Coffreedom IO's ioCubes Aim to Ease People Into Electronics and Coding with Compact, Modular Boxes
Designed for solder-free assembly, these six-sided cubes can be configured for a range of projects — and even talk to each other.
Educational electronics and programming startup Coffreedom IO is looking to make breaking into the field easier than ever, using a modular solder-free set of interconnected modules dubbed ioCubes.
"Creating and making can be a lot of fun, but it’s often difficult to turn ideas into reality —especially when that reality requires things like plastic molding, circuitry, and firmware development," claims Coffreedom IO chief executive officer Justin Lai. "Having had experience with many of these processes in our previous products, we created ioCube to help connect people with the enjoyment of building robots and programmable devices without the need for designing and manufacturing from scratch — it's as simple as using building blocks!"
The heart of the project is the ioCube itself: a six-sided module which holds circuit-board "panels" designed to add functionality ranging from power supply and display to motor control and wireless communication. There's no soldering or complicated wiring, the team claims, and ioCubes fitted with the appropriate panels can communicate with a host PC, smartphone, tablet, or even each other.
The software side is equally block-based, built as it is atop the Blockly drag-and-drop visual coding platform. "Several of the component panels can also be programmed through the coding platform," Coffreedom IO's Yi Yin Lin explains, "offering an incredible level of creative customization and flexibility. Blockly doesn’t require programming experience — it uses a simple drag-and-drop interface which is built on the logic of coding, but without the need to write complicated scripts."
Example projects suggested by the company include a remote-controller car, in which one block serves as a controller and the other as a two-wheeled robot, a three-block interactive math puzzle game, an RGB lamp, and even a tracked rover — the latter making use of the ioCube's LEGO compatibility to expand its capabilities.
Panels confirmed at launch are: a three-AAA battery power supply panel with a power switch; an 8×8 LED matrix; an RGB LED controller with support for internal and external LEDs and three touch-sensitive buttons; a laser rangefinder with a 1.2m (around 4') maximum range; a motor panel; an infrared panel, used for communication between ioCubes; and a radio panel with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB connectivity plus three touch-sensitive buttons. All panels come with the firmware required for "basic functions," the company says, with more complex control available via Blockly.
The ioCube project is currently funding on Kickstarter at CA$105 (around $80) for a "Simple Starter Kit" at early bird pricing, a claimed 34 percent discount over Coffreedom IO's planned retail price. Hardware is expected to ship in October this year, the company has confirmed.