We consistently, of course, like to make sure our customers get the latest and greatest in EdTech for their students. So, we work closely with our vendor partners to be able to offer their newest models as soon as possible. We also strive to share these updates with our community as quickly as possible and that’s what we’re doing here. Just recently, we began offering updated GoPiGo robots and kits as well as new BrickPi kits from Dexter Industries. There are three purchasing options for each of these robots, which are on our store—ready for quotes and orders!
Both of these STEAM tools combine various elements of engineering and coding in what they offer to your students. The robots are buildable, which allows students to explore engineering principles as they work to build the bots correctly. Once built, which shouldn’t take too long, students can explore programming their robots at home or in their classrooms. With multiple options for programming suited to both beginners and seasoned coders, it’s easy connect to the GoPiGo’s Wi-Fi hotspot with a computer to start coding!
There are three GoPiGo kits to choose from: the GoPiGo, GoPiGo Core, and the GoPiGo for Groups. The GoPiGo and GoPiGo Core kits are very similar and the only difference is that their GoPiGo Core kit is more for students who already have a Raspberry Pi—the brain of the GoPiGo Robot. Their Core kit also does not come with a Raspberry Pi, whereas the GoPiGo kit does. The regular GoPiGo kit also comes with the robot chassis, an electronics board, a microSD card with Dexter OS, a rechargeable battery, a distance sensor, a servo package, and a camera and distance sensor mount. The sensors, servos, and mount are not part of the GoPiGo kit.
The GoPiGo for Groups kit includes a lot of the same components (just in larger quantities) and also some nice extras. It comes with the five GoPiGo chassis, five electronic boards, five Raspberry Pi’s, five microSD cards with their DexterOS on them, five rechargeable batteries, five distance sensors, five servo packages, five camera and distance sensor mounts, five LED packs with white, blue, and green lights, the 15 sensor mounts, storage tubs, and extra parts! It’s great for 1:1 robotics lessons and teachers could even send it home with students for remote or hybrid coding!
The group kit, in particular, is designed to enable teachers to incorporate robotics and coding wherever learning is happening. These materials don't take up a whole lot of space and, embodied by the compact Raspberry Pi computer, help to provide portable options for different learning scenarios. Perhaps the best part of the GoPiGo Robot is there are two very different ways in which students could code. As mentioned, they can connect through Wi-Fi and create programs in Bloxter (Dexter’s coding language) or Python using Jupyter notebooks. Bloxter is designed for younger children and beginner coders whereas Python is better suited to students with previous coding experience.
BrickPi is related to LEGO MINDSTORMS, enabling students to interact with the web and program using Scratch, Python, or C. These kit options are similar to those of the GoPiGo: the BrickPi, BrickPi Core, and BrickPi for Groups. Students can use the BrickPi device to connect some LEGO sensors and motors to the Raspberry Pi. The Raspberry Pi computer comes with your BrickPi and BrickPi for Groups kits just like with the corresponding GoPiGo kits. The difference is that students can utilize the BrickPi to practice coding in three different languages or to interact with web services, stream data, or control the robot remotely.
Students can use the BrickPi system in replacement of the MINDSTORMS Brick, which is the brains of the MINDSTORMS system. It’s best to use a MINDSTORMS system with your BrickPi or you could just use the GoPiGo kits instead. They include the BrickPi Core, ethernet cable, THP sensor, rechargeable battery pack, blank SD card, and a Raspberry Pi. That BrickPi Core kit comes with a BrickPi board, rechargeable battery pack, an acrylic case, and the case hardware. Finally, the BrickPi for Groups kit contains five BrickPi Base Kits, five empty microSD cards, five power supplies, five ethernet cables, five rechargeable batteries, five temperature, humidity, and pressure sensors, and a set of five storage bins!
Both of these STEAM kits are great for helping students explore new areas of coding and engineering with powerful components. If you’d like to request a quote or place any orders, click below or get in touch with us. Please follow us on Twitter and Instagram too so you never miss any of our updates!
