Maker Bradán Lane has launched the newest within the “Sara Cladlow” household of interactive “eChallengeCoin” badges, dubbed the Explorer Badge — marking a shift to the Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller and the introduction of an interactive fiction factor.
“Because the eChallengeCoin, it replaces the collection of interactive and story challenges with a very new textual content journey recreation Sara and the Darkish Labyrinth,” Lane explains of the system. “However that’s lower than half the story. That is primarily the Explorer Badge studying platform operating CircuitPython. Its core function is to offer the following technology of hackers and makers an all-in-one system for exploring Python programming and CircuitPython programming for {hardware}.”
Lane launched the eChallengeCoin household again in 2020, inventing the character of Sara Cladlow — a social marketing consultant who accepts contracts for “safety investigations requiring a refined contact” — to ship a story problem solvable utilizing a problem coin impressed digital badge. New badges have adopted every year, with the newest marking a transfer to the Raspberry Pi Rp2040 microcontroller and a concentrate on delivering one thing usable as a extra general-purpose growth system along with a device for storytelling and puzzle-solving.
“Whereas previous eChallengeCoins, have been a lot enjoyable, I actually wished to pivot to one thing for the following technology to discover and be taught new STEAM abilities,” Lane explains. “To leap begin exploring the Explorer Badge, there’s a workshop collection. The collection begins with two workshops overlaying primary Python. The third workshop is an introduction to CircuitPython and all the {hardware} of the 2024 eChallengeCoin/Explorer Badge.”
The most recent eChallengeCoin is designed to supply greater than its predecessors, serving as a platform for basic CircuitPython growth. (📷: Bradán Lane)
That {hardware} consists of the RP2040 microcontroller, 8MB of exterior flash, EEPROM, addressable RGB LEDs, contact sensors, an accelerometer, infrared receiver and emitter, and audio capabilities. The dominating function of the system, although: a compact round ePaper show dead-center on the entrance. These following the problem will discover the textual content journey loaded on the system and accessible over USB; these utilizing the system as a growth board can run their very own CircuitPython packages as a substitute.
Extra data on the 2024 eChallengeCoin is offered on “Sara Cladlow’s” web site; Lane is promoting items in his Tindie retailer at $75.