Robots, Robots, Robots!

Our first and second grade friends started constructing their first robots this week! They were given many different materials to use to construct their robots, and when they completed the building process they were able to add a small toy motor to see if their robot would move. 

If their robot creation didn't move as fast or as crazy as they liked, they had the opportunity to rethink their design to make any necessary adjustments. We have had lots of success with our robots in the Makerspace. 

Some of our friends turned their initial design mishaps into surprisingly creative new designs. A pair of our 2nd grade friends from Mrs.Shamia's class decided to turn their intial idea of one large robot into a family of bots when the large robot didn't move as much as they would have liked. It was awesome to watch the class get so excited over the mini robots buzzing all around the table!

A Hyperlapse video of the mini-bot family some of our 2nd grade friends made

Many of our first and second grade friends have shown interest in trying to create these simple robots at home. For anyone that wants to know what we are using to power our robots, we used 1.5-3 volt offset toy motors. They can be purchased at any hobby or craft store for $2-$3. You will also need a small battery pack, and a weight to attach to the rotating mechanism on the motor. We used dimes and pennies as weights. 

It has been so fun to watch our young friends imagine and create. They have had so much fun in the Makerspace building simple robots.