Buggy Battles
Design, Build, Code…. DESTROY ALL COMPETITORS
(or just bimble around and sometimes fall over)
Making, coding, engineering & design workshops using recycled materials
- one-off 90 minute workshop + end battle, using pre-made Buggies
- mini-project: Design & build your own Buggy + races, challenges & battles (sumo & melee)
Make your own intelligent (ish) buggy out of recycled materials, program it to sense the environment, set it to Battle. If you want to try some coding but don’t want to be stuck at a computer the whole time then try this out. Fun and practical applications of coding and logic that encourage experimentation to achieve clear goals. No-one really wins the battles but we all have fun and learn about design, engineering, coding, logic and sensors. Unlike us the Buggies can’t learn and they are definitely not AI, but this activity is a great way to start discussions and understand more about what AI is, what it isn’t and what AI means in the world around us.
- For school groups between years 5 and 9
- Recommended for groups of up to 18
- Available as a one-off 90-120 minute workshop using pre-built buggies
- or as a 5-hour project which includes designing and building the buggies
- Battles can take place in school at the end of workshops, or as larger events
- Buggies run on the fantastic Crumble Controller by Redfern Electronics
- Coding is visual, similar to Scratch. No prior experience necessary
- Laptops can be provided (at extra cost) or we can use yours, with free software installed
‘Steve developed and delivered a fantastic, thought-provoking session for schools visiting the Science and Media Museum during British Science Week and the Yorkshire Games Festival. The session, Buggy Battles, gave our young people the chance to learn and experiment with coding to bring their buggy to life, and have some of the more exciting buggy battles I’ve had the pleasure of seeing!
We would highly recommend working with Steve and Noisy Toys for your next tinkering or coding project, and look forward to having his team back in the Museum, boosting STEM learning for Bradford’s young people.’
Katie Turner, Producer (schools & families), Science & Media Museum
‘We chose to make a small and fast Buggy that can dodge out of the way of the big ones’ – Sam, year 5 at Bickley Park prep school, London
‘I certainly would recommend Buggy Battles, the children were engrossed and the project really captured the older children’s interest and enthusiasm. They thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of listening and working together to attempt to solve issues and I know they really enjoyed the final battle. We all felt the remote learning worked well and given the circumstances we faced at the time it was light relief which the children looked forward to.’
Gina Blagbrough, Principal, Scout Road Academy, Mytholmroyd
Buggy Battles workshop kits for schools
One-off workshops:
One short (90-120 minute) workshop using our pre-built buggies, where we focus on using the code and the sensor, what AI means, and end in a fun, chaotic battle lasting 5-10 minutes with all the buggies together in an arena. There are no winners but well coded buggies will get loud cheers!
Build-your-own Buggy project:
Over one whole school day, or split into 5 weekly hour-long sessions or any other combination of sessions. We learn how to connect up the Crumble, covering basic circuitry, then to sequence coloured LED lights. We attach switches and then motors and then an ultrasonic sensor which allows the buggy to ‘see’ using echo location like bats. We look at different design priorities for vehicles, and start to draw our own plans, then we can get to work with cardboard, scissors and tape to build and customise our own buggies. We can test and improve our work, trying various challenges before we enter the final battles. Battles can combine different groups or even different schools at an appropriate event.
DIY Buggy project with online videos:
You can run the whole project in-house with full support
DIY Buggy project with online videos:
You can run the whole project in-house with full support from us via step-by-step Making videos and 1-2-1 video calls. We can even post you all of the physical resources and Buggy kits (you will need to provide the computers).