Setup (iOS/Android/Fire)

Slide the micro:bit into the Finch tail. Make sure your micro:bit is facing the correct direction, with the A and B buttons facing up and the five holes towards the bottom. Push the micro:bit into place. The five holes will be partially covered when the micro:bit is correctly in place.
To use your Finch wirelessly, you will need to put the micro:bit into Bluetooth Mode. Connect the micro:bit to a computer with the USB cable.

The micro:bit will appear as an external device on your computer. Download this .hex file and drag it onto the micro:bit.
Once you’ve put the .hex file onto your micro:bit, your micro:bit should start to flash three letters on its display.
You can now unplug the USB cable from the micro:bit. You won’t need the cable or computer any longer because you will be using Bluetooth to connect to the Finch Robot.

When turning Finch on or off, the tail LEDs flash the battery charge level:
- 4 GREEN LEDs = Full charge
- 3 GREEN LEDs = Partial charge
- 2 YELLOW LEDs = Recharging Recommended
- 1 RED LED = Recharge now
If the battery is very low, all tail LEDs will quickly blink RED 5 times, once per minute, until you plug the Finch in for charging.

To turn off the Finch after you are done using it, hold down the power button until the beak turns red. The Finch will show its battery status using the tail LEDs.
The Finch will also turn itself off to save battery power if it is inactive for 10 minutes without connecting to Bluetooth, or for 20 minutes while connected to Bluetooth.

FinchBlox Basics:
- Drag blocks from the menus on the bottom of your screen into the white space to create a program.
- Tap chains of blocks to start a program. Chains attached to the green flag block can be started by tapping the green flag. Blocks will highlight green while they are running.
- To stop a program at any time, hit the Red Stop Sign.
- There are 3 levels of progressively advanced programming in FinchBlox. Tap the purple button in the top right to change levels.
Download a description of all of the FinchBlox Blocks here.

Slide the micro:bit into the Finch tail. Make sure your micro:bit is facing the correct direction, with the A and B buttons facing up and the five holes towards the bottom. Push the micro:bit into place. The five holes will be partially covered when the micro:bit is correctly in place.
To use your Finch wirelessly, you will need to put the micro:bit into Bluetooth Mode. Connect the micro:bit to a computer with the USB cable.

The micro:bit will appear as an external device on your computer. Download this .hex file and drag it onto the micro:bit.
Once you’ve put the .hex file onto your micro:bit, your micro:bit should start to flash three letters on its display.
You can now unplug the USB cable from the micro:bit. You won’t need the cable or computer any longer because you will be using Bluetooth to connect to the Finch Robot.

When turning Finch on or off, the tail LEDs flash the battery charge level:
- 4 GREEN LEDs = Full charge
- 3 GREEN LEDs = Partial charge
- 2 YELLOW LEDs = Recharging Recommended
- 1 RED LED = Recharge now
If the battery is very low, all tail LEDs will quickly blink RED 5 times, once per minute, until you plug the Finch in for charging.

To turn off the Finch after you are done using it, hold down the power button until the beak turns red. The Finch will show its battery status using the tail LEDs.
The Finch will also turn itself off to save battery power if it is inactive for 10 minutes without connecting to Bluetooth, or for 20 minutes while connected to Bluetooth.
Open FinchBlox on your device.
Click the Finch-shaped connection link icon in the upper left of your screen. You will see a list of devices that start with FN (for Finch). You may see one robot or many, depending on how many are nearby. If you don’t know which robot is yours, write down the first device name on the list, i.e. FN5AE67. Then click that device. Once you know which Finch is connected, use masking tape to label it with the device name you wrote down. This will help you connect to the correct device in the future.
You will hear a sound as the Finch connects, and the initials will stop flashing on the micro:bit. Once you have connected to a Finch, the initials of your robot will appear on a green robot icon in the upper left of the screen.
FinchBlox Basics:
- Drag blocks from the menus on the bottom of your screen into the white space to create a program.
- Tap chains of blocks to start a program. Chains attached to the green flag block can be started by tapping the green flag. Blocks will highlight green while they are running.
- To stop a program at any time, hit the Red Stop Sign.
- There are 3 levels of progressively advanced programming in FinchBlox. Tap the purple button in the top right to change levels.
Download a description of all of the FinchBlox Blocks here.
Movement
FinchBlox includes three different levels to help you gradually learn more about writing programs for the Finch. In Level 1, you create sequences to control the movements, lights, and sounds of the Finch. This module will show you how to use the blocks on the Movement menu to make the Finch move and turn.

In Level 3, the Movement menu also contains two blocks that use the Finch sensors.
A sensor is a part of a robot that measures something. For example, the Finch contains light sensors that measure the light around the robot and a distance sensor that measures the distance to an obstacle in front of the Finch.