{"id":1551,"date":"2014-07-09T12:37:12","date_gmt":"2014-07-09T12:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=1551"},"modified":"2014-07-09T12:43:12","modified_gmt":"2014-07-09T12:43:12","slug":"pi-bot-a-great-kit-for-learning-arduino-robotics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/pi-bot-a-great-kit-for-learning-arduino-robotics\/","title":{"rendered":"Pi-Bot: A Great Kit for Learning Arduino Robotics!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Facebook Like Button v1.9.6 BEGIN [http:\/\/blog.bottomlessinc.com] -->\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Finspiredtoeducate.net%2Finspiredtoeducate%2Fpi-bot-a-great-kit-for-learning-arduino-robotics%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=false&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height: 30px; align: left; margin: 2px 0px 2px 0px\"><\/iframe>\n<!-- Facebook Like Button END -->\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/pibot.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1552\" src=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/pibot.jpg\" alt=\"PI Bot\" width=\"500\" height=\"392\" srcset=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/pibot.jpg 500w, http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/pibot-300x235.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I just finished putting together my first Arduino robot: PiBot . \u00a0The PiBot is a fun kit for learning about Arduino robotics. \u00a0 Using the kit, student inventors and tinkerers learn the mechanical aspects of building a basic robot and learn how to program it using C. \u00a0 From a brief review, my kids and I have had a lot fun putting it together.<\/p>\n<p>At this point in learning electronics, I have done many simple\u00a0experiments with Arduino using <a href=\"http:\/\/arduino.cc\/en\/Tutorial\/HomePage\" target=\"_blank\">tutorials from Arduino.cc<\/a> . \u00a0 While building circuits with blinking lights was cool, I wanted to start playing with sensors and motors. \u00a0 The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/1158090852\/pi-bot-the-next-great-tool-in-robotics-learning-pl\" target=\"_blank\">PiBot Kickstarter project<\/a> was exactly what I was looking for! \u00a0Since everything is Arduino Uno compatible, all of my lessons\u00a0from the Arduino world immediately applied to my new robot. \u00a0 Having lots of pictures and brief instructions, I found the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stemcenterusa.com\/pi-bot\/downloads-\/\" target=\"_blank\">print documentation for the PiBot<\/a> pretty clear. \u00a0 The team at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stemcenterusa.com\/pi-bot\/downloads-\/\" target=\"_blank\">STEM Center USA<\/a> is improving their teaching materials related to PiBot with videos. \u00a0 Their PiBot kit comes with line tracking sensors, distance tracking sensors, and extra LED&#8217;s .<\/p>\n<p>My kids and I enjoyed building the gear box together. \u00a0This activity helped my kids feel a connection to making the robot. \u00a0 I found that you need to be careful about getting the &#8220;spacers&#8221; positioned correctly. \u00a0 In our excitement, we were probably rushing through the construction of the gear box. \u00a0 I did have to re-build the gearbox several times. \u00a0 The process of making corrections to the gear box involves taking apart a good part of the robot. \u00a0 This process of re-work was fruitful though. \u00a0It gave me an opportunity to learn from my mistakes and gain a deeper understanding of the construction of the bot.<\/p>\n<p>I found the experience of putting together the bot engaging and fun. \u00a0I&#8217;m still trying to solve an issue of the robot drifting to the right a bit. \u00a0 I am, however, very pleased with the quality of the kit. \u00a0 If you&#8217;re looking for a fun and well-documented robotics kit for your students or family, I believe the PiBot is a very solid option. \u00a0 \u00a0I think the team at STEM Center USA should be very proud of their STEM education outreach and product. \u00a0 \u00a0They have been VERY professional in their communication and construction of this robotics kit.<\/p>\n<p>It should be noted that SparkFun has a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sparkfun.com\/products\/12697\" target=\"_blank\">similar robotics kit at a $75.00 price point<\/a>. \u00a0 While this kit is also Arduino compatible, it does not include the sonic distance sensor. \u00a0 In a future post, I might try to review this kit.<\/p>\n<p>So&#8230; what&#8217;s next? I would love to mount an Android cell phone on\u00a0the robot. \u00a0 It would\u00a0be cool to have a Google Hangout hosted on the robot. \u00a0 I would like to get &#8220;upgrade boards&#8221; so that I can control the robot by remote control. \u00a0(i.e. bluetooth, http, wifi) . \u00a0 It would be fun to remotely drive the robot from a completely different room or city.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you have any favorite Arduino projects or kits? \u00a0Share a link below!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #555555;\"><a style=\"font-style: inherit; color: #0085cf;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/1529734900588516\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong style=\"font-style: inherit;\">Join the Spark Macon Maker Space Community on Facebook<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #555555;\"><strong style=\"font-style: inherit;\">Posts From InspiredToEducate.NET<\/strong><\/p>\n<div style=\"color: #555555;\">\n<div style=\"font-style: inherit;\">\n<ul style=\"font-style: inherit;\">\n<li style=\"font-style: inherit;\"><a style=\"font-style: inherit; 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overflow:hidden; width:450px; height: 30px; align: left; margin: 2px 0px 2px 0px\"><\/iframe>\n<!-- Facebook Like Button END -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; I just finished putting together my first Arduino robot: PiBot . \u00a0The PiBot is a fun kit for learning about Arduino robotics. \u00a0 Using the kit, student inventors and tinkerers learn the mechanical aspects of building a basic robot and learn how to program it using C. \u00a0 From [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,23,11,3,8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1551"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1556,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions\/1556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}