Finch - a robot as a tutorial on programming
The study of programming is a task available only to students with an analytical mindset and a penchant for exact sciences. However, even with such talented young minds you can discourage the desire to work in the field of programming, if they are trained in an extremely dry theoretical manner. Often, the study of programming is just limited to the usual data entry into a computer in order to obtain one or another result, and there is no interactivity in such a process. To correct this situation, scientists from Carnegie Mellon University (Carnegie Mellon University), or rather, from the Institute of Robotics with him.
The problem with interactivity in programming lessons was solved in an unusual, but quite logical and effective way. Researchers have developed a special robot for programming. This model is called Finch and in appearance it resembles either a bird or a resident of the sea. In fact, it is a fun and extremely convenient to use (that is, in working with it) training robot.
The robot is equipped with temperature and light sensors, accelerometer, LEDs and speakers. In addition, Finch is extremely easy to use, since it does not require the use of batteries: it charges by connecting to a PC using a USB cable and functions like plug & play. All commands and tasks are downloaded to it again from the PC and through the same USB cable.
You can “teach” the Finch robot to anything. Students are given the opportunity to write programs with which the robot will draw (using a pencil inserted in a special socket), replace the alarm clock, dance a disco party, blinking with colored lights, or something else that suits your imagination.
“Students are more interested and motivated when they work with interactive devices and create programs that work in real life,” said Tom Lauwers, instructor at the CREATE laboratory at the Institute of Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University. “We equipped Finch with sensors that replace the eyes and ears of the robot.” That is, Finch is guaranteed maximum interaction with the environment.
Lawers himself even launched a startup BirdBrain Technologies, which manufactures and sells Finch models on the Internet. At the moment, the device can be programmed in several programming languages: Java, Python, C ++, Visual Basic, Scala, although in the future we plan to support other programming languages ​​and computer environments. In addition, teachers can familiarize themselves with and use in teaching students a considerable number of programs and tasks for working with Finch. They are available on the Finchrobot website.
The use of robots in education is not a new practice. Although before that we were aware of how robots replace teachers, as in Korea, and not tutorials. In this light, Finch can be considered a real find, turning the learning process of programmers into an entertaining practice.
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In the US, such a robot costs $ 99, € 94 in Europe, and in my opinion they are not sold in Russia, at least on Russian sites, or you need to search very well.
The problem with interactivity in programming lessons was solved in an unusual, but quite logical and effective way. Researchers have developed a special robot for programming. This model is called Finch and in appearance it resembles either a bird or a resident of the sea. In fact, it is a fun and extremely convenient to use (that is, in working with it) training robot.
The robot is equipped with temperature and light sensors, accelerometer, LEDs and speakers. In addition, Finch is extremely easy to use, since it does not require the use of batteries: it charges by connecting to a PC using a USB cable and functions like plug & play. All commands and tasks are downloaded to it again from the PC and through the same USB cable.
You can “teach” the Finch robot to anything. Students are given the opportunity to write programs with which the robot will draw (using a pencil inserted in a special socket), replace the alarm clock, dance a disco party, blinking with colored lights, or something else that suits your imagination.
“Students are more interested and motivated when they work with interactive devices and create programs that work in real life,” said Tom Lauwers, instructor at the CREATE laboratory at the Institute of Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University. “We equipped Finch with sensors that replace the eyes and ears of the robot.” That is, Finch is guaranteed maximum interaction with the environment.
Lawers himself even launched a startup BirdBrain Technologies, which manufactures and sells Finch models on the Internet. At the moment, the device can be programmed in several programming languages: Java, Python, C ++, Visual Basic, Scala, although in the future we plan to support other programming languages ​​and computer environments. In addition, teachers can familiarize themselves with and use in teaching students a considerable number of programs and tasks for working with Finch. They are available on the Finchrobot website.
The use of robots in education is not a new practice. Although before that we were aware of how robots replace teachers, as in Korea, and not tutorials. In this light, Finch can be considered a real find, turning the learning process of programmers into an entertaining practice.
')
In the US, such a robot costs $ 99, € 94 in Europe, and in my opinion they are not sold in Russia, at least on Russian sites, or you need to search very well.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/128509/
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