We have made 3D printed sample robots powered by Arduino on Atmel MCU.
We have Six proximity IR sensors, 2 RGB LED's, Speaker, LiPO battery with USB charging & 2 DC geared motors.
Our idea & focus was to gently introduce coding & robotics to kids and young people so that they can visualize outcome of code they created in the physical world.
Phiro is a LEGOⓇ compatible coding & programmable robot designed for kids and young people.
LEGOⓇ compatibility means kids can be creative and personalize their own creations.
We have created two robots
Phiro Unplugged for kids ages 4 to 8.
Kids can learn to code & program the robot without a device or computer!
Parent survey indicated that they wanted for small kids a product which avoided visual screen time.
Phiro Unplugged is a great robotic tool to learn Sequential Programming and fundamentals of Binary Coding via Swish cards.
Pressing keys on the robot, capturing the sequence by a download button and making the bot to move is step one.
Next step was a little higher level of thinking through a series of Swish cards which can be swiped in sequence, captured via download button and making the bot to perform as per instructions.
Pre-programmed Swish cards mimic Scratch blocks and are colour coded (e.g. Music = Pink, Motion = Blue & so on).
Also, kids can create their own code by shading blank Swish cards which have 8 shading boxes with either black or white and one which will be a great tool for educators.
Swish Card tutorial : see Youtube demo
Phiro Pro for young people ages 9 to 18.
Phiro Pro engages young people at the next level by stimulating coding concepts using free open-source programming languages.
The idea was to leverage existing programming software (like Scratch 2.0/Snap!/Pocket Code) for new hardware instead of introducing a brand new programming environment for new robotic toy.
Program Phiro Pro, in bluetooth mode, with a computer, tablet or smartphone connected wirelessly to Scratch 2.0 (MIT, USA), Snap4Arduino (UC Berkeley/Citilab, Spain), Pocket Code mobile apps (Graz University of Technology, Austria).
Phiro Pro also has all the capabilities of Phiro Unplugged.
Scratch/Snap! are known to millions of kids world wide.
Pocket Code mobile app’s are based on and very similar to Scratch from MIT USA. In many developing countries Laptops are expensive and not easily available. However use of Smart Phone world-wide due it's high penetration and its popularity among the younger generation is well known. Children can leapfrog technology and skip PC’s completely. Also Smart phones come pre equipped with many on board sensors & apps which too can interact in the physical world with Phiro robots. Coding & controlling Phiro robots via Pocket Code is a game changer.
Todays generation love the feature of Connecting to a community on-line enabling collaboration, sharing & learning.
Tutorial of using Phiro with Scratch & Pocket Code : see YouTube demo
Do Let us know if our concepts & ideas are on right track. Any idea or suggestion is welcome. We value Forums feedback.
I like the idea of it being able to be programmed by card; it makes it easier for a class to be able to use them in education - no need for each student/pupil to have a PC to program it.
That being said, the ability to still program using Scratch makes it able to compete with other similar educational robots. Scratch certainly seems to be becoming the standard for educational programming.
Lego compatibility is great too; a full range of expansion options that are already out there means that kids can get building custom projects in no time.
Program/Control both Arduino+Phiro simultaneously via bluetooth
We are super excited to share this news about Arduino, Phiro robots and Pocket Code mobile app’s on smart phones.
We are happy to inform that now,
both Phiro and Arduino board can be programmed and controlled wirelessly via Bluetooth,
and BOTH SIMULTANEOUSLY using the Pocket Code app on a Smart Phone!
Our smartphone app viz Pocket Code for Phiro, can control both Arduino and Phiro simultaneously without live internet, once downloaded on the smartphone.
We understand that till today there is no smartphone app which can program and control even one Arduino board wirelessly via bluetooth.
Now Team Robotix brings a paradigm shifting opportunity wherein a Phiro robot and Arduino board can be programmed and controlled wirelessly via bluetooth, BOTH SIMULTANEOUSLY using the Pocket Code app on a smartphone!
With this break through we hope we can tap into the Arduino & Maker community world-wide.
This opens up endless possibilities for Arduino tinkering community and in the Maker movement to extend the possibilities for Phiro and Arduino with Pocket Code.
Check out this video we made of a demo in a fun board game.
