Profile Information
STEAMLabs Toronto
Canada
Roles
Educator
Levels
Grade 3 (ages 7-8), Grade 4 (ages 8-9), Grade 5 (ages 9-10), Grade 6 (ages 10-11), Grade 7 (ages 11-12), Grade 8 (ages 12-13)
Subjects
Mathematics, Science, Computer Technology, Career and Tech Ed, Creative Arts
About me
At steamlabs, we've been helping kids to make and code robots at our makerspaces for over 8 years. One of the things kids find most challenging is mechanisms. It's hard to anchor a robot arm's pivot points securely and transfer the motion of a motor into that pivot point. Our cardboard robot construction kit makes this easy with laser cut cardboard and wooden parts. Interlocking rectangles and boxes form the basic structure. Holes allow plastic straw and chopstick axles to easily turn. Wooden levers, gears and pulleys are easily positioned in the holes. Elastic band drives can be added for simple motion, and perforated cut outs make it obvious where to add motors and servos. Linkage bars allow easy transmission of motion into any other parts. Best of all, it's free and open source, with laser cut files provided!