The Integration Engineering Laboratory at UC Davis recently acquired a programmable
Finch robot used to support a hands-on
introduction to programming. The Finch supports a multitude of languages to encourage
people of all ages to indulge. The Finch comes included with
- Light, Temperature, and Obstacle Sensors
- Accelerometers
- Motors
- Buzzer
- Full Color Beak LED
- Pen Mount for Drawing Capability
- Plugs into USB Port = No Batteries Required
Graduate students in the UC Davis IEL have created a few examples of
introductory programs applicable to the Finch robot. These programs utilize and test
each of the built in sensors and functions of the Finch to further its
educational capacity.
The IEL graduate students program the Finch using
Ch - a C/C++ interpretive scripting language. Ch is user friendly for students to learn computer programming in C/C++. To program Finch in Ch yourself, download one of the FinchCh packages below. These install packages include the instructions to run programs in Ch, the Finch function libraries, and a few example programs to get you started.
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