Hummingbird Robotics Project

December is the designated month for schools to participate in Hour of Code opportunities.  Last year, we had all students in sixth through eighth grade visit the library with their STREAM classes to code with the Finch Robot from BirdBrain Technologies.  This company also offers a coding tool called the Hummingbird Bit.  Over the summer, Mrs. Lambert, Mr. Kwietniewski, and I took part in a training with Erie 1 BOCES instructor Antonio Scordo so we could better use these kits.

The Hummingbird Bit consists of a circuit board, Microbit computer chip, LEDs, and a variety of servos and other attachments.  Students will need to use Microsoft MakeCode to program their Hummingbirds, then build a robot in which to house the Hummingbird's components.  This allows for plenty of flexibility and creativity, all while learning coding, design, and engineering principles.

The Hummingbird Bit.

Mr. Kwietniewski brought his seventh grade STREAM students to the library for December 2019 and part of January 2020 to participate in a challenge involving the Hummingbird Bit.  There would be only four class periods devoted to this project, which made for a tight timeline!

On day one of the project, students selected their own groups of 4-5, then broke into subgroups of coding teams and design teams.  The coding teams learned how to assemble the Hummingbird Bit.  Due to the technical nature of this task, step by step directions were provided via a PowerPoint tutorial.  The design team created a blueprint for their robots, then decided how they would construct their robots.  Each robot had to contain spots to accommodate the five LEDs that the programming group was working with.

Programming groups first built their Hummingbird Bits.

Students then had time to view some programming tutorials.

Design teams sketched their plans for their robots.

Some of the design sketches were very involved.

Each design group also listed the supplies needed for their project.

On days two and three of the project, groups worked extensively on programming their Hummingbird Bits and constructing the robots.  Some teams even decided to devote more time to the project by visiting the library during lunch and study hall!  It was interesting to see the robots come together.  The programming groups also challenged themselves by creating detailed programs using Microsoft MakeCode.  Many groups figured out how to have their LEDs change colors or blink on and off.  Other groups even learned how to incorporate music into their codes.

Using programming to light the LEDs.

Some students brought in their own supplies for their robots.

Students visited during study hall to perfect their designs.

Cardboard was the base for most of the creations.

The fourth day of the project was devoted to presentations.  Student groups worked together for the first half of the class to finalize their programs and embed their Hummingbirds into the robots.  Each group provided a demonstration and brief presentation about their robot and program.  Every group also consulted with Mr. Kwietniewski about how well their team worked together on the project.

Finished product - gingerbread man

Christmas tree scene.

Snowman robot

A hardworking two person team!

To see a gallery of all student groups and their completed robots, click here.

At the conclusion of the fourth day, students filled out a feedback survey outlining their impressions about the project and if they are interested in any future STEM activities.  This feedback will help us as we plan the activity for next year.  Overall, students enjoyed the freedom to work with their friends on a project that was completely their own design.  It seemed that many students would have liked more time devoted to this project.

It was a pleasure having Mr. Kwietniewski and his seventh grade STREAM students in the library!  Hopefully this is just the beginning of many more Hummingbird projects to follow.

Robot Finch Takeover!

November/December 2018 was an especially busy time in the Iroquois Middle School Library!  We were lucky to be awarded with 10 robot finches thanks to the loan program offered through BirdBrain Technologies, the company which manufactures the robot finches.

A robot finch is a hands-on tool which allows students to hone their computer coding skills.  The robot finch can be controlled with many programming languages (we chose to use Scratch because students had some familiarity with it).  The finch comes equipped with two wheel motors, LED lights, a temperature sensor, buzzer, and touch sensors.  These capabilities provided students with seemingly endless programming opportunities.  The hands-on nature of the robot finches also made it fun and easy for students to see their programming skills come to life!

Students were able to program the robot finches by using Scratch.

In order to maximize the amount of time students were able to spend with the robot finches, Mrs. Lambert and Mr. Kwietniewski were gracious enough to bring their STREAM classes into the library for a finch coding project.  Between both teachers, there are 24 sections of STREAM, meaning upwards of 400 students in grades six through eight enjoyed class time with the finches.  We decided that each group would have three class periods to explore the finches.

On the first day of the finch project, students received a brief introduction to the finches, including how to set up the finch on the student laptops, how to properly care for the finches, and which Scratch coding commands would be useful for their programs.  Students were then instructed to work in groups of 2-3 to complete a finch tutorial.  This packet, adapted from the finch education website, introduced students to finch features and some coding strategies.

Students worked on the finch tutorial before tackling challenges.

Some groups even named their finches!

Students enjoyed the hands-on coding experience with the finches.

Once students had completed the tutorial, they were invited to participate in a challenge of their choosing.  It took students varying amounts of time to complete the tutorials; some groups finished in one class period, while others needed multiple periods to finish.

There were five coding challenges the groups could choose from: traffic light, dance party, music maker, remote control, and drawbot.  Each of the challenges were adapted from beginner level Scratch lessons found on the finchrobot.com website.  Before starting each challenge, students were encouraged to do their best, as outstanding challenge outcomes would be video recorded for the Robot Finch Hall of Fame!  There were a number of groups that were able to tackle multiple challenges during their project time in the library.

Mr. K. observes his seventh grade students work on drawing shapes with the finches.

Students work to get the finch through a masking tape maze.

There were some truly remarkable coding projects created by our students!  Some of the best projects created came about by students who were committed to bringing an idea to life, or by those that took risks by exploring a variety of the finch's capabilities.  Many of these dedicated students visited the library during study hall to further perfect their coding projects.  All of the recorded projects can be found on the Iroquois Middle School Library website here.

Students worked on coding projects in order to be inducted into the hall of fame!

In the video above, students used the finch's buzzer feature to play the tune "Africa" by the band Toto.

Students from this video created a maze out of all of the Harry Potter books in the library.  They activated the finch's touch sensors in order for the finch to complete the book maze unassisted.

On the last day of the project, we invited all students to participate in a survey about their experience coding with the robot finches.  The feedback received will be helpful as we move forward with STEM/robotics-related activities and curriculum.  We will be able to incorporate student suggestions into these offerings.  Of the 381 survey respondents, 99 said they were interested in extra coding opportunities (and there were 160 students who said maybe)!

Overall, we were very pleased by the creativity and effort displayed by the STREAM students.  The robot finch project was a great way to celebrate #hourofcode and Computer Science in Education week.  A special thank you to Mr. Kwietniewski and Mrs. Lambert for making this possible!