Originally posted Dec 20, 2019
Hour of Code events are happening all over the world, all the time, but they most often occur during Computer Science Education Week, which was between Dec. 9 and 15, 2019. The program’s goal is to demystify coding and broaden participation in computer science.
Robolink makes it fun to learn using a robot kit, drone kit, or self-driving car kit with easily accessible tutorials. If you’ve ever wanted to build and fly your own drone or build your own mini smart car, Robolink can help you have fun while learning real-world STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) skills during any Hour of Code event. If you missed Computer Science Education Week, don’t worry—you can learn to code at your own pace and participate with your own Hour of Code.
CoDrone Drone Kit
Robolink’s CoDrone drone kit is programmed using the Arduino, Blockly, and Python programming languages. Arduino and Python are text-based languages, while Blockly is a visual drag-and-drop programming language. New programmers can learn how each line of code plays out in the air, quickly loading new code into the drone and seeing the effects. If the drone behaves unexpectedly, new programmers can use problem-solving and critical thinking skills to find and correct the problem with their newly learned programming skills. Lesson plans and a teacher guide are available for all CoDrone languages.
Zumi the Self-Driving Car
AI is already all around us, from a Tesla car’s autopilot to the voice recognition in an Amazon Echo to some of the mobile games you play on your phone. Robot kits for kids offer a great way to introduce AI concepts to students and can also be perfect for teaching AI concepts to adults. With Robolink’s newest addition, a programmable self-driving car robot named Zumi, new programmers up for a challenge can delve into the world of artificial intelligence.
Using Python, coders can program Zumi to learn faces, optimize routes, and even detect colors. With machine learning, Zumi continues to learn more as she’s used, performing tasks more competently with repetition. Zumi enables new coders to learn the basics of AI, as well as mapping and navigation, machine vision, machine learning, and self-driving car decision-making. Although AI is a complex topic, especially for beginners, Robolink provides step-by-step tutorials and a full curriculum for teachers.
Rokit Smart
Want to learn engineering while learning how to code? Robolink’s Rokit Smart programmable robot is the perfect way to introduce multiple STEM concepts. The Rokit Smart uses Arduino and comes with 11 premade blueprints for building the bot. However, the building aspect is only limited by your imagination. Whether students are using blueprints or their imagination, they can program the bot to do what they want, from simple mechanical motions to navigating an obstacle course or entering into a sumo fight with another robot.
Get Robolink’s robot and drone kits for your classroom at robolink.com
