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Grades 3-8: Robotics - Beginner (In-Person BLOOR) - 1 hour

1 visit free CAD$145 Purchase required to enroll
Location: 2451 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M6S 1P7

For makers going into grade 3-8. No robotics experience needed.

Kids will learn everything they need to know to code their very own robotics projects using the industry leading platforms Lego Spike, Microbit, and Arduino. With the help of easy-to-use block-based online coding interfaces, kids experience a very capable and rewarding introduction to robotics. Basic circuitry and programming concepts are also covered to give students a good foundation for more complex components and coding structures later on.

Lego Spike: Combines 2 well known, family favourite platforms, Lego and Scratch coding. Lego Spike teaches the basics of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and programming. Students will build and modify their Lego robots and install sensors and controllers that can be coded with the Scratch based Spike software to bring their robot to life to complete a task or challenge!

MicroBit: The MicroBit is a robotics platform sponsored by the BBC specifically designed to be used in projects by kids. It contains many onboard inputs (e.g. buttons, thermometers, gyroscopes, compass, radio transceivers) and a 5×5 LED array which (with the help of an easy to use block based online coding interface) gives kids a very capable and rewarding introduction to robotics. After covering the basics of electronic circuits (with the MicroBit acting as a voltage source) kids get their first taste of giving instructions to Microcontrollers. The 5×5 LED array is used as the primary output (supporting easy to draw faces, animals, and other symbols) while fundamentals of robotic logic (e.g. detecting button presses, loops, and events) are introduced one at a time. Before moving on to more complex inputs kids also learn to wire up buzzers and make use of Makecode’s (the MicroBit’s online development environment) extensive sound and music library.

Arduino TinkerCAD: The Arduino is an open source industry standard prototyping board. It is a low level controller where electricity is directly controlled and circuits containing desired components (e.g. lights, buttons, buzzers) must be wired before being used. Many activities take the form of device operating theory, wiring instructions, and finally programming usage. The beginner section focuses on LEDs and buzzers as outputs stressing the importance of visualizing the actual flow of electricity that results from the Arduino following our instructions. Basic circuitry and programming concepts are also covered to give students a good foundation for more complex components and coding structures later on.

3D Printing: Students will learn how to design, prepare and print their own 3D creations! We use TinkerCAD 3D to introduce students to 3D design before preparing the files for print and then watch them be created in real time in our on site 3D printer!
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