What is a robot? There are plenty of off-the-shelf robots that schools can purchase, but these can also be “black box” robots where there is no construction just problems to solve. If a robot is just a series of set problems to solve it can make them very prescriptive and potentially limiting, reducing robotics to a programmed slot in the timetable, rather than integrating them into what the students are actually working on.
We have developed a range of simple robots that can be built by students from simple component parts. We believe that building a robot, actually builds understanding and ownership. A key element of computational thinking is actually de-bugging, so when a robot that a student has built themselves does not perform as expected, they have a much better base of understanding to start from if they have actually built it.
We have designed this robot using Fusion360 and have 3D printed the chassis, but the students could easily do the same to adapt their robot to fit/suit the needs of what they are investigating.
