Build a desk buddy robot lesson plan
Animated eyes on a round display that blink, feel, react to touch, tilt and light, ending with a robot that misses you.
Objectives and materials
By the end, students can
- Two eyes on round glass, then blinks and glances that bring them to life.
- Moods as a table of numbers, and a touch pad that changes them.
- Tilt and light, then the whole robot together.
Materials for the whole unit
- Accelerometer and gyroscope, MPU6050
- ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1
- Full-size breadboard
- Photoresistor sensor module
- Piezo speaker
- Round display, GC9A01
- Touch sensor, TTP223
Every part is already on the simulator’s bench, so there is nothing to buy or hand out. The counts are the most any one lesson uses, if you build it on real breadboards too.
A face
Two eyes on round glass, then blinks and glances that bring them to life.
| Lesson | Time | What students do |
|---|---|---|
| Two eyes on a round screenDraw two rounded eyes on a GC9A01 and slide them across the glass by repainting only the edges that move. | 40 min |
|
| Blink and glanceBlinks on an uneven beat and glances that ease into place, both on millis() timers so neither waits for the other. | 40 min |
|
Materials
- Accelerometer and gyroscope, MPU6050
- ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1
- Full-size breadboard
- Photoresistor sensor module
- Piezo speaker
- Round display, GC9A01
- Touch sensor, TTP223
Check for understanding
Each student finishes "Blink and glance" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 4 of its 4 steps as they go.
Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Two timers, no waiting".
Feelings
Moods as a table of numbers, and a touch pad that changes them.
| Lesson | Time | What students do |
|---|---|---|
| Moods are numbersHappy, sleepy, surprised, angry, lonely and dizzy as a handful of numbers each: lids, tilt, size and color, eased from one to the next. | 40 min |
|
| Touch and feelingsA TTP223 pad makes the robot beam, too many pokes make it cross, and being ignored makes it lonely. | 40 min |
|
Materials
- Accelerometer and gyroscope, MPU6050
- ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1
- Full-size breadboard
- Photoresistor sensor module
- Piezo speaker
- Round display, GC9A01
- Touch sensor, TTP223
Check for understanding
Each student finishes "Touch and feelings" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 4 of its 4 steps as they go.
Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Do not forget me".
Senses
Tilt and light, then the whole robot together.
| Lesson | Time | What students do |
|---|---|---|
| Tilt and lightAn MPU6050 tips the gaze and makes the robot dizzy when rocked; an LDR module sends it to sleep in the dark. | 40 min |
|
| Meet your desk buddyEverything together: blinking, glancing, moods, touch, a temper, dizzy spells, bedtime in the dark and loneliness when ignored. | 40 min |
|
Materials
- Accelerometer and gyroscope, MPU6050
- ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1
- Full-size breadboard
- Photoresistor sensor module
- Piezo speaker
- Round display, GC9A01
- Touch sensor, TTP223
Check for understanding
Each student finishes "Meet your desk buddy" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 4 of its 4 steps as they go.
Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Leave it be".
Teach this unit as a class
Start a class from this course and its 6 lessons are assigned in one go, in order. Students join with a six-character code or printed login cards, and each one’s work comes back to you.
The class tools are free for 30 days for one class of up to 20 students, with no card. The lessons themselves are free either way.