Foundation class hub

Day workshop · BotWorkshop

Foundation day

What robots are, program a robot, and fly a drone.

Foundation Day workshop Robot + drone

Today’s goal

Leave knowing what a robot is, with robot missions you coded, a drone flight, and a certificate to take home.

What you need

Laptop with Chrome/Edge, CP210x USB driver, USB cable. Robot: batteries, DIP ON, Bluetooth unplugged to upload. Drone: charged battery, phone app, Python 3 for block missions.

Coding

Coding opens in a new page. Robot → Upload to Turtle in the browser. Drone → download the drone program. Test flight is on Setup.

Workshop agenda

~3 h 15 min of robot fun. Tap Turtle robot to see every mission.

0:00 – 0:15

Hello & cool robots

Say hi — then see awesome robots!

2:15 – 2:45

Tello drone

Take off! Then discover how flying works.

2:45 – 2:55

How robots think

Peek inside — brains, motors & sensors.

2:55 – 3:05

Robots everywhere

Watch robots help in the real world.

3:05 – 3:15

Certificates & photos

You did it — smile for the camera!

Two robots today

A ground turtle you program over USB, and a Tello quadcopter you fly to feel lift, weight, thrust, and drag.

Turtle robot · KS0558 Smart Turtle Car V3.0

Arduino-compatible car. The Keyestudio V4.0 board (UNO, ATmega328P, CP2102 USB) reads sensors; the stacked 8833 driver board runs the motors. Product introduction.

Brain

V4.0 UNO-compatible board. Program over USB. Install the CP2102 driver if Windows does not show a COM port.

Motor shield

Keyestudio 8833 (DRV8833) expansion board: motors, IR receiver, ultrasonic / line-track ports, Bluetooth header, servo. Motor drive 6–9 V. Direction pins D2/D4, PWM speed D5/D6 (0–255).

Movement

Two N20 metal gear motors (~63 rpm at 5 V) plus casters. Power the battery holder and set the DIP switch to ON when you want the car to drive.

Ultrasonic + servo

Ranger on a 9g servo “neck”. Detects about 2–400 cm, narrow cone. Used for ultrasonic scan & move and “stay in a circle”.

Line tracking

IR line sensor under the chassis. Kit includes a tracking runway. If the turtle misses the tape, try Line sensor → Flipped in Coding, then Upload again.

Face, IR, Bluetooth

8×8 LED matrix for expressions. IR remote (<10 m). DX-BT24 BLE (<20 m) with Android “Turtle Car” / iOS “keyes BT car”. Unplug the Bluetooth module before uploading code, then plug it back in.

Extras

Optional sensors on the Bluetooth header (instead of the DX-BT24). Coding has an Extras category for the passive buzzer.

Open Extras · wiring & code →

Power: logic 5 V, motor input 6-9 V. Battery holder (18650 or 4×AA in the kit) plus USB for programming. Switch motors off between tests so kits last the session.

Tello drone · Ryze Robotics

A small indoor quadcopter for learning flight and coding. Facts below are from ryzerobotics.com/tello and the specs.

Four forces

Weight (~80 g with props and battery) pulls down. Lift from the four 3-inch props pushes up. Thrust comes from tilting so some of that force goes sideways. Drag from air slows that motion.

Hover, climb, descend

Hover: lift = weight (vision positioning helps it stay put). Climb: lift > weight. Descend / land: lift < weight. Barometer and range finder help hold height.

How a quad yaws

Pitch and roll: tilt the body so thrust has a horizontal part. Yaw: opposite rotors speed up or slow down so torque spins the drone without much tilt. DJI flight tech keeps it stable.

Energy & limits

1.1 Ah / 3.8 V pack, about 13 min in the air. Official max: 100 m distance, 8 m/s, 30 m height. Class stays indoor and low. Low-battery alert and failsafe landing are built in.

Size & safety

About 98×92.5×41 mm. Auto takeoff and land with a tap. Throw & Go, 8D flips, and Bounce exist on the app — we skip stunts in the first coding missions.

See & talk

5 MP stills, 720p live view, electronic image stabilisation, two antennas, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi. The drone is its own hotspot (TELLO-xxxxxx) for the PC scripts and the phone app.

Optional · Tello mobile app

You can also fly from a phone instead of the PC. Download the official app. Join TELLO-xxxxxx on the phone. Do not fly from the phone and the PC at the same time.

Camera on a PC

The test flight download on the Setup tab opens the 720p stream (streamon, UDP port 11111). Install FFmpeg (ffplay) or opencv-python first. Press c to toggle the camera. The browser cannot show this video.

Class path: Setup → test flight (keys + camera). Coding → your Tello program. The official app is optional.

Turtle projects

LED, motors, 8×8 face, ultrasonic scan & move, line follow — Coding (new page) → Turtle. Draw upright on the 8×8 pad; Upload flips it for the kit mount.

Tello projects

Open one to load the blocks in a new Coding page, then Download Tello program. Stay low. Test flight (keys + camera) is on Setup.

Videos

Class playlist: ideas and coding, physics of flight, our kits, then real-world showcases.

Ideas & coding

Future now

Set the scene for why robotics and tech matter today.

What is coding?

Simple picture of programs as instructions for machines.

Block coding

Snap-together blocks — same idea as our Coding page.

What is a robot?

Sense → think → act. Intro for the start of class.

Physics

How airplanes fly

Lift, weight, thrust, and drag on a fixed wing.

How drones fly

Same four forces on a quadcopter — useful before Tello.

Our kit

Turtle robot

Meet the Smart Turtle Car used in Foundation.

Tello drone

The drone we fly in Foundation class.

Showcase

Sydney drone show

Many drones acting as one coordinated system.

Robot in factory · BYD

Industrial robots on a production line.

Robot in factory · Amazon warehouse

Warehouse robots moving shelves and goods.

Robots for good · head-controlled wheelchair

Building tech that helps someone move again — robotics for a good cause.

Setup for the turtle robot

Do this on each laptop before (or at the start of) class. Windows and Mac. Upload runs in Chrome — no Arduino IDE required for class.

  1. Use Chrome or Edge (not a phone). Install the CP210x UART driver from Silicon Labs USB to UART downloads (Windows and Mac). On Mac, allow it in Privacy & Security if asked, then restart.
  2. On this PC (for Upload to Turtle): npm run setup:cli once, then npm run dev, and open http://localhost:5173/code.html. The public website cannot flash the robot.
  3. Plug the Turtle USB cable into the laptop.
  4. Unplug the DX-BT24 Bluetooth module before every upload. Batteries in and DIP switch ON when the turtle should drive.
  5. Snap blocks → Upload to Turtle → pick the USB port. Download .ino is only a backup if you need Arduino IDE.

Setup for the Tello drone (from a PC)

Fly and program from the laptop. The browser cannot talk to Tello directly — Python on this PC sends the SDK commands over Wi-Fi.

  1. Charge the 1.1 Ah / 3.8 V battery. Props on. Indoor, clear space.
  2. Power on Tello. On the PC, connect Wi-Fi to TELLO-xxxxxx (you will lose internet).
  3. Close the Tello phone app. Only this PC should control the drone.
  4. Install Python 3. On Windows check with py -3 --version.
  5. Camera on PC: install a decoder, then restart the terminal. Windows (FFmpeg): winget install --id Gyan.FFmpeg -e — confirm with ffplay -version. Mac: brew install ffmpeg. Or: py -3 -m pip install opencv-python (needs internet before you join Tello Wi-Fi).
  6. Join Wi-Fi TELLO-xxxxxx. Then download the test flight (this is not your Coding program — it only checks keys and camera):

    Download test flight

    Run py -3 tello_pc.py. Space = takeoff / land. Arrows = fly. c = camera. r/f up/down, q/e yaw, Esc emergency.
  7. Your Tello program: open Coding → Tello drone → Download Tello program → py -3 tello_mission.py while still on Tello Wi-Fi.
  8. Stay low. Official max 13 min / 100 m / 8 m/s / 30 m height. Land on low battery.
  9. Optional: fly from a phone with the official app. Join TELLO-xxxxxx on the phone. Close Python first — one device at a time.