allow learners to spend as much time as possible on the ideas of their desired creation and less on the technical details of the low-level electronics involved. Learners can find themselves quickly becoming in contact with powerful ideas in computational thinking and subject matters such as STEM. This design separates the GoGo Board from many alternatives such as the Arduino. For example, when programming an LED, learners can just plug in a LED module and start creating interesting patterns instead of having to first put together a LED circuit on a breadboard. The same principle applies to the programming language. The GoGo Board is compatible with many electronic sensors and actuators that are widely available.
The GoGo Board consists of eight sensor input ports and four output ports. The board can be programmed using a Logo-like language or a blocks-based drag-and-drop environment called Tinker. The on-board display is programmable and can also show sensor values. There are three kinds of expansion ports available. I2C and UART (serial) are for digital sensors and extension modules. A 40-pin connector allows the GoGo Board to ride on top of a Raspberry Pi computer.
The GoGo Widget
To use the GoGo Board, the GoGo Widget is required. It is a program that connects the GoGo Board to a computer. It allows you to perform the following actions:
- Display sensor values
- Manually control motors
- Configure add-on modules and perform testing.
- Update the GoGo Board’s firmware.
- Program the GoGo Board using a Logo-like programming language
Tinker
Tinker is a drag-and-drop programming environment for the GoGo Board that runs in a browser. Tinker is often used by beginners who are not familiar with the GoGo Board's language. Tinker translates the visual program into text and sends it to the GoGo Widget. Therefore, you need to keep the GoGo Widget running in order to use Tinker.