Ringo as a STEM Educational Platform

Visit the main Ringo Page to learn more.
Ringo is a great platform for teaching kids a range of skills. 
  • Free lesson plan and video series.
  • Programmed with Arduino.  Easy to learn open source programming environment. 
  • Get started quickly.  No building required.  No breadboards.  No tedious wiring connections. 
  • Low cost compared to other kits you may already be using. Each student can have their own robot. Group sizes can be kept small.
  • Educational discounts available.
  • We gave Ringo a "cute" factor and personality that engages kids of all ages and is especially appealing to girls.
View the Ringo Kickstarter video that started it all!
Download Printable PDF Overview
Ringo was designed by Kevin King and his two kids. It started as a fun project building a single robot for our own family. Seeing the educational potential of the robot Ringo was launched on Kickstarter in early 2015 with much success. Ringo is now available to kids, parents, and educational groups. Please Contact Us to order Ringo for your own STEM education. We are happy to get involved with your organization, collaborate, and help you make education fun and rewarding for your students!

​Ninja Style Agility

Ringo runs on a pair of micro DC motors. Each motor can be run forward or reverse in increments from 0 to 255 allowing for fine control of movement. His speed is amazingly fast. Motors are over-current protected even when stalled. Any smooth surface or desktop is suitable.

​Six RGB Color Lights

The six RGB "NeoPixel" lights can be made to show any color. A single line of code is all that's needed to control lights individually as well as common pairs like "OnEyes()".  All lights can be turned off with a single line of code. This makes the concepts easy to learn and encourages endless customization by the students. View the Lights lesson here.

Barrier Detection Using Front IR Sensors

​Antonymous roaming can be explored. Ringo's front sensors allow for barrier detection. Students interact with their hands, or adapt the behavior for obstacle avoidance and maze navigation. 

​Light Sensing

Detecting and reacting to light is easy. Ringo sports three ambient light sensors. One near each eye and one on the tail. Each are angled 120 degrees apart enabling 360 degree relative light sensing.

Onboard Navigation - Accelerometer & Gyroscope

Ringo includes a 3-axis Accelerometer as well as a 3-axis Gyroscope enabling a complete inertial navigation platform. Use our pre-canned functions to move specific distances, make accurate turns, and react to outside stimulus like bumps or rotations.

​Edge and Line Detection

Ringo has three bottom sensors. One under each antenna and one under his tail. This allows autonomous behaviors for line following and edge detection.

Ringo Educational Guide

The Ringo Educational Guide will introduce the basics of Ringo's hardware and how to program him.  The guide is separated into chapters and takes you from basic installation through basic coding and then on to more advanced topics.
  • Get the complete guide here
  • Get the companion example code for the guide here

We have broken out several useful chapters individually below, which can be used in a classroom setting. Each chapter would make for an interesting hour long lesson. Feel free to print and share.
  • Code Basics - Learn the super basics of code formatting
  • Color Lights - Learn how to control Ringo's six beautiful color lights
  • Motors - Learn how to control Ringo's motor speed and direction for movement
  • Chirps - Learn how to make Ringo play sound - chirps, zips, pings, and music notes
  • Light Sensors - Learn how to read and react to Ringo's light sensors
  • Navigation - Learn functions to easily drive Ringo based on his gyroscope and accelerometer

Pre-Loaded Behaviors

Ringo's PreLoaded Behaviors can be activated by pressing the corresponding key on the included remote control. This list is for PreLoaded Behaviors Rev05.
  • Turn on Ringo. He will chirp and flash his eyes blue. He is now waiting to be told which behavior to run. In this waiting mode, his tail will blink blue once a second.
  • Press a key on the remote to activate the corresponding behavior.
  • Some behaviors can be exited by pressing the "MENU" button the remote.  Others require you press the "Reset" button on Ringo (the button right next to the power switch).  You can also reset the behavior by turning Ringo OFF then back ON.

Behavior List:
  1. Drive with Remote
    Use remote arrows to drive around.  "X" key changes eye color, "A" and "B" change individual eye color, "0" key plays a cheer. Number keys play an octave of notes.  Great starting point to make your own remote control driven behavior.
  2. Attack Bug
    Ringo uses his accelerometer to determine when poked.  Ringo attempts to turn toward the offending poke and attacks. With some editing this could be made into "run away bug".  Good base for vibration or touch triggered behavior.
  3. The Ringo Dance
    Super simple behavior.  Only a few lines of code produces amazingly organic movement.  Uses random number generator to drive Ringo's "dance" moves.  Could use this as a base for all kinds of "dance" action or random movements.
  4. Spin Squeek
    Another simple one.  Ringo reads light sensors and when seeing a change over a threshold (like a shadow passing over), he triggers an action.  In this case it's spinning with squeek but it could be anything.  Great basis for your own light activated behaviors.
  5. Color Wheel
    Ringo uses his gyroscope to determine which direction he faces, then makes his eyes match the color of the "color wheel" in that direction.  A simple edit makes his tail show the complementary color.  Press the User button and Ringo turns a circle by himself.
  6. Follow Light
    Ringo does an amazing job of seeking light. Try this in a dark room and turn on a flashlight. Very sensitive, and the code is easy to follow. Use this as the basis for any light seeking (or running away from) behavior.
  7. Drive Square
    Uses Ringo's easy automatic navigation functions.  These functions use Ringo's accelerometer and gyroscope to move a set direction and make snappy accurate turns.  Use this as a basis to learn Ringo's navigation functions.
  8. Maintain Heading
    Ringo uses his gyroscope to try and hold a heading.  Rotate him by hand and he'll return back to his starting heading. Press the User button to reset Ringo to a new heading.  This is a good basis for understanding how to deal with the gyroscope as you move toward more advanced behaviors.
  9. Follow Line
    Uses Ringo's bottom sensors under the feelers to track a 1/2" wide (about 1 cm) black line on white poster board.
  10. Autonomous Roaming
    Press the "0" key on the remote to start this one. This is a really advanced behavior where Ringo is totally autonomous.  He stops at edges or changes in surface color, and sees barriers and avoids them. If he gets stuck in a corner he'll get frustrated and find a new path. This is a good basis for more advanced "I'm a live bug!" behavior development.
Shipping Policy   Plum Geek Policies   Plum Geek Terms​
© 2015-2019 Plum Geek - All Rights Reserved