Dear Bloggers,

Years 5 and 6 designed and made Vampire Bots.  The robots had light sensors to detect light and dark.  We all know that Vampires love the dark and hate the light….and the children skilfully programmed their bots to show this.

Thanks for calling by

Mrs Garlick

Dear Bloggers,

Students in Years 5 and 6 are continuing to master the challenge of following a black line using a light sensor and a program containing an ‘if statement’.  Fast worker are creating Vampires.  These  bots use their light sensors to distinguish between light and dark and they exhibit appropriate ‘Vampire behaviours’ depending on the percentage of light reflected.  One talented group has their ‘Vampire -Bot’ falling to its knees when it sees light.

Thanks for calling by

Mrs Garlick

Dear Bloggers,

The students used the data logging software to collect values about the amount of light reflected from different colours.  They had to use this knowledge to program their robot to follow a black line.  The basic  building base the students had on their bots was 4 rigid wheels and the pupils had to add a swivel wheel to their design to successfully follow the line.  Some of the swivel wheels they designed are shown below….often very simple can be very effective.

Thanks for calling by

Mrs Garlick

Dear Bloggers,

Years 5 and 6 equipped their robots with a light sensor, built a driving base and programmed their ‘Bot’ to drive over different stripes of colours and collect the data about the percentage of  reflected light.  This was uploaded to the computer and graphs created.  The students analysed the graphs to see how much light was reflected by the various colours and they predicted values for other colours.

Thanks for calling by

Mrs Garlick

Dear Bloggers,

Years 5 and 6 have started using their robots to data log.  Today they programmed their robots to collect the data about how loud their voices were.  Students first drew a graph predicting their results and then superimposed this with their actual results.  Different data sets were collected as the students tried to make increasingly accurate predictions.  We then analysed the graphs looking at the loudest and softest sounds they made.

Thanks for calling by

Mrs Garlick

Dear Bloggers,

Please see https://jennygarlick.edublogs.org/2013/05/29/friend-or-foe-bot/ for Part 1

The students demonstrated their robots to the class showing/playing: how the ultrasonic sensor stopped the robot 10cm from an object, displays on the screen, appropriate sounds/words and  friendly / unfriendly actions.  In addition the design of the robot was assessed including how robust it was.

Some Foe-Bots threw projectiles, had hammer arms, charged, made  nasty noises, had chainsaw attachments and blinked unwelcoming messages and symbols on their screen.  One was a Belligerent-Bot as it said ‘No’ and then turned its back on you and walked away.  The children enjoyed thinking up the foe-ish actions for their robots and it was very exciting to see how they translated their ideas into the building and programming of their Bots.

The Friend-Bots waved happily, approached slowly, made cheerful pleasant sounds or words and often wore lovely flowers and feathers.  Interestingly (or not) most students choose to make a Foe-Bot.

Thanks for calling by

Mrs Garlick