How to Implement

Part One: Introduce the Hummingbird Basic Components and Set It Up

• Pass out materials to each group.
• As a large group, go over the Hummingbird kit, having the girls take notes in their design journals.
• Spend a few minutes discussing the Hummingbird components they have in front of them.
• Talk about the three things a robot can do (sense, think, act).
  • Talk about inputs in terms of sensing. Ask the girls how they sense information (hearing, tasting, smelling, touching, seeing). This is how their robot will sense.
  • Show them the Hummingbird board and explain to them that it will be the brain of their robot. They will program it so that it reacts to the environment. This is how their robot will think.
  • Talk about outputs in terms of actions. How do the girls, themselves, react to things they sense? You may want to explain that the outputs of a robot are a lot simpler. This is how their robot will act.
• The girls will have two different outputs in front of them: an LED and a servo motor. Explain that they are going to start by learning how to hook up the LED and program it to blink.
• Show them how to set up the Hummingbird for their first program.
  • Connect the LED to the port on the Hummingbird using the terminal tool. (Use the Connecting Electronics worksheet.)
    • Explain that conventionally the black wire is always negative, so it goes in the slot marked (-).
    • The other colored wire on an LED is positive (+) and signals what color the LED will be.
    • Find where it says LED on the Hummingbird board, then find the LED port labeled 1. Use the terminal tool to press the button underneath the – symbol, and insert the black LED wire.
    • Repeat the process, inserting the other color LED wire underneath the + symbol.
  • Plug the USB cable into the Hummingbird and then into the laptop.
  • Plug the Hummingbird’s power cord into an outlet. (Technically they don’t have to do this unless they want to use the Hummingbird without the laptop or with a servo.)
  • Have them open and turn on their laptops, navigating to the Arduino IDE application.

Part Two: Blinking an LED with Ardublock

• The girls in each group should choose roles at the start of the activity; make sure that you give them an opportunity to switch roles throughout.
• In the Arduino IDE application, have them start a new file by going to FILE > NEW.
• Note: In Arduino a file is called a sketch.
• Select the right board by going to TOOLS > BOARD > HUMMINGBIRD DUO.
• Select the right port by going to TOOLS > PORT . Select the highest port available (highest COM number).
• Note: You also need to make sure that your Hummingbird is in Arduino mode. To do this, follow this tutorial for converting Hummingbird Duo to Arduino mode.
• Go to TOOLS > ARDUBLOCK.
• Explain the overall interface so that the girls are somewhat oriented with the development environment.
• Have them open the blink example file by going to OPEN > ARDUINO > ARDUBLOCKDUOEXAMPLES > BlinkLED.abp.
• Then have them upload this to the Hummingbird by clicking UPLOAD TO ARDUINO.
• Explain that Ardublock is sending the program to Arduino where it is rewritten in a language that the Hummingbird can understand and then uploaded it to the Hummingbird.
• Note: The girls may be prompted to save at this point. Use the opportunity to discuss file naming conventions and version tracking.
• Point out the windows in the Arduino IDE where they might encounter error messages as they troubleshoot their future programs.
• Have them look at their boards and talk about what they see (the LED and the Status LED should be blinking).
• Have the girls look at their code. Can they can figure out what their code means line by line, and how it is affecting the Hummingbird?
• Give them the following challenges:
  • Can you make the LED blink faster?
  • Can you make the LED blink slower?
  • Can you make just the LED blink (taking out the Status LED)?
  • Can you make the LED blink in a pattern?

Part Three: Adding a Sensor

• The next task is to enable the Hummingbird sense the world around it.
• Have the girls connect the light sensor to the Hummingbird board on sensor port 1. Remember the black wire is connected to the (-) port.
• Have them open a new Arduino sketch and a new Ardublock file.
• Go to OPEN> ARDUINO>ARDUBLOCKDUOEXAMPLES>SensorTrigger.abp.
• Have them upload the code, as is, to the Hummingbird and describe their observations. What happens when the cover the light sensor? Or when they put the sensor up to light? (They may use a flashlight if needed.)

Part Four: Adding a Servo

• Now the girls will add a servo motor as an output.
• Plug in the servo on the board where it is labeled SERVOS, making sure to line up the black wire to the pin at the top.
• Use the same SensorTrigger.abp file to program the servo by having the girls swap out the vibration block with the servo block (found in the HummingbirdDuo bin).
• Note: Have the girls either put a piece of tape on the servo or swap out the plastic wheel with a single arm.
• Have them experiment with changing the numbers for the value of the light, the servo and the sensor to see what happens.

Part Five: Talk about the other Input/Output Options

• You can take a jigsaw approach and assign different example files to different groups, then at the end of the exploration time have a share-out to show each other what they discovered.
• Now that the girls have had a chance to learn a bit about the Hummingbird you can spend some time going over a few additional inputs/outputs in the Hummingbird kits.
• Have them create a table of the inputs/outputs in their design journals so they can add notes about each of the components as they learn what they are capable of and what their limits are.
• Below are descriptions of all the inputs/outputs (including the ones they’re already used).
  • Inputs
    • Light sensor – The light sensor detects the brightness in the surrounding area (Ex: walkway lights that turn on after dark).
    • Sound sensor– The sound sensor detects the volume level in the environment (Ex: The Clapper).
    • Distance sensor - The distance sensor detects the distance to an object (Ex: no-touch soap dispenser).
    • Rotary sensor (Potentiometer) - The rotary sensor is a sensor that detects the amount the knob has been rotated (Ex: the volume control on a stereo).
    • Temperature sensor - The temperature sensor detects the temperature (Ex: modern digital thermostats).
  • Outputs
    • Single color LED (Light Emitting Diode) - Single color LED lights are a light source with controllable brightness. The Hummingbird comes with red, orange, yellow, and green single color lights. Up to four single color lights can be connected to the Hummingbird.
    • Tri-Color LED - Tri-color LED lights are a red-green-blue (RGB) light source capable of producing a variety of light colors. Two tri-color LED lights can be connected at a time.
    • Servos - The servo is a motor designed to move to a specific position set by the control signal. They are often used in robots and remote control cars. For this motor to work you must connect the power cord.
    • DC Gear Motor - An electric motor with speed control and the ability to rotate clockwise or counter clockwise. Two motors can connect to the Hummingbird at the same time. For this motor to work you must connect the power cord.
    • Vibration motor - A vibration motor is a small motor that causes a shaking motion. You may control the intensity of the movement. Two vibration motors can be connected at a time.
• Show the girls where to find the folder of examples and give them some time to explore example programs (make sure they do a Save As so that they don’t write over the example file by accident).
• Have the extra components available for the girls to try out with the sample programs.
• Hand out a set of Hummingbird component cards to each group to use as a reference.

Part Six: Plan and Build a Robot

• This is a good time to revisit the engineering design process.
• Using the drawing they created during the Drawing Game as inspiration, the girls will now create a 3D robot from recycled materials. The girls should follow the basic guidelines below but they have free rein beyond that.
  • Guidelines:
    • Must use at least one LED (tricolor or regular).
    • Must use at least one motor (servo, gear, or vibration).
    • Must use at least one sensor.
• Have them plan how they will create their design in 3D by sketching in their design journals or on sheets of paper. They should indicate how they will incorporate the required components plus any others they want to use.
• Once the girls are done with their plans, have them share with another group before building.
• Build, test, redesign.
• Share their robots with the rest of the group.