“A small metal sphere the size of a marshmallow with a sensor that allows it to follow paths drawn with a finger on a tablet. It also recognizes colours, so we can assign a different operation to each colour, like accelerating on blue, turning around on green and take the first right on yellow. In other words, it can be programmed with a finger as if we were drawing.”
This is how the Italian edition Wired Magazine described Ozobot, one of the “Best Miniature Robots Seen at CES 2014,” the consumer electronics fair held annually in Las Vegas.
“Moreover, it also has accessories to create a greater playing field or use a magic marker to draw its routes. Its creators claim it can process over one thousand instructions,” added Wired.
And children are using the Ozobot at the Phyrtual Innovation Gym, where children learn to programme, as a young coder shows Jacquelline Fuller, Director of Google.org.
The didactic potential of Ozobot was discovered by Cecilia Stajano in Cambridge during the training week for the Coding Summer School organized with the collaboration of the Computer Laboratory at the Computer Science Department at the University of Cambridge.
In the video, filmed in Cambridge, Coaches Giorgia (24) and Manuela (25) showcase Ozobot at the coding events promoted by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale.
A scoprire le potenziali didattiche di Ozobot è stata Cecilia Stajano, a Cambridge, in occasione della settimana di formazione alla Coding Summer School realizzata con la collaborazione del Computer Laboratory del Dipartimento di Informatica e di Ingegneria Informatica dell'Università di Cambridge.
Nel video girato a luglio a Cambridge, Giorgia, 24 anni, e Manuela, 25 anni, coach negli eventi di coding promossi dalla Fondazione Mondo Digitale, mostrano in anteprima Ozobot.
