Fall Saturday SAVY, Week 2, Coding and Robotics (5th-6th)
Unleashing Creativity and Innovation: Session Two SAVY-Coding and Robotics
Welcome back to our exciting journey through the world of robotics! We hope your robotics engineer had a fantastic first day in our Robotic Engineering course, where they were introduced to the Engineering Design Process and the incredible LEGO Spike Prime Robotics kit. This Saturday, students experienced a deeper understanding of the possibilities of innovation and critical thinking with Spike Prime Robotics.
The day began with a quick recap of last Saturday’s session. Students displayed their Engineering Design Posters in the form of an art gallery. As students observed each other’s creations, students voted on the best visual representation of all steps of the engineering design process. The results of the winning team will be announced later this week!
To phase into the next part of our day, we refreshed our knowledge of the Spike Prime kit, its components, and the coding interface provided by Lego Education software. When it was time to program, we all learned a lesson in being adaptable and flexible as engineers often deal with constraints. Nonetheless, with patience and problem-solving, all of our robotics engineers were able to get started with creating their first programming codes.
After a brief demonstration of the programming basics of Spike Prime, it was time for them to take the reins and dive into the world of robotics. Our first project, from Invention Squad, involved creating a robot that moved without wheels. The prototypes of this robot looked very similar to grasshoppers! Once the Hopper Bots were built, students were given the task of modifying the Hopper Bot’s legs to make a faster robot. At the end of the day, we started our Hopper Races. Semi-Finals and Championships will be next Saturday!
During this process, campers were quick to realize that Spike Prime is not just about assembling pre-designed models but also about customizing and personalizing their creations. They discovered the beauty of combining LEGO building blocks, motors, sensors, and the coding capabilities of Spike Prime to bring their unique ideas to life. With each challenge, their confidence and problem-solving skills grew.
Day two with LEGO Spike Prime was an absolute blast! The students took more steps towards becoming true roboticists, embracing challenges, collaborating with peers, thinking critically, and problem-solving. I look forward to our final session where we will look closer into understanding how to program different movement conditions with the Spike Prime robots!
-Ms. Young