• Overview
• Download
• Screenshots
• Projects
• People

CHERP (Creative Hybrid Environment for Robotic Programming) is a hybrid tangible/graphical computer language designed to provide an engaging introduction to computer programming for children in both formal and informal educational settings. With CHERP you can create programs for robots like the LEGO Mindstorms RCX and Lego WeDo. It was designed during the Tangible Kindergarten project at Tufts University by the Developmental Technologies Group.

Overview

CHERP allows you to create both physical and graphical computer programs to control your robot. You can create physical programs using interlocking wooden blocks, or onscreen programs using the same icons that represent actions for your robot to perform. With CHERP there is no such thing as a syntax error. The shape of the interlocking blocks and icons creates a physical syntax that prevents the creation of invalid programs. CHERP programs can be compiled in a matter of seconds with the press of a button.

CHERP's wooden blocks contain no embedded electronics or power supplies. Instead CHERP uses a standard webcam connected to a desktop or laptop computer to take a picture of your program, which it then converts into digital code using the TopCodes computer vision library.

Download

(LEGO Mindstorms RCX version)

(LEGO Education WeDo version)

To make your own tangible blocks, download the CHERP icon files as pngs (just to print) or svgs (editable Inkscape files). See CHERP Documentation (below) for more details.

Please read the documentation for using CHERP with either the Lego RCX kit or the Lego WeDO kit.

Supported Platforms: Windows XP or later – Note: Windows 7 is trickier but still works (see CHERP Documentation)

Required Equipment (LEGO Mindstorms RCX version):

1. Two or more USB 2.0 ports
2. 2 Megapixel Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 (to use the tangible programming blocks)
3. LEGO Mindstorms RCX USB Tower (with RCX only)

Required Software (All except JRE are included with the CHERP installer, but depending on your OS, you may need to install them manually):

1. Java 7 Development Kit ((http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/java-se-jdk-7-download- 432154.html))
2. Java 6 Runtime Environment (not included) (http://www.java.com/en/)
3. Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 drivers (http://www.logitech.com)
4. Lego Mindstorms RCX USB tower drivers (if using the RCX kit)
5. Lego WeDo drivers (if using the WeDo kits)
   

Required Equipment (LEGO Education WeDo version):

1. Two or more USB 2.0 ports
2. LEGO Education WeDo Construction kit

Required Software (All are included with the CHERP installer, but depending on your OS, you may need to install them manually):

1. Java 7 Runtime Environment
2. Lego Education WeDo Device Driver

See the CHERP Documentation for your robotics kit (above) for more installation details.

Screenshots

Projects

CHERP was piloted in the project Tangible Programming in Early Childhood: Revising Developmental Assumptions through New Technologies where DevTech members examined how young children used these blocks to learn about programming and storytelling.

A similar technology, also developed by DevTech member Michael Horn can be found at the Boston Museum of Science.

People

CHERP was created by Jordan Crouser and David Kiger at Tufts University based on the doctoral work of Michael Horn on Tern. It was developed as part of an NSF-funded collaboration between the Tufts Developmental Technologies Research Group and the Tufts Human Computer Interaction Lab, under NSF grant # DRL-0735657. CHERP has been modified by Safoura Seddighin from DevTech research group in order to create
a new version that works with Lego WeDo.