Turtlestitch

Last updated
TurtleStitch
Turtlestitch Logo.png
Paradigm object-oriented, educational, event-driven
Designed by Andrea Mayr-Stalder (project leader)
Developer Michael Aschauer
First appeared2015;8 years ago (2015)
Stable release
2.7.7 / August 2, 2022;13 months ago (2022-08-02) [1]
Typing discipline dynamic
Implementation language JavaScript (Snap!)
OS Cross-platform
License AGPL
Filename extensions .xml (Snap!), embroidery formats: Melco/EXP and Tajima/DST
Website www.turtlestitch.org
Influenced by
Snap!, Scratch, Logo, Maker Culture
Influenced
Catrobat Embroidery Designer

Turtlestitch (stylized as TurtleStitch) is a free and open source platform (or web application) for generating and sharing patterns for embroidery machines. Turtlestitch is derived from educational programming languages such as Logo, Scratch and Snap! using the same jigsaw style programming paradigm [2] which offers simplicity suitable for novices but has powerful features, described as ‘low threshold, high ceiling’ by Seymour Papert. Its microworld is a turtle representing the needle of a programmable embroidery machine. Turtlestitch can be used for creating novel patterns for embroidery, combining the abstract logic of computing and the physical materiality of textiles. [3] Its primary use is educational, as it offers a way of introducing programming to audiences with diverse interests. A growing gallery of open source embroidery designs enables community-based collaboration and shared learning. In 2017, Turtlestitch received the award for the best Open Educational Resource in the German-speaking countries. [4]

Contents

Educational approach

Embroidery is graphically similar to line drawing and Turtlestitch builds on the concept of Turtle Geometry [5] and the constructionist approach developed by Seymor Papert and Cynthia Solomon at MIT which first informed the Logo and later the Scratch programming languages. Turtlestitch is an active member of the global Scratch community. [6] It updates this approach by bringing it to the Maker Culture (Maker Movement), which combines computing and physical creation.

Turtlestitch's approach does not focus on solving pre-existing problems, but on developing free creativity in programming and designing. Users can approach this field either from the side of code or from the side of textile design, thus speaking to diverse audiences. [7] The shared open-source designs allows for community peer-learning.

A global community is actively using Turtlestitch in formal and informal educational contexts. [8] [9] [10] Cynthia Solomon, involved since the 1960s in developing the constructionist approach described above, has been working with Suzan Klimczak to develop a Turtlestitch collaborative community, named Tea & TurtleStitchers, based on a 24-week Sunday morning online workshop with participants from all over the world. [11]

Technical infrastructure

Turtlestitch, with Michael Aschauer as lead developer, builds upon Snap! developed by Jens Mönig und Brian Harvey. Snap! is a free open-source blocks-based graphical language implemented in JavaScript and actively maintained by UC Berkeley. Turtlestitch's community website is based on Beetle Cloud [12] by Bernat Romagosa, a member of the Snap! development team at SAP, who partners with UCB in the development of Snap!.

The generated patterns can be exported as an embroidery file (Melco/EXP and Tajima/DST are supported) or SVG vector graphic.

Turtlestitch embroidery design: as code blocks, as drawing (on screen) and as textile embroidery Turtlestitch, code, draw stitch.png
Turtlestitch embroidery design: as code blocks, as drawing (on screen) and as textile embroidery

Project history

The project was initiated by Andrea Mayr-Stalder as a collaboration with the fashion designer Dominique Raffa (aka Raphaela Grundnigg) in 2008 in Vienna [13] and used in numerous artistic projects subsequently. [14]

In 2014, Turtlestitch was relaunched by Andrea Mayr-Stalder with a focus on an educational approach.

Funding and institutional support

2014 & 2016: funded by netidee.at [15]

2018: Kickstarter campaign [16]

2021: European Union's Horizon2020 research and innovation programme [17]

Turtlestitch is hosted by OSEDA.org (Association for Development of Open Source Software in Education, Design and Art, Vienna) in collaboration with the Vienna University Children's Office.

Main software releases

01/2015: initial version Turtlestitch 1.0

07/2017: Version 2.0 BDX (Bordeaux)

04/2019: Version 2.5 (The Whizzy Needle)

06/2020: Version 2.6 (Berkley Beaver)

08/2022: Version 2.7.7 (Heidelberg Hedgehog)

Upcoming: Version 3.0 [18]

Derivatives

In 2018, the project Catrobat Embroidery Designer translated the Turtlestitch framework to mobile phones. [19]

in 2021, the project "Turtlestitchkomplott" started to use Turtlestitch with plotters, instead of embroidery machines. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cross-stitch</span> Form of counted-thread embroidery.

Cross-stitch is a form of sewing and a popular form of counted-thread embroidery in which X-shaped stitches in a tiled, raster-like pattern are used to form a picture. The stitcher counts the threads on a piece of evenweave fabric in each direction so that the stitches are of uniform size and appearance. This form of cross-stitch is also called counted cross-stitch in order to distinguish it from other forms of cross-stitch. Sometimes cross-stitch is done on designs printed on the fabric ; the stitcher simply stitches over the printed pattern. Cross-stitch is often executed on easily countable fabric called aida cloth whose weave creates a plainly visible grid of squares with holes for the needle at each corner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Logo (programming language)</span> Computer programming language

Logo is an educational programming language, designed in 1967 by Wally Feurzeig, Seymour Papert, and Cynthia Solomon. Logo is not an acronym: the name was coined by Feurzeig while he was at Bolt, Beranek and Newman, and derives from the Greek logos, meaning word or thought.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squeak</span> Object-oriented programming language

Squeak is an object-oriented, class-based, and reflective programming language. It was derived from Smalltalk-80 by a group that included some of Smalltalk-80's original developers, initially at Apple Computer, then at Walt Disney Imagineering, where it was intended for use in internal Disney projects. The group would later go on to be supported by HP labs, SAP, and most recently, Y Combinator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lego Mindstorms</span> Hardware and software platform by Lego

Lego Mindstorms is a discontinued hardware and software structure which develops programmable robots based on Lego bricks. Each version includes an intelligent brick, a set of modular sensors and motors, and parts from the Lego Technic line to create mechanical systems. The system is controlled by the hub, which acts as the brain of the mechanical system.

Moodle is a free and open-source learning management system written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License. Moodle is used for blended learning, distance education, flipped classroom and other online learning projects in schools, universities, workplaces and other sectors.

The actor model in computer science is a mathematical model of concurrent computation that treats an actor as the basic building block of concurrent computation. In response to a message it receives, an actor can: make local decisions, create more actors, send more messages, and determine how to respond to the next message received. Actors may modify their own private state, but can only affect each other indirectly through messaging.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constructionism (learning theory)</span> Learning theory involving the construction of mental models

Constructionist learning is the creation by learners of mental models to understand the world around them. Constructionism advocates student-centered, discovery learning where students use what they already know, to acquire more knowledge. Students learn through participation in project-based learning where they make connections between different ideas and areas of knowledge facilitated by the teacher through coaching rather than using lectures or step-by-step guidance. Further, constructionism holds that learning can happen most effectively when people are active in making tangible objects in the real world. In this sense, constructionism is connected with experiential learning and builds on Jean Piaget's epistemological theory of constructivism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Idit Harel</span> Israeli-American entrepreneur

Idit R. Harel is an Israeli-American entrepreneur and CEO of Globaloria. She is a learning sciences researcher and pioneer of Constructionist learning-based EdTech interventions.

Etoys is a child-friendly computer environment and object-oriented prototype-based programming language for use in education.

MicroWorlds JR is a computer program using a simplified version of the Logo programming language to teach non-readers or early readers to program in Logo. It was first launched in 2004 by Logo Computer Systems, Inc. (LCSI), and as in their original line of MicroWorlds programs, the object on the screen begins as a turtle and can be controlled with basic commands to make it move. Differing from the Logo syntax developed by Seymour Papert and teams at MIT, MicroWorlds JR uses images to replace the command names, which are selected by the child to create turtle graphics. The turtle object can be given a variety of shapes that act as a costume for the turtle, and therefore lends itself to a variety of animations and creative stories and projects for younger students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scratch (programming language)</span> Programming language learning environment

Scratch is a high-level block-based visual programming language and website aimed primarily at children as an educational tool, with a target audience of ages 8 to 16. Users on the site, called Scratchers, can create projects on the website using a block-like interface. Projects can be exported to standalone HTML5, Android apps, Bundle (macOS) and EXE files using external tools. Scratch was conceived and designed through collaborative National Science Foundation grants awarded to Mitchell Resnick and Yasmin Kafai. The service is developed by the MIT Media Lab, and has been translated into 70+ languages, and is used in most parts of the world. Scratch is taught and used in after-school centers, schools, and colleges, as well as other public knowledge institutions. As of 15 February 2023, community statistics on the language's official website show more than 123 million projects shared by over 103 million users, over 804 million total projects ever created, and more than 95 million monthly website visits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GitHub</span> Hosting service for software projects

GitHub, Inc. is a platform and cloud-based service for software development and version control using Git, allowing developers to store and manage their code. It provides the distributed version control of Git plus access control, bug tracking, software feature requests, task management, continuous integration, and wikis for every project. Headquartered in California, it has been a subsidiary of Microsoft since 2018.

Haskell is a general-purpose, statically-typed, purely functional programming language with type inference and lazy evaluation. Designed for teaching, research, and industrial applications, Haskell has pioneered a number of programming language features such as type classes, which enable type-safe operator overloading, and monadic input/output (IO). It is named after logician Haskell Curry. Haskell's main implementation is the Glasgow Haskell Compiler (GHC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yasmin Kafai</span>

Yasmin B. Kafai is a German American academic who is Professor of Learning Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, with a secondary appointment in Computer and Information Sciences at University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science. She is a past president of the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS), and an executive editor of the Journal of the Learning Sciences.

Snap<i>!</i> (programming language) Block-based programming language

Snap! is a free block-based educational graphical programming language and online community allowing students to explore, create, and remix interactive animations, games, stories, and more, while learning about mathematical and computational ideas. While inspired by Scratch, Snap! has many advanced features. The Snap! editor, and programs created in it, are web applications that run in the browser without requiring installation. It is built on top of Morphic.js, a Morphic GUI, written by Jens Mönig as 'middle layer' between Snap! itself and 'bare' JavaScript.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cynthia Solomon</span> Computer scientist

Cynthia Solomon is an American computer scientist known for her work in popularizing computer science for students. She is a pioneer in the fields of computer science, and educational computing. While working as a researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Solomon took it upon herself to understand and program in the programming language Lisp. As she began learning this language, she realized the need for a programming language that was more accessible and understandable for children. Throughout her research studies in education, Solomon worked full-time as a computer teacher in elementary and secondary schools. Her work has mainly focused on research on human-computer interaction and children as designers. While working at Bolt, Beranek and Newman, she worked with Wally Feurzeig and Seymour Papert, to create the first programming language for children, named Logo. The language was created to teach concepts of programming related to Lisp. Solomon has attained many accomplishments in her life such as being the vice president of R&D for Logo Computer Systems, Inc., when Apple Logo was developed and was the Director of the Atari Cambridge Research Laboratory. Solomon worked on the program committee of Constructing Modern Knowledge and the Marvin Minsky Institute for Artificial Intelligence in 2016. Further, she has published many writings based on research in the field of child education and technology in the classroom. Solomon has conducted workshops in elementary schools, high schools, and colleges regarding academic research and writing. She continues to contribute to the field by speaking at conferences and working with the One Laptop per Child Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embroidermodder</span>

Embroidermodder is a free machine embroidery software tool that supports a variety of formats and allows the user to add custom modifications to their embroidery designs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catrobat</span> Open source block-based programming language

Catrobat is a block-based visual programming language and Open Source Software non-profit project. The first release dates back to 2010 and was initiated by Wolfgang Slany from the Technical University Graz in Austria. The multidisciplinary team develops the programming language and free apps for teenagers to create their own games, animations, music videos or all other kinds of apps directly on a smartphone based on the catrobat framework.

References

  1. "GitHub - backface/Turtlestitch: Visual, blocks-based programming for turtle graphics and generative embroidery". GitHub . 23 September 2022.
  2. "Jigsaw Programming". A New Learning Landscape. 2014-07-26. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  3. A Fascinating Melting Pot: Embroidery Meets Technology With TurtleStitch (Juli 2019) https://blog.siggraph.org/2019/07/a-fascinating-melting-pot-embroidery-meets-technology-with-turtlestitch.html
  4. "OER-Award 2017 Laudatio – Bildungsbereich The Great Wide Open". OERinfo – Informationsstelle OER (in German). 2017-12-04. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  5. Abelson, Harold, and Andrea A. DiSessa. 1981. Turtle Geometry: The Computer as a Medium for Exploring Mathematics. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press
  6. "TurtleStitch - Scratch Wiki". en.scratch-wiki.info. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  7. Wolz, U., Charles, G., Feire, L., & Nicolson, E. (2018, February). Code Crafters Curriculum: A Textile Crafts Approach To Computer Science. In Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (pp. 1055-1055). ACM. https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3162360 (abstract only)
  8. "Turtlestitch - EduTech Wiki". edutechwiki.unige.ch. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  9. "Turtlestitch". warwick.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  10. "Exploring Coding Stitching Culture". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  11. "TurtleStitching: At Least Twenty Things to Do With a Computer and a Computerized Embroidery Machine". citejournal.org. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  12. "BeetleCloud". GitHub .
  13. "Ausstellungseröffnung "net culture lab - make your own thing"". OTS.at (in German). Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  14. Stitch Performance , retrieved 2021-06-11
  15. "Netidee.at Project Page". 2016.
  16. "Kickstarter Campaign page". 2018.
  17. Part of the Mentoring Programme established under the PHERECLOS project (Grant Agreement No. 824630)
  18. "Turtlestich on Github". GitHub . 23 September 2022.
  19. B. Spieler, V. Krnjic, W. Slany, K. Horneck and U. Neudorfer, "Design, Code, Stitch, Wear, and Show It! Mobile Visual Pattern Design in School Contexts," 2020 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2020, pp. 1-9, doi: 10.1109/FIE44824.2020.9274120.
  20. Adorjan, Christina (2021). "Turtlestitchkomplott" (PDF).