Reviews

Products that have been tested.

Review: A tiny taste of Raspberry Pi

Other, Reviews
Raspberry Pi Logo

Raspberry Pi is a trademark of the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

I have a regular technology club that meets twice a month after school at the library. It’s made up of middle and young high school students, and since its inception last year, I’ve really tried to follow their lead in the projects we pursue. This fall, when we started up and all of last year’s teens joined back up and I gained some new kids, we had to shift around a bit before deciding on our projects. I showed them some of the toys, tools, and robots that we’ve reviewed here at Robot Test Kitchen, and finally they settled on something that I had heard about for a while but learned more about at a recent Tinker meeting. It’s a project that I felt both totally comfortable with, because it’s really just a computer, and completely intimidated by, because it’s a teeny tiny computer that runs an OS I haven’t played with since grad school.

Robot Basics:

  • What is it?

Raspberry Pi is a fully functioning palm sized computer that runs Linux.

  • What’s in the Box?

Cana Kit Complete Raspberry Pi B+ Starter Kit

You can purchase just the Pi, or you can buy a kit that comes with some essential components. I purchased the Cana Kit Complete Starter Kit, which comes with the following (from the website):

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MaKey MaKey with Tweens

Makey Makey, Programs, Reviews
Photo Oct 07, 6 50 29 PM

MaKey MaKey and supplies

What would you do with this stuff? Tweens who came to my Tuesday night program designed a functioning computer mouse with a potato and some play dough, a game controller with bananas, and a human piano (sort of).

Device Basics:

  • What is it?

MaKey MaKey is “the invention kit for everyone.” A small circuit board plugs into the USB port of your computer. By attaching alligator clips to the board and then to items that are conductive, you can turn all kinds of things into keys for the computer, allowing you to connect the tangible world to the virtual world of the computer.

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Review: The Finch

Reviews, The Finch

Robot Basics:finch

  • What is it? The Finch Robot is designed for computer science education. It uses a variety of programming languages. See more information here: http://www.finchrobot.com/
  • What’s in the Box? The Finch Robot, cord, and a 1 page instruction sheet.
  • How Much? $99
  • Age Range? The Finch is good for kids who are comfortable with the idea of programming. I would probably say 3rd grade and up.
  • How Did We Acquire it? Through the ILEAD grant funds.

What I tried:

I have not used Finch in a program and I’m not sure if I ever will. My goal with the Finch was just to attempt to figure it out. After reading of Kim’s problems, I wanted to give it a try. I had a similar experience as her kids attempting to make it work.

The Finch requires software downloads and also at least a small understanding of some coding languages. I downloaded Scratch, since that was the program I was most familiar with.

The Finch requires software downloads and also at least a small understanding of some coding languages. I decided to try Scratch, since I had a basic understanding of the program. The Finch also requires you to download certain software depending on what programming language you pick. It definitely takes a little bit to get started. I found their instructions to be incredibly lacking. It felt very much like the designers had not user tested the instructions on us normal folks.

It took a lot of plugging and unplugging of the USB to get the Finch to talk to Scratch. Once it seemed to recognized the software I thought it would be smooth sailing. Incorrect. It was difficult to figure out how to get the Finch specific codes into Scratch. And then once I did, it took me a while to even find a code that worked. When I did look at the examples, (uhh, yeah I know, should have done that first), I thought they were rather weird. The codes worked, but they were not basic things that most people would want The Finch to do – like make it go.

After a big of struggling, I did finally make a program that worked with The Finch and it was exciting when it finally happened. I consider myself an intermediate coder and this was  difficult for me. I do not think The Finch is suitable for beginners at all.

Skills Needed:

To use the Finch you must have some coding skills, familiarity with a programming tool like Scratch, and be patient when it comes to Troubleshooting. You also need some time to figure the thing out.

Good Stuff

I do think you could use The Finch with a coding club, or kids who already have some experience. I don’t think it will be good with kids who are at the beginner stages.

Frustrations

The Finch is very frustrating. It is the most frustrating robot I have worked with yet. What I find even more troubling is how much it has been promoted. It seems to have gotten positive press and while I do think that it has potential – it is not there yet. They need to make sure The Finch is responsive when you first plug it in, and it would be much easier to work with if it was wireless. In the end, I think most kids would get frustrated with The Finch.

Ending Thoughts/Observations

If you have an interested coding club, give it a try. Otherwise, save yourself $99.

Overall Rating

Stinky