118: Awesome and Frequently Useless

Embedded.fm · 16 Sept 2015 · 57m

What this episode covers

Morgan Allen, a JavaScript developer and member of NodeBots, discusses using Node.js to control Sphero and BB-8 robots via Bluetooth and serial interfaces. He explains how Node.js enables low-level hardware communication through modules like node-serialport and libraries such as Johnny-Five, which abstracts Arduino and other boards for robotics. The conversation covers the technical challenges of BB-8's dead reckoning and inertial sensors, as well as the educational value of Sphero's open SDK and the NodeBots community's hack nights.

Mentioned

Products
Sphero, BB-8
Chips
Espruino
Tools
Node.js, Johnny-Five, node-serialport
Also
IPFS, People's Open Net, Sudo Room

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