CrowPi L Review Part 2: Learn programming and electronics with a Raspberry Pi 4 laptop – CNX Software

In the first part of our review of CrowPi L Raspberry Pi 4 laptop for education, we checked the hardware and accessories such as the CrowTail starter kit with various sensors and other electronics modules, and showed how to install or remove the Raspberry Pi 4 SBC from the laptop shell.

Ive now had more time to play with the educational software, so Ill report my experience with the laptop when learning game design and hardware control with Letscode visual programming IDE, as well as the Python lessons for more advanced students.

Its the rainy season here in Thailand meaning its both hot and humid, and even though Im not entirely sure its related, I recently had to reinstall Raspberry Pi OS on one of my Raspberry Pi with a corrupted SD card. It happened again with the CrowPi L after I left it in its package for two to three weeks

But thats not a big issue, as Elecrow provides CrowPi OS images for download. So I just downloaded and flashed the CrowPi L image to a microSD card with USBImager, and I was good to do. Note that I often get the error The software needs to run on Crowpi-Laptop! at boot time.

But when that happens I can just click on the Pi Panel icon on the far right of the taskbar to start it up.

The Pi Panel program offers shortcuts to Letscode tutorials to learn visual programming, Python lessons, as well as other programming tools such as Thonny (Python IDE), Geany text editor, and the Arduino IDE, all of which are preinstalled in the image.

The Accessories tab provides shortcuts to desktop programs such as VLC Player, Chromium, or a File Manager, the Website tab gets links to relevant websites (Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Linux, Ubuntu, Open Source)

while the Forum tab offers links to popular maker forums. Note that the CrowPi OS is basically Raspberry Pi OS with the Pi Panel programs and developer tools.

Lets check Letscode lessons first. There are three options with the game designs, hardware control (which requires the CrowTail Starter Kit with electronics modules), and finally an option to add future tutorials.

The game designs section does not rely on electronics at all, it will just teach kids and adults how to create games with visual programming.

There are sixteen lessons in total, and I tried Lesson 3 Undersea World to have a look.

Letscode program will show on the left, and the Pi Panels tutorial on the right of the screen. As you can see the Letscode window overlaps on the tutorial section. Its not ideal, but still usable.

The tutorial will explain step-by-step what the student has to do first with text, followed by a tutorial video showing where to click.

Youll also have access to background images and sprites to make game development easier, although letscode also allows you to draw your own sprites.

Youll have to drag and drop visual programming blocks to manage the behavior of sprites in your scene. It was fairly easy to follow, and both reading the text and watching the video are mandatory to complete a lesson, at least initially. This can be cumbersome on the small 11.6-inch display of the laptop, so I decided to connect a 10.1-inch HDMI display to the HDMI port of the laptop, have Letscode in full screen on the laptops screen, and the tutorial and videos on the HDMI display.

I found myself to be quite more productive that way. Note that by default, the screens will mirror, and youll need to run Screen Layout Editor to change the layout as follows.

Lets now switch to the section more relevant to CNX Software topics with Hardware control lessons.

There are 24 lessons in total from the basic light flickering lesson to more complex projects such as a welcome robot or a smart planting system. I went with Lesson 6 Motor Drive to have a closer look at the way those tutorials combining electronics and visual programming are conducted.

Ill keep using my dual display setup, as its even more imporant here, since the tutorial window is even bigger.

Before getting started with any of those lessons youll want to install the CrowPi L Extension by first clicking on the icon at the bottom left in the Letscode program

.. then select CrowPi L Extension which comes with the visual programming block well need for hardware control lessons.

The lesson starts with an explanation of the learning targets,

and provide a description of each module used in the project followed, if needed, by the theory behind the working principle of the sensors, in this case, the IR reflective sensor.

The motor drive tutorial also use a MOSFET module,

and a TT motor, so weve got an explanation for both.

After all that theory, well need to dig into our CrowTail Starter Kit for Raspberry Pi to get the necessary boards and modules for the project. The Starter Kit has plenty of modules (22), but since the package is well-described they are easy to locate.

This is followed by the connection diagram, and I think it could be more detailed. I had to take 3 jumper wires, two to connect the TT motor, and one to connect the female jumper cable of the battery pack. I also had to use my screwdriver to connect the wires to the screw terminals of the MOSFET board, as well as a tool to open the battery compartment and insert two AAA batteries of my own. None of this was explained, and it might be head scratching for kids without supervision. I also find the use of jumper wires to connect to the TT motor a bit odd, as they can be loose.

But lets carry on with the lesson now that we have connected our project. The visual programming part is fairly easy to follow as its explained step-by-step. Youll also see the Python automatically generated as you may more programming blocks. Once you program is done select the baud rate (115,000) in the bottom right, and click on the start/play button.

Everything looks fine, but does it really work? You bet it does as the TT motor as I place my finger on top of the IR reflective sensor

Lets switch to Python programming lessons and tutorials.

Just like for visual programming, there are three sections: Introduction to syntax, Hardware control, and an option to add a new course.

The introduction to syntax does not require any additional hardware, it just teached Python basics to more complex examples such as games that all run on the laptop itself. If we select one of the lessons, the Pi Panel tutorial will show on the right, and Thonny Python IDE will show on the left with the lesson providing step-by-step instructions to write the program.

The Hardware control Python lessons are exactly the same as with the Letcode program, but instead of using visual programming, students will learn to code Python.

I did flick through the Motor Drive lesson, and its basically the same as for the visual programming lesson with theory, explanation about the modules, a connection diagram, and the main difference is that youll learn Python programming on the way as well. By the way, you can also do this in the visual programming lesson, as Letscode will automatically generate the Python code as you drag and drop the blocks.

But I did not try it in detail, as the CrowTail Started Kit for Raspberry Pi comes with a printed user guide, and I personally prefer to learn that way. But thats a mistake as Ill explain better, and you should learn Python with the program inside CrowPi L laptop, instead of the book as it is outdated.

I first noticed the list of lessons was different. But I still went ahead, and installed samples and drivers as explained in the book:

pi@Crowpi-Laptop:~ $ git clone https://github.com/Elecrow-RD/RPi-Starter-Kit

pi@Crowpi-Laptop:~ $ git clone https://github.com/Elecrow-RD/RPi-Starter-Kit

Lets go into the examples directory to list the samples:

cd ../RPi-Starter-Kit/examples/pi@Crowpi-Laptop:~/RPi-Starter-Kit/examples $ ls -ltotal 80-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 745 Aug 10 14:31 10_plant_doctor.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 642 Aug 10 14:31 11_dimmer.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 647 Aug 10 14:31 12_speed_fan.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 834 Aug 10 14:31 13_servo_control.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 917 Aug 10 14:31 14_obstacle_alert.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 1588 Aug 10 14:31 15_smart_lantern.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 1015 Aug 10 14:31 16_distance_display.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 1086 Aug 10 14:31 17_weather_station.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 1396 Aug 10 14:31 19_speed_measurement.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 86 Aug 10 14:31 1_hello_world.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 1282 Aug 10 14:31 20_plant_expert.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 1370 Aug 10 14:31 21_remote_door.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 231 Aug 10 14:31 2_blinking_led.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 381 Aug 10 14:31 3_contorl_led.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 427 Aug 10 14:31 4_doorbell.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 674 Aug 10 14:31 5_treasure_chest.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 597 Aug 10 14:31 6_bright_and_dark.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 387 Aug 10 14:31 7_smart_light.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 705 Aug 10 14:31 8_collision_alert.py-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 591 Aug 10 14:31 9_car_tracking.py

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cd ../RPi-Starter-Kit/examples/

pi@Crowpi-Laptop:~/RPi-Starter-Kit/examples $ ls -l

total 80

-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 745 Aug 10 14:31 10_plant_doctor.py

-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 642 Aug 10 14:31 11_dimmer.py

-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 647 Aug 10 14:31 12_speed_fan.py

-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 834 Aug 10 14:31 13_servo_control.py

-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 917 Aug 10 14:31 14_obstacle_alert.py

-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 1588 Aug 10 14:31 15_smart_lantern.py

-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 1015 Aug 10 14:31 16_distance_display.py

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CrowPi L Review Part 2: Learn programming and electronics with a Raspberry Pi 4 laptop - CNX Software