Introducing Cubelets What do they do? We have some cubes that we are going to use to build robots. But before we start, we need to understand what they do. Are you ready?

Cubelets 6 Box The Cubelets Six box contains 6 Cubelets. With these cubes, you can create simple mobile and reactive robots. What cubes come in the box? Let’s see.

Cubelets Six Box Battery Cubelet Drive Cubelet Battery Cubelet Distance Cubelet Brightness Cubelet Flashlight cubelet Passive cubelet Two brick adapters Distance Cubelet brick adapters Brightness Cubelet Flashlight cubelet Inside the Cubelets Six Box there is (click mouse to bring in photos of each) A grey colored Battery cubelet (with a charge cable to recharge it) A drive cubelet (clear and has wheels) A distance cubelet (black and looks like it has eyes on one side) A brightness cubelet (the other black one) A Flashlight cubelet (clear and looks like the light part of a flashlight) A Passive cubelet (the green one) And two brick adapters (yellow) We will go over what each one does in a moment. But first, how do you think they connect together? Passive cubelet

Connect with Magnets Most sides of each cube are the same. Small magnets attract to the magnets on other cubes. That is how they connect together. Magnets make it easy to connect cubes and take them apart again. Connect with Magnets   You will notice that most of the sides of the cubes look the same. They have this metal circle area with four small bumps. The small bumps are magnets. These magnets are attracted to the magnets on other cubes. That is how they connect together. It makes it easy to put them together and take them apart again. The rest of the metal parts are for transferring power and data between the cubes. Website for teaching more about magnets: http://www.physics4kids.com/files/elec_magnets.html

Battery Cubelet It provides the energy to make your robots spin, drive and squawk. It has a switch to turn it on and off. The power travels to all the cubes that are attached to it. Has batteries inside that need to be recharged. Plug in the cable. Has a green light when turned on. The Battery Cubelet is a Think block to Power your robot!   Every robot needs a Battery Cube. The Battery block provides energy to power a construction. It contains rechargeable batteries and a small power on-off switch. The batteries are recharged by inserting the cable that is then plugged into a wall outlet. The LED beside the plug turns green when the cube is turned on and the batteries are charged. You can add as many Battery Cubelets to a robot as you like to keep big robots running at their best. Think

Drive Cubelet Action Has a motor and wheels for driving around. It only moves in one direction. Speed is controlled with data input from other cubes. 0 is slower and higher numbers are faster. The drive cubelet is an Action block with a motor and wheels for driving around on flat surfaces. The Drive Cubelet only moves in one direction. Other cubes are needed to provide data input. We will learn more about that in a moment. But just know that it slows to a stop with a value of zero and moves faster with higher input values. Action

Flashlight Cubelet Action Sends out a light like a flashlight. Has one light bulb side. Needs data from other cubes. Goes off with a value of 0. Light becomes brighter with higher numbers. The Flashlight Cubelet is an Action block that can make your robot light up!. The Flashlight Cubelet emits (or sends out) a beam of light from a powerful white bulb – an LED. This cubelet uses data from other cubes to control it. We will learn more about that in a moment. But just remember that it goes off with a data value of 0, and the light becomes brighter with higher numbers.   Action

Distance Cubelet Sense Detects how close or far it is from an object. Has two sensors that are directional. Closer objects generate a higher number. Further away objects generate a lower number. This number is data that is sent to other connected cubelets. The Distance cubelet is a Sense block that detects distance to an object.   The Distance Cubelet detects proximity or how close or how far or it is from an object. It uses infrared light and is can detect objects between 10 cm ( about 4 inches) and 80 cm (about 31 inches). It has two sensors that are directional. It outputs data about the distance to the object in front of the sensor. At 10cm, the block will output values near 1, and toward 80cm it will output values near 0. This number is data that is sent to other connected cubes. Sense

Brightness Cubelet Sense Detects the amount of light. Has one light sensor. Darker areas generate a low number. Brighter areas generate a high number. This number is data that can be sent to other connected cubelets. The Brightness Cubelet is a Sense block that detects the amount of light.   It detects the amount of light hitting the one light sensor, which is an analog photocell that responds to varying light conditions. It generates a data number near zero in a dark room, and near one when the sensor is in front of a bright light. The brighter the light, the higher the number. This number is data that can be sent to other connected cubelets. Sense

Passive Cubelet Think Sends power and data to other cubes. Doesn’t do anything special. Can be used to build robots that are taller or wider or keep them from tipping over. The Passive cubelet is a Think block to make your robot bigger!   It doesn't do anything special. The Passive Cubelet is a basic building block. It carries power and data from its neighbors, but it basically acts like a smart brick. It doesn't move, sense, or change the data in any way. It stabilizes tall robots, extends robots to be longer or wider, and because it passes power and data, allows us to investigate the “Think” function of a robot. Think

Brick Adapters Connect Use to connect Lego Bricks to your robot. Metal side has magnets to attach to one side of a cubelet. Put Legos on one cubelet or span across two. Brick Adapters are also included in the box. Use these little yellow brick adapters to connect CUBELETS and LEGO® bricks! With these little adapter plates, you can combine the best parts of Cubelets and LEGO® to build robots that not only function, but do so with flair.   They’re simple: little yellow plastic plates with a Cubelet connector on one side and a LEGO® connector on the other. The metal side has magnets to attach to the cubelet. You may notice that the brick faces aren't centered on the Cubelets face, that's because the Cubelet-to-Cubelet distance isn't a perfect multiple of the stud-to-stud distance on a brick. The offset on the Brick Adapters lets you flip two adjacent Adapters around so that a giant LEGO® piece or base plate can span two Cubelets perfectly. Connect

Cubelet Robots Each Cubelet has one function. But when put together, they can send and receive information and become a robot! How the robot behaves depends on how you interact with it. Sometimes behaviors emerge that you didn’t plan on. They act like people or animals. We use these parts to build robots. Because each Cubelet has exactly one function, some people think the way to track ‘how many’ robots they can make has to do just with the counting of each Cube, function, or the faces on the Cubelets. But sometimes as you’re adding functions and the Cubelets are sending and receiving information from more than one other Cubelet, behaviors emerge that you didn’t plan or design. Then people refer to Cubelets robots as animals or people-like, - even if the robots don’t look like us at all!

Types of Cubelets Action Cubes Sense Cubes Think Cubes Action Cubes Do Things Move, Send out light and sounds Sense Cubes Observe Things Detect Light, Distance, Movement Think Cubes are Smart. Math or Logic or Sending data Sense Cubes In summary, there are three types of cubes: (click mouse to bring in each picture) Action cubes do things. Like we run, move our arms, or speak, action cubes move, send out light and sounds. Which ones were those? Remember, the action cubes in this box are the Drive cube and Flashlight cube. Sense cubes observe things. Like we listen or see, sense cubes detect light, distances, and movement. Do you remember which ones are sense cubes? The sense cubes in this box are the Brightness and Distance cubes. Think cubes are smart. Like we use our brain to do math, think cubes provide power or can do math or perform logic or send data. Which ones were think cubes? The think cubes in this box are the battery and passive cubes. Your robot can contain any number of cubelets, but it will work best when it has at least one of each type – one action, one sense, and one think cube. And all robots require a battery cube, which is turned on to make the robot function, and turned off to save the battery. Think Cubes

Time to build robots. Now that we know what the cubes do in the box of six, let’s experiment and build some robots!

20 Cube Box In addition to the basic 6 cubes that come in one box, we have some other cubes that are part of the 20 cube boxes that are shared between groups. Let’s meet these additional cubes and find out what they do.

8 More Cubes Rotate Cube Bar Graph Cube Temperature Cube Knob Cube Minimum Cube Maximum Cube Inverse Cube Blocker Cube Minimum Cube Maximum Cube (click mouse to bring in each picture) The first two are action cubes. They are the rotate cube and the bar graph cube. The next two are sense cubes and they include the knob cube and temperature cube. The next four are think cubes. They include a minimum cube, and maximum cube, an inverse cube, and a blocker cube. From their names you are probably already guessing what most of them do. So let’s look at each one. Inverse Cube Blocker Cube

Rotate Cubelet Think Make robot move and spin. Turning mechanism on one face of block. Receives data from other blocks. Speed is controlled with data input from other cubes. 0 is slower and higher numbers are faster. The Rotate cubelet is a Think Cubelet to make your robot move and spin!   There is a turning mechanism on one face of the block that rotates or spins. Other blocks are used to send it data. The speed is controlled with the data input from other cubes. It stops spinning with a value of 0. The higher the data value, the faster it spins. Think

Bar Graph Cubelet Think Shows data in a bar graph. Receives data from other blocks. Lights in bar are controlled with data input from other cubes. 0 is no lights and higher numbers are more lights. The Bar Graph cubelet is a Think Cubelet that displays data in a graph.   Other blocks are used to send it data. It lights up to show the value of data it receives. No lights show when the value is 0. The higher the data value, the more lights on the graph. Use this cube to see what value is being output by other cubes. Think

Knob Cubelet Counter Clockwise Clockwise Sense Turn knob to set a data value. Sends data to other blocks. As knob is turned, data value goes up. All the way to left - counter-clockwise is 0. All the way to right – clockwise is highest value. The Knob cubelet is a Sense block that you can set to a specific data value.   This cube sends data to other blocks. It has a knob on one side. As you turn the knob clockwise, the value increases. It outputs a value of 0 when turned all the way to the left or counter-clockwise. It outputs higher data values when it is turned to the right or clockwise. Sense

Temperature Cubelet Sense Senses heat and cold. Sends data to other blocks. Has a thermometer to detect temperature. 0 is freezing and hotter is higher numbers. Caution! Don’t put water or liquids directly on cubes – ice cubes or boiling water. The Temperature cubelet is a Sense block that detects heat and cold.   This cube sends data to other cubes. It has a little thermometer in the center on one side that detects temperature. It sends out a 0 if it detects freezing temperature, and higher values for warmer temperatures. The highest values are like a hot sunny day. Remember these are electronic components so we don’t use water or liquids such as ice cubes or boiling water directly on the cubes or that will cause them to stop working! Sense

Minimum Cubelet 0 or Lowest Think Sends out the lowest data value. Sends data to other blocks. Accepts any data value from other blocks. Handy for creating on off switch or use with distance cube. 0 or Lowest The Minimum cubelet is a Think block that outputs the minimum (or lowest) data value it receives.   This cube sends data to other cubes after it has processed it. The Minimum Cubelet can accept any amount of data but only outputs the smallest value that it receives. It can be handy for creating an on-off switch for a robot and also for using with a Distance Cubelet to build robots that avoid falling off the edge of a table. Think

Maximum Cubelet Highest number Think Sends out the highest data value. Sends data to other blocks. Accepts any data value from other blocks. Handy for creating a robot that only takes action when it receives a high data value. Highest number The Maximum cubelet is a Think block that outputs the maximum (or highest) data value it receives.   This cube sends data to other cubes after it has processed it. The Maximum Cubelet can accept any amount of data but only outputs the highest value that it receives. With it you can build a robot that performs an action only when a sensor reads a value over a certain threshold (such as when knob is turned to highest value). Think

Inverse Cubelet Opposite number Think Flips the data value it receives to the opposite. Sends data to other blocks. Accepts any data value from other blocks. If a low number is received, it outputs a high number. If a high number is received, it outputs a low number. Opposite number The Inverse cubelet is a Think block that flips the data value it receives, so it is just the opposite.   This cube sends data to other cubes after it has processed it. The Inverse Cubelet can accept any amount of data but then flips the value that it receives. So if it receives a low number, it sends out a high number. If it receives a high number, it sends out a low number. Think

Blocker Cubelet NO data Think Keeps cubes from receiving data. Accepts any data value from other blocks. Blocks the sending of data to other cubes. Connect independent modules that you don’t want to communicate with each other. NO data The Blocker cubelet is a Think block that keeps other cubes from receiving data.   This cube blocks the sending of data to other cubes. Use it to connect independent modules that you don't want to communicate with each other. Think

20 Cube Box So those are the additional cubes available in the 20 cube box. That’s a lot of cubes to remember. Don’t worry, as we get into the activities of building robots, their functions will become more clear.

Bluetooth Cubelet Think Communicate wirelessly with your robot. Bluetooth radio to communicate with phone, tablet, or PC. Compatible with iOS and Android devices. Aps available for download to control robot from a phone or tablet or PC. (For Advanced Users) (add this slide only if you purchased the Bluetooth cubelet separately and have a lesson plan to use it) The Bluetooth cubelet is a Think block that communicates between your robot and other devices.   The Bluetooth Cubelet contains a tiny Bluetooth radio to use to communicate with a phone, tablet or PC. The Bluetooth Cubelet is compatible with iOS (apple) and Android devices – such as tablets and smart phones! Aps are available for download to control your robot from a phone or tablet or PC. . Think