Robotics Makeathon Instructions for Girls

It's time for the robotics makeathon! Your team's challenge is to build a robot experience with the Hummingbird kit and Sphero. Your group will have a theme and each team will design and build a project that fits that theme.

You will pitch your ideas to each other and form teams based on your interests and the skills you'd like to use. Once project teams are formed, you will work through a series of design cycles to complete this challenge.

Design Statement

Brainstorm Ideas

Here are some tips for good brainstorming:

Be sure to capture all ideas, even wild ones!
Defer all judgement, on other people’s ideas, and on your own!
Build from each other’s ideas.
Be visual - you can draw instead of write words.
One conversation at a time - don’t cut each other off.
Go for as many ideas as you can.

A design statement is a brief piece of writing that answers the following:

What is the title of your robotic experience?
What are the functions of the Hummingbird and the Sphero, and how are they a part of the larger project?
Who/what do the robots interact with? Is there a story they tell? If so what is that story?
Do people interact with your robot? How?
What will your robot be made out of? How will you go about building it?
What inspired your creation?

Share your design statement by posting a group video in Flipgrid Robotics Makeathon: Design Statement

Think about things that inspire you and can inform your design. Look at some of the materials available for inspiration. You can also use some of the links below for ideas.

Now take your brainstorming and create your design statement.

IDEO Brainstorming Video

Playful Invention and Exploration Network - Mechanics Ideas

Example Hummingbird Robots

Engineering and Tinkering at the Exploratorium

Flipgrid: Robotics Design Statement

Design Sketches

While your team was brainstorming, you may have also started sketching out ideas. You will continue sketching ideas in order to get a better understanding of what your design is going to look like and how you might build it.

Keep your sketches handy because you may come back to sketching at various times in the makeathon process in order to communicate your ideas to others.

Pseudocode

Your next task is to take your design sketches and use them to help you create pseudocode.

You should use programming terms that you know, such as loop or conditionals, and any Hummingbird components that you may want to use such as servo and LED. There aren’t many rules for how to write pseudocode but the goal is to get an idea of how your robots will work before you start programming them.

Materials Needed

By now you should have a clear understanding of what you need to build your robots and the rest of the robotic experience. Create a list of materials you might need. This should include materials that are available and materials you might need to gather.

Working Prototypes

Sphero

Now it is time to get coding! Take your designs and program the Sphero's actions. It is very likely you will be building, coding, and testing at the same time to figure out how everything works together.

If you get stuck, ask the other teams for help. You can also post questions in Flipgrid for the rest of the SciGirls Code groups to answer.

Hummingbird

Now it is time to get coding! Take your designs and create your Hummingbird's program in Ardublock. Linked below are some additional learning resources for Ardublock. It is very likely you will be building, coding, and testing at the same time to figure out how everything works together.

If you get stuck, ask the other teams for help. You can also post questions in Flipgrid for the rest of the SciGirls Code groups to answer.

Demo Video

Now it is time to share and celebrate all of your hard work! You will do a practice run with the other teams before the showcase. Another team should help you record your presentation so you can share it on flipgrid.

When preparing for your presentation be sure you include the answers to the following:

What? - What is your project? How does it work? How did you come up with the idea?
So what? - What was your process for developing the project? What was interesting, challenging and surprising? Why?
Now what? - What are you most proud of? What would you change? What do you want to create next?

Flipgrid Robotics Makeathon: Demo Video

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