Examining Accessibility of Available Robots at IDRC

The below robots are currently available at the IDRC office and have been briefly looked at in terms of accessibility. They have been presented to the team in short little robot show-and-tell sessions and small discussions have been held. The discussion points have also been included below.

Fisher-Price Think & Learn Code-A-Pillar

Intended users: preschoolers, ages 3-6
To use: rearrange the caterpillar's pieces to change his path, connect them together to build your sequence (uses USB connections), push the green button on the caterpillar's body to run the sequence
Command options:

Forward
Turn left 90 degrees
Turn right 90 degrees
Make a sound

Comes with 1 red and 1 green disc you can lay on the ground as targets
Available expansion packs have other commands:

Turn left 180 degrees
Turn right 45 degrees
Repeat (dial on caterpillar piece where you can choose between 1-5x)
Silly sounds and lights

Accessibility Considerations:
Gross & fine motor skills required to participate fully with the caterpillar
Pros	Cons
The robot is the interface, no additional program/app required Easy to put together and understand use No words or numbers involved (good for young population without literacy) Provides opportunity to practice the concept of debugging (if the caterpillar collides with an obstacle it stops moving and that command flashes its light) Durable	No indication of distance with movement commands (unable to predict where start and end will be without regular use) Cannot control volume, music constantly plays when the caterpillar moves No available parameters to customize commands (i.e. speed, distance, volume) Requires large space for the robot to move Requires user to pick up and move the robot between running codes (not ideal for wheelchair users)

Comments from Demonstration:

Curious about what could happen if the USB port on a piece was plugged into a computer
Can volume be adjusted or turned off?
Query how far the distance is for one forward command piece? Is this always consistent?
Is there a maximum number of pieces that can be added?

Response: Dependent on feasible space

Hackaball:

Premise: invent any social game you can imagine
- Hot potato [throw back and forth and if you drop it you lose]
- Pass the bomb [carefully pass the ball between users and if its shaken too much you lose]
- Hit it up [counts score of how many times the ball is hit up into the air]
- Truth or dare [shake ball and it turns a color, red = dare, green = truth]

Sample games already created in the app included:

Actions with the ball you can:

Hit it
Throw it
Shake it
Drop it
Spin it
Hold it still

Other functions:

Stopwatch
Do immediately

Coding is presented in the first person perspective of Hackable in “if then” statements

Example: when I am thrown then I light up green

“Then” options:

Light
Sound
Rumble (ball vibrates)
Count (starts keeping a score)
Start or stop the stopwatch
Game ends

Accessibility Considerations:
Gross motor movement required to play the majority of games createable High cognitive creativity required for game creation The code is “reactive”, the code you create only occurs after you physically do something to the ball
Pros	Cons
Can adjust the volume of the app and the ball Can be very physically interactive with the robot compared to just using an interface and then sitting and watching a robot move High collaboration potential, would be very good to use in group settings Play based	Requires significant use of hands/arms to play the creatable games App on Mac desktop does not work, constantly crashes Cannot customize any of the “Then” options with your own sounds or text Product of a kickstarter, will not have any further developments/supports available

Comments from Demonstration:

Can it bounce (e.g. off the floor)?
Turning the ball on/off requires a lot of dexterity (small black switch located inside the ball)
Does the silicone web cover make a difference beyond protection?
When throwing, how hard is too hard?
What age range did it intend to serve?
Why did the kickstarter company stop working on this product?

Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set (Colby)

Intended users: ages 4-9 (kindergarten/elementary school)
Premise: create a maze with the green tiles and purple walls then create sequence so that the mouse moves through the maze to the cheese (the mouse will make a light/sound when its nose touches cheese)
Comes with small paper cards with images of the arrows on Colby’s back that users can use to plan their sequence before inputting it on the robot
Must clear (yellow button) sequence before inputting a new one
Commands:
- 1 of 3 random actions

Move forward
Move backward
Turn left
Turn right
Random (red button)

Colby moves forward and backward
Colby makes squeaking noise
Colby makes chirping noise

Accessibility Considerations:
Small buttons require discriminate touch/press High memory required if coding cards are not used as there is no visual representation of the code anywhere
Pros	Cons
At the camp in Milton (Playful Strides) this robot was a favourite because of the buttons they could press Cute and colourful No words or numbers involved (good for young population without literacy)	What's the point of a random action button in the context of learning basic coding? Especially when the “point” is to code is to find the cheese. You cannot see or edit your code before you run it. This requires significant memory and debugging is much more difficult as you cannot edit a part of the code you have to clear the mouse completely before you start inputting your code all over again.

Comments from Demonstration:

Can you cancel your last command or do you have to start all over again?

Response: You have to delete your sequence in full and start your sequence again from the beginning

Blue forward button blends in with the blue colour of the mouse’s skin and can be difficult to see

MakerBot (mBot)

Must assemble robot with provided screwdriver once it comes out of the box (requires fine motor dexterity)

Has 3 different means of controlling/coding the robot

A remote included with the robot
1. Infrared remote control mode (default) [white light on robot]
2. Obstacle avoidance mode [green light]
3. Line-following mode [blue light]

Has three preset modes:

Makeblock - App

App that you can use to control mBot with factory preset controls
5 different ways to control mBot:

1. Drive - use touch to control mBot to move by dragging digital joystick different directions, can make a sound and turn off and on a light
2. Draw and Run - use touch to draw a path that mBot follows in space
3. Musician - use to touch to play music on a keyboard and the sound comes out of mBot. No movement.
4. Voice control - give simple commands (“move forward, stop, dance”) and mBot does them.
5. Create - user can build their own interface to control mBot with and then code each component they add to the interface with block based programming.

mBlock Blockly - App

Block based programming
Gamified learning app - user completes levels based on different coding concepts

Accessibility Considerations:
Remote requires significant fine motor skills to press and hold the small buttons on it Block based programming requires significant literacy skills Apps all require touch (including Voice Control) and drag and drop to use controls and build code
Pros	Cons
Building robot generates invested interest in user Range of controls available to suit the needs and preferences of user Many parameters for customization	In the Draw control in the Makeblock app it is very difficult to orient self to the “front” Use of the remote is not necessarily “coding” it is directly controlling the robot in real time Small pieces (nuts and screws) difficult to affix Missing small wrench for screwing on the motor

Comments from Demonstration:

Hold microphone button to activate voice-commands
Query on whether the environmental barrier needs to be a certain height for the robot to detect it in obstacle avoidance mode?
The digital joystick (on iPad) is very sensitive to touch
Movements may not match drawn commands in Draw (e.g. 90 degrees on iPad does not translate to 90 degrees in mBot’s movement)
Query on how much contract (and thickness of line) is needed to create a path for mBot to follow?

Osmo Genius Kit

Designed for ages 5+
Includes: Reflector, Base (for iPad) and 6 Hands-on games

Set Up: iPad is placed into stand and reflector placed over front camera. This setup allows the camera to capture the space in front of the iPad, approximately the size of an A4 piece of paper. To play the games you predominantly draw/move things on the surface in front of the iPad and not on the iPad itself.

Games included in this kit are:

Words

Spell words from pictures with letter tiles. If letters are duplicated, only one is needed to complete word
Can compete with others who can place the letter titles first to score more points

Tangrams:

Arranging tangrams to create pictures
3 levels of difficulty (easy: in the shape the colour of the pieces is provided, hard: the shape is all black)

Numbers

Working on counting (die faces), addition, subtraction, multiplication with number tiles
Can create 2 integer numbers by placing 2 titles directly next to each other

Newton

Freehand drawing of lines/shapes to make surfaces that balls either bounce or roll on in order to get to the designated targets

Masterpiece

Drawing/tracing from list of of stock images or can take your own photo to draw
The user looks at the iPad and follows the lines while their hand draws the picture on paper in front of the iPad
Handwriting practice possible with stock images of alphabets in different fonts

Monster

Freehand drawing of objects that the Monster (Mo) asks you for and then Mo pulls your drawing into the screen and interacts with it
Choose your own adventure style plot of the story
Also available in Spanish

Coding Jam/Coding Awbie (not available)

Requires coding pieces not currently available at IDRC

Accessibility Considerations:
Games require that you physically move pieces or physically draw something to play games (physical-digital interface) Requires ability to see, read, and draw for the majority of the available games. For example, Monster speaks you to a significant amount and there is only a few words of text once he has described what he wants you to draw for him.
Pros	Cons
Multiple levels and difficulty options in the games allow for easy grading of the activities Social component: challenge a friend Drawing features can be done with paper (less convenient for erasing...but can be done) Able to incorporate user-taken pictures into games	Instructions are not very clear → self-exploration required to understand the games Each game (other than those included in this kit) requires another purchase/kit of further pieces/materials

Comments from Demonstration:

The ability to practice handwriting is not a very functional way to practice writing. Typically taught to look at your hand/the paper while you write not the screen where your hand is projected.
Inquiry as to whether copied icons can be recognized as more game pieces or do you need to have the kit’s exact pieces?
Developers must have invested significant time and resources on the design of the game apps, lots of positive reviews for the design and look of the games’ interfaces
What is the difference between Coding Jam vs Coding Awbie?
Inquiry of the cost of genius kit bundles vs. cost of individual games
Due to the projected angle, the marker on the iPad screen can inaccurately display the location of marker placement when touching paper/written surface

Lego Boost (5-in-1 Model)

Designed for ages 7-12
5-in-1 model - allows you to use the same pieces to create 5 different robots:

1. Vernie the Robot

Can perform different facial expressions
Touch, color, motion, and loud sound sensing capabilities
Many accessories: shoulder cannon, hockey stick
Works with provided map

2.. MTR 4 [multi-tooled-rover 4]

Has dump function (like a garbage truck) with a moving arm with various attachments
Motion sensing, color sensing
Cannon attachment
Works with provided map

3. Frankie the Cat

Can perform different facial expressions
Musical function - assign notes to colours on a harmonica and the colour sensor activates musical notes on iPad when held over Frankie’s mouth
Motion sensors - hold the cat in different angles/positions to evoke different reactions
Can set timetables for when the cat is “hungry” and you have to feed him to make him happy

4. Guitar 4000

Main functions with this build are on the app
Assign different sounds to the notes and then you move the “fret” up and down the guitar’s neck
Can add bar to make guitar into a violin

5. Auto Builder

Assembly line robot

iPad App

Automated tutorials with drag and drop to build block based code
Tutorials have no text they are all icon based and so are the code blocks

Accessibility Considerations:
Requires assembly of the robots before you can use them Drag-and-drop interface interaction required to build code Ability to interact with the robots beyond coding (making a sound, motion sensor, picking Frankie the Cat up etc.)
Pros	Cons
App is entirely icon based, no reading text required in tutorials and building code. This is great for accessibility but was sometimes confusing to follow, especially when you want further clarification on a block and there is none beyond the icons. Required significant trial and error learning to come to understand the coding blocks	Significant fine motor skills required to assemble robots out of lego pieces Time required to build each robot prior to use: requires at least 1 hour to build each robot In the app you have to complete the levels in order to unlock the subsequent ones, does not allow you to skip ahead to use new blocks or parameters whenever you want

Comments from Demonstration:

Similar to Lego Mindstorms

Lego WeDo 2.0

Robot you have to assemble from lego pieces
Rebuild multiple ways:

Glowing snail
Cooling fan
Moving satellite
Spy robot
Milo the science rover

Can add motion sensor
Can add tilt sensor

Many educational lessons available in the app that get you to explore a science based topic and build a robot that corresponds with the lesson

Example: Plants and Pollinators

Watch a short video of pollinators
Build a lego robot of a bee flying around a flower full of pollen
Program bee to stop at the flower to get some pollen

Can program:

Motor
Motion sensor
Tilt sensor
Sounds
Light

Accessibility Considerations:
Have to assemble the robots before you can use them. Drag-and-drop interface interaction required to build code
Pros	Cons
There is a software guide built into the program with detailed explanations of each command block	There is only 1 motor so the robots can only move forwards/backwards, they cannot turn. In lessons you copy a sequence that is provided to you. It is missing an explanation of what each of the blocks mean for learning purposes.

Comments from Demonstration:

Query if you can combine parts/sensors from Lego Boost with Lego WeDo? (Answer is yes)

Little Robot Friends with Little Robot Friends App

Designed for ages 7 and up
Stationary robot that you interact with primarily through physically touching it or through its sensors (sound, light, and motion)
Interactions include:

Touching the physical sensors (right hand, left hand, hair)

Tapping - touch
Tickling - touch multiple times repeatedly
Hugging - touch for 3 seconds then release

Sound sensor

Loud sound
Close talking

Motion sensor

Tilt
Shake

Light sensor

Darkness
Bright light

Robot actions:

LED eye can change colour
Beeping sounds

Highly customizable custom sounds possible

Can print off different “costumes” from the company's website that you cut out and stick on the robot to turn it into different characters
Powered by 2 AAA Rechargeable battery (can charge using micro USB-cord)
Has other apps beyond little robot friends app:

Little Robot Friends App: block based coding
Arduino: text based (C++)

Accessibility Considerations:
No assembly required Stationary object Majority of app is choosing from different sounds/making custom sounds which relies significantly on hearing
Pros	Cons
Small and easily portable Cute with simple actions Toronto based company with available learning resources that are regularly updated on the company’s website and available workshops/summer camps to enroll in	Commands are not intuitive (e.g. hold sensor is ‘hug’) Software is unable to operate on iPad

Comments from Demonstration:

The robot is essentially a synthesizer