If You Give B Freedom in the Classroom

How to make a robot turtle from recycled materials and a Hummingbird kit.

If You Give B Freedom in the Classroom, She Will Want to Build a Recycle Bot.

Our team decided to build a recycle bot inspired by a turtle.

If You Give B Permission to Build a Recycle Bot, She Will Want to Think of Materials She Can Use.

B thought about using many different things like cardboard tubes, boxes and decorative material.

When B Has an Idea of What She Wants Her Bot to Look Like, She Will Want to Make Sketches.

we sketched out designs that we thought would be the best to make our turtle walk and move the way we wanted it to.

Once B Has Her Sketches, She Will Ask for Several Cardboard Boxes.

B went to find the cardboard boxes for the turtle and found the right size.

If You Give B Her Cardboard Boxes, She Will Need a Hummingbird to Program.

Once B got the boxes she went and got the hummingbird kit.

Now That B Has All Her Materials, She Will Want a Team to Help Her Construct Her Recycle Bot.

B then gets a group of people to work with and help her create her turtle.

With Their Responsibilities in Mind They May Start to Notice Obstacles They Have to Overcome.

We ran into the issue of using two motors for 4 legs as well as getting traction with the legs

When the Team Discovers Their Obstacles, They Must Be Creative and Problem Solve Through Them.

With the Hummingbird there are only two ports for motors. So we ran into the issue of how to run four legs with only two motors. To solve this issue we used lego pieces to make gears to run the two legs on one side. Once we found the solution for the legs we struggled to find a way to secure the legs to the box. We ended up cutting holes in the box and adding a lego piece to the inside of the box to keep the legs in place. Another issue we ran into was we wanted the head of a turtle to move in and out of a box. We used a servomotor and a track to allow the head to move in and out of the box. To fix the issue of traction with is turtle for it to walk.

When They Solve All Their Issues, B Will Want to Start Decorating Their Recycle Bot.

We decided to create a shell for our turtle. We were able to temporarily acquire a mixing bowl, and used painter's tape to create a pattern for us to spraypaint the bowl. We also painted the legs and tail to match the shell.

If You Give B Freedom to Decorate, She Will Go Crazy With Pipe Cleaners.

The head was created by wrapping a bunch of green pipe cleaners into a rounded shape, leaving a spot for the LED "eyes" to protrude through. The mouth is simply a paper cup cut out.

When B Is Finished Decorating She Will Want to Double Check to See If Her Recycle Bot Works As Intended.

Once we got all of the servos, lights, gears, shell, and all other materials in the box, it was time for a test run. We realized that the bot still had to be hooked up to a laptop in order to start the hummingbird sequence, however, it did not have to stay connected in order to continue running. This was a bit of a setback, but we were otherwise very happy with how our turtle was able to walk and turn, supporting the full weight of the materials.

She Will Be So Excited About Her Recycle Bot Working She May Ask for More Freedom in the Classroom

At the beginning of this project we did not know how well the outcome would be. Overall we felt that this was a great learning experience and we really got to know and understand the hummingbird and how the different parts work.