Simplifying the complex world of educational technology

The world of educational technology is becoming more complex: customers now have a wide variety of needs in terms of the computer platforms and operating systems they are using and in the languages that students want to program systems in. This is particularly true of schools who now have increasing numbers of tablets, and students who want to use their Apple and Android phones.

To reflect this change in the market our development team is now designing systems that can be used with many computing platforms. The first example of their work can be seen with our Formula AllCode robot buggy and will progress in the coming months with our new robot arm product cell solution and our MIAC controllers. This concept is being introduced for the first time alongside the launch of our 2016 catalogue.

To help you quickly identify which computers, operating systems and software are usable with our learning resources we have included icons alongside our solutions to show compatibility.

Microsoft Windows compatible

Linux compatible

Apple MAC/IPAD/IOS compatible

Google Android phone/tablet compatible

Arduino compatible

Raspberry Pi compatible

C code compatible

Python compatible

App Inventor compatible

Flowcode compatible

National Instruments LabVIEW compatible

Mathworks MATLAB compatible

Microchip MPLAB compatible (C or ASM)

The list is not exhaustive: for example, for Raspberry Pi compatible products we have included a Python icon as it is a very popular software used on RPi. There are other software tools on the Rpi that you can also use.

To facilitate this change in technology our engineers have developed Application Programming Interfaces (API). These are a little like an Operating System which includes calls that can be made to the hardware to effect a response. These API calls are designed to work with Bluetooth and Wi-fi which are increasingly replacing wired systems.

If you are in doubt whether the hardware and software you want to use are compatible with our products – or if you have additional requirements not listed here – then please contact us.