Control and Programming
ICT - 25/02/14
In ICT this week we looked at control and programming using simple electronic toys. These toys are called Bee-bots and they are very useful in the primary class room as they are child friendly, fun to play with and they are easy to program. There are various devises that are similar such as the pixie, the pipin and the Roamer and these have varying degrees of difficult when it comes to programming them, but Bee-bots are certainly the most child friendly.
It is important for children to understand simple programming as it occurs in everyday life. Some programmable objects that we use/see daily include:
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By using Bee-bots children can begin to understand that every electronic object has to be programmed in some way. In this instance you press the back, forward, right and left arrows on the Bee-bot in order to direct it in the way you would like it to go. The Bee-bot remembers the sequence and moves in the same way once you press GO. To create a new sequence the child learns that you must first clear the sequence. This must mean that the sequence is some how stored on the devise and this is a clear route to deepen their understanding of electrical equipment and programming. Computers and electrical devices capable of programming have a component inside known as the CPU (central processing unit) this stores all the information that is programmed into it via the buttons on top of the Bee-bot.
We were allowed to use the Bee-bots in class and we decided that it would be fun to create a game for children to play. They could program the Bee-bot to complete a course with obstacles with the objective of completing the course without touching them. So we created a football game in which the children must reach the ball in front of a goal and score without touching any defenders.
We then made a shell for the Bee-bot
so it was no longer a bee trying to play football. What better disguise to use
then Marouane Chamakh of Crystal Palace (who is unfortunately wearing the
wrong number as we had to stick over the 2). Chamakh is a player renowned for
taking the ball round many players and scoring spectacular goals; or maybe more
realistically, like the Bee-bot, missing the ball, running the wrong way,
falling over and making a fool of its/himself. You can decide which the
appropriate sentence is.
This is just an example of what the
Bee-bot can be used for and the fun that can be had with it. There is a link
below to a dancing Bee-bot routine. This may be more complicated but it would
be good for children to see if they could program the Bee-bots to do exactly
the same thing. There is a second link to a Youtube video that shows how a
Bee-bot is used.
Dancing Bee-bots: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lRRn3zplC0
How to use the B-bots:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XxKHHdNEA4
Useful Websites Linked to Bee-bots: http://www.simonhaughton.co.uk/blog_index.html/page/13
