Review: The Finch

Programs, Reviews, The Finch

Robot Basics:

From the website,

“The Finch is a new robot for computer science education. Its design is the result of a four year study at Carnegie Mellon’s CREATE lab.

The Finch is designed to support an engaging introduction to the art of programming. It has support for over a dozen programming languages and environments, including several environments appropriate for students as young as eight years old.

The Finch was designed to allow students to write richly interactive programs. On-board features include:

  • Light, temperature, and obstacle sensors
  • Accelerometers
  • Motors
  • Buzzer
  • Full-color beak LED
  • Pen mount for drawing capability
  • Plugs into USB port – no batteries required”

What’s in the box:
The Finch robot and cord.

How much is it:
The Finch robot costs around $100.  You can find the product here: http://www.finchrobot.com/

Age Range:
This one varies.  It uses the same programming language as Scratch, so if you have kids who are familiar with MIT’s Scratch program, they could probably handle the Finch.  I would say 6th grade and up.

How did we acquire it?
ILEAD USA grant funds.

Ideas for Use
I had two Robot Test Kitchen sessions with 9 middle school kids.  I brought out our two Finch robots for the kids.  In one session, two kids worked together to figure out the Finch.  The other session had a single girl, about 12, playing with the robot.  In both cases, none of the kids had experience with Scratch or any of the other programming languages recommended to run Finch.

In both sessions, the kids had a difficult time making the Finch work.  I tried to work with them and had a frustrating time getting the Finch synced up with the laptop.  Each computer must download the software needed (it’s free software) to make the robot run.  Getting this to work was a struggle for all of us.  It took a lot of unplugging, plugging in, restarting, and patience to get the software to sync up with the Finch.  When the programming language and the robot finally worked together, it was interested for the kids to create simple commands to move the robot.

One of the other issues with the Finch is that it is not a wireless device.  The Finch robot has to be plugged into the computer at all times.  Because of this, it limits the amount of space and movements it can perform.  The kids found this to be frustrating because they wanted to include commands the Finch couldn’t fulfill due to space restrictions.

Time Involved
You do not have to do any prep for this except for downloading the free programming language you want to use to control the Finch. After that, you play for as long or as short as you want.

One Time or Recurring
I think making this a reoccurring program would be good.  It took so long to figure out that by the time the class was over, we were only able to play around for a little while.

Skills Needed
It would be good to have a knowledge of Scratch.  I did not want to prepare myself for this program because I wanted to be at the same level a new person would be at if they walked into the class.  It is not an intuitive program for those who are not code-savvy.

I would recommend that anyone who wants to lead this program play around a little with the Finch before unleashing it for the kids to use.  It requires a very specific skill set and if no one knows how to do it, it makes for a long class.

Good Stuff
Honestly, I do not have a lot of great things to say about the Finch Robot.   I saw two young middle school boys who read through the directions and tried several problem solving techniqures to make the robot work.  They were able to work well together and that was a positive outcome.

Bad Stuff
I did not care for this product.  Perhaps it was me.  I am not super excited by computer programming or these types of robotics.  It would be better to do this program with kids who are familiar with programming language and are willing to take the time to solve problems.

Overall Rating
Not for a beginner.  I’d say one an a half thumbs down.  The other half a thumb might just be for my lack of experience and patience.  It is worth trying if you know Scratch.

We don’t need no stinkin’ instructions (introducing several robots)

Bee-Bot, Cubelets, littleBits, Makey Makey, Programs, Sphero, The Finch

Last week I introduced a group of middle schoolers to some of the robotics and electronics kits that we’ll be testing out in the Robot Test Kitchen. I had four attend (which is a typical size for teen summer programs in my library) and then four tweens came later. I set up the meeting room with a different activity at each table. I introduced each of the gadgets and did a quick demo. When I let the teens loose, one thing was constant regardless of who was using what: no one even looked at the instructions – they much preferred to experiment and learn by doing. Even when I suggested that they might find some ideas or answers in the instructions, they were hesitant to open the booklets! “Where imaginations play, learning happens,” is one of the core principals of this project, so after the demos, I sat back and let the group explore and play… and learn.

Here are the robots that we cooked up, and what I learned from this first RTK program at my library:

 

IMG_9959

Sphero

Sphero was the biggest hit with the most people, but is really a one-person activity unless teens are working together to build macros or do other, more advanced programming. It was so much fun though, and everyone enjoyed it and the variety of apps that were available to play with.

IMG_9971

MaKey MaKey

I’d have to say that MaKey MaKey came in second for the “wow” factor. I didn’t bring in the variety of conductive stuff that I had would have if the full program was about it, but even with the few items that I had, the teens quickly figured it out and had fun playing Super Mario Brothers with Model Magic clay, the chairs they were sitting on, and pencil drawings.

IMG_9978

littleBits

We purchased a Student Set of littleBits, which includes 26 modules. This was enough for two people to comfortably work together, or on their own projects exclusively with the Bits. One teen spent most of the two hour block constructing an elaborate, Rube Goldberg-esque contraption to turn a light on, involving most of the bits. I didn’t provide any additional material for creating the projects outlined in the instructions, but since no one read the instructions anyway, they didn’t seem to miss anything!

IMG_9967

BeeBot & Finch

BeeBot is really designed with younger kids in mind, but mine had a fun enough time driving it around for a few minutes. On the other end of the spectrum, the Finch requires a lot more time and patience to start learning, and as a result, in this setting, it garnered their attention for just about as long as the Bee Bot did. In the future, I do think the Finch will be one of my preferred tools for working with this age group as it offers a lot of possibilities for expansion and building a whole program around this one, affordable device.

IMG_9963

Cubelets

Cubelets are so easy to snap together into different configurations, test, change, and try again, that they were another highly played with device. I don’t see the basic set of six being something that would hold the interest of teens for a very long time though, without additional cubes or specific program goals in mind. The biggest fun came when the teens constructed the “Fraidy Bot” described in the included cards. This is a robot that runs away when it detects that anything is behind it. They liked antagonizing the Fraidy Bot with Sphero, driving Sphero in circles around the Fraidy Bot. Poor robot!

It was really great to see the teens get excited about the robots, and I am definitely encouraged to plan more in depth programs focusing on individual products, and after running my sample group through all of these, I have a much better sense of what will make for successful programs with each tool. More thorough descriptions and reviews of each of these products is forthcoming.