{"id":945526,"date":"2021-11-04T06:34:39","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T10:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=945526"},"modified":"2021-11-04T06:34:39","modified_gmt":"2021-11-04T10:34:39","slug":"the-raspberry-pi-build-hat-and-lego-components-at-our-coderdojo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=945526","title":{"rendered":"The Raspberry Pi Build HAT and LEGO\u00ae components at our CoderDojo"},"content":{"rendered":"

As so many CoderDojos around the world, our office-based CoderDojo hadn\u2019t been able to bring learners together in person since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. So we decided that our first time back in the Raspberry Pi Foundation headquarters should be something special. Having literally just <\/em>launched the new Raspberry Pi Build HAT<\/a> for programming LEGO\u00ae projects with Raspberry Pi computers, we wanted to celebrate our Dojo\u2019s triumphant return to in-person session by offering a \u2018LEGO bricks and Raspberry Pi\u2019 activity!<\/p>\n

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Back in person, with new ways to create with code<\/h2>\n

The Raspberry Pi Build HAT allows learners to build and program projects with Raspberry Pi computers and LEGO\u00ae Technic\u2122 motors and sensors from the LEGO\u00ae Education SPIKE\u2122 Portfolio.<\/p>\n

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What better way could there be to get the more experienced coders among our Dojo\u2019s young people (Ninjas) properly excited to be back? We knew they were fond of building things with LEGO bricks, as so many young people are, so we were sure they would have great fun with this activity!<\/p>\n

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For our beginners, we set up Raspberry Pi workstations and got them coding the projects on the Home island on our brand-new Code Club World<\/a> platform, which they absolutely loved, so their jealousy was mitigated somewhat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Being able to rely on your learners\u2019 existing skills in making the physical build leaves you a lot more time to support them with what they\u2019re actually here to learn: the coding and digital making skills.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We wanted to keep our first Dojo back small, so for the \u2018LEGO bricks and Raspberry Pi\u2019 activity, we set up just four workstations, each with a Raspberry Pi 4, with 4GB RAM and a Raspberry Pi Build HAT on top, and a LEGO Education SPIKE Prime set. We put eight participants into teams of two, and made sure that all of them brought a little experience with text-based coding, because we wanted them to be able to focus on making projects in their own style, rather than first learning the basics of coding in Python. Then we offered our Ninjas the choice of the first two projects in the Introduction to the Raspberry Pi Build HAT and LEGO<\/a> path: make Pong game controllers<\/a>, or make a remote-controlled robot buggy<\/a>. As I had predicted, all the teams chose to make a robot buggy!<\/p>\n

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Teamwork and design<\/h2>\n

The teams of Ninjas were immediately off and making \u2014 in fact, they couldn\u2019t wait to get the lids off the boxes of brightly coloured bricks and beams!<\/p>\n

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Our project instructions focus primarily on supporting learners through coding and testing the mechanics of their creations, leaving the design and build totally up to them. This was evidenced by the variety of buggy designs we saw at the project showcase at the end of the two-hour Dojo session!<\/p>\n

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One of the amazing things Raspberry Pi makes possible when you use it with the Raspberry Pi Build HAT and SPIKE\u2122 Prime set: it\u2019s simple to make the Raspberry Pi at the heart of the creation talk to a mobile device via Bluetooth, and off you go controlling what you\u2019ve created via a phone or tablet.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While beginner-friendly, the projects in the Introduction path<\/a> involve a mix of coding, testing, designing, and building. So it required focus and solid teamwork for the Ninjas to finish their buggies in time for the project showcase. And this is where building with LEGO pieces was really helpful.<\/p>\n

Coding front and centre, thanks to the Raspberry Pi Build HAT<\/h2>\n

Having LEGO bricks and the Build HAT available to create their Raspberry Pi\u2013powered robot buggies made it easy for our Ninjas to focus on writing the code to get their buggies to work. They weren\u2019t relying on crafting skills or duct tape and glue guns to make a chassis in the relatively short time they had, and the coding could be front and centre for them.<\/p>\n

The most exciting part for the Ninjas was that they were building remote-controlled<\/strong> robot buggies. This is one of the amazing things Raspberry Pi makes possible when you use it with the Build HAT and SPIKE\u2122 Prime set: it\u2019s simple to make the Raspberry Pi at the heart of the creation talk to a mobile device via Bluetooth, and off you go controlling what you\u2019ve created via a phone or tablet.<\/p>\n

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The LEGO Technic motors that are part of the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime set are of really high quality, and they\u2019re super easy to program with the Build HAT and its Python library! You can change the motors\u2019 speed by setting a single parameter in your code. You can also easily write code to set or read the motors\u2019 exact angle (their absolute position). That allows you to finely control the motors\u2019 movements, or to use them as sensors.<\/p>\n

Some of our teams, inspired by everything the SPIKE Prime set has to offer, tried out programming the set\u2019s sensors, to switch their robot buggy on or help it avoid obstacles. Because we only had about 90 minutes of digital making, not all teams managed to finish adding the extra features they wanted \u2014 but next time for sure!<\/p>\n

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With a little more time (or another Dojo session), it would have been possible for the Ninjas to make some very<\/strong> <\/em>advanced remote-controlled buggies indeed, complete with headlights, brake lights, sensors, and sound.<\/p>\n

Learning with LEGO\u00ae elements and Raspberry Pi computers<\/h2>\n

If you have access to LEGO Education SPIKE Prime sets for your learners, then the Raspberry Pi Build HAT is a great addition that allows them to build complex robotics projects with very simple code \u2014 but I think that\u2019s not its main benefit.<\/p>\n

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Because the Build HAT allows your learners to work with LEGO elements, you know that many of them already understand one aspect of the creation process: they\u2019ve got experience of using LEGO bricks to solve a problem. In a coding or STEM club session, or in a classroom lesson, you can only give your learners limited amount of time to complete a project, or get their project prototype to a stable point. So being able to rely on your learners\u2019 existing skills in making the physical build leaves you a lot more time to support them with what they\u2019re actually here to learn: the coding and digital making skills.<\/p>\n

You and your young people next!<\/h2>\n

The projects using the Raspberry Pi Build HATs were such a hit, we\u2019ll be getting them and the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime sets out at every Dojo session from now on! We\u2019re excited to see what young people around the world will be creating thanks to our new collaboration with LEGO Education<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Have you used the Raspberry Pi Build HAT with your learners or young people at home yet? Share their stories and creations in the comments here, or on social media using #BuildHAT.<\/p>\n

The post The Raspberry Pi Build HAT and LEGO\u00ae components at our CoderDojo<\/a> appeared first on Raspberry Pi<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nSource: Raspberry Pi – The Raspberry Pi Build HAT and LEGO\u00ae components at our CoderDojo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As so many CoderDojos around the world, our office-based CoderDojo hadn\u2019t been able to bring learners together in person since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. So we decided that our first time back in the Raspberry Pi Foundation headquarters … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":945527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,110],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-945526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rpi","category-unfiltered-rss","tag-rpi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=945526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/945527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=945526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=945526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=945526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}