31 Turtle Graphics

COMPSCI 101 S1 2014

Principles of Programming
Learning outcomes
At the end of this lecture, students should be able to:
Use the Turtle class to draw a picture
Develop algorithms that use simple graphics operations to draw
two-dimensional shapes
Examples and Exercises:
Example 1: Drawing a Triangle
Example 2: Drawing three circles
Case Study 1: Drawing a Square
Case Study 2: Drawing a Polygon
Case Study 3: Taking a Random Walk
Show Case: Repeating Patterns
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Overview of Turtle Graphics
Turtle graphics originally developed as part of the childrens
programming language Logo
Created by Seymour Papert and his colleagues at MIT in the late
1960s
Analogy: Turtle crawling on a piece of paper, with a pen tied
to its tail
Sheet of paper is a window on a display screen
Position specified with (x, y) coordinates
Cartesian coordinate system, with origin (0, 0) at the centre of a
window
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Turtle Graphics
The turtle is an object that has a position in a drawing
window
This object can be told to turn a number of degrees, move a
given distance, move to a new position, and change its colour
and line width
If the turtles pen is down, it draws a line; otherwise, it just
moves without drawing
The turtle Module
Includes a Turtle type with methods for getting turtle objects to do
things
Add an import statement in your py file.
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import turtle
Instantiating a Turtle
Instantiate a Turtle object:
The turtle appears as an icon
Initial position: (0, 0)
Initial direction: East (0)
Colour: black
Line width: 1 pixel
Pen: down (ready to draw)
y
-
a
x
i
s
(0,0)
90
180 0
270
x-axis (0,0)
t = turtle.Turtle()
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Properties of a Turtle
The Turtle class provides many methods for setting the
properties of a turtle:
penup(): pull pen up, no drawing when moving
pendown(): put pen down, drawing when moving
pensize(width): set the pen line thickness to width
pencolor(color): set the pen colour
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Moving a Turtle
The Turtle class provides many methods for moving the
turtle:
forward(distance)
Move turtle in the direction the turtle is headed by di st ance pixels
left(degrees)
Rotate turtle counter-clockwise by angle degrees
right(degrees)
Rotate turtle clockwise by angle degrees
goto(x,y)
Move turtle to coordinates defined by x, and y; if pen is down, draw line
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Example 1: Drawing a Triangle
Move a Given Distance
Move 50 pixels in the current direction, which is 0 (east)
Drawing a line when moving
Move to a Given Position
Move to location (0, 50)
Drawing a line when moving
t = turtle.Turtle()
t.forward(50)
t.goto(0, 50)
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Example 1: Drawing a Triangle
Set the Direction
270 is due south
Note: the direction of the turtles icon has been updated
Initial heading is east i.e. 0
Change the Pens Colour
Change the RGB value to the brightest red
Note: the icons outline colour has been changed
t.setheading(270)
t.pencolor('red')
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Example 1: Drawing a Triangle
Move a Given Distance
Move 50 pixels in the current direction
Returns to the origin, drawing a red line
Move Without Drawing
Wont draw when moved now
t.forward(50)
t.penup()
t.forward(50)
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Demo 1
Some More Turtle Methods
The Turtle class provides many methods for drawing:
circle(radius)
Draw a circle with given radius. The centre is radius units left of the turtle
dot(diameter, colour)
Draw a dot with given diameter and colour
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t = Turtle()
t.circle(100)
y
-
a
x
i
s
(0,0)
90
180 0
270
x-axis (0,0)
Example 2: Drawing three circles
Given the following code:
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t = turtle.Turtle()
t.circle(100)
t.penup()
t.goto(-50, 50)
t.pendown()
t.circle(50)
t.penup()
t.goto(50, 50)
t.pendown()
t.circle(50)
Demo 2
(0,0)
(-50,50)
(50,50)
Case Study 1
Drawing a square
Task:
Complete the dr aw_squar e( ) function which draws a square with
corner point (x, y) and length
Arguments: a turtle, x-coordinate, y-coordinate, length
Draw a square
Case:
t = turtle.Turtle()
drawSquare(t, 0, 50, 100)
1
2
3
4
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(0,50)
Case Study 1
Drawing a square
Algorithm:
1
2
3
4
Move to the required position
Set the pen up
Go to the required position
Set direction
(South)
Set the pen
down
Repeat the following steps four times
Draw a line of size length
Rotate counter-clockwise 90 degree
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Demo 3
Case Study 2
Drawing a Polygon
Task:
Complete the dr aw_pol ygon( ) function which draws a polygon
from a list of vertices.
Arguments: a turtle, a list of vertices
Draw a polygon
Example:
t = turtle.Turtle()
drawPolygon(t, [(0,0), (0, 60), (60, 0)])
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(0, 0)
Case Study 2
Drawing a Polygon
Algorithm:
Move to the required position
Set the pen up
Go to the first vertex
Set the pen down
Repeat the following steps n-1times
Go to the next vertex
Go to the first vertex again
1
3
2
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Demo 3
Exercise 1:
Drawing
For each of the three figures below, write a sequence of
turtle graphics function calls which draws that figure
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Case Study 3
Taking a Random Walk
Animals often appear to wander about randomly, but they are
often searching for food, shelter, etc.
Task:
Complete the r andom_wal k( ) function which takes a turtle,
num_steps and distance as parameters and takes a random walk for
a step of num_steps.
A random walk is a path in which each step is in a randomly chosen
direction
Arguments: a turtle, num_steps, distance
Example:
t = turtle.Turtle()
randomWalk(t, 30, 50)
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Case Study 3
Taking a Random Walk
Repeat the following by a step of num_steps:
Generate a
random degree
Rotate by the
random degree
moves the turtle in the
direction it is facing
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Demo 4
Show Case
Interesting shapes can be created by repeating drawing
squares:
Repeat the following 36 times
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Draw a
square
Rotate by 10
degrees
Increase the
length of the
square
Increase the
pensize (<5)
Demo 5
Summary
"Turtle graphics" were developed for the language LOGO as a
tool for helping beginning programmers visualize the effects
of their actions.
In a turtle graphics environment, the programmer draws
figures by controlling a "turtle" which leaves a trail on the
screen as it moves.
The turtle can be made to move relative to its current
position using forward and backward. It can be made to turn
relative to its current heading using left and right.
You can control whether the turtle leaves a trail as it moves
by calling penup and pendown.
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