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The UBTECH Jimu Robots Builder’s Guide: How to Create and Make Them Come to Life
Create robots and other mechanical devices with UBTECH's Jimu Robots kit. This book shows you the high potential for STEM learning with the Jimu Robots, hardware, and software. You'll design a basic and walking creation and bring to life robots of your own. As UBTECH expands their Jimu Robots into the hands of STEM learners and teachers, this book serves as its official companion, providing an introduction to the Jimu Robots wide range of capabilities. In short, The UBTECH Jimu Robots Builder’s Guide will provide inspiration and innovative potential to existing users and those who are into the growing tech/maker trend of Jimu Robots. What You’ll LearnUse all the latest Jimu Robot pieces and kitsApply practical instructions to build creative Jimu Robot modelsImprove STEM education with Jimu RobotsAssemble creations that users can control via smartphone or tablet Who This Book Is ForEducators, makers, tinkerers, and STEM participants
310 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 16, 2017
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 26, 2019
I bought this book for one of my daughters who, with two robotic summer camps in the bag, had received a couple of Jimu bots. She was disappointed with the book and so was I, since its 225 pages add very little to the information one can get just from exploring the Jimu application and a Blocky guide for middle-school computer work.
More than two thirds of the book are dedicated to list parts, to assemble some of the robots (in most cases with less clarity than in the video guide provided by the Jimu app), and to put together special parts and make them move using the preset "actions" of the software (which is a commented rehash of what the app provides). Released in December 2017, it had a quiet reissue in mid-2018; there is nothing in the copyright page indicating that the latter is a differently printed reissue than the former book, and it has the same ISB numbers and copyright date. It seems nearly impossible to accept that the reason for the quiet reissue was the *disastrous* quality of the figures of the initial publication, which --despite illustrating objects of different color-- were in grey-scale mode (rather than color), often too dark, and always washed out by a lack of contrast that trying to find what is being illustrated is utterly useless. The reissued figures are in color and while its readability has improved its image resolution has not, making them look like from a VGA type display. I have the inkling it must be extraordinarily difficult to find a guide with worse figures than these.
Only the chapter 6 of the book, Advanced Programming Techniques, is not marred by incompetent illustrations. Its so-called advanced programming is simply the basic Blocky functions and commands available for Jimu robots. The chapter briefly visits each command, providing a short explanation often accompanied by a screenshot; there are a few programming examples as well. The writing style of most of Mr Rollins' descriptions and explanations of Blocky programming are more at the level of late teens or adults, rather than that of preteens or perhaps early teens, who are supposed to be the target Jimu users. Curiously, a few of his descriptions, such as "the IR Sensor command is made for the IR Sensor," which managed to elicit a laughing _Duh!_ from my daughter, are at a toddler level.
Finally, the printing quality of the initial edition of the book is also very poor. Annoyingly, in most pages it is possible to see what is written on the opposite page of the same sheet, which has been avoided in the Kindle fromat but the worth of the information still remains disappointing. Reading this book was *not* a pleasurable activity. I am surprised the editing staff of the book's publisher dared to disclose their names on the copyright page of the initial edition -- assuming, of course, those names were real.
More than two thirds of the book are dedicated to list parts, to assemble some of the robots (in most cases with less clarity than in the video guide provided by the Jimu app), and to put together special parts and make them move using the preset "actions" of the software (which is a commented rehash of what the app provides). Released in December 2017, it had a quiet reissue in mid-2018; there is nothing in the copyright page indicating that the latter is a differently printed reissue than the former book, and it has the same ISB numbers and copyright date. It seems nearly impossible to accept that the reason for the quiet reissue was the *disastrous* quality of the figures of the initial publication, which --despite illustrating objects of different color-- were in grey-scale mode (rather than color), often too dark, and always washed out by a lack of contrast that trying to find what is being illustrated is utterly useless. The reissued figures are in color and while its readability has improved its image resolution has not, making them look like from a VGA type display. I have the inkling it must be extraordinarily difficult to find a guide with worse figures than these.
Only the chapter 6 of the book, Advanced Programming Techniques, is not marred by incompetent illustrations. Its so-called advanced programming is simply the basic Blocky functions and commands available for Jimu robots. The chapter briefly visits each command, providing a short explanation often accompanied by a screenshot; there are a few programming examples as well. The writing style of most of Mr Rollins' descriptions and explanations of Blocky programming are more at the level of late teens or adults, rather than that of preteens or perhaps early teens, who are supposed to be the target Jimu users. Curiously, a few of his descriptions, such as "the IR Sensor command is made for the IR Sensor," which managed to elicit a laughing _Duh!_ from my daughter, are at a toddler level.
Finally, the printing quality of the initial edition of the book is also very poor. Annoyingly, in most pages it is possible to see what is written on the opposite page of the same sheet, which has been avoided in the Kindle fromat but the worth of the information still remains disappointing. Reading this book was *not* a pleasurable activity. I am surprised the editing staff of the book's publisher dared to disclose their names on the copyright page of the initial edition -- assuming, of course, those names were real.
Displaying 1 of 1 review