Wednesday, April 5, 2017

April Meeting: LittleBits Robots

The Bookshoppers had high expectations for The Flinkwater Factor, and they appeared to agree that the actual book didn't quite meet them, which is too bad since it turns out that it's a series! The second book, The Forgetting Machine, just came out this past fall. The group consensus seemed to be that the book was "fine", but everyone wanted more details about the robots and less talk about kissing... On a positive note, none of us had guessed the big twist toward the end, and we all got to watch Carson read the last few chapters as it was revealed to him.

After pizza, catching up, and a brief chat about our favorite parts of the book, we turned our attention to creating our own robot creations using LittleBits and a bunch of other random materials (recycled boxes, cups, latex gloves, pipe cleaners, etc.). Everyone got right to work, a few with very specific ideas in mind of what they wanted their machines to be able to do and a few just exploring what's possible with LittleBits pieces. There are pictures below of the finished robots, but to really get a sense of the creative genius we tapped into on Monday night, watch the videos showcasing each robot and its abilities!

Stefan's Hand Spa




Gabriel's Destroyer and Isaac's Turtle Take 1



Carson's Robot



Avery's Hand Shaker No. 1



Christopher's Automatic Dieting Machine



Our next meeting will be Monday, May 1st, from 5:30-7:00 at the Main Library. We will be discussing The Wolf Keepers by Elise Broach.