Kniwwelino - The Answer from Luxembourg...

With the ESP8266 refined in Luxembourg with additional components, the Kniwwelino (word definition here) is aimed at the offspring using a graphical programming environment: even children should be introduced to programming in a playful and graphic way.

Excursus: Where is Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) Luxembourg?

This is achieved by the offered training offers of parents & child, as well as the technical possibility to use the proven Arduino IDE. Thus, the experienced Arduino user can make friends with the Kniwwelino just as quickly as the more graphically oriented beginner.

The Kniwwelino (abbreviated in the following "K") positions itself with its on board components like this:

In the spectrum of BBC micro:bit and Calliope, against which the K has integrated the advantage of WiFi for online programming (and offline via Desktop IDE) and networking via MQTT. Thanks to his large contacts (bottom D-Ports), he can also be used analogously to the Liliypad as a device in the field of wearables.

My Entry could be your Entry

For my entry into the K I decided to use the available fan project here at hackster.io: just do it! And so I had downloaded the necessary 3D print templates and sent them to a service provider to print out. Bought the 3D Prints for 24 euros and the necessary fan (6 euros) according to BOM and so it went to the introduction to Blockly.

The registration of the K in the domestic WiFi went as described easily from the hand and the given blockly code was quickly flashed. Thank @Christian for your help in my questions.

It is also nice that the code is executed even if no WiFi is available.

In addition to the first blockly steps, you can follow the Arduinio code in parallel (thus, the transition is facilitated later on Arduino):

However, this is not reversed (from Arduino IDE to Blockly). Also Blockly is still in its infancy: the adaptation of I2C addresses is not yet possible; as well as the individual integration of external/own libraries. Here, the developers like to respond on request. For the entry, however, nothing stands in the way and the Arduino IDE is also available.

Should something go completely wrong, here you will find the option for resetting and flashing the K to the factory settings (v1.10.0) and much more troubleshooting information.

Here my finished desktop fan:

Bonus

As soon as you have read a little bit on the website and have run your first icon over the integrated matrix, you still have to register the few remaining days for a children's contest. The final date is the 1. Januar 2019. Children can submit their first steps here. I wish you success!

On top there are both in the attachment both a Fritzing object for the K, as well as a template for Plattform.io to download.

For further readings, you will find an article

• from Heise-Verlag (german)
• FNR:PSP-Flagship: Science outreach with a lasting impact (english)
• Science.lu:Mit „Kniwwelino“ lernen schon Grundschulkinder programmieren (german)

Outlook

Once you have arranged yourself with the given methods, the K offers the possibility of addressing a BME280 sensor via I2C with just one If-condition.

void loop() {
   if (Kniwwelino.MATRIXtextDone()) {
         Kniwwelino.MATRIXwriteOnce(String(bme.readTemperature()) + "C" + " -:-:- " + bme.readHumidity() + "%" + " -:-:- " + (bme.readPressure() / 100.0F) + "hPa" + " -:-:- " + Kniwwelino.getTime()); // time+date   
   }
   Kniwwelino.sleep(2000);
}

More on this in the next article here: https://www.hackster.io/ingo-lohs/kniwwelino-controls-a-bme280-via-i2c-17ff11

Wishing a nice christmas to the community until then.