We’ve all had issues with connecting to the internet at one point or another. You might sometimes see this little game if your internet is down:
You could play this game by hand using your own reflexes — but what if you used technology to get a higher score? A simple Arduino-based robot does just that, and it only uses parts that are also commonly found in educational robotics kits! This robot works by using a light sensor taped to the computer screen. This sensor detects the obstacles in the game as changes in display brightness between light (background) and dark (obstacle), and then uses a small servo motor to press the spacebar whenever the sensor detects a passing obstacle.
This year at OmniLearn’s after-school robotics programs, we challenged students to use the Hummingbird Bit robotics kit to create their own dino-game-playing robot. Even though they had a model solution to follow, this task still involved engineering challenges that were new to many of the students. Students are often surprised to learn that engineering projects don’t have one unique right answer: instead, they must develop their problem-solving abilities to design their own solution, and then attempt to improve upon their work by systematically adjusting and testing different parts of their work.
Check out our results!
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