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Lesson 4 of 10 · 8 min

Which robot for which age

Button-operated robot, sensor robot, programmable board, construction kit: each family serves an age and a goal. And a fleet of robots has to be managed.

Robotics can start early. In 2014, Bers and colleagues showed that kindergarten children learn basic concepts of robotics and programming, with a curriculum suited to their age. The tool matters as much as the age: buttons and icons for those who cannot read yet, then blocks, then text.

  • Floor robots with buttons, such as Bee-Bot and Blue-Bot. You enter a sequence of moves with the arrows on the robot’s back. Each step is 15 cm and each turn a quarter turn, which suits the grid mat. Blue-Bot adds a Bluetooth connection and an app. For the first years of school.
  • Thymio, designed by researchers at EPFL with ECAL and produced by the Mobsya association. It is open source. It reacts to its sensors: seven distance sensors at the front and back, two underneath to follow a line or avoid the edge of the table, and an accelerometer. It is programmed with icons, with blocks using Blockly or Scratch, then in text with Aseba. From primary to secondary.
  • Robots based on the micro:bit, a small programmable board backed by a non-profit foundation. It is programmed with blocks or in JavaScript in MakeCode, or in Python. Several manufacturers sell wheeled chassis that hold it. For the end of primary and for secondary.
  • Construction kits, such as LEGO Education SPIKE. The students assemble the robot and then program it. LEGO stopped selling SPIKE kits on 30 June 2026 and is maintaining their app until 30 June 2031. Its new range is called Computer Science & AI.
  • One robot per pair, plus one or two spares for breakdowns.
  • Charging: disposable or rechargeable batteries, chargers, an accessible socket and robots charged the day before.
  • Storage: numbered kits, with a list of what they contain. A student checks the kit at the end of the session.
  • Software: which devices it runs on, whether it requires a student account, until when it will be maintained.
  • Wear parts: batteries, wheels, cables, mats.
  • Lending between classes or schools reduces the cost. It needs someone in charge and a schedule.
  • Training colleagues. A fleet without trained teachers stays in the cupboard.

References

  1. Bers, Flannery, Kazakoff, Sullivan (2014). Computational thinking and tinkering: Exploration of an early childhood robotics curriculum. Computers & Education 72, p. 145–157. doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2013.10.020
  2. Mondada, Bonani, Riedo et al. (2017). Bringing Robotics to Formal Education: The Thymio Open-Source Hardware Robot. IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine 24(1), p. 77–85. doi.org/10.1109/MRA.2016.2636372