MORPHBOTS® Prepares Students for the Future with Robotics. Ages 11 -17. Morphbots teaches your child or your students the fundamentals of robotics by starting at the very beginning. It requires NO previous knowledge and includes all the resources to learn robotics: full interactive online e-course, a customized robotic kit with all the circuits and a robot car, diagnostic test with pre and post-test for each lesson, and a certificate of completion.
Begin your robotics journey today! Morphbots has a vision of making robotic literacy a standard in US school education.
There has never been a better time for children to learn robotics! Engaging students as early as the 5th grade to robotics, building circuits, and programming is the best way to ensure they master the concepts of robotics. Millions of STEM jobs are unfilled in the US today. Robotics is a gateway to STEM education and STEM careers. STEM jobs are growing 3 times faster than non-STEM jobs and already pay 2 ½ times higher.
Benefits of the Morphbots Curriculum:
* Requires no robotics knowledge to begin (from student OR teacher!)
* Includes full interactive tutorials, lesson plans, assessment materials, and distributables
* Aligns with national STEM curriculum standards
* Includes everything needed to complete the course: microcontrollers, wiring, electronic components, and more
* Comes with a thorough diagnostic test, pre and post-test in each lesson as well as teacher’s guide for each project
Content
Lessons
Breadboard and Electrical Components
If the Arduino is the brain of our electronic constructions, the breadboard acts as the body. The breadboard is an electronics component designed to allow inventors to safely prototype their inventions. Building electronic circuits involves a messy procedure known as soldering. Soldering is the act of melting metal on top of wires to fuse them together. With a breadboard, we can try out various configurations safely and without having to solder anything together. Let’s learn a little bit more about breadboards and some of the components we can use with them!
Uno R3 Microcontroller
The UNO R3 microcontroller is the brains of the hardware in all the circuits you build. It is an amazing piece of technology that helps beginners master the basic of robotics. With the several analog and digital pins on the device, you can prototype pretty much anything you can imagine. We are going to use this microcontroller to create several circuits and even a robot car!
Arduino IDE
An integrated development environment is a fancy way for saying ‘where the code goes’. The Arduino IDE is an easy-to-use coding environment based on the principles of javascript and object-oriented programming. Not sure what that means? That’s okay! We are going to take you step by step – line of code by line of code – and show you exactly how it all works! Let’s start by getting a sense of what it looks like to write code for the Arduino.
Blink LED
The Morphbots basic robotics course begins with teaching students how to safely control electricity within a circuit. The Blink LED project is the perfect way to introduce learners to the basics of robotics prototyping. Utilizing con[1]cepts such as polarity, voltage, and resistance, students are given a solid foundation to build upon in future mod[1]ules. Every Morphbots project embeds two learning paths: constructing the circuit and then coding the specific behavior within that circuit in the integrated development environment. For this project, students will learn to build a basic LED circuit and then write the code to make the LED circuit blink in a sequence.
Photoresistor
The Morphbots basic robotics course continues with learning how a photoresistor is used in a circuit. The Photore[1]sistor project is designed to introduce important concepts such as analog vs digital signals, conditional statements in coding and how the Arduino controller can use information it receives from one component to control another. Like every other Morphbots project, students are taken step-by-step, learning how to both build the circuit and write its code. For this project, students will build a basic LED circuit with a photoresistor and use the integrated development environment to control the lights with an analog signal.
Potentiometer
The Morphbots basic robotics course now moves on to teaching students how a potentiometer can be used within a circuit. The potentiometer project is the perfect way to introduce learners to both voltage variability as well as how to code using conditional statements. This is also the first project that will give students a circuit that is directly under their control. Students will learn how a potentiometer functions from the inside out, giving them insight into how resistance can be used for more than just protecting a circuit. For this project, students will learn to build a basic LED circuit with a potentiometer that controls the output.
Ultrasonic Sensor
The Morphbots basic robotics course continues with learning how an ultrasonic sensor can be used to measure distance using sound. This project covers a variety of STEM concepts from echolocation to calculations on the speed of sound. Students also gain valuable coding tools they will use for future projects, like the FOR loop and setting up the Arduino serial monitor. For this project, students will build a circuit that measures the distance to an object by using a sound pulse emitted from an Ultrasonic sensor.
DC Motor
The Morphbots basic robotics course focuses on building foundational knowledge and developing skills with real-life applications. The DC motor project gives students valuable insight into how electricity drives a motor and how it can be used for more than simply spinning a wheel. The project also builds on the previous modules by giving students control over the motor with a potentiometer as well as autonomously through code. Students will learn how a potentiometer can be used to control RPM and even help protect a motor from burning out. For this project, students will learn to build a basic circuit that allows them to control the speed of a DC motor by using a potentiometer.
Stepper Motor
The Morphbots basic robotics course continues with learning about different types of motors that can be used to control components in robotics. This project introduces students to a stepper motor. This motor, unlike the DC motor, does more than just spin in a circle. It can make partial revolutions at various speeds in order to control wheels, appendages, latches, and just about anything else. For this project, students will build a circuit that well demonstrate the many different functions of a stepper motor.
Joystick
The Morphbots basic robotics course now moves on to user input and control. The joystick project gives students valuable insight into how a the video game systems they use make use of analog controllers. The project also scaffolds on their previous knowledge, giving students the tools they need to make new and innovative creations. Students will learn how a joystick can be used to control a wide variety of components. For this project, students will learn to build a basic circuit that allows them to see how a joystick sends an analog signal that is read, mapped, and interpreted by the Arduino IDE.
Project
Robot Car
The Morphbots basic robotics course would not be complete without having you build your own robot. We are going to end this course with building your own robot car! In this module, you can build a basic car that does a loop. If you feel confident, you can even design your robot car to avoid colliding in walls with the ultrasonic sensor. The robot car is where you get to put all your skills to use and customize your car as creatively as you desire!
