CONSTRUCTING A RC VEHICLE
A great way to introduce students to building with Nintendo Labo is by having them build an RC Vehicle. This is the simplest Toy-Con creation, allowing students to experience success quickly while familiarizing themselves with many key concepts of Nintendo Labo. Building the RC Vehicle will teach students how to navigate the Nintendo Labo software interface on the Nintendo Switch system and serve as a model for future Toy-Con construction. Below is a sample lesson plan for building the RC Vehicle.
Title: RC Vehicle
Construction Time: 15-20 minutes
Coding Time: 15-20 minutes
Customization Time: ∞
Materials:
OBJECTIVES
- Students will understand how to use the Nintendo Switch system
- Students will be able to build and customize Nintendo Labo Toy-Con creations
CONSTRUCTION TIME
Step 1.
Form groups of 2-4. Assign every student in the group to be an A or a B (you might have up to 2 As and 2 Bs in each group).
Step 2.
Introduce Nintendo Labo and explain that we will be building the simplest Toy-Con creation, the RC Vehicle. Explain that we will have lots of fun today, but to be successful we will all need to work well as a team!
Step 3.
Explain the Nintendo Labo group roles: a. Nintendo Switch Driver: The student(s) who navigates on the Nintendo Switch screen b. The Builder: The student(s) who creases and folds the cardboard to build the Toy-Con creations. Explain that we will be switching roles and every student will get to be both the Driver and the Builder.
Step 4.
Hand out 1 RC Vehicle sheet and 1 Nintendo Switch to each group. Pairs of students will work together to build ONE RC Vehicle.
NOTE: As you (or student volunteers) hand out the cardboard and Nintendo Switch systems make sure to tell students not to touch the materials (or punch out cardboard pieces) or use the Nintendo Switch system until everyone has what they need and they’re instructed to begin.
Step 5.
Once students have materials, you should give a brief introduction to the controls and navigating the instructions, and then students can begin building. Remind them of the roles. As will start as the Nintendo Switch Driver while Bs build. Make sure to prompt the students to switch roles every 5-7 minutes throughout the building process. Encourage students to only punch out the cardboard pieces highlighted in the instructions on the 7 Nintendo Switch screen. As students build, they can either lay the Nintendo Switch system flat on a surface or use the kickstand (on the back of the system), with the goal of positioning it so that all students can see the screen clearly.
Step 6.
Tell students to pause once they reach the step asking them to insert the Joy-Con controllers into their RC Vehicle. Groups that finish early can begin customizing their vehicles—making sure not to cover the slots on the sides—until all groups are ready to complete next project steps.
Step 7.
Debrief – Bring students back together to discuss their experience. Possible debrief questions:
- What did it take to be a good builder?
- What helped you do it well?
- What challenges did you experience?
- How did you collaborate?
- What do you imagine will be important as we build more complex Toy-Con creations?
CODING TIME
Step 1.
Form groups of 2-4. Assign every student in the group to be an A or a B (you might have up to 2 As and 2 Bs in each group).
Step 2.
Introduce Toy-Con Garage and explain that we will be coding a simple version of an instrument, a guitar. Explain that we will have lots of discoveries today, but to be successful we will all need to work well as a team!
Step 3.
Discover the post-it notes and its special shape. Give every student 1 block. Show the first schemes to the students and try to reproduce it structure with the post-it notes.
- Explain the input node
- Explain the output node
- Explain the middle node
After this practice we will understand how it works, thanks to the post-it notes, and we'll be able to digitalize this knowledge too.
Step 4
Start coding following the coding sheets schemes. One sheet at a time. Explain the Nintendo Labo group roles:
- a. Nintendo Switch Coder: The student(s) who codes on the Nintendo Switch screen
- b. The Analyst: The student(s) who guide and review the code.
Explain that we will be switching roles and every student will get to be both the Coder and the Analyst.
Step 5
When students finish one sheet, try if it works correctly with them. If everything feels ok, encourage them to follow with the next one. Also explain when everyone finish their own code sheets, they have to put together without waiting for the other students.
Step 6
Encourage students to test and refine its code.
- Does the touch zones fit on the screen?
- Are the touch zones easy to use?
- Does all notes play on its place?
- What we can add to the code?
ACTIVITY TIME
Congratulations! You reach the challenge!
Now, you can race with the RC Vehicle or start building more features.
- Try to race with someone, even you can fight!
- Customize your RC Vehicle
- Add more features to your creation
- Build another control scheme
