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Block-based languages have been used in education to enable beginners to focus on the ideas and logic of computer science without having to focus on syntax. These advantages hold for beginners of all ages, but the common narrative emphasizes the use of block-based languages for younger grades with the idea that students “graduate” to text-based programming languages after having some experience with block-based ones. However, as more jobs require interaction with and control of technology such as robots, it may be time for a new narrative. Block-based languages are powerful tools in and of themselves that can be used to enable individuals to quickly and easily understand how to create programs for complex systems.

This talk will describe how Snap! has been used to enable non-experts to script tasks for Digit, a highly complex biped robot created by Agility Robotics. This robot is designed for use in warehouses, and Snap! is being used to explore how to make it easy and intuitive for existing workers to operate. This talk will describe how Snap is being used and present preliminary findings.