Beetle Blocks

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Beetle Blocks
Current Version	Alpha
Operating Systems	Any recent web browser
Purpose for creation	3D design and fabrication
Developer(s)	Eric Rosenbaum, Duks Koschitz, Bernat Romagosa and others
Open source?	Yes (AGPLv3)
Programming language	JavaScript
Official Website	http://beetleblocks.com
Active	No
Open Source Repository	https://github.com/ericrosenbaum/BeetleBlocks

Beetle Blocks was a graphical blocks-based programming environment for 3D design and fabrication. It allowed writing scripts to control a beetle that could place 3D shapes and extrude its path as a tube, which could then be used to make a 3D print. Sometime in Mid-Late 2024^[when?], the Beetle Blocks website was updated to show that it would no longer be in service. They cited a billing issue with their cloud provider. They said that it would be replaced by a Snap! extension. Beetle Blocks was made by Eric Rosenbaum and Duks Koschitz, with software development by Bernat Romagosa and Jens Moenig. It was based on Scratch and Snap!. Like Scratch, users could share their projects to the Beetle Blocks website.

An example of what Beetle Blocks could do

Editor

Categories

Beetle Blocks had most of the same block categories as Scratch. In any of the categories, a block could be right-clicked to hide it. The block could later be restored by right-clicking on the background and selecting "show primitives". Beetle Blocks had the following blocks, in addition to those found in Snap!:

Motion

The motion category

The control category The pause block

• go home :: motion
• move (1) :: motion — Moves the specified number of steps.
• rotate [z v] by (15) :: motion
• go to x: (0) y: (0) z: (0) :: motion
• set [x v] to (0) :: motion
• change absolute [x v] by (1) :: motion
• set [z v] rotation to (0) :: motion
• point to x: (0) y: (0) z: (0) :: motion
• ([x v] position :: motion)
• ([z v] rotation :: motion)
• push position :: motion — Saves the beetle's position so it can be used later.
• pop position :: motion — Restores the position most recently saved with the block above and removes it.
• set scale to (1) :: motion
• change scale by (0.5) :: motion
• (scale :: motion)

Control

• reset :: #505050 — Clears all rendered graphics.

Shapes

The shapes category

• cube Dim. (0.5) :: #308997
• cuboid l: (1) w: (0.5) h: (0.3) :: #308997
• sphere Dia. (0.5) :: #308997
• tube l: (2) outer: (1) inner: (0.5) :: #308997
• text [hello] H: (1) W: (0.5) :: #308997
• 2D text [hello] size: (10) :: #308997
• start drawing [lines v] :: #308997
• stop drawing :: #308997
• start extruding [curves v] :: #308997
• stop extruding :: #308997
• set extrusion Dia. to (1) :: #308997
• change extrusion Dia. by (1) :: #308997

Colors

The colors category

• set [hue v] to (50) :: #653d7a — Sets the hue, saturation, lightness, or opacity of the beetle's color.
• change [hue v] by (10) :: #653d7a
• (color [hue v] :: #653d7a)

Sensing

• request user input [] :: #828282 — Asks a question and stores the answer in (answer :: #828282).

Make a Variable

The make a variable dialogue box

The "make a variable" button took the user to the variable creating dialogue. In this dialogue, one could input the variable name and select if the variable should be available for all sprites or only for the one that the variable was currently being created in.

Make a Block

The make a block dialogue box

The category My Blocks had no blocks until one was created. To create a block, the Make a block button must be clicked on. This would open up a dialogue box which would give the user a selection of customization options.

1. The first one provided a selection of categories. The color of the block varied according to the category that was chosen.
2. In the second one, a name could be selected for the block, which would be written on the it.
3. For the third option, one could select between three block types: Command, Reporter and Predicate.
4. The fourth and final option was whether the block should be available/visible only for the sprite that the block was currently being created in or whether it should be available/visible for all sprites.

Website

Similarly to the Scratch Website, users could create an account and share their Beetle Blocks projects to the Beetle Blocks website. There was also a forum where users can discuss.

See Also

• Three-Dimensional Projects
• Alternatives to Scratch

External Links

• Official website
• Vimeo video of Eric Rosenbaum, a former member of the Scratch Team, demonstrating Beetle Blocks at the Scratch2015AMS