EV3 Lego Mindstorm
8Just wondering – any of my meh friends outgrown their EV3 sets?
My wonderful husband volunteered to be a mentor of the robotics club at my children’s school. Then, he took a 9-5 job. So guess what schmuck has ended up being the mentor of the robotics club???
There have been 2 meetings already, and there are over 30 kids in the club. Our not-for-profit, skin and bones school, has purchased 2 EV3 home editions. That is 15 kids per robot. Shaking my head.
I am going to steal co-opt my son’s robot, so then there are 3 in the class. To make it even more difficult, they have now asked me to run the grades 5-8 program, so that the k-4 kids can have a separate club. That means I am back to 1 robot. Oh yeah – one of these kits costs $350.
So, I ask you, my friends of meh – do you have a spare EV3 roaming around? I know it is a shot in the dark, but you never know what is sitting out there covered in dust. They are a 501-3c, I probably could even get you a receipt for taxes, but I haven’t asked them yet.
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After looking up that product for the first time, I’d like to have one of those for myself. Suppose I’m still a kid at heart.
I used to have a huge box of Legos when I was a kid and sometime when I got older, around 18, my mother donated them to some charity or church. That was upsetting because I’m not 50+ and still want to play with Legos. They are surprisingly still expensive for such a simple product so I cannot afford to replace them.
So sorry to say, if I had a spare EV3, I would be playing with it myself instead of giving it away. Unfortunately, $350 is too much to spend right now so I’ll have to wait until I win the lottery.
@cengland0 it is really cool… but my son outgrew it quickly, he has moved on to arduino and raspberry pi, which are significantly cheaper.
Lego changed how they share the software last year or the year before, so the EV3 was cheaper then, because the software was separate, if I remember correctly – now it is all included, as “free”.
I am sorry about the legos, I hear you. My dad gave away all my books when I was younger. I had almost the entire Nancy Drew collection that I would have liked to share with my daughter.
I am in the same boat as you. My school got 3 robots and then told me to start the robotics club as the mentor teacher.
Is it possible for anyone at the school to start a DonorsChoose to get another robot or two?
@Collin1000 There is so much that they need, I don’t know what their priority is. If I have to, I will hit up family to donate
@Collin1000 What course work do you plan on using to teach the EV3??? I have found a teacher’s manual on Carnegie-Mellon’s website (I think, will have to check on source).
@mikibell Here are the resources that I used:
http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/967780/23318374/1382954983077/RileyRover_BI.pdf
and
http://amazon.com/Classroom-Activities-Busy-Teacher-EV3/dp/1491253169
I am very, very, very hands-off. I give the kids a challenge for the week (Class meetings are only 75 minutes once a week) and they have 60 minutes to build/program and then 15 minutes to test. I have not taught them any programming, they learned with trial and error. I did not teach them how to build: I threw the instruction manual in front of them and said “build this”. The above-linked RileyRover took about 1.5 hours for all 3 teams to build, with only print-out of the above PDF. These are fifth-grade age students, so adjust as needed. They pick what attachments and sensors to build and they pick how and why to build them. After they have the base robot, what they add or change to it is totally up to them.
First week: Build the frame of the robot.
Second week: Build your first sensor/attachment.
Third week: Program robot to move forward and turn left or right.
Fourth week: Program use of a sensor (color sensor is easiest in my opinion)
Fifth week: Build a gripper and program robot to “capture the flag”.
Sixth week: Build a scooper and program robot to clear “rocks” out of the path.
And they go from there.
At 8 weeks in (we started in January), my students have basic robots that can navigate our playfield, pick up and move objects, and complete other tasks via programmed instructions. It’s a lot of fun.
@Collin1000 thank you so much for the input… I missed your post somehow. We have 3rd through 8th graders right now…very challenging.
@mikibell Yeah that sounds rough. Mine are 4th and 5th grade.
@mikibell, you doing FIRST FLL and/or FLLJr? Fun fun fun. (I volunteer (mostly referee) for FIRST FTC in NY, NJ and PA. I used to mentor FRC. I’ve never done FLL or FLLJr.)
Christmas 2011, I gave @miraclewhispers a Mindstorms NXT 2.0 (8547). She played with it a bit but really not all that much. Thus it is in mostly new condition in my basement (albeit not in original packaging).
I have no idea if she would be willing to part with it (tho I’m predicting she would) and it obviously has the older motors, sensors, etc. (all usable with the EV3), so it isn’t exactly what you need.
Anyways… maybe you guys can work something out (if it were mine to give, you could have it).
@baqui63 perhaps @miraclewhispers will see the ping??
I have no idea… we don’t think we will be looking to compete at all this year. I will research what they are and let you know. I was voluntold to do this Thankfully my son has some knowledge, and I am a programmer in real life … and have the experience leading kids.
@baqui63 I think I was trying to remember your userid – are you a chef?? Offered to cook for us when my hubby was sick?
@mikibell That was me; I am not a chef. (I saw Alton Brown’s live show last April. The show ended with him taking questions from the audience and one was “Do you consider yourself a chef?” He spoke a bit and ended the answer by saying, “… so, no, I’m a cook, not a chef.” I feel the same way: Yes, I can do lots of that fancy kitchen shit and cooking is definitely something I enjoy and am good at, but I am not a chef.)
@miraclewhispers may see these pings and respond, but if not I’ll mention it on Sunday (we are going to NYCFC’s home opener).
Would a slightly used PancakeBot help with the learning process? If so you might hit up @snapster, he might have one he can donate
also not sure if you have tried this route but…
https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/contact/charity-donations
@thismyusername oh thank you! I will ask the school.
What is that school donation site we were donating to previously? I can’t find that thread again. @mikibell
could create a page there and then we could post it here. We funded a bunch of teachers last time. Funding one of our own would be nice.
EDIT I found it via google
https://www.donorschoose.org
@mikibell create a page then create a thread and mention this old one
https://meh.com/forum/topics/please-give-money-to-buy-books-for-poor-kids--or-dont--up-to-you?sort=most-likes
where we funded a bunch before.
@Kidsandliz I meant to say thank you sooner. I don’t have permission to ask for funds, but there is nothing to stop me for asking for dust collecting robots. I do appreciate the sentiment, though.
@mikibell stupid they won’t let you set up a page.
@Kidsandliz No, I haven’t asked… they may be all gung-ho about it, but they have so many needs that I am shy about introducing yet another concern for them.
They have invested a LOT of money in stem stuff this year… so, I hope they continue to grow and enjoy the sciences… It was lacking when I went to school there when I was MUCH younger
@mikibell Since this is funded by individual outsiders (individuals who feel like it, not organizations), and individual teachers list their needs, maybe they would be thrilled to find out about this site, have individual teachers list individual classroom needs? This way needs are addressed outside of their budget… You know listing it here people would fund it so it wouldn’t be made a problem of the school finding out about a need that they can’t do something about. We (collectively) funded a bunch of people before that we didn’t even know (for the most part) and you know we love you : )
@mikibell PS what kind of money are you talking here to get you what you need? I have no clue what you are even talking about - what exactly is it that you are needing and how many? A cousin is in tech and might be able to track some stuff down.
@Kidsandliz each kit is about $350 …I asked the school and they said I could proceed with putting up a request…the only thing is donorchoose is for public schools. I am not sure they will allow me to since we are our own 501-3c. Anyone know how this works?
Found the help section:
We can’t accept registration from principals, administrators, PTA members, teachers’ assistants, paraprofessionals, student teachers, substitutes, part-time teachers, after-school teachers, or staff developers. Educators at non-profit, private, or parochial schools are not eligible, even if the private program partners or contracts with a local school district.
Bummer
@mikibell Well that sucks. Soooo since you have permission… create a youcaring account since that has the lowest fees, post it to that thread that has the other teacher requests (and this thread too) - see if the school will link it to their bank account so that there is no question that it goes to the school (also see letter paragraph below if they don’t/won’t cooperate with this)- we’d believe it but as/if people post this elsewhere there may be questions… in your you caring mention that the other site will not support teachers who don’t teach in public schools which is why you are going that route…
As you create the budget be sure to factor in the fees and if you may need repair parts in the future. Break out the budget, see if the school will also create a paypal account to avoid fees (read if paypal allows “gifts” to organizations without fees charged first though as I don’t know the answer to that).
If the school refuses technically host the page and to allow you to hook it to their bank account get them to write a letter of support and scan and post that in the youcaring page. Take photos of kids (no faces showing unless you have a photo release from the kids’ parents) playing with this stuff or otherwise make sure you have photos of what it is you are buying, etc.
Hey @snapster - you guys threw $600 something down a hole several months ago… perhaps you can throw something at mikibell’s project? Maybe send a check straight to the school to avoid fees (not to mention the 501-3C status for your taxes…) In fact mikibell - listing the school’s address and attention this project - so others can get the tax deduction - might help as well with respect to donations.