Robot workshop with Year 4



Simple circuit

Putting the bits together

Year 4 at Chesterton are learning about circuits at the moment, so I went in to spend the day doing a bristlebot / robot workshop.  We looked at a commercially produced hexbug and the kids figured what was inside - battery, switch and vibrating motor.

No sensors, no intelligence, but cleverly designed legs.

 

Then we looked at some home-made versions, using larger toy motors and simple slide switches.  One was made with wire legs and the other had a brush for a base.



Plastic cup Dalek

The children worked in pairs, listed all the parts they would need and stripped the connecting wires.  We used pliers and sticky tape to secure contacts; matchsticks and sticky tape to scupper the motors.   

They created all sorts of great stuff.



Brush beast

Helicopter



Brush aeroplane



Octopus

Little Creatures

http://www.imperica.com/features/little-creatures

Imperica Magazine article about The Life Project, soon to be presented at EVA London 2012:

http://www.eva-london.org/

Life Project Exhibition at Space

Debut for "life but not" creatures in Space this evening, showing off their craftwork, flashing lights, squeaks and tweets.
http://www.spacestudios.org.uk/whats-on/courses/openlab-the-real-game-of-life-project
http://lifeproject.spacestudios.org.uk/

Creatures

Habitat

Playing with exhibits

Creatures tweeting

Vibrobot Saturday

Homage to Evil Mad Scientist.  We scuppered old motors from toy cars instead of using mobile pagers.  The manufactured track is from a Hexbug Nano set.

The Real Game Of Life 2011

http://lifeproject.spacestudios.org.uk/


Interactive, living ecosystem of machine "life"
5/4/11 First meet-up