Robot beasts, lesson plans, and new details: an overview of the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime
LEGO Education SPIKE Prime is designed to educate children in grades 5-7 in schools and circles of robotics. The set allows you to build algorithms using flowcharts and enjoy how the pictures on the screen turn into movements and actions. For today’s students, visibility and the WOW effect are important, and SPIKE Prime is a decoy that can captivate children with programming and the exact sciences.
Recruitment Overview
The kit comes in a minimalistic yellow and white plastic box. Under the lid is a cardboard with instructions for getting started and the layout of parts in trays. The set is designed so that it was easy to start work with and the teacher needed a minimum of additional training.
The parts themselves are packaged in bags with numbers that correspond to the numbers of cells in the trays.
The Basic Set includes over 500 LEGO elements, including new ones.
- Several new frames that reduce prototype assembly time and allow you to create large models.
- New 2×4 cube with hole for Technic axles. It allows you to combine Technic and LEGOSystem elements in one project.
- Updated base plate from the Technic range.
- New narrow wheels that provide precision control and increase the maneuverability of models.
- New swivel wheel in the form of a support roller.
- New wire clips, available in several colors, allow you to neatly secure the cables.
In addition to the parts themselves, inside there are three motors – a large and two medium, as well as three sensors: distance, color and power.
The motors are connected directly to the hub and have rotation sensors with an accuracy of 1 degree. This feature is designed to synchronize the operation of motors so that they can move simultaneously at a constant speed. In addition, the sensor can also be used to measure the speed and distance of movement of the model.
The color sensor distinguishes up to 8 colors and can be used as a light sensor. It also has an infrared sensor that can read, for example, light reflection.
The touch sensor recognizes the following situations: the button is pressed, depressed, a strong press. In this case, the sensor determines the pressure in Newtons or in percent.
The infrared sensor is used to determine the distance from the robot to a certain point or to prevent collisions. Able to measure distance in percent, centimeters and inches.
You can expand the capabilities of the basic set using the resource set, which consists of 603 parts. It includes: an additional large set and a light sensor, two large wheels, large bevel gears, which allow you to build large swing platforms.
Hub
A gyroscope is built into the hub, which can determine its position in space: orientation, tilt, roll, determining the face from above, the state of the hub’s fall, etc. The built-in memory allows you to load and store up to 20 programs. The program number is displayed on a 5×5 pixel screen, which also displays user images and the status of the hub.
Also located on the hub:
- MicroUSB connector for charging the battery or connecting to a PC.
- Bluetooth sync button, with which you can establish a wireless connection with a PC for programming the hub.
- 6 ports (A-F) for executing commands or receiving information from sensors.
- Three buttons to control the hub.
- Built-in speaker
Software
LEGO Education SPIKE is available for Windows, Mac OS, Android, iOS and Chromebook, and can be downloaded. on the LEGO Education website. The software environment is based on the children’s programming language Scratch. It consists of a set of commands, each of which is a graphic block of a certain shape and color with parameters that can be changed manually, for example, speed and range of movement, angle of rotation, etc.
In this case, the sets of commands associated with various components of the solution (motors, sensors, variables, operators, etc.) are highlighted in different colors, which allows you to quickly and intuitively understand how to program what you need.
Even in the application itself, a lot of lesson plans are collected, as well as about 30 different instructions for building models.
First steps
After starting the application and choosing the language, three start steps are immediately offered:
1) Program the hub so that a smiley is displayed on the screen;
2) Get acquainted with the operation of motors and sensors;
3) Assemble the flea model and program it for movement.
Acquaintance with SPIKE Prime begins with a description of the connection options (via microUSB or via Bluetooth) and work with the pixel screen.
First you need to set the sequence of commands that should be executed after the program starts, and also select the specific pixels that will light up on the hub screen.
The second step involves the assembly and programming of the reaction of the motors to various signals from the sensors. For example, you can program the motor so that it starts to rotate when you bring your hand or any object to the distance sensor.
To do this, we create a sequence of commands: if the object is closer than n centimeters to the sensor, then the motor starts to work.
The third and most interesting step: collect a flea robot and program it to jump on a command. To do this, you first need to assemble from the parts and two motors of the robot itself.
Then we proceed to programming. To do this, we set the following algorithm: when you turn on the flea program, it must jump forward twice, so two motors must make two full rotations at the same time. We set the rotation speed to 50% so that the robot does not jump too much.
At the exit, we got a small robot that jumps ahead when the program starts. Beauty!
The flea robot briskly rushed forward, found the first victim, but something went wrong.
After this, the training is completed, you can proceed to more complex projects: in the application only block diagrams for various parts of the set (motors, hub, sensors, etc.) are more than 60. In addition, each block diagram can be slightly changed using the parameters . Also inside the software there is the possibility of creating variables and your own flowcharts.
For teachers
Included with the set teaching materials for teachers. They include curricula, tasks with ready-made solutions and tasks where there is no answer and you need to be creative in solving. This allows you to quickly start working with recruitment and build training programs.
In total, 4 courses are ready on the site. The “Squad of Inventors” is a course for technology lessons that reinforces students’ understanding of the process of conducting project activities. Two courses relate to computer science. “Starting a business” provides basic programming skills and algorithms, and “Useful Devices” introduces the principles of the Internet of things. The fourth course – “Ready for the competition” – is designed to prepare for competitions and requires a basic and resource set.
Each course has from 5 to 8 lessons, which includes a ready-made methodological solution that can be implemented in the educational process to consolidate STEAM competencies.
Compare with other sets
LEGO Education SPIKE Prime is part of the LEGO Education robotic line, which includes kits for children of different ages:
- Express “Young Programmer” for preschool education.
- WeDo 2.0 for elementary school.
- LEGO Education SPIKE Prime for high school.
- LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 for high school and first year students.
SPIKE Prime features overlap with LEGO WeDo 2.0, which has had Scratch support since this year. But unlike WeD0 2.0, which allows you to simulate physical experiments, SPIKE Prime is more suitable for creating robots. It is designed to begin studying robotics in grades 5–7.
With this solution, students in a playful way will be able to master the principles of algorithmization, develop skills for solving problems, get acquainted with the basics of robotics. After SPIKE Prime, you can switch to LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3, which has the ability to work with MycroPython and is suitable for learning more complex concepts of robotics and programming.
P.S. When writing this article, no robot and no husky was hurt.
