We have been looking very much forward to launching this new super cool Fable accessory – The Throwing Arm.
The Throwing Arm can be used for even more fun and engaging activities with the Fable robot(s). The Throwing Arm is made of fiberglass sheet which give the students the ability to develop and program a robot that can throw a ping pong ball.
The Throwing Arm can be purchased as a single item incl. a ping pong ball or as a set included a base 3D module and a 3D connector module.
You can also cut the Fable Throwing Arm yourself, by using the pdf-file we have saved on thingiverse.com as a guide . We are using 0,5 mm glass fiber material. You can also 3D print your own base for the Throwing Arm. We have made this part super easy for you with the model saved on thingiverse.com. Simply print the model and attach it on a Fable 3D connector module. See more details on thingiverse.com.
►► To get starting using the Fable Throwing Arm we have created some inspirational lesson material which can be obtained on our website for free.
If you want to buy any Fable accessories or want to know more about the assortment of Fable, please do not hesitate to contact your preferred reseller or contact us on hello@shaperobotics.com. You can also book a 30-day free trial of the Fable system, available in most European countries.
We, at Shape Robotics, love to follow the impact that Fable helps create for young people. This is a story about a Danish high school that started teaching Fable robotics and math to all first-year pupils.
Birkerød Gymnasium was one of the first high-schools to start using Fable and is one of our partners where we together test new ideas and develop educational materials. The high school has around 1000 pupils and is idyllically located not far from Copenhagen and less than 10 km away from the Shape Robotics headquarter in Farum.
Our collaboration with Birkerød Gymnasium began when Headmaster, Anders Kloppenborg, and a group of science and math teachers were looking for new ways to teach STEM topics to their pupils. Math and physics teachers Kasper Astrup Eriksen was the first to discover Fable when he read a story in the local technical university magazine that described our research and explained how simple the Fable system was to use even for younger pupils.
After getting their hands-on Fable, the teachers created a “Robotics Group” and scheduled regular meetings where they discussed and explored how they could use the Fable system in their teaching which ranges from physics to math and programming. Several ideas were tested with pupils, for example, how to teach linear regression with data assembled from a Fable robot equipped with a laser pointer.
When a local newspaper visited the high school, they asked why they choose to teach with robots:
“The robots are a good way to create interest in the complicated mathematics education”, says math teacher Randi Grange.
Today all 1-years pupils are being taught with Fable as interdisciplinary lessons in mathematics and physics. An example includes using sound to control a Fable robot. This is done using linear and non-linear equations to transform the sound data to angles for controlling the robot. This is how it looked like when the local TV station visited the school (TV2 Lorry, in Danish):
On top of the importance of motivating for math, Randi Grange also noted the importance with respect to future jobs:
“Robotic technology is in rapid development and has exciting career opportunities, so it’s good that the students get acquainted with the subject.”
In fact, according to a recent study, 30-40% of all jobs are likely to being automated by 2030. Fortunately, the pupils are ready to embrace the new technology and their work with robots can help them inspire their career choices:
“When I started in high school, I would like to read medicine and work as a doctor, but now (…) I have begun to get more interest in, for example, medical research and manufacturing, so programming can be relevant to me in the future”, says first-year student Anna Olesen.
If you would also like to get started with educational robotics, feel free to contact us on hello@shaperobotics.com. You can also book a 30-day free trial of the Fable system, available in many European countries.
https://old.shaperobotics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Pupils-1-7332f84f.jpg250400shaperobotics_cohttps://www.shaperobotics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Logonew-300x113.pngshaperobotics_co2018-05-09 08:39:142018-11-26 05:57:56Teaching high-school students using robots
