ScuzzBlog: Diaries February 2020
Entry 19th February 2020: Post 01: Amiga Logo - Turtle Graphics.
Amiga Logo - Turtle Graphics.
Interestingly Wiki does not list Amiga Logo as a version of Logo.
It does list Commodore and Turtle Graphics but not the version
designed for the Amiga. Weird.
I first happened on Logo when using the PCW9512. There was no
graphics support for the 9512 so when I found Dr Logo by Digital
Research as part of the CP/M Plus package I just had to have a
play.
The simple task of drawing a line from one point to another was
executed by telling the computer to carry out a simple program.
That may sound a little laborious, but it wasn't. The reason
being is that by using mathematical functions it became easy to
replicate many actions of the drawing cursor or turtle. It was
like sailing around on a large ocean with your passage through
the water mapped by a line in your wake.
If you love maths and enjoy tweaking numbers to give varying
results it's a great way to create images to represent the
processes of mathematical formula. For me, though, I wanted to
create more literal images. So I mapped out photographs and
then interpreted the co-ordinates literally to the computer.
Very soon I was creating quite accurate images. And better by
adjusting aspects of the program I was able to alter the image
at will. Remember that the image you create is a function of
the program. Unlike literal art created images, every pixel
has a mathematical truth which can be altered.
And so I spent many a good hour with Dr Logo on the Amstrad.
There have been many differing offerings of this wonderful
concept. The idea was first the brain child of Wally Feurzeig,
Seymour Papert and Cynthia Solomon in 1967. Logo comes from
the Greek word 'Logos' meaning word or thought. In truth it
is just a clever way to move a pen with maths. The idea is that
it can be used as an educational tool to teach children how
to program using the visual results as stimuli.
Just as an aside one of my fun gadgets that I created as a kid
was a sketching device that replicated my actions of the pen.
So as I traced around an object it was draw on a piece of
paper. There was a device you could buy to do the same. Logo
simply exchanges the movement of the tracer with mathematical
formula that creates the images.
Not sure how freely the ideas were transposed in respect of any
copyright but it seems all the major players of the day were
keen to have their very own Logo. From the BBC and Acorn to
the Einstein, Microsoft and Digital Research and Dr Logo. Even
the Atari had a version and there were many more. But not the
Amiga according to Wiki, though I do own this copy.
I am pretty sure you can download a version of Logo to have a
play. Always use the words Turtle Graphics or you will be
looking at company logos all night long. I like to think of it
as visual maths. In the end everything can be displayed by the
use of numbers even if they are just 1s and 0s.
And in the UK its maths not math.
Amiga Logo - Turtle Graphics.
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