An easy-to-use GPIO Scripting Language for the Raspberry Pi.

To get started, if your Pi has internet access just run the following commands directly on your Pi (using LXTerminal):

wget https://raw.github.com/scott-vincent/pioscript/master/pioscript_install
sudo bash pioscript_install

If not, download file https://raw.github.com/scott-vincent/pioscript/master/pioscript_install and copy it to your Pi using a USB stick and run:

sudo bash pioscript_install

Once the installation has completed you should see two new folders on your desktop. One contains the Pibrella example scripts and one contains the scripts for non-Pibrella users. To run a script just double-click it. To view or change a script, right-click it and select the Leafpad editor.

The folders contain lots of example scripts such as:

• Motor Speed - Shows you how to control the speed of a motor.

• Photo Sensor - Shows you how to read values from a photo-resistor.

• Servo - Shows you how to control a servo.

• Song - Shows you how to play your own songs (uses the Pibrella buzzer if you have one).

• Sound Detector - Trigger an LED whenever sound is detected (requires a USB microphone or USB webcam with built-in mic).

• Voice Activated Recorder - When you make a sound the sound is recorded and saved to a WAV file for later playback.

• Simon Game - The classic memory game.

• Sound Board - Add a different sound to each button, then press the buttons to playback the sounds.

• Write Your Own - You could play some music and activate a motor whenever you hear a hand-clap.

Watch a video demonstration of pioscript here: http://youtu.be/078fXcP3jSI

Pioscript is a script interpreter for the Raspberry Pi that sits somewhere between ScratchGPIO and Python. It is aimed at primary school children who want to progress from Scratch but aren't yet ready for the complexities of a full programming language such as Python. It is also aimed at people who either find Python a bit daunting or just have no interest in learning a full programming language but wish to explore GPIO on the Pi without investing too much time.

For primary school children I would strongly recommend using the Pibrella add-on board which is fully supported by pioscript. This gives some protection to the Pi as it has some components pre-wired but still exposes some pins for adding up to 4 custom inputs and 4 custom outputs. Using a Pibrella with pioscript means you can specify pins by name, e.g. Button, Amber, InputA without having to worry about pin numbers.

The concept originated from a diorama project and pioscript is ideal for tasks where you want the Pi to run headless and control your latest GPIO invention. Your script could run when the Pi boots up and you could use a GPIO switch to perform a clean shutdown.

Pioscript hides many of the complexities of a full language by allowing complex tasks to be performed in just a few lines of script and allows users to move on from a GUI driven programming environment to a command-line environment using an editor of their choice. I recommend using either leafpad or nano which both come pre-installed with Raspian.

• Speed Of Development - A terminal or remote SSH session can be used to type in a script or paste one in from a web site using any available editor. It can then be parsed and executed using the command line interpretor.
• Subscript Support - Variables can include subscripts so that arrays / lists can be used meaning more intricate programs can be developed if required (see the Simon game in the scripts directory for an example of this where the sequence to memorise gets longer after each turn).

• Built-In Initialisation - All of the built-in resources such as GPIO, Audio (via SDL_Mixer) and PWM (via ServoBlaster) are initialised automatically and ready for use without a single line of script.
• Hidden Complexity - There are simple one line commands to perform complex operations such as fading out a sound, varying PWM output linearly or sinusoidally and reading an analog input such a photoresistor (see the scripts directory for examples of all of these).

• Pibrella Support - There is full built-in support for the Pibrella add-on board which makes it very easy for primary school children to get up and running quickly. They can use easy to remember names for the GPIO inputs/outputs instead of trying to understand pin numbers.
• Play Songs - The play_song command can be used to play a complete song by specifying a sequence of musical note names with optional octave number and duration. If a Pibrella is being used the song will play on its built-in buzzer meaning that speakers do not have to be attached to the Pi.
• Record Sounds - There is support for recording when a USB microphone or USB camera with built-in mic is attached. The recorder can also be used to trigger actions when a noise is heard. See the example scripts 'push_to_record' and 'voice_activated_record'.