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Texas Instruments Debuts Classroom Robot

Students can connect to Rover through the TI Innovator Hub with a TI-84 Plus CE or TI-Nspire CX graphing calculator and program the robot to draw, dance or crash.

Texas Instruments has unveiled the TI-Innovator Rover, a robot for use in middle and high school STEM classrooms.

Students can connect to Rover through the TI Innovator Hub with a TI-84 Plus CE or TI-Nspire CX graphing calculator and program the robot to draw, dance or crash. Other features of the robotic car include:

  • A rechargeable battery;
  • A color sensor;
  • A distance sensor;
  • An LED display;
  • A gyroscope; and
  • A marker holder for drawing on paper.

Girls Inc Dallas used Rover in a pilot and asked students to algebra and geometry to crash the robot or make it follow a line. "I'd give the Rover an A+, because I really, really love using it," said Mia Gonzales, a sophomore at Bishop Dunne Catholic High School, in a prepared statement. "It's more interactive than what you would usually do in a regular classroom with math; it's hands-on, very visual, and fun and exciting at the same time."

"Normally, I'm really distracted when it comes to math, but this was fun enough for me to pay attention," added Zamantha Romero, a freshman at Sunset High School, in a news release.

"We created Rover to demystify robotics and give students who might be intimidated by programming an easy on-ramp to learn to code," said Peter Balyta, president of TI Education Technology, in a prepared statement. "Given the sheer joy we have seen on students' faces as they learned to code during our testing phase, we are excited to see how Rover will inspire more young minds through an introduction to robotics."

The Rover is slated for availability in the United States and Canada this fall and in Europe early next year. For more information visit education.ti.com.

About the Author

Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at [email protected].

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