Forbes
A Durable, Dynamic Robot Is Taking Over Classrooms For Under $40 A Pop
By: Janet Burns
In the accelerating field of children's robotics, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd, but an affordable, fully programmable device from Down Under is doing just that.
At around the size of two (wide) decks of cards, Edison is small enough to fit in a first-grader's hand, but sophisticated enough to enthrall her teenaged siblings, too. The LEGO-ready bot works with a range of free lesson plans and programming tools for elementary, middle, and high school students; it's also creating a community of students and educators around the world who can't wait to see what it'll do next.
Built by the Australian startup Microbric, Edison is designed to start interacting with kids right out of the box (which helpfully unfolds into pictorial instructions and an initial bar-code for Edison to drive over). Equipped with infrared, an audio-sensitive buzzer and a line tracking sensor underneath, the robot can quickly show off its skills by navigating its surroundings, responding to hand claps, playing music, and even 'sumo wrestling' with other Edisons.
After connecting Edison to a computer or tablet via the universal headphone jack, students can immediately start creating programs for the bot using one of its three creative commons, age-tailored programming apps: EdBlocks, EdWare, and EdPy.
Designed to help students get their feet wet in programming, the drag-and-drop EdBlocks app offers a wide array of commands for creating unlimited combinations, and accommodates younger and language-learning students by sticking almost entirely to visual symbols and tools and using a horizontal format. EdWare, which boasts a similar format, allows kids to get even deeper in the programming process as they become more experienced, and to smoothly gear up for using the real programming language and flexibility introduced by EdPy.
Kat Kennewell, Product and Marketing Manager for Microbric, explained over Skype that the company's new easy-to-use EdBlocks app utilizes open-source framework from Google's Blockly, as well as work by other tech leaders, including Scratch 3.0 from MIT. "We used that open-source code as the base for EdBlocks, so the app is built on the backs of giants like Google and MIT. Ours is the first commercial application of Scratch 3.0 that we know of," she said.
Thanks to the company's straightforward and totally free educational materials, including print-able books, lesson plans, and worksheets in multiple languages, teachers can also dive into robotics coursework without any previous experience, or even outside preparation. Kennewell said that making robotics education accessible and affordable to all has been Microbric's dedicated goal since founder Brenton O’Brien first began developing a better classroom robot.
As a result, Edison is one of the most technologically advanced educational robots on the market, especially for the price. Because it's compatible with LEGO-style blocks, it also allows students to create their own shape and mechanisms for Edison with classrooms' extant resources, whether by fitting arms to the power axles under its wheels or stacking it high with other Edisons to open doors on command. Microbric also offers free firmware updates for owners of Edison's earlier version, now that Version 2.0 robot is available, which includes some minor tweaks and improvements.
"For less than $50 [and as little as $33], that’s a lot," Kennewell said. "One LEGO Mindstorm robot kit is roughly $300, and there are some things the LEGO robot kit can do that Edison can't, but you can fill a classroom with these."
According to the team's pilot efforts and comments they've received from teachers far and wide, a troop of Edisons can also keep that classroom totally engaged in the robotic possibilities at hand. Kennewell joked, "We expected there would always be one kid who would get bored and start flying Edison around like a rocket ship, but found that students really stay interested in understanding and using it, even if they go off-lesson."
To make Edison truly classroom-ready, of course, the robot had to be built to last. Kennewell said Edison has a great track record so far of surviving at least a few school years--possibly thanks in part to its transparent top, which lets students see the motherboard and electronic components without needing to pry it open. And if the robot can survive being run over by a car, as Microbric has demonstrated, it can probably withstand the affections of elementary school-ers (at least for a while).
Going forward, the Australian team plans to release additional programming apps for students, including a vertically oriented one for the fifth-and-six-grade crowd. As Edison's community of school and at-home users continues to grow, Microbric also hopes to keep rolling out new educational materials created by the company and, as is increasingly the case, created and translated by global teachers.
"Our earliest app, EdWare, has been translated into 15 languages, and sent back to us to share with others," Kennewell commented. "Online, people have also been sharing tons of videos of projects and builds that they've come up with. It's wonderful to see a community of educators, which is so powerful, unite to make sure students get the chance to learn and explore."
Unlike your run-of-the-mill STEM project, Edison also gives educators the chance to incorporate the full STREAM curriculum in one activity, Kennewell noted. Between its robotic, creative, and experimental aspects, working with the robot can touch on science, technology, research, engineering, the arts, and math all at the same time, she said--something scientists suggest is great for learning, and for developing young brains.
According to the kids and teens who've been seeing how far little Edison can go, it also makes for some serious fun.
