Snowball (microcontroller)

Snowball microcontroller

Snowball ~ Version 1
Developer Eng. Ahamd Al Saleh, Eng. Nasser Hayawi
Manufacturer CreativeBits Solutions co.
Operating system Windows
Power 5 volts
Website www.e-robot.com

Snowball ( Arabic: سنوبول‎‎ ) is a microcontroller unit (MCU), it was invented by two Kuwaiti Engineers and have received many national and international prizes.

Snowball is a mini integrated digital computer that consists of a processor, RAM and Input/Output peripheral devices. Unlike processors used in PCs, Snowball was designed for embedded systems to control operations.

Hardware

Snowball pinout diagram

The Snowball microcontroller was built using an (ATMEGA1284P) integrated circuit from the (AVR 8-bit) family, which uses 8 bits to build the commands.

The diagram consists of two layers. The first layer has (ATMEGA1284P) pin functions, the second has the Arduino-compatible pins (bootloader), and the second layer has the names of the (Snowball) pins. The pin names and placement have been modified to suit the unit’s inputs and outputs ports, which will facilitate the programming process for the user.[1]

Software

Snowball IDE interface

Snowball IDE was developed by CreativeBits Co., and was designed to teach programming in a simple way. The software allows users to program using a command-line interface or a graphical interface, with a Data Lab to analyze the records, a serial Monitor to view current readings, and an PC control Interface to add more advanced options.

Snowball IDE works like a magnet, where the user drags one component from one of the menus on the left (Input, Output, Flow) and drops it at the top of the graphical page. When dragging the next component, it will be attached to the previous one, and so on.[1]

Snowball uses Drag&Drop to program the projects
Snowball uses Drag&Drop to program the projects

Awards

Robotics education in Kuwait

15 schools (primary and secondary) have been teaching robotics in Kuwaut, and by the 2016 academic year it was planned to be taught on a wider scale in all state schools, according to the Education Minister Bader Hamad Al-Essa. Certain errorsTemplate:Such as will have to be rectified after they emerged during teaching it in some schools.[7]

Robotics competitions offer a chance to encourage students to build their own solutions as a team to real-world problems using science and maths. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 AlSaleh, Ahmad. Snowball Booklet beginner’s guide (First ed.). Kuwait: CreativeBits Solutions.
  2. ↑ "Snowball master control unit | World Summit Award". www.wsis-award.org.
  3. ↑ "Arab Mobile App Challenge highlights new talent in Barcelona". wamda.
  4. ↑ "فوز مشروع (سنو -بول) بالجائزة العالمية للمحتوى الإلكتروني WSA 2015". www.kuwaiteaward.org.kw. Retrieved 2016-06-09.
  5. ↑ "KUNA :: Kuwaiti inventors win several awards at int'l invention fair 20/11/2015". www.kuna.net.kw. Retrieved 2016-06-09.
  6. ↑ AlShmeri, Mubark (11 June 2015). "Alwatan Newspaper" (PDF).
  7. ↑ "Education Minister reiterates support to talented students" (PDF). Kuwait Times. Kuwait Times. 27 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "Can robots improve Kuwait's educational sector?". wamda. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
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