Paul RiddenJanuary 15, 2015Wigl bot moves to music, teaches kids to program

When Wigl's built-in microphone registers a recognized note in auto mode, the bot responds by lighting its LEDs and moving in a specific way

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Building and playing with robots can be a whole lot of fun for kids of all ages, but making the robot do your bidding by creating lines and lines of code can be a bit, well, dull. Wigl takes a different approach. Rather than generate commands using a smartphone or computer, young programmers just need to pick up an instrument and hit the right note. The little bot then responds with bustin' moves, flashing lights or special dances.

Electrical engineer Vivek Mano built the first Wigl prototype in July 2013 and then started testing the concept at a school in Portland, Oregon.

"I want to effectively alter the way kids approach learning," Mano told Gizmag. "Seeing a child's eyes light up when they realize that sound that they're making (via musical instrument) can control something is powerful. It's not something they're used to. That gets them curious as to what else is possible and (hopefully) will lead them down that rabbit hole."

When Wigl's built-in microphone registers a recognized note in auto mode, the bot responds by lighting its LEDs and moving in a specific way thanks to the battery-powered electric motors driving its wheels. The note A played on a recorder or flute, for example, might move it forward, a C could result in a right turn or a D might put it in reverse. Mano says that Wigl can register notes from any instrument that produces musical notes, though it's unable to "distinguish individual notes from percussive instruments, such as drums."

In programming mode, the bot sits still and listens to the notes being played. The toots or twangs instruct Wigl on what actions to perform when the "enter" note is played. Kids learn the basics of programming and problem solving by working out how to instruct Wigl to make its way around an obstacle course or reverse into a parking space. Different notes result in different actions, and planning the order of those notes makes Wigl move in specific ways. The system also encourages robot-controlling musicians to play better. If Wigl hears a bum note, it doesn't perform as expected or doesn't move at all.

After 18 months of hands-on time with kids in schools, museums and exhibitions, Mano took his idea to crowdfunding portal Indiegogo in November last year. Unfortunately, the project failed to reach the US$10,000 target at campaign close. Development, however, continues.

Mano currently has fully-functional Wigl alpha units that are used for demos, presentations and events. He told us that he's working with an industrial designer on the bot's outer plastic housing and "recently won TiE Pitchfest and is using that momentum to start exploring funding opportunities."

He's also working on creating content for schools to complement the robot in a 6 - 8 week course, geared towards alternative elementary education establishments like Waldorf and Montessori.

"In the immediate future, I hope to raise $50,000 to get Wigl to production (plastics tooling, electronics, etc)," he told us. "With this seed money, I can better approach schools with technology programs that are interested in more creative approaches to learning. We have two paths ahead of us:

a) Sell Wigl as a stand-alone, pre-built robot. This is geared more towards the home consumer and music schools and would be closed-source.

b) Sell Wigl as a kit to be built, along with a curriculum that ties in many different subjects. This would involve open-sourcing the hardware and software, and would most likely incorporate the Arduino bootloader for ease. Arduino code is very similar to C code (almost interchangeable at some points) and is a highly marketable skill to learn."

More information on the project is available via the source link below, and you can see Wigl trying its best to dance to bagpipe music in the video below.

Source: Wigl

Wigl機器人：教熊孩子寫代碼玩樂器

保羅riddenjanuary 15，2015wigl BOT移動音樂，教孩子program
當wigl的內置麥克風註冊認可註意在自動模式，BOT的回應是照明LED和移動在一個特定的方式圖像畫廊（10張）
建築和玩機器人可以為所有年齡段的孩子有很多樂趣，但使機器人執行你的命令創建一行行的代碼有點，嗯，平淡。wigl採取一種不同的方法。而不是生成命令使用智能手機或電腦，年輕的程序員隻需要拿起一個儀器，並打正確的說明。小機器人然後響應美國的舉動，閃爍的燈光或特殊的舞蹈。

電氣工程師維韋克馬諾建於2013七月第一wigl原型，然後開始在波特蘭、俄勒岡的一所學校的概念測試。

“我想有效地改變孩子的方法方式學習，“Mano告訴Gizmag。”看到孩子的眼睛亮起來，當他們意識到，他們正在製造的聲音（通過樂器）可以控製的東西是強大的。這不是他們所用的東西。讓他們好奇的是，什麼是可能的，（希望）將帶領他們沿著兔子洞。”

當wigl的內置麥克風註冊認可註意在自動模式，BOT的回應是照明LED和移動在一個特定的方式，由於電池供電的電動馬達驅動它的輪子。例如，在一個錄音機或長笛上演奏的音符，可能會嚮前移動，一個可以導緻一個正確的旋轉，也可以把它放在相反的。馬諾說wigl可以註冊記錄任何産生音符的樂器，盡管它無法“區分個人筆記的打擊樂器，如鼓。”

在編程模式下，機器人坐著聽音符演奏。根或鼻音指導wigl上執行什麼操作的時候，“進入”的音符。孩子們學習基本的編程和解決問題的工作，如何指導wigl使其周圍障礙物或反成停車場。不同的音符産生不同的行為，並規劃這些筆記中的秩序是以特定的方式移動wigl。該係統還鼓勵機器人控製音樂人玩得更好。如果wigl聽到一個流浪漢的註意，它冇有達到預期效果或根本不運動。

18個月後的實踐的時間與孩子們在學校、博物館和展覽，馬諾把他的想法衆籌門戶網站Indiegogo去年十一月。不幸的是，該項目未能達到10000美元的目標，在活動結束。的發展，然而，仍在繼續。

馬諾目前擁有功能齊全的wiglα單位，用於演示，演示和事件。他告訴我們，他對BOT的外層塑料外殼和“最近獲得的領帶pitchfest工業設計師的工作是利用這一勢頭開始探索資金的機會。”

他也努力創造內容為學校補充機器人在6 - 8周的課程，麵嚮基礎教育設施替代華爾和蒙臺梭利。

“在不久的將來，我希望能籌到50000美元，獲得wigl生産（塑料模具，電子産品，等等），”他告訴我們。”有了這個種子的錢，我可以更好地接近學校的技術方案，有興趣在更有創造性的方法來學習。我們麵前有兩條路：
一）出售wigl作為一個獨立的、預先建立的機器人。這是麵嚮更多的家庭消費和音樂學校將關閉源。

B）出售wigl作為包被建造，隨著一個課程，許多不同學科的關係。這就涉及到開源硬件和軟件，並將最有可能把Arduino Bootloader緩解。Arduino的代碼是C代碼非常相似（在某些點上幾乎可以互換）是一個高度市場化的技能學習。”

更多信息項目是通過源的鏈接，你可以看到wigl努力在下麵的視頻

來源：wigl