Instructor directions are listed below:
- Show examples (if available) of previously created robotic creations to show how they are representations of IoT solutions, but not necessarily working models.
For example, if a group wanted to create a drone that picked up trash, the drone would not actually fly because the Servo is not strong enough or fast enough for flight.
- Remind students of the motion of each Servo and how it could be incorporated into their design.
For example, tell students that a standard Servo would be used to make a hand waving motion and a continuous Servo would be used for a car move around a track.
- Review how to modify the code of the Servo to obtain the desired movement.
- Have students answer the following questions to help them with the design of their creation (if you are using the Thinkabit Lab Notebook, these questions are on page 18):
- What object will be moving?
- How will those objects be moving?
- Which Servo(s) are we going to use to get that motion?
- How will we change our code to control our Servo to move how we want?
- Have students sketch a design of their creation (if you are using the Thinkabit Lab Notebook, use the space at the bottom of page 18).
At the Thinkabit Lab, we give students 5-10 minutes to design their creation before releasing them to build. If you sense that groups are ready to start building, feel free to cut this time short, but encourage groups who are still designing to finish their design before starting to build.
If students are building as teams of 4 (recommended) but completed the Servo activity as pairs (also recommended), you can choose to allow them to include 2 Servos on their project (or one Servo and an LED), but be clear to explain to them that each device (Servo or LED) will be controlled by its own Arduino, so their project will have 2 Arduinos, one controlling each device. For instructions on how to control 2 Servos or a Servo and LED from the same Arduino, visit the Learning Center.