Kitsi

28-12-2020

Kitsi is yet another set of electronic/digital devices for maker projects. According to its official website (https://www.kitsunei.com/), Kitsi "is an electronic building platform comprised of small, chocolate square sized sensors, that behave as input and output blocks. Power is from sources of your choice. It is completely modular designed as a professional prototyping tool".

These blocks can connect easily by its magnet inside, and function mostly as expected. Kitsi is a great tool for STEM or STEAM projects in schools.

Kitsi has two main components. The hardware is the Kitsi blocks and the software is the Kitsunei Creator.

Kitsi Blocks

There are currently 9 blocks available.

  • Power Station block: This is the base block to provide power. It has a power in (micro USB) that can take in power from computers or power banks. It also has a power out on the other side to extend power to other blocks. All other 8 blocks can stack on it to acquire power.
  • WiFi block: This is a fundamental block for any applications. The WiFi block needs to be activated and paired with a computer in the same WiFi network. The WiFi communication needs to stay connected to the computer. The programs (created in Kitsunei Creator) run in the computer and transmit to the other blocks through this WiFi block. At the moment, all applications of Kitsi will need a WiFi block to work.
  • LED Matrix block: This is an 8x8 white light LED matrix block. The 8x8 dot matrix can be programmed to display numbers, letters and custom drawn patterns/pictures. In order to display and show information, this LED matrix must be on top of the block stack.
  • Infrared block: This is another block that must be on top of the stack. The infrared block can be programmed to send and receive IR signals. It can work with normal remote controllers such as a TV remote, and record its signals easily in the Kitsunei Creator to receive signals (such as for remote controlling a car using the TV remote) or send signals (such as to replace the TV remote).
  • Touch block: This is a unique input block to be on top of the stack as well. Touch block is sensitive to finger touch (capacitive). In Kitsunei Creator programming, the Touch block, when touched, can return a coordinate (x, y). Using the returned coordinate, the Touch block can be used as a movement controller or in general a touch device.
  • Temperature block: The temperature block can be placed on top or within the stack. It detects the environmental temperature changes and returns the ambient temperature. Kitsi recommends the main applications to be on measuring the changes in temperature because the ambient temperature can be affected by other blocks such as the WiFi block in the stack. Calibration/compensation is required for measuring accurate ambient temperature.
  • IMU block: The IMU (Inertial measurement unit) block measures rotation, acceleration and magnetic fields with its gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer. These sensors are commonly built in mobile devices. With this IMU block, these measurements become very easy to obtain and utilise. The magnetic fields measured, however, can be affected by the connecting magnets in the block. Calibration/compensation is required to get accurate magnetic field measurements.
  • Motor Driver block: This is a powerful block that can drive 4 motors (e.g., servo, brushed DC motors), and provide up to 6A current according to its spec.
  • Breadboard block: The Breadboard block acts as an extension board, providing 12 pins for connecting to various sensors and electronic components used in Arduino and Raspberry Pi.

Power Station

WiFi

LED Matrix

Infrared

Touch

Temperature

IMU

Motor Driver

Breadboard

These hardware blocks, overall, seem comparable to the power and size of Arduino Pro mini. It is not clear which block(s) has/have built-in microcontrollers. It is likely the microcontroller sits in the Power Station block. The WiFi block or its WiFi capability could be equivalent to ESP8266, but the separate blocks make them different to ESP8266 SOC. These easy-to-connect blocks make them suitable for school students (e.g., upper primary to secondary) and beginners to use. Intermediate makers may prefer other development boards/kits such as Arduino UNO, ESP8266 or ESP32. Programming these blocks/board is another issue regarding the use of these hardware.

Kitsunei Creator

Kitsunei Creator is the programming software for Kitsi Blocks. It is a visual flow-based programming. This software currently supports both Windows and MacOS systems. Kitsunei Creator comes with the Kitsi Blocks kit, and cannot be downloaded from the official website. In fact, it is to work exclusively with Kitsi Blocks and so there is no point to install it if no Kitsi blocks purchased.

In the left picture, I programmed using a Breadboard block and connected with an ultrasonic sensor (HC-SR04 or HY-SRF05). Click on the Next button or dot to see the Kitsi blocks connected.

The program is to simulate a reverse parking sensor. It takes in the distance (a very large number) from IO pin 3, which has to be converted to cm by multiplying a factor of 0.017. Depending on how close to object (obstacle), it will play different sound or beeping frequency.

This flow-based programming is uncommon when comparing to more popular visual programming such as Scratch or other visual programming using Google Blockly. It is somewhat similar to LEGO Mindstorm and EV3 programming. The official site provides quite detailed resources and tutorials for programming in Kitsunei Creator. Once practiced, it seems easy to use but how users, particularly school students, learn to program with it needs to be investigated.

Application wise, Kitsi can make common projects such as robots and cars relatively easy. It also has an official resources site providing tutorials and discussions, but its community seems to be small and developing. With the Breadboard block, Kitsi can use many more Arduino sensors and modules. However, Arduino and other development boards users may find it inflexible and limiting as the programs cannot be downloaded onto the Kitsi blocks and a computer is needed to do the computation and constantly connected through a local WiFi network.

Price of Kitsi Blocks is high. A complete 9-block set, including a USB drive (with Kitsunei Creator) and a Powerbank, is costing AUD$1199.- Schools may be able to purchase but it could be too much for individual users to afford.