Evan, Jason Merrill here, thanks so much for reviewing the Blocko! The name and the symbol on the card are both references to the episode of the Simpsons where the family goes to Blockoland, their in-universe version of LegoLand. I was worried about using the Lego trademark (as were the Simpsons) because they can be a bit litigious. In the show Bart buys an uncomfortable t-shirt made of bricks, so the symbol is just a crude drawing of the shirt 😅 The whole idea for me behind Blocko was that I wanted a card to play with but didn’t want to pay the prices or wait for availability on eBay, so I just made my own, based on photos of the card and advice from some friends on what the components on the card were and how they work. Once it was done, I wanted to give people an option to get their own since decently priced versions can be hard to find, so I turned it from something that looked similar to glitch’s board (albeit much messier) into what you’ve got there. I do have something coming in 2025 that should help lower the barrier of entry to being able to play with this stuff, as you mentioned. I’m working with Kas Stark on a re-designed Interface A. Those are a bit more common than the cards on the used market but they are still all over the place in regards to price. What we are working on should help alleviate the availability problem, and will be priced right around where the cheapest Interface A units are on ebay. As for new functionality for it, we are indeed working on something exciting there that we’ll be ready to reveal at a later date. Thanks so much, Evan. I’m glad you enjoy it. Have a great day!
Very cool, Evan. Fun times with the Apple/Lego interface. Nice to see the Blocko as current production board. Lots of robotic and automation options now! :) The blank peripheral cards are cheap rom China. But you are not kidding it takes time and skill to make the card from scratch. My hand wired board is 45.8779% finished, and not sure I will ever finish the other 54.1221 percent....
Evan, Jason Merrill here, thanks so much for reviewing the Blocko! The name and the symbol on the card are both references to the episode of the Simpsons where the family goes to Blockoland, their in-universe version of LegoLand. I was worried about using the Lego trademark (as were the Simpsons) because they can be a bit litigious. In the show Bart buys an uncomfortable t-shirt made of bricks, so the symbol is just a crude drawing of the shirt 😅
The whole idea for me behind Blocko was that I wanted a card to play with but didn’t want to pay the prices or wait for availability on eBay, so I just made my own, based on photos of the card and advice from some friends on what the components on the card were and how they work. Once it was done, I wanted to give people an option to get their own since decently priced versions can be hard to find, so I turned it from something that looked similar to glitch’s board (albeit much messier) into what you’ve got there.
I do have something coming in 2025 that should help lower the barrier of entry to being able to play with this stuff, as you mentioned. I’m working with Kas Stark on a re-designed Interface A. Those are a bit more common than the cards on the used market but they are still all over the place in regards to price. What we are working on should help alleviate the availability problem, and will be priced right around where the cheapest Interface A units are on ebay. As for new functionality for it, we are indeed working on something exciting there that we’ll be ready to reveal at a later date.
Thanks so much, Evan. I’m glad you enjoy it. Have a great day!
I'll have to go watch that episode... I am very excited about your next revision, @GutBombTech Jason Merrill!
Very cool, Evan. Fun times with the Apple/Lego interface. Nice to see the Blocko as current production board. Lots of robotic and automation options now! :) The blank peripheral cards are cheap rom China. But you are not kidding it takes time and skill to make the card from scratch. My hand wired board is 45.8779% finished, and not sure I will ever finish the other 54.1221 percent....
Awesome!