Robo is an interactive model with the purpose of teaching school students about electricity.
Challenge
The project was made in collaboration with Trondheim Science Center and in conjunction with the course Prototyping Interactive Media. Trondheim Science Center is a scientific hands-on experience center. Each group was tasked to make an interactive model inside of a drawer in the same way as an escape room. The drawers would then be put together in a drawer section. When the task in the first drawer is solved, the second one will open up, and so forth, until the last drawer is solved and the game is won. The concept for each drawer was up to each group, but the goal was to teach elementary and lower secondary school students about electricity.
Process
Establishing requirements
We began the process with a visit to an escape room for inspiration. We visited Trondheim Science Center to observe and specify the context of use, as well as define the user and organizational requirements.
Iterating
We built a “Wizard of Oz”–prototype out of cardboard and paper. We tested and evaluated the prototype. We tested the paper prototype on several users to observe how they solved the task. One person in the group provided feedback by manipulating the paper prototype and by creating sound effects. Based on the tests we improved the idea. In the end, we iterated three times before we began building the final model.
Building
We built the robot out of vacuum formed plastic. The speakers are placed behind the head of the robot. At the ends of each resistor, there is a metal plate and at the end of each wire, there is a small electromagnet. This allows the wires to snap to the resistors. To keep the door on the robot closed we used a big electromagnet. To open the door after the first task is solved we used a servo. For the eyes, we used two 5 x 7 LED matrix display, one for each eye. We used two 16–segment LED display to display the desired voltage in the second task. When a resistor is connected to the battery the resistor will light up using a LED lamp.
Set–up
A Raspberry Pi is used to control the speakers, electromagnets, servo and LED lamps. An Arduino controls the LED displays, both the 5 x 7 matrix display and the 16–segment display.
Code
The code is written in Python.
Result
The goal is to fix ROBO by providing the robot with the right amount of voltage by closing the circuit through the right resistors. The wires will snap into place using magnetism. The tasks require the users to understand the concept of voltage dividers, but the model also encourages trial and error by providing immediate feedback through sound, light and motion. The sounds and facial expressions reflect the state of the robot and will tell if the voltage is too low, too high or correct. The wires will also fall off if the voltage is wrong. For each use, the desired voltage is randomly chosen and all the wires will fall off to its starting position, making the model repeatable.
