Dr_Spock explained "Start a new WeDo topic. You may have to explain a bit of what is WeDo as it not something discussed much here." so here I am.

LEGO WeDo is a junior robotic set sold by LEGO Education much used by schools and not available in retail shops. It is suitable for younger children, even those just starting primary school. Programming is putting together graphic icons (programming blocks) which young children will find easy. This is explained at LEGO WeDo GUI (something that helps us talk with computer). The LEGO WeDo Software is not free but we can also use the free MIT Scratch program

Because I don't live with my grandchildren, I started a blog, Robotics for Children, a sort of distance learning which I hope can be a resource for others.

I have recently hit on something which I think can excite young children and start them getting interested by showing them that just clapping your hands, making noise or even giving "voice command" can make a motor move. I have written about it at

Sound controlled LEGO WeDo motor (incidentally WeDo motors are just Power Function motors which means that pure Technic fans can make their sets do much more interesting things using the LEGO WeDo software or MIT Scratch)

and to make it even more interesting, I made another post

Command motor to move in 41 languages

So Technic afficionados, you can shout out MOVE to your Technic dump truck and the dump truck will move

This is a good introduction that you've presented here, Thank You.

In all honesty, and I'm sure many would agree with me on this, this EB forum is primarily explored/run by young/old adults, and as such, we tend to go after the best / more sophisticated Lego has to offer. While WeDo is certainly 'appealing' to a younger audience, I do find it very 'limited' in what it can do, and prefer to use the MindStorms EV3/NXT Sets.

I wonder if there is an EB_Juniors sub-forum ...

Maybe there are some parents or grandparents (like myself) who have young children/grandchildren?

Maybe some may like challenges? Like beating the system and hacking the tilt and distance (motion) sensors such as hacking the distance sensor to become like a sort of light sensor for use in a LINE FOLLOWER? I understand the people over at Sniff have hacked the tilt sensor to time the pendulum and measure gravity etc.

BTW do the people here uses Mindstorms for LEGO Power Function motors?

@DrJB: I own WeDo. It contains quite a bit of technic, powerfunctions and programming. Why wouldn't WeDo belong here? Where are you getting your forum statistics? There might be poeple out there that do not wish to fork over tons of cash to buy Mindstorms and opt to buy WeDo to start off with. By the way 50% of your topics get moved to other forums anyways. Lol.

I believe WeDo fits into this forum due to similarity to Mindstorm, just as much as Duplo Trains in the Trains forum. There are adults with kids or grandkids and Duplo Trains. A couple AFOLs even used Duplo train switch tracks to make crazy logic gates. Some will find pcfw's WeDo stuff useful as some do with the Duplo Trains threads in the Train forum.

@DrJB: I own WeDo. It contains quite a bit of technic, powerfunctions and programming. Why wouldn't WeDo belong here?

Where did you get such impression?

Where are you getting your forum statistics? There might be people out there that do not wish to fork over tons of cash to buy Mindstorms and opt to buy WeDo to start off with.

Sure, let those people come forward and offer constructive feedback. The OP has started several threads related specifically to WeDo and everytime he did, he got very few answers, simply because WeDo is not that popular. I was merely suggesting he tries a 'different' audience (younger) to see what feedback he gets.

By the way 50% of your topics get moved to other forums anyways. Lol.

And, why the 'personal/targeted' attacks against my topics? Duh! ... you must be having a rough day .

I'm fully aware of WeDo and did look into that. Though, primarily because it uses software developed by my Alma Mater. To me it was a remake of the Control Lab (below) with more emphasis on actual coding and newer sensors.

In closing, can you show US what YOU have been building with WeDo? For sure, one gets bored very quickly with TLG basic examples.

I believe WeDo fits into this forum due to similarity to Mindstorm, just as much as Duplo Trains in the Trains forum. There are adults with kids or grandkids and Duplo Trains. A couple AFOLs even used Duplo train switch tracks to make crazy logic gates. Some will find pcfw's WeDo stuff useful as some do with the Duplo Trains threads in the Train forum.

Good! And no one (including I) said otherwise. Again, I was merely pointing that the OP might get a better response if there was a dedicated WeDo subforum. It is a bit like FLL, there are few mentions of it in this forum, but to get the best FLL coverage, go to LegoFirst, where most forum members share the same platform/interest.

@DrJB: "my Alma Mater"

Wow you studied in MIT?

Just want to say i think it's great what you are doing with your blog!

Kelkschiz, heel erg bedankt

I was a student in the Flemish part of Belgium in the 70s

Hi.

In closing, can you show US what YOU have been building with WeDo? For sure, one gets bored very quickly with TLG basic examples.

I use WeDO mainly for two purposes:

- control LEGO motors from my computer at the beginning of my projects (I find it easier to use the PC than the Mindstorms)

- use more than 4 motors with my EV3

Here you can see my first experiments with an automatic train turntable: I used WeDo to control it from my PC:

After a while, I switched to the EV3 (running ev3dev) and used the very smae scripts. Then I dropped the WeDo and now I use a EV3 motor but will use the WeDo later to control 2 track swicthes like this one:

Edited March 16, 20159 yr by MajorAlvega

Using WeDo with Mindstorms Technic etc is something I had hoped to be easier as if possible not only me but everyone who may have a Wedo would want as we want to extend its useful life.

One limitation is its wired connection to the computer. That was why I had tried getting SBrick makers to make it compatible with WeDo but looks like we may have a long wait.

@DrJB: "my Alma Mater"

Wow you studied in MIT?

Yes, many many years ago ...

On a different note, and while the OP is interested in applications for 'youngsters', it might be worthwhile to extend the scope a bit and cover ALL WeDo applications. It seems there are 'more' users than initially perceived.

What other interesting WeDo projects can the EB community share on here?

Interesting.

H