Summer SAVY 2019: Session 2, Day 4 – Programming and Robotics (Ashley G.) (Rising 3rd/4th)

Posted by hallep on Thursday, June 20, 2019 in Grade 3, Grade 4, SAVY.

No, tomorrow can’t be our last day! I am pretty sure we could keep going for another week. The students are so eager to try new ideas and take on new challenges.

During the morning, the students worked on programming their EV3 to follow a line using a color sensor and then added the Touch Sensor and motors.  Some programmed their EV3 to turn on and off when the touch sensor was pressed. Some had it make various sounds or move the lift to move down or up. The programming language for EV3 is different than the Sphero. It can be more challenging, and I did see them run into issues with trying to debug thier code a little quicker than with the Sphero. I reminded them about simplifying code and debugging one sensor or one section of the code at a time.  Then they went back to the drawing board and successfully had their EV3 running multiple sensors and motors in their program.

The afternoon we added some new lines of code to the Sphero. We discussed acceleration and why is the accelerometer reading g’s. (acceleration of gravity). The students focused on if, else statement, as well as the accelerometer sensor, to program the animal game. The Sphero became a toy to play with during this activity. This game was a lot of fun! Then we introduce a new movement command “raw motor”. This actually controls the left and right motor within the Sphero. If both motors are coded to maximum speed, the Sphero will “jump”.  After talking about forces and slip friction and discussed the new “raw motor” command, the students programmed thier robot to jump, spin, and act like a strobe light. It was like a dance party.

I know the students are really excited to show you everything they have been working on this week at open house tomorrow. Hope to see you there!