How I Use Tinkercad to Teach Robotics to Students!

Now, this isn't me talking about how I made some specific project with the help of Tinkercad, but rather my experience as being the head of the Robotics club in my school for 4 years now.

I have been given the responsibility to teach students in my school about robotics, every Thursday, from 2-3 P.M. Every class has been quite the adventure for me, and I want to share my experience with you all, along with how Tinkercad has been such a huge help, both during the pandemic and in person.

[I may update this instructable in the future as I do more projects, so keep an eye out for that!]

There's really not much needed to use Tinkercad, as long as you have a working computer and an internet connection, you are good to go! The only thing to limit you here is your Imagination.

For those who don't know, Tinkercad is a free software that can be used by anyone with a browser and an internet connection. It has tools like making electronic circuits with various parts ranging from Micro:bit and Arduinos, 3D modelling for projects, and coding at your fingertips. The interface is extremely simple to navigate and is comfortable for both beginners and experienced users.

Once you create an account, you can access your dashboard. Here you can see all your projects- be it a 3D model you made, or a circuit diagram you found online and wanted to edit to make it fit your needs.

You can see some of my designs here, though they haven't been used as much recently :}

During the pandemic, everything was online, which included this club. It was such a shock when I got to know that I would have to somehow teach the students about robotics with no physical interaction. No physical interaction meant that they would never learn how to make proper breadboard circuits, and that's a huge problem.

Luckily, Tinkercad came to the rescue. Remember how one of my projects is 3 years old? Well, I decided to check on it and realised that Tinkercad added a new feature: Circuit making.

This one feature alone saved my career (if you can call it a career). I was able to show the students how breadboard circuits were made, and how they should wire their components to the Arduino Uno. I explained to them the basics of robotics, what a robot is, how microcontrollers work, and much more from what I knew. After having an opportunity to delve into the world of robotics, most of the students in the club went ahead and bought their own kits to mess around with!

In my first year of being the head of the club, there were only 5 students who had enrolled. Year by year, that number increased to 10, then 20, and now that number has increased to a whopping 40 students this year!

The way I taught was quite simple really. I first taught the students some basics of electronics, how breadboards work, and how to use the Arduino. Once they were comfortable and confident in these areas, I would ask them if they wanted to learn about any specific component. Then before the next session, I would read up about that specific component, and tell them how to wire it, what it's used for, and how they can make a project with it.

Then, once every few classes, I would assign homework for the students to do. They would be given components to use and solve a problem with. Students were really allowed to go wild with their creativity here, and it was really interesting to see the solutions they came up with!

You can see some of the circuits I taught in the pictures and even the code with TInkercads code blocks.

So far, the students have made projects ranging from automatic night lights, Ultrasonic distance measurers, Displaying messages on an LCD + i2C and more!

Online schooling was not an easy task, but Tinkercad made things so much easier. It has been such a pleasure using Tinkercad these past 2-3 years.

Even after schools have reopened, I still use tinkercad to design the circuit and show how it works digitally on the projector. Then the students go ahead and make changes to the digital circuit as necessary, and then make it with their physical kits!

I have been able to make projects like Obstacle avoiding bots, Quadrupeds, and students have been making projects like fingerprint door locks, and mecannum drawing bots!

Tinkercad has been a huge catalyst and a motivator for the students to go ideate, create and make final results to show to everyone. I will definitely continue using tinkercad, even after graduating from school.

If there is a robotics club in your school, I would definitely recommend you enroll in it, and suggest they use Tinkercad to make life easier. If there isn't a robotics club, go send a proposal for one!