Edison 2 - Work Activities

A makeshift bridge created with rulers.

Challenge: For students to build a 'bridge' over three A4 sheets of card.  Students were able to use books, rulers and other objects within the classroom to complete the task.  They needed to start the Edison on one side of the 'river' and have it move to the other side of the river successfully.  Students were not able to construct in the 'river'.
Level: This task was completed by Y5/6 class of students 10 and 11 year olds.  The timeframe was thirty minutes from start to finish.  We allowed a five minute 'show' time when groups who were making progress towards the task showed evidence to the others in the class.
Equipment Needed: It was a group task involving students of between three and five students.   They were given the task of using regular classroom equipment to build the bridge these included standard rulers (30cm) dictionary books, random blocks and assorted items.
Notes: The initial start the students had the Edison in 'avoid obstacle' mode, this meant that the control of the Edison was somewhat difficult.  Most of the groups identified the need to switch the Edison to the 'clap controlled driving mode' which allowed them more control of the Edison along the 'bridge'.   One group opted to use the 'line tracking' bar code which they created by making their own tracking line with black vivid.   This was moderately successful because the line was inconsistent.   Several other groups attempted to create a 'channel' of books to have the robot bounce off.  'Clap controlled' driving was by far and away the most successful of the groups to complete the task.  Some of the groups used masking tape to apply it to the rulers and books to stabilize them as the Edison moved over them.

Another variation of the bridge activity 

Warm Up: For this activity, the first with the Edison 2 the students from the middle school and junior school were were shown the Edison for the first time.  Students were either sitting in groups or at desks and were given the robots for the first time.  Students were given a simple task - to drive the robot towards another student, pick it up and switch it off.  All the Edisons were set to 'avoid' obstacle to ensure they could make it.   Students picked the robot up and then drove it to another student (by pressing the triangle play button, who picked it up and pressed the stop button).    To extend the students they were then asked to 'block' the robot with their hands and bounce it back to other members of the group.  Following this they then stood up and repeated the process using their feet.  Then a series of numbers or targets were placed around the classroom.  The students were instructed to ensure that they visited all four locations, in any order.  Finally following this the students were able to convert the Edisons to 'clap controlled' driving and repeat the process.  These activities were all basic and required no longer than five minutes to complete - and some were shortened based on the age of the students.      The total duration for the warm up was thirty minutes.  It was intended to ensure that all the staff had practical experience in using the Edisons to encourage them to utilize them in the classroom.