Dublin’s Robotify launches robotics lessons as a service

Many of us look back and wish we had learned some important skill like speaking a foreign language as a child. A Dublin startup isn’t going to necessarily help you order a pint in Portuguese, but it could help people around the world learn to change the world.

Robotify launched their new system to teach robotics to a global audience. Robotify Vivero is a robotic coding platform where children can control robots without having robots at home.

The business operates like a software as a service says co-founder and CEO, Adam Dalton. In their 90-minute courses, students can remotely control robots located at Robotify’s laboratory in Dublin.

Students can create a programme and watch the robot play out the commands via the video feed.

Dalton says the crash courses are meant as an introduction to robotics.

“It is a pretty proficient way to learn and gives kids a really easy and friendly introduction to the world of coding,” says Dalton.

The main advantage of the RaaS (robots as a service) model is the cost difference. Robotics kits for children can range in price to more than €200 (though some are certainly less expensive). A spot in one of Robotify’s courses is €14.99. The other advantage is that students anywhere in the world could learn using the same hardware.

Robotify says students will learn the following in the 90-minute course:

– Basic Programming Terminology

– Electronics

– Internet of Things

– Maths

– Operators

– Variables

– If statements

– Loops

– Blockly graphical programming

Dalton says Vivero can make a big impact because their graphical programming system shows “how code works in real life.”

Currently, the company is piloting the crash courses which run three days a week at 2 pm. Dalton says they plan to expand the course offering, especially to work around requests from education organisation and schools. The courses are live, so students can see their connected robot fulfil the task in real time.

Robotify located at DCU’s Alpha Campus, Ireland’s largest IoT lab.

If you’re interested in enrolling in the course, click here.