8P9 Sphero

Using Sphero Education, I created a project that deals with controlling a robot on an obstacle course because I wanted to try something new for a chance and do some programming robot stuff which is exactly what I did. Very quickly after I started doing this project I realized that doing the robot projects are just as fun and interesting as the machine projects when you create things out of wood or something. I wanted to create a project where a robot was involved and where I work around the robot figuring out how it runs and operates, and that's exactly what I did with the Sphero Robot and it ended up being really fun to do this project.

During this process, I learned that controlling the robot by its self is very complex and hard because signal plays a big part in this robot and if you're to far away it'll cut out and stop working. I also learned that you need to practice driving the robot before doing any project needed things because it's very hard to drive because it's sensitive. Last thing I learned is that programming the robot to go places is very hard, and you need to look it up to find out where to put certain codes. Since I've learned how to use this robot I can finally say that working with a robotic machine for a project is a lot more fun than I anticipated.

The 7 standards of the class are Empowered Learner, Digital Citizen, Knowledge Constructor, Innovative Designer, Computational Thinker, Creative Communicator, and Global Collaborator. My project ties to Knowledge Constructor because back in 6th grade I had a computers class that did programming and programs for robots and I just used my previous knowledge from that class and I worked my way through this project. My project also ties to knowledge constructor because I've previously had a class that dealt with programming and operating small little robots for projects, so I used my programming knowledge to help myself google how to's to figure out the coding process of the robot.

A challenge I overcame on this project was trying to figure out what the main idea of this project was. I was able to overcome this by asking around to fellow students who've done this project before and they all helped me realize the main objective here which is to try to get the robot to run its course on the little cardboard maze course. Another challenge I faced and yet overcame on this project was trying to get the robot to move around in places I wanted it to go. When you connect the robot to Bluetooth via Sphero Education, it has a weak connection and you have to turn the sensitivity of the speed to a low setting and you have to aim the robot to go places you want it to go.

Given a chance to do this again, I would change the robot I used in the project. The reason I would change it is because the robot I used isn't very good and it's sensitive to every move and that's hard when you want to make it run on a course for you project. I would probably use the sphero mini or something because it's tiny size makes it easier to maneuver throughout the classroom. Another thing I would do if I was given this project again, I would change the main idea of the project or the final product of it, which was trying to work my way through the course without messing up, but I would much rather make my own track and maybe even have a race if I had a partner to do this with.