fun

Review: Cubelets

Cubelets, Programs, Reviews

Robot Basics:

  • What is it?

Cubelets are a modular robotics teaching tool and toy from the aptly named Modular Robotics. Color coded, cube shaped pieces attach to one another with magnets, enabling the user to quickly and easily build a variety of robots.

Cubelets KT06

  • What’s in the Box?

The KT06 kit contains 2 rechargeable batteries, several “recipe” cards, a battery charging setup, and the following 6 cubes:

2 action cubes: drive and light

2 sensing cubes: brightness and distance

2 thinking cubes: power and passive

  • How Much?

This kit retails for $159.95

  • Age Range?

Cubelets are recommended for ages 4 and up. I had success engaging kids as young as four and as old as 8th grade, though the length of engagement varies.

  • How Did We Acquire it?

We purchased it at full price with funds from our ILEAD USA grant. (Per their website, Modular Robotics does not offer discounts to educators or other groups.)

Ideas for Use

This set of Cubelets is a great tool for teaching the basic concepts of robotics to individuals or small groups. Specifically, this tool helps explain that a robot is a device that senses something and then responds to it in a pre-programmed way. It also demonstrates the specificity required in robotics: placement and orientation of the cubes matters, and the creation will act differently based on the arrangement of the pieces.

Time Involved

Charge up the batteries for a few hours and you’re good to go. There’s no additional prep time needed.

One-time or Recurring Program

While younger kids could have fun with Cubelets a number of times, the kit we purchased is limited in scope, so I wouldn’t count on engaging the same group with the same six cubes more that a few times. There’s little opportunity to build on the concepts presented without investing in more cubes.

That said, the cubes are extremely durable and nicely sized for small hands. In this way, they could be a standard introductory activity for any program that aims to build on these concepts. Also, they are just plain fun! Because they go together so quickly with such obvious visual results, they engage users young and old from the get-go. I took them to entice folks to visit the library’s table at the middle school registration night, and I had everyone from preschool aged siblings to “been there, done that” incoming 8th graders, to curious parents stopping by to make a Fraidy-Bot that runs away from you, or the inverse: a robot that follows your hand. There is a really appealing immediate gratification factor with Cubelets.

Extension Activities

This is a great tool to use as part of the explanatory process of a more complex robotics unit. There is a lot of potential for extension with the Cubelets themselves, but there are costs associated with them.

For an additional $14.95 we could purchase a brick adaptor, which would allow the Cubelets to be used with LEGO. For an additional $48.95 we could purchase a Bluetooth 2.0 cube, which would allow the Cubelets to interface with iOs or Android devices. For a lot more money, you could buy individual cubes that do all kinds of things, or an educator pack of multiple cubes to use in a larger group.

Skills You Need

None, really.

Other Tools You Need

A flathead screwdriver. I hear that newer versions of Cubelets include a redesigned battery compartment lid. In the version that I used, the screw holding the lid on was maddeningly shaped, small and shallow. I ended up needing to use a paint scraper because none of the screwdrivers in our amply stocked home toolchest were working and I feared stripping the screw.

Good Stuff

This is excellent for beginners or librarians who are leery of delving into robotics because it seems intimidating. There is nothing intimidating about Cubelets (now that they’ve fixed a poorly designed battery compartment) because nothing is permanent, nothing is fragile, everything you do is going to result in some action you can talk about, and the immediate gratification of the tool is really fun.

Frustrations

See above for my main frustration: the stupid battery compartment (which, as I said, has been remedied in newer releases).

Ultimately though, my frustration comes in the price. It’s a fairly pricy device with fairly limited implementation. Six cubes , which includes just one power cube, means that it’s really only a usable device for demonstration purposes or very small groups — I would say no more than two young kids or three older ones who can sit on their hands and be a little more patient while waiting their turn.  Additional cubes can be purchased, but it’s a pretty hefty investment for a teaching device in a library setting.

Ending Thoughts/Observations

I’m glad I had a chance to use the Cubelets. I think the kids and teens who got to play with them really enjoyed them too. The price, as I said, is high for a tool that you might hope to use on an ongoing basis. However, it’s a pretty reasonable investment if you work in a setting while you might want to repeatedly introduce basic robotics concepts to a wide age range. My teen program doesn’t really work this way — I have a smallish club type group. For these kids, Cubelets was really a one shot program. If you have the funds, it’s a wonderfully simple way to explore. If you have a medium to large group and limited funds, it’s not my top pick.

Overall Rating:

Results may vary

Review: Sphero

Programs, Reviews, Sphero

Robot Basics: Sphero 2.0

What is it? (from the website)

Control Sphero from your smartphone or tablet, change colors, complete challenges, earn tricks, and more. Sphero is waterproof, pet-proof, and ready to roll.

Download free SPRK lessons and learn the basics of programming. Then unleash Sphero’s inner robot and program like a pro. The more you play, the smarter you get.
  • What’s in the Box?

One Sphero 2.0 ball with base, 2 inclines, and ball holder.

  • How Much?

129.99 (the app is free)

  • Age Range?

Grades 1 and up.  I did the program with Middle School kids.

  • How Did We Acquire it?

We purchased it using the ILEAD USA grant money.

Ideas for Use

Bring it out in the Library to whirl around. It will certainly get the kids’ attention.  All ages were interested in playing with it while I was on the reference desk.  The older kids liked to build obstacle courses for the Sphero and try to achieve some of the tricks by leveling up.

Time Involved

You need to download the app for your iPad before you begin.  Play around with it a little bit before giving it to kids.  It can be touchy, so you want to get a handle on the speed.

One-time or Recurring Program

We did a one-time program, however I could see it being used for another program focused only on Sphero.  The kids play together nicely with it, giving each other turns, creating obstacle courses and instructing each other on how to use the toy.

Extension Activities

According to the website and the Sphero packaging, you can use this product with video games and lots of other apps.  We did not go that far into programming with Sphero.

Skills You Need

You should know how to work an iPad and how to download apps. Other than that, it’s pretty easy to use.

Other Tools You Need

You’ll need the Sphero apps. There are over 30 apps available for the Sphero.

Good Stuff

This is easy enough for the kids to figure out.  They were thrilled at all the different capabilities of the Sphero.  They loved running the Sphero into their friends.

Frustrations

We didn’t have enough for anyone, and the kids were disappointed about that.

Ending Thoughts/Observations

I’d like to work with Sphero 2.0 more to see what other games and activities we could do with it.  The basics were entertaining and I can only imagine how much more fun there is to have with the other Sphero apps and games.

Overall Rating:

This is a good investment.  I would buy more.

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:

 

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.