Learning with Robots in Jupyter
What could be more rewarding for an aspiring programmer than watching their code come to life in a robot?
This is the idea that Seymour Papert, pioneer of computer science education, championed when he co-created the Logo programming language in 1967. Children used Logo to steer a "turtle", a small robot that rolled across the floor following simple commands such as FORWARD 100 or RIGHT 90. In his 1980 book Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas, he argued that computers could put powerful ideas in children's hands rather than drill facts into their heads.
Unfortunately, capable robots, such as an educational six-axis arm, cost a few thousand euros, which rules out one per student. Consumer products such as toys may be the answer. They are mass-produced, affordable, and built to meet strict safety standards, which makes them well suited to a classroom full of children. Papert understood this well: he began collaborating with Denmark's LEGO as early as 1985. As a construction kit, LEGO offered something no ready-made robot could: the same bricks can become a vehicle, a crane, or an animal, so children design the robot they then program. In 1998, LEGO paid him tribute by naming its new robotics line Mindstorms, after his book, bringing programmable bricks into countless homes.