--- title: TJBot Makes it Easy to Explore AI in the Classroom description: IBM's TJBot, powered by Watson Services, is an open source, programmable cardboard robot that lets students explore the world of artificial intelligence. image: https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/hubfs/EDU/BLOG%20Images/Feb%202018/IBM2.jpg --- [![Sparkfun](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com/img/logo.png)](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com/index.html) - [SparkFun Webstore](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com) - [Higher Ed](https://sparkfuneducation.com/higher-ed/index.html) - [Contact Us](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com/contact-us.html) - [Follow Us](https://twitter.com/SparkFunEDU) - [Home](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com) - [Blog](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com) - [Curriculum](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com/curriculum.html) - [PD/Events](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com/professional-dev.html) - [KITS/Materials](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com/materials.html) - [Educator Stories](https://www.sparkfuneducation.com/educator-stories.html) - [Activities](https://activities.sparkfuneducation.com) [Blog Home](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/) / [robotics](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/robotics) / TJBot Makes it Easy to Explore AI in the Classroom # TJBot Makes it Easy to Explore AI in the Classroom BY [Justin Weisz](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/justin-weisz) 2/22/18 6:30 AM [0](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/tjbot-lets-students-explore-ai-in-the-classroom#comments-listing) [robotics](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/robotics), [programming](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/programming) ![](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/hubfs/EDU/BLOG%20Images/justin.jpeg) In November 2016, IBM Research introduced [TJBot](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14515) — an open source, programmable cardboard robot powered by Watson Services — as a way to demonstrate what’s possible with artificial intelligence. Outfitted with a camera, microphone, speaker, servo and LED, TJBot has charmed makers, developers, students and creators of all ages, all over the world. The community of TJBot enthusiasts continues to grow, as does the number of [recipes](https://github.com/ibmtjbot/tjbot/tree/master/recipes) (step-by-step instructions) created to bring our pal TJBot to life.  ![IBM2.jpg](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/hs-fs/hubfs/EDU/BLOG%20Images/Feb%202018/IBM2.jpg?width=640&name=IBM2.jpg) ## Meet Tinker and Explore the TJBot Swift Playground We’ve gotten a huge amount of interest from students and teachers who are using TJBot to teach programming in their classrooms. In order to make programming TJBot even easier — and to make it accessible to students who may not have access to a laser cutter or 3D printer — we developed the [TJBot Swift Playground](https://github.com/jweisz/tjbot-playground). This playground enables learners to program both a virtual and a physical TJBot in the Swift programming language.  In our TJBot playground, you’ll meet a virtual TJBot named Tinker. You can program him using the IBM Watson [Tone Analyzer](https://www.ibm.com/watson/services/tone-analyzer/) and [Language Translator](https://www.ibm.com/watson/services/language-translator/)services. After building your own physical TJBot, you can expand his capabilities using the IBM Watson [Speech to Text](https://www.ibm.com/watson/services/speech-to-text/), [Text to Speech](https://www.ibm.com/watson/services/text-to-speech/), [Visual Recognition](https://www.ibm.com/watson/services/visual-recognition/) and [Conversation](https://www.ibm.com/watson/services/conversation/) services. The playground offers three chapters that take you through the process of transforming Tinker into a real robot: ![IBM1.png](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/hs-fs/hubfs/EDU/BLOG%20Images/Feb%202018/IBM1.png?width=640&name=IBM1.png) **Chapter 1: "Tinker and Rebus"** tells the story of Tinker the TJBot and his pal Rebus the Bee. Students teach Tinker how to shine, wave, understand emotions and translate languages in order to perform a secret dance that transforms him into a real TJBot. **Chapter 2: "Building TJBot"** walks you through how to obtain your very own physical TJBot, hook up its electronics and install the software. **Chapter 3: "TJBot Explores the World"** showcases the full functionality of your TJBot to listen, speak and see. Learn TJBot’s life story, tell him to change the color of his LED, ask him what he is looking at and play a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors.     The TJBot Swift Playground doesn’t require an actual TJBot to use, but if you have one and want to program it from your iPad, you’ll need to install the [TJBot Daemon](https://github.com/jweisz/tjbot-daemon) on your TJBot. The daemon enables your TJBot to listen for commands via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) from your iPad so you can program your TJBot while sitting next to him. TJBot Swift Playground is inspiring young students to experiment with coding and influencing a new generation of makers and creators. ![IBM3.jpg](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/hs-fs/hubfs/EDU/BLOG%20Images/Feb%202018/IBM3.jpg?width=640&name=IBM3.jpg) If you're a student, if you're a teacher, if you're a maker or a creator, we invite you to experiment with the TJBot Swift Playground and create your own TJBot…and don’t forget to share your recipes and creations with the TJBot community. Learn more about [TJBot](http://research.ibm.com/tjbot/) and order a kit for yourself [here](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14515).  [![Make Your Own TJBot](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2224003/0041f3ec-d67b-4be1-8e05-c5ad6154b66f.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2224003/0041f3ec-d67b-4be1-8e05-c5ad6154b66f) Justin Weisz is Senior Manager and Master Inventor, Emerging Technology Research and Design, at the [Thomas J. Watson Research Center](http://www.research.ibm.com/labs/watson/index.shtml) in Yorktown Heights, New York. He joined IBM Research in 2010 after earning his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the [Computer Science Department](http://www.cs.cmu.edu/) at [Carnegie Mellon University](http://www.cmu.edu/). - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ### Subscribe to SparkFun Education Blog ### Topics - [helpful information (79)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/helpful-information) - [Maker Education (60)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/maker-education) - [teaching tools (55)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/teaching-tools) - [getting started (54)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/getting-started) - [Guest Post (44)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/guest-post) - [computer science (40)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/computer-science) - [micro:bit (38)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/microbit) - [student projects (37)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/student-projects) - [STEM (36)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/stem) - [programming (34)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/programming) - [STEAM (31)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/steam) - [Events (28)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/events) - [Arduino (25)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/arduino) - [robotics (20)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/robotics) - [e-textiles (18)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/e-textiles) - [Professional Development (17)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/professional-development) - [basic circuits (17)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/basic-circuits) - [What is a (16)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/what-is-a) - [announcement (16)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/announcement) - [makerspace (15)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/makerspace) - [Community Partnership Program (14)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/community-partnership-program) - [Training (13)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/training) - [raspberry pi (13)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/raspberry-pi) - [python (11)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/python) - [AVC (10)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/avc) - [paper circuits (10)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/paper-circuits) - [Makey Makey (8)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/makey-makey) - [SIK (8)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/sik) - [Adventures in Science (7)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/adventures-in-science) - [microcontroller (7)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/microcontroller) - [Internet of Things (5)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/internet-of-things) - [Processing (4)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/processing) - [Javascript (3)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/javascript) - [LilyPad (3)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/lilypad) - [funding (3)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/funding) - [weather (3)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/weather) - [Insider (1)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/insider) - [Johnny-five (1)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/johnny-five) All Tags ### Recent Authors - [Megan Hemmings (79)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/megan-hemmings) - [Maya Kleinbort (22)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/maya-kleinbort) - [Derek Runberg (21)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/derek-runberg) - [Shane Diller (16)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/shane-diller) - [Jeff Branson (15)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/jeff-branson) - [Angela Sheehan (12)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/angela-sheehan) - [Melissa Felderman (9)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/melissa-felderman) - [Megan Arnold (8)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/megan-arnold) - [Brian Huang (6)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/brian-huang) - [Shawn Hymel (6)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/shawn-hymel) - [Shelby Landsman (6)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/shelby-landsman) - [Jahnell Pereira (5)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/jahnell-pereira) - [Hailey Blessing (5)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/hailey-blessing) - [Mike Grusin (3)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/mike-grusin) - [Peter Hanson (3)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/peter-hanson) - [Andrew Milne (3)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/andrew-milne) - [Toni Klopfenstein (2)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/toni-klopfenstein) - [Joanna Drusin (1)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/joanna-drusin) - [Joe Romano (1)](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/joe-romano) - [Mrinali P. 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