Talking to Computers — BIPES and Blocks

Big idea: E-32 only understands 1s and 0s. But you don’t have to write those! You snap blocks together, and BIPES translates them into instructions E-32 understands. You speak “blocks” — BIPES speaks “robot.” 🧩

1. Computers Only Speak Binary 🤖

Remember from Lesson 1? Inside E-32’s brain are billions of tiny switches. They can only be ON (1) or OFF (0).

E-32 has no idea what the word “turn” means, or what a “light” is. It only understands patterns of 1s and 0s.

So how do we tell it what to do?

🗣️ Think of it like this: You want to ask a friend for a glass of water — but your friend only speaks Japanese. You need someone who speaks both English and Japanese to help.

That’s what BIPES does for you. But first, you need a workshop.

2. Your Workshop 🛠️

Before you build anything, you need a place where all your tools live in one spot.

In coding, we call it an IDE. It’s just one program that gives you:

• a place to build your program

• a button to send it to E-32

• a window to see what E-32 is saying back

🏗️ Think of it like a kitchen: instead of running to the pantry, the fridge, and the oven in different rooms, an IDE puts everything on one counter. You focus on cooking — not on running around.

Without an IDE you’d be juggling a notepad, a separate send button, and a window to watch — in three different places. The IDE puts them all on one counter.

3. BIPES — Your Block Workshop 🧩

BIPES is an IDE made for young inventors. It runs in your web browser — no complicated setup!

BIPES is block-based. Instead of typing, you drag and snap blocks together — like Lego!

Here’s the idea:

1. Drag blocks from the toolbox on the left.

2. Snap them together like puzzle pieces.

3. BIPES automatically translates your blocks into the robot language E-32 understands.

4. Press play — and your program is sent to E-32.

There are blocks for all sorts of jobs:

• blocks that turn pins on and off

• blocks that wait for a moment

• blocks that repeat things

• blocks that check if something is true

You never type a single line of code. BIPES does the translating for you.

🌟 The magic part: Behind those blocks, BIPES is writing real code — the same language the big kids use. You’re learning to program without even realising it!

4. Why Blocks Are a Great Place to Start 🧱

You might wonder: why not just type the code?

Three reasons:

You can’t make a typing mistake. Blocks only snap together if they fit. You can’t accidentally break the spelling of a block — it’s a physical piece, not a word.

You can see the shape of your program. Blocks nest inside each other. You can see that one thing happens inside a repeat, because it sits inside the repeat block. That’s much harder to see in text.

You focus on the thinking. The hard part of programming isn’t typing — it’s deciding what order things should happen in. Blocks let you think about the order without worrying about the words.

🎯 Later on, if you keep going with robotics, you’ll switch to typing real code. But everything you learn with blocks — the order, the repeats, the checking — works exactly the same way. The thinking is the same. Only the tool changes.

5. Quick Check ✅

1. What two things can a transistor be? (Hint: ON = ?)

2. What does an IDE put in one place for you?

3. What does BIPES let you do instead of typing?

4. What happens to your blocks behind the scenes in BIPES?

5. Why can’t you make a typing mistake with blocks?

Key Words