Codey Rocky STEM Educational Kit – Review and Workshop

STEM Centre Australia is an Adelaide based educational course provide in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields, which is another arm of Tutors SA, one of the leading tutoring services in South Australia.

Tutors SA and STEM Centre Australia have been a great fan of the STEM Educational kits developed by Makeblock products. This is mainly due to the innovative and creative nature of these STEM products.

STEM Centre Australia hosted another great workshop on Robotics and Coding with East Torrens Primary School students, ranging from school years 3 – 7. Students explored and reviewed Codey Rocky, which is an excellent STEM Educational kit. A combination of playful hardware and powerful software facilitates students learn to code while playing and allows them to develop their skills and understanding in programming, logical thinking, computational thinking and collaborative skills.

Checkout the Workshop video below.

Codey Rocky

Codey Rocky is an excellent educational programmable robot, consisting of 2 parts. Codey and Rocky. Codey is equipped with more than 10 built-in electronic modules like sensors, IR receiver, and servo. Simply with Codey, children are able to design their own games as a way to reinforce their innovation, creativity, and logical thinking.

Figure 1: Codey and its various components (sensors and actuators)

As the chassis of Codey, Rocky is the car that is capable of taking Codey anywhere, based on the developed code, and incorporate more features.

Figure 2: Rockey

Easy to Start Creating Simple Projects and have Fun

You can first program the Codey Rocky by dragging and dropping code blocks and gradually gain more advanced skills, and transition into Python programming.

Codey Rockey is low-entry for beginners, and together with mBlock software,  users are to learn concepts behind Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT). Such as from voice and face recognition, mood sensing to infrared TV controls, home appliances control, get weather reports, and much more!

Furthermore, If This, Then That (IFTTT) connect events with IoT and IFTTT can be used to make the Codey Rocky a truly interactive and useful robot.

mBlock 5

Easy to Start Makeblock’s mBlock 5 programming software is based on MIT’s graphical programming language Scratch 3.0 to guarantee that beginners can get started coding within minutes. Make your ideas real in mBlock 5 and see your coding companion run your code. All you need to do is drag and drop! Available on various platform regardless if you prefer to program on MacBook, Chromebook or desktop PC, or even in the cloud, mBlock 5 is ready for you to get started with code.

mBlock allows the user to change programming language to Python just by a click of a button. Python is regarded as one of the most sought-after scripting languages within the programming community. The ability to code with Python in mBlock further the students’ learning experience and provide a platform to learn an advanced programming language, which is heavily used in real practical applications as well. For students who are aspiring to become experts in STEM field, especially in coding, this is a great advantage early in their learning.

Hardware Compatibility and Modularity

Codey Rocky is designed to be compatible with Makeblock Neuron and LEGO® bricks. Users can extend and explore more applications and make the learning experience even more exciting, engaging and a lasting experience.

Overall the Codey Rocky together with mBlock 5 software is definitely a great STEM Educational Kit that parents and even schools should consider for early introduction of robotics and coding and the underlying concepts behind them.