What is Invent?
Invent! is a way to teach coding using physical systems, that comes with a full, free curriculum. It’s one of the only product that can be used to teach coding, create robots, and build a variety of STEM projects from primary through to university level and beyond.
Developed by both engineers and teachers at Tech Camp in the UK, it’s the result of decades worth of experience teaching young people coding and STEM-related skills.
It’s simple enough for novice users to create exciting projects with drag-and-drop coding, but flexible enough to allow highly advanced students to code in ‘real-world’ languages like Python and JavaScript, build fighting robots, and even design their own electronic blocks.
The Invent! Difference
There are many products that can be used in schools, but a product designed for schools is different. It ‘just works’ in a classroom situation, whether for academic lessons, after-school clubs or a STEM day.
- Based on the BBC ‘micro:bit’ - use drag-and-drop programming or languages like ‘Python’ and ‘Javascript’, and benefit from the large learning community
- Rugged but cost-effective hardware that can withstand the rigours of the classroom
- Free step-by-step online lessons
- Get started building and learning in minutes
- Kits designed for busy teachers, with quick assembly and activity boxes with organised compartments for easy break-down and storage
- Designed for novice users but expandable for advanced users and explorations
The Kits
The invent! system consists of 4 kits from simple to advanced. Each comes with the basic blocks to build a robot including a base board and the controller, along with additional components. You can also purchase the parts to upgrade from one kit to another.
Perfect for Novices
There's nothing like the excitement of seeing real-world physical devices like robots, alarms, and games come to life with a simple computer program, and the more exciting the experience, the more deeply embedded the learning becomes.
Invent! uses drag-and-drop or textual coding in Python and Javascript and is programmed using a USB cable from PCs, Macs and Chromebooks. A driver-less connection means that it works out of the box with minimal or no IT support. The clever click-together blocks allow an advanced robot to be constructed and programmed in minutes so you can quickly focus on real-world problem-solving and programming skills.
Extendable for Advanced Users
A ‘micro:bit’ core allows for wireless communications and powerful sensors to detect temperature, motion and magnetic fields. How about creating a wireless weather station with a remote display? You can do things like this both quickly and simply to provide opportunities for even the most advanced students.
Expert users might also like to tinker with our prototyping board and create their own sensors and other electronic blocks or even design their own circuit boards from scratch. Invent! is also fully compatible with over 100 inexpensive off-the-shelf ‘Grove’ modules that add advanced features like gesture recognition, air quality sensors, GPS navigation and more.
Cross-Curricular
Want to build something bigger and better? Why not create your own base boards out of cardboard, sheet plastic or metal? Perhaps create a Formula 1 chassis in DT class ... with access to a laser cutter or even a hand drill, you can create enclosures and mechanical acessories that Invent! modules click into.
Add in the drawing block and teach about geometry in a maths class, or create pictures in art. Add in temperature, light and pH sensors to monitor science experiments and more ...
Online Tutorials
Invent! provides you with many sample projects and a large amount of online tutorials that students can complete. Students move forward at their own rate, freeing up the teacher’s time to spend on helping those who need more assistance.
We've also developed a number of creative printed arenas - poster-size colourful floor mats which integrate with our lesson plans. Become an explorer with our ‘Mars Rover’ mat, or a racing driver with our Formula 1 track.
Who are we?
Invent! is a product of techcamp.org.uk - we've been running technology camps since 2008, teaching young people how to create robots, rockets, computer games, quadcopters and much more. Our experience in both electronic engineering and education is both unmatched and invaluable in designing products like 'Invent!'. Over the years, we’ve used hundreds of different tech education products. We were fed-up with robot kits that didn't drive straight, ran out of batteries in minutes, and where cheap plastic gears in the motors wore out day one. We also weren't prepared to pay many hundreds of pounds for a single good quality robot kit. We decided to fix the problems ourselves and created 'Invent!'.
