Easing the development of android apps to create electronic prototypes: IOIO plus App Inventor

To validate the concept of an electronic system before thinking of commercial uses, a prototype needs to be developed first. However, technical knowledge in electronics and computer science (CS) is required. Due to the importance of these fields in the world of today, where almost everything is regulated by technology, several initiatives emerged to provide the general public with these knowledge. In this context, there is a focus on the education field where several efforts have been made to lower the entry level to electronics and CS fields, enabling even kids to learn the basic concepts at an early age and have the possibility to concretise their ideas and develop their own prototype. The study presents a solution to facilitate the task of programming electronic gadgets using graphical programming. The authors consider as case study an electronic system built around the IOIO board. The graphical programming interface was created using App Inventor, a web platform for creating android apps. Using the proposed system, several basic and complex gadgets were easily created by young school children with minimal skills in hardware assembly and software programming.