Materials required
- Playing sounds slides
- Otto Starter robot
- Computers with internet and/or bluetooth connection
Optional materials
- Make Music Card
- Playing sounds Worksheets
Learning Objectives
- Recognize robotic systems in everyday life and be able to reason about how they help.
- Know that robots use algorithms to perform tasks.
- Write and upload programs that control the robot.
- Modify an existing program to add new functionality to the robot.
- Analyse and debug existing code to identify and fix errors, and explain how the code works.
- Identify the problem to be solved and develop a plan to address it using the Otto robot components.
- Create a project that combines robotics with another creative discipline.
How can Otto play sounds?
The class starts with the question “How can Otto make sounds?”. Allow students to share their theories before moving to the explanation in the second slide. This question can be complemented with another one like: “How can sounds be useful for robots or machines?”
In the second slide there is a very short explanation about what the buzzer component is and how it works.
That explanation can be expanded adding that:
The buzzer component consists of a small plastic housing with an integrated speaker. When an electric current is passed through the buzzer, it causes a thin piece metal inside to vibrate, creating sound waves and generating an audible tone.
Feel free to expand this explanation with other learning resources about how the buzzer works.
Activity: Exploring melodies
Using the buzzer, Otto can play tones in different frequencies to play melodies. In the word blocks app you will find many coding blocks to generate tones and create melodies from scratch, but also you will find a list of predefined melodies to play. In this activity, allow students to play different options from the [play melody] block to listen to the different variations they have access to using the buzzer to play sounds.
You will find the [play melody] in the Sound section of the word blocks app, in the sub-section RTTTL (stands for Ring Tone Text Transfer Language).
Both blocks in the section are basically the same. In the first one there is a dropdown list with the different options and in the second block you can write the name by yourself.
Activity: Building with notes
Besides predefined melodies, we can create our own melodies from scratch using the [play note] blocks. By combining multiple notes with different durations and silences, we can create melodies. Here is a brief explanation of each [play note] block:
Plays a music figure (that determines the duration of the sound) with a frequency value (in Hz; that determines how high or low the sound will be).
This block is like the previous one, but instead of determining the pitch of the sound by a value in Hz, it uses a predefined set of music notes; those notes are equivalent to some specific values in HZ.
This block is like the previous one but allows you to play 4 notes one after the other in a sequence with the same music figure.
In slide 4, there are the first six tones of the classic Happy Birthday song, guide students to copy and test the melody on their own robots: 
After testing the melody, you could notice that it effectively sounds like the classic happy birthday song that we all know, but the sounds move too fast between them, here is where the [stop] block becomes relevant. On music, it is important to play silences between notes, in Word Blocks we can get this by combining the [stop] block with a [wait] block with a small delay. Place that combination between each note, and try again:
After placing [stop] + [wait] blocks between each note and testing again, the improvement in the melody should be clear.
Expansion: Complete the melody
The previous activity can be expanded by allowing students to complete the melody on their own. There are two different approaches for this:
- Allow students to experiment and complete the melody by themselves. You could allow them to use the internet to find information about notes and/or frequencies they could need.
- Give the whole melody and ask students to add their “own touch”
The whole melody is available in the file happy-birthday.otto. You can allow students to copy the melody and then ask them to modify any part of it. It could be to change the speed or add new tones at the end. Maybe add another component of Otto like the lights.
Lesson Evaluation
- Students shared their theories on how Otto can make sounds.
- Students understood how to access and use the RTTTL blocks.
- Students were introduced to creating melodies from scratch using note blocks in the word blocks app.
- Students attempted to complete the melody independently.
- Students demonstrated an understanding of how the buzzer works to produce sound.
- Students exhibited creativity and problem-solving skills in creating and customizing their melodies.
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The duration of this lesson is approximately one hour. You can find the definition of learning objectives at the bottom of this guide to align with your curriculum requirements.
Materials required
- Lesson slides
- Lesson worksheets
- TV, projector, or big screen to display the class videos
- Big paper or cardboard (white)
- Tape (black)
- Scissors
Computers, tablets or smartphones are optional, they can be used as digital tools for students to do further research and take additional notes.
Connect
The class begins by displaying the first slide and asking the students “What do you see here?’“
[Pause and wait for students to provide answers, which may include mentions of a robot arm and two wheeled robots moving boxes].
The teacher will then guide the class in a conversation about the nature of robots, exploring questions such as: ‘What is a robot?’ ‘When does something turn into a robot and when is it just a machine?’
Moving on to the second slide, the teacher will introduce the topic of the usefulness of robots to humans. Students should share their ideas about how robots can be useful.
[This conversation is expected to last approximately 4-5 minutes]
Afterwards, on the third slide, the students will watch a video that explains the concept of what a robot is. Following the video, they will have the opportunity to share their personal experiences with robots. The teacher can guide the conversation by asking specific questions, such as: ‘Have you ever played with a robot or built one?’ ‘Do you have any robotic devices at home, like a vacuum cleaner, that you consider to be a robot?’
[The video has a duration of 4 minutes, and the discussion about personal experiences is expected to take an additional 3-5 minutes]
On the next slide, the teacher will organize small groups consisting of 2-3 students. Each group will be assigned a specific robot to investigate. The students can conduct their investigation by using the internet or through provided materials, either digital or physical. Some popular real-life robots for the students to explore are:
As a teacher, feel free to research other robots to add to the list. By the time you teach this lesson, there could be some new and popular robots.
During this activity, students will gather information about their assigned robot and gain knowledge about how robots are being utilized in daily life. At the end of the investigation, each group will give a brief presentation about the robot they investigated.
Here the students will use the first worksheet
[This activity is expected to take approximately 10-15 minutes in total, allowing sufficient time for research and presentations]
Make
On the fifth slide, the teacher will introduce the HP Otto robot by showing a video about its features and capabilities. After watching the video, the teacher will demonstrate a built robot to the students, showcasing its physical components and explaining how they contribute to its functionality.
[To further engage the students, the teacher can connect the robot to the Otto web control app, demonstrating how to operate and control the robot using the app’s interface.]
On the next slide, a diagram displaying the internal connections of the robot will be shown. Using the web control app, the teacher will demonstrate how each component of the robot works.
To engage the students, the teacher can actively involve them in the activity. For example:
- Buzzer: The teacher can play various sounds available on the app and ask students to suggest or choose which sound they would like to hear.
- LED ring: The teacher can ask students (up to a maximum of 12) about their favorite colors and display them on the LED ring.
- Ultrasonic sensor: The teacher can activate the avoidance function and make the robot move around the classroom. Students can participate by intercepting the robot’s path with their hands, observing how the robot changes its direction in response.
- Line sensors: Although the line tracking activity will be conducted later, the teacher can explain how the infrared sensors work at this stage.
In the next activity, the entire group will work together to define a racing track circuit for the robot to navigate. The teacher will guide the students in this process, but it is important to allow the students to make the decisions in order to foster their creativity and engagement. The goal is to define a circuit that includes specific landmarks or areas within the classroom for the robot to move around.
For example, the students may decide to start the circuit in front of the teacher’s desk, then describe a square around James’ seat, move in a zigzag pattern between Eva and Raidy’s seats, and finally return to the teacher’s desk. [To maintain efficiency, the teacher should encourage the students to make quick decisions, aiming to complete the circuit definition within 1-2 minutes]
[Optional]: As an additional challenge, the teacher can allow students to take turns controlling the robot and measure their individual completion times. This can add an element of friendly competition among the students.
The next activity is similar to the previous one, but this time the students will create a line track using ‘tape’ on a large white piece of paper or cardboard.
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