This week we were introduced to the wonderful world of robotics. Alimisis (2012) proposed that a robot is a programmable machine capable of performing difficult and complex actions. Robotics provides opportunities to students to control the actions of a machine through coding (Alimisis, 2012).

What caught my attention during tutorial this week was a little robot called Codey Rocky. A unisex two-piece mini-bot that enables children (and adults) to learn about the basics of programming through play and creating.

Codey Rocky is a robot made by M Block, that is programmable and combines easy to use MBlock software to provide students with the ideal introduction to coding. The biggest thing for me about the Codey Rocky was the controller’s head. The panda head of the robot is also a game controller with 3 buttons, a volume controller, USB-C port and a power button. Using my Scratch ‘clicker game’ I was also able to detach the panda controller head and play. To me, this functionality immediately raised the creative potential of the Codey Rocky. It’s way more than I expected, and a daunting vision of what programming education could be.

Building on my understanding from Blocky Maze and Scratch programming Codey Rocky came fairly easy to me. The first of this video demonstrates us using the head of the Panda to display an animation of bouncing balls, while the second half demonstrates how we coded Rocky to drive in a square using a programming system called MBlock.

Some of the advantages of Cody Rocky we came up with while experimenting were,
Aesthetics
Versatility
Computational thinking – Block programming
Compatible with Scratch projects
Easy upload- trial and error is effective

While disadvantages were
•          Software crashes
•          Expensive
•          App-based

Overall, I think the Codey Rocky is a valuable asset to any classroom with the open-ended design process and the ongoing possibilities. As the coder learns, they can access the higher order thinking and higher functions.