#robotics Logs

Feb 15 2022

01:51 AM Jak_o_Shadows: I've used mindstorms with kids - most kids TBH have a pretty low starting knowledge
01:59 AM Jak_o_Shadows: Out of the like 1500+ kids, like 20-30 had starting knowledge?
02:42 AM enleth: a friend does robotics and practical science classes with kids of various ages, all the way from 4 year olds up to high school, for the most part using kits he designs and makes himself
02:43 AM enleth: his stuff looks kinda like KiwiCo sets, just not as pretty
02:44 AM Jak_o_Shadows: I was never that good with the kids
02:44 AM Jak_o_Shadows: Youngest we ever did was 8 year olds
02:45 AM Jak_o_Shadows: Up to like 16 year olds
02:45 AM enleth: his experience over the years has been that kids exposed to stuff like this from a very young age retain their interest in it later and do better with more complex projects
02:47 AM enleth: he's even has some luck teaching arduino programming to mid-primary school kids
02:56 AM enleth: younger kids like linkage-based "robots", lasercut out of plywood or even cardboard, with a single tiny DC motor and a 1.5V battery
02:56 AM enleth: the things just scoot around and end up hiding under furniture and making noise, but it's fun for them
02:57 AM enleth: and easy to understand and assemble
02:58 AM enleth: when they're comfortable with those, they get introduced to things that are actually controllable in some way
02:58 AM Jak_o_Shadows: That was basically what we were trying to do
02:58 AM Jak_o_Shadows: We only did single sessions - not recurreing ones
02:59 AM Jak_o_Shadows: Always felt a bit pointless with the 14+ year olds
02:59 AM Jak_o_Shadows: They either liked maths/science by then or hated it
03:00 AM enleth: yes, his experience is also that at this point, it's better to fish out the few ones that show interest and do the follow up with them only
03:01 AM enleth: although there's more of them among the kids he's worked with in the past
03:03 AM enleth: pretty much the only way to sway the others is to show them something insanely cool, which is hard on a budget, in a school
03:04 AM Jak_o_Shadows: yeah
03:05 AM enleth: although he did manage to bring one group of 12 year olds to the hackerspace and let them draw stuff to be cut on the CO2 laser, that they could keep
03:06 AM enleth: not a single one was unimpressed
03:06 AM Jak_o_Shadows: we were a one trick kinda show
03:07 AM Jak_o_Shadows: but gosh did I know that one show well
03:07 AM Jak_o_Shadows: Did either 100 or 150 of em?
03:07 AM Jak_o_Shadows: I think 150
03:07 AM enleth: (it sure helped that the place is abundant with memes that a 12 year old definitely recognizes from the internet and has a very laid back atmosphere, unlike school)
03:08 AM Jak_o_Shadows: One school we taught every student above 8 years old
03:08 AM Jak_o_Shadows: In like 2 days? 3 days?
03:08 AM enleth: a bit of a tight schedule
03:08 AM Jak_o_Shadows: wasn't a big schoool to be fair
03:08 AM Jak_o_Shadows: fun though
03:09 AM enleth: to be honest, even if a single one of them gets to have a successful science or engineering career they otherwise wouldn't, it was worth it
03:10 AM Jak_o_Shadows: yep
03:10 AM enleth: the friend is getting thank you emails from university freshmen at this point
03:11 AM Jak_o_Shadows: i did this through uni
03:11 AM Jak_o_Shadows: and yeah, we had volunteers come through that had been taugh themselves
03:12 AM enleth: robotics, mechatronics, etc., all of the m saying they wouldn't be there it wasn't for his classes years ago
06:06 AM paul424: CrazyEddy, ohh hallo, how your CEGUI is doing ,why no more iterations ?
06:10 AM paul424: veverak, hallo did you answered my question lately ? https://neorobot.pl/ which set to choose from ?
06:10 AM paul424: I know donnitz said lego mindstorms and you :) ?
06:12 AM veverak: paul424: same
06:12 AM veverak: lego mindstorms
06:12 AM veverak: :)
06:13 AM paul424: seems they have something other's don't :P
06:17 AM paul424: Dostępność: wycofany z oferty
06:17 AM paul424: availibility : withdrawn from offer
06:18 AM paul424: hmmm
06:29 AM paul424: https://allegro.pl/oferta/lego-mindstorms-45544-ev3-wersja-edukacyjna-zasil-10590469964 veverak how many children can use that set at once .... ? I want to have a group of 4-6 people
06:29 AM veverak: dunno?
06:29 AM veverak: depends on what they do
06:41 AM paul424: Have any of you taught robotics lessons to kids ?
06:42 AM veverak: robotics-related and to different kind of kids
06:42 AM veverak: (university courses)
06:43 AM paul424: aha...
06:43 AM veverak: hmm, wait
06:43 AM veverak: \o/
06:44 AM veverak: yaqwsx: paul424 is asking for a robotics kit for children 7-10 years old, we recommended lego mindstorms as usable thing
06:44 AM veverak: last question was how many children can use that set at once
06:45 AM veverak: yaqwsx: do you have any guesses based on experience in robotarna?
06:45 AM veverak: paul424: ( yaqwsx knows is in a group of people that do robotics for younger students than university :) )
06:46 AM yaqwsx: paul424: We use Lego Mindstorms, MicroBit kits and Robot edison v2.0
06:47 AM yaqwsx: I no longer have a direct experience (I tought the last course for children ~5years ago). What I remember and know: Lego is suitable for much older children (12+). There is a high enter threshold with building the robots. And you cannot have much fun just with the brick.
06:48 AM yaqwsx: There are exceptionally some children around 10 that have no problems programming it, but it is more an exception.
06:50 AM yaqwsx: I have no personal experience with Edison, but the other tutors seem quite happy about it.
06:52 AM yaqwsx: What's nice is that it is more-less complete - once you attach wheels it can do many things out of the box. If you want something more sophisticated, you can attach lego bricks.
06:56 AM yaqwsx: paul424: If you have questions, feel free to ask.
07:07 AM rue_mohr: https://twitter.com/RueNahcMohr/status/1493568665421189123
07:07 AM rue_mohr: I'll drop the link here too!!!
07:07 AM rue_mohr: lots of easy, some of it kicked my ass for a while
07:49 AM paul424: yaqwsx, yeah I was away peeling potatos for dinner
08:04 AM paul424: robotarna sounds very czech :P
08:08 AM veverak: because it is :)
08:19 AM paul424: Ja sem z Polskeho Teschina :D
08:23 AM paul424: yaqwsx, veverak :D
08:24 AM paul424: https://botland.com.pl/microbit-moduly-glowne-i-zestawy/18160-bbc-microbit-2-go-modul-edukacyjny-cortex-m4-akcelerometr-bluetooth-led-5x5-akcesoria-5051259234482.html seems to be for elder kids and adults , AM I right ?
08:24 AM yaqwsx: Ah, my jsme z Brna :)
08:24 AM yaqwsx: paul424: We use MicroBit for 10-15.
08:25 AM paul424: aha
08:25 AM yaqwsx: Overall, it is really hard to learn programming 7-10.
08:25 AM yaqwsx: I can imagine that someone talented can get away with Microbit even at 8 years.
08:29 AM paul424: yaqwsx, yeah I imagined some smart kid from my programming lessons would have come to help me coding game in c
08:29 AM paul424: c++ -- opendungeons to no avail
08:30 AM enleth: paul424: contact pozytywny@hackerspace.pl, tell him I pointed you to him (he knows me by this nickname), he's the guy behind http://www.pozytywsie.pl/ and a member of the Warsaw Hackerspace
08:31 AM enleth: I don't think there's many people in this countrt with more experience in what you're trying to do than him
08:32 AM paul424: enleth ohh thanks very much :D I will contact him
08:34 AM enleth: he does do this for a living, but he's eager to share his methods and he's only really doing anything in central Poland, not in the south
08:36 AM enleth: paul424: also, feel free to visit the Hackerspace if you're ever in the area
08:36 AM paul424: oki we will see what comes out, because it seems the parents of the youngest kids are the most interested in sending them to courses
08:37 AM paul424: enleth, I rarely move outside Cieszyn .... <:@)
08:37 AM enleth: yep, but it's hard to get them to focus on anything for more than two minutes
08:38 AM enleth: the good thing is, you need clever ideas, not expensive brick sets
08:39 AM enleth: pozytywny builds most of his stuff out of cardboard, hotglue, drinking straws, bottle caps and toilet paper roll cores
08:39 AM enleth: which is stuff the parents can later find at home, and it fits well into the zero waste movement many young parents support
08:45 AM paul424: enleth, good to know :)