GoBox – robot subscription

We believe that the more someone knows about the way technology works, the more effective and successful they will be in any career they choose. However, the way that technology – like engineering and computer science – is taught, caters to those with a specific style of learning, and can often be boring and frustrating for many of us because it requires so much background knowledge.

To solve this, we’re making an easy-to-use robot kit that will enable and excite anyone with any background to learn about coding and technology.

What is the GoPiGo? 

The GoPiGo is the foundation of GoBox. GoPiGo is a robot car we designed and built. With the awesome feedback we received from thousands of users and our thriving, creative community, we have learned how to make it easier to assemble, more durable, and a lot more fun to use! All of these improvements have gone into the GoPiGo3.

Electronics & Programming

The GoPiGo is built around a really neat $40 single board computer called the Raspberry Pi . It was developed by a UK foundation a few years back and has taken the education world by storm — making it easier than ever for young people to get their hands on electronics and learn to program. It’s easy to use, and we think it’s the best platform for beginners because it doesn’t require any prior knowledge.

Read more about the Raspberry Pi and the Non-Profit Foundation that supports it here.

Programming Languages

GoBox is great for beginners because all the Missions are in Bloxter, our block based language similar to Scratch. You can also program the GoPiGo robot in many other languages including Python, Scratch, Node.js, and Go. Our awesome community has even developed Windows10 for the GoPiGo! Don’t know what any of these languages are? Don’t worry, GoBox helps you learn the basics!

When we looked at how to make GoBox accessible and engaging for all skills levels, we decided to use Bloxter, our new block based language similar to Scratch.

Bloxter is an easy drag and drop language we developed for teaching new programmers how to code. Rather than typical lines of code, you’ll use simple shapes and graphics to program your robot.

Why a monthly subscription?

It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Your monthly GoBox comes with everything you need to accomplish a new mission, which keeps learning exciting month after month. Most missions also come with a sensor for you to attach to the GoPiGo and use to accomplish the mission!  Each mission builds on the next, so you are learning new skills and staying engaged over a period of time — which we believe is the key to success!

What’s a Mission?

What’s more exciting than going on a mission? Our team of illustrators, teachers, engineers and designers are crafting beautiful and easy to understand materials that lead you through a story that helps you accomplish something cool with your GoPiGo and each new sensor.

Mission 3, for instance not only teaches concepts about biomimicry but does so in a way that explains programming concepts like if and else statements, how robots read sensor data, concepts like thresholds, and math concepts like averages and how they apply to coding.

Each Mission will be accompanied with helpful videos to get you started and walk you through certain parts of the Mission.

Learn through Play

Engineering Concepts

Each mission has fundamental engineering principles woven into the mission. The GoBox teaches new ways to think about how to approach and solve problems.

Each mission presents a problem and provides the tools to approach and solve the problem in your own unique way. Our missions encourage the design theory approach: state the problem, design, build, code, test, and iterate.

This allows students to find their own answers, and encourages them to come up with their own missions!

Programming Concepts: Making them tangible.

With GoBox, you’re not just playing with a robot, you’re actually learning programming concepts without it ever feeling like a computer science class. A robot makes the whole coding and programming experience tangible and real.

Some of the concepts that are taught in the 12 GoBox missions include: program structure, if then statements, forever until control structures, variables, loops, nesting loops, waits, sequencing, state machine, inputs and outputs, broadcasting, conditional statements, iteration, variables, random numbers, event handling, parallel execution, and boolean logic.

Aren’t sure of what all of these terms mean? No problem – that is exactly what GoBox is meant to help teach.

Not just a toy…

Since GoPiGo can also be programmed in Python, Go, Node.js and a growing list of other languages supported by our community, when you or your child outgrows Bloxter, a whole world of powerful programming languages awaits! Also, because the GoPiGo is open source, our active community is constantly adding new examples, languages, and features.

What’s Included in GoBox?

• GoPiGo3 – the new and improved version of the GoPiGo! You’ll get the brand new version of the GoPiGo robot for the Raspberry Pi. The robot is easy to assemble and turns your Raspberry Pi into a robot car! (works with all versions of the Raspberry Pi)
• Missions – All missions are available through our online platform, Dexter Studio.
• Additional Supplies – Each mission will come with additional supplies to help you add more functions to your GoPiGo in order to accomplish the missions.
• GoPiGo Line Follower – The GoPiGo Line Follower sensor helps you program the GoPiGo to find and follow lines written on a surface.
• Light & Color Sensor – The light sensor detects different levels of light around the GoPiGo, and enables you to program the robot to react to those readings in whatever way you choose! It also is able to detect different colors.
• Sound Sensor – The sound sensor reads the level of noise around the GoPiGo and enables you to use that data to make the GoPiGo react to changes in noise.
• Distance Sensor – The Distance sensor tells how far the GoPiGo is from a solid object. It can be used to measure distance from a wall, person, or another object.
• Buzzer – The buzzer adds sound and alerts to the GoPiGo. Make a sound with the GoPiGo to send alerts or scare your cats!
• LED – The LED adds lights to your GoPiGo. This LED can be attached to the GoPiGo to add a little personalization, help debug programs, and light up the room.
• Motion Sensor – The motion sensor detects moving objects around the GoPiGo.
• Button – Add a button to your GoPiGo. You can plug the button sensor into the GoPiGo to command the robot to move different ways, and do different things.
• Infrared Sensor & Remote Control- Send commands to your GoPiGo with a remote control!