Tildagon Coding for Beginners (Python coding)

Goals for the guide

1. Flash some multicoloured (RGB) LEDs.
2. Detect presses of the buttons.
3. Use the direction sensor (accelerometer which is part of the IMU).
4. Show some pictures and text on the display.

Building your badge

If you haven't already built your badge, you need to follow the instructions here.

What software do I need?

You will need to download and install Thonny. Thonny is a powerful general-purpose Python editor for beginners and power users alike.

Are you a beginner to coding? Want to complete this guide with block coding instead? Click here for the Tildagon Blockly guide.

Thonny - Desktop program

Thonny is a more extensive general-purpose Python editor. It needs to be downloaded and installed, but does allow more advanced Python programs.
Thonny also includes the ability to interact directly with the badge and its files.

• Program editor - This is where you generally write your program.
• REPL - This allows you to type Python into it to be run immediately.
• Files - The files on your badge. The main one we will be using is the boot.py file, which runs once on startup of the badge.

You can use Thonny's file manager to edit or remove any file on the badge.

Getting started with Thonny

Using Thonny with the file manager open (if it isn't, select View -> Files on the top bar), open the boot.py file. This is the file you need to edit for all of this. It runs once on startup (before handing over to the main badge software).

Flashing some LEDs

The Tildagon badge includes a number of RGB (red, green, blue, aka multicoloured) LEDs onboard.

Each of these LEDs has a number written beside it.

Disable the pattern generator

Before using the LED code below, you need to disable the built-in pattern generator once, as it will take over again when your program finishes if you don't. This code below only needs to be run once.

import settings
settings.set("pattern_generator_enable", False)
settings.save()

You can re-enable it from the main badge settings app.

Using the LEDs

To turn one of these on, use the following code in the boot.py file.

import simple_tildagon as st

st.led.set(3, [255, 0, 0])

The program above will set LED 3 to red. The [255, 0, 0] section represents Red, Green, Blue mixing. Each can go up to 255 (full brightness for that colour).

ImportError: no module named 'simple_tildagon'

Exercise 1

Try to set the following LEDs to colours

Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)

The badge contains an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit). This is a combination of an accelerometer, gyroscopes and sometimes a magnetometer (compass). It allows you to measure movement of the badge and for example the direction it is tilting.

To use it, use the following code:

import simple_tildagon as st
import time


while True:
    # Options include is_tilted_left, is_tilted_right,
    # is_tilted_forward, is_tilted_back
    if st.imu.is_tilted_left():
        print("Left!")
    time.sleep(1)  # Only checking every second

There is also a check for shaking using st.imu.is_shaken().

Exercise 2

Create a program that has individual LEDs switched on using the is_tilted... methods. So if you tilt the badge left, LED 9 and 10 should come on. If the badge is shaken, it should reset them all back to off.

Buttons

There are 6 buttons around the outside of the badge labeled A-F (plus 3 additional buttons on the bottom layer circuit board used for managing the badge). You can check if the 6 buttons are being pressed with the following program.

To use it, use the following code:

import simple_tildagon as st
import time


while True:
    # Options include is_tilted_left, is_tilted_right, is_tilted_forward,
    # is_tilted_back
    if st.button.get("A"):
        print("Button A is being pressed!")
    time.sleep(1)  # Only checking every second

Exercise 3

Extend your previous program to switch all LEDs to purple once you press the B button.

Exercise 4

Extend your previous program to finish when the F button is pressed. This will need you to use the break command in Python to exit the while loop that should be running.

Display

You can display basic images and text on the display using the display functions.

You can display a basic picture on the screen using st.display.show().

import simple_tildagon as st
import time

while True:
    # Lots of options including SAD, CONFUSED, SURPRISED, HEART etc...
    st.display.show(st.Image.HAPPY)
    time.sleep(1)  # Only updating every second

The full list of available Image items is below:
- HAPPY
- SAD
- SURPRISED
- ANGRY
- CONFUSED
- HEART
- HEART_SMALL
- YES
- NO
- ARROW_N - ARROW_S - ARROW_E - ARROW_W

You're also able to display text on screen as well.

import simple_tildagon as st
import time

while True:
    # Other optional parameters include delay=0, x=0, y=0, font_size=30, color=(255, 255, 255))
    st.display.draw_text('Hello world', clear_before=True)
    time.sleep(1)  # Only updating every second

Exercise 5

Extend your previous program to show a happy face when tilted left and a sad face when tilted right.
When shaken, show a surprised face.

Exercise 6

Create a new program that displays a message on screen that switches to a different colour every 2 seconds.

Extensions

Now that you know the basics of using the hardware on the badge, here's a few other extension activities you could try

1. If the badge is shaken, show a random LED pattern - You might find the random.randint(your_lower_num, your_upper_num) command useful for this. Don't forget to import random at the top.

For example:

import random

print(random.randint(0, 5))

2. Can you create an LED toggle? If you press the E button, if the LED is off, turn it on (to whatever colour you want), but if it is already on, turn it off - You will need to use a variable for this.

3. Create a simple dice roller. When you shake the badge, a random LED is chosen (which is associated with a number).

4. Create a reaction game - An LED shows up by a button, the user must quickly press that button, after which another random LED lights up and they must press the button nearest that.

You might want to make sure you use a very short time.sleep(X) value for this in the while True: loop!

Building a full app

With the basics out of the way, using the boot.py file, the next step is to build a full application (that will work alongside all the other apps). You're also able to use the screen to display text/images, along with using the event system. For more details on this, check out the Write a Tildagon OS App guide and the Build the snake game tutorial.