[HN Gopher] Show HN: Blot - code, art, robots and open source ed...
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       Show HN: Blot - code, art, robots and open source education
        
       For the last few years, I've been working at a non-profit called
       Hack Club developing tools to support self-motivated teens to learn
       about technology and build community with other like-minded peers
       while doing so.  This has resulted in the development of a model
       called "you ship, we ship." We build open source creative coding
       environments, and when teenagers share the projects they make with
       these tools, we send them materials to dive deeper into the subject
       and related technologies. Our approach is predicated on the
       constructionist idea that people learn best by building things they
       care about and sharing them with others. The vision we have is to
       create a public collection of creative learning tools that offer
       people projects they can do right away and communities of practice
       to engage with.  Blot is our next installment in the series. It's
       designed to be a gateway to CNC robotics through digital art. If
       you'd like to see some of the projects people have made so far, you
       can check out:  https://blot.hackclub.com/gallery  You can also
       find projects from our first "you ship, we ship" called Sprig. It's
       a game console you get by building a game for it.
       https://sprig.hackclub.com/gallery  I'd love people's thoughts on
       the model and ideas for other subjects in technology we could build
       projects around.
        
       Author : apexedison
       Score  : 28 points
       Date   : 2024-04-27 15:01 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | developer1000 wrote:
       | If I understand correctly you are basically selling a cnc drawing
       | machine for 150$. I dont know if there is a market for that
       | especially in the demographic that you are targeting. Why would a
       | teenager not just print their artwork at the local library for 20
       | cents? Sure with your machine you can draw on all kind of
       | materials thats good!
        
         | dh-g wrote:
         | "The Blot is paid for by Hack Club" - My reading is the machine
         | is free if you create a piece of generative art.
        
           | apexedison wrote:
           | That's correct! The machine is in exchange for sharing your
           | art program.
        
       | dh-g wrote:
       | Pretty cool project! The design reminds me of the
       | midtbot(https://github.com/bdring/midTbot_esp32).
        
         | apexedison wrote:
         | I really like Bart Dring's work but haven't seen this one
         | before. Thanks for sharing!
        
       | okamiueru wrote:
       | This is great! I'm a little bit confused by the "You Ship, We
       | Ship". It seems presented like a named concept of sorts, but the
       | description when following the link is
       | 
       | > At Hack Club we're reimagining a new type of public education
       | for technology. We believe people learn best by creating things
       | they care about and sharing them with others. We build open
       | source creative tools with young people all around the world.
       | These tools are gateways to new subjects in technology like
       | embedded systems, circuits or digital fabrication robotics. When
       | teenagers build things with our tools we send them more creative
       | materials for free.
       | 
       | > Our goal is to build a new type of library online that offers
       | learners not just media to consume but tools to create. And it is
       | free and open source to all. We're just getting started...
       | 
       | This is _also_ great. But, I 'm still confused by the name.
       | 
       | Shipping is usually referred to sending something through, well,
       | ships originally, but postage in general this day. But, I don't
       | think it has anything to do with that.
       | 
       | Am I missing something? Perhaps something lost in translation?
       | 
       | Edit: Aha. I just didn't read it correctly. The concept is that
       | you contribute by sending materials to teenagers who are trying
       | to learn this stuff? That's _amazing_!
        
         | apexedison wrote:
         | Thanks for asking I could give a better explanation. We mean
         | the participant ships a project (like shipping code) and we
         | physically ship them materials (like a drawing machine in the
         | mail).
        
           | okamiueru wrote:
           | Thanks for the explanation!
        
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       (page generated 2024-04-27 23:01 UTC)