0.3: Powering, charging, and connecting

You can wake Zumi up by flipping the switch to the right towards the 1 position. In
programming, 1 means “ON” or “TRUE” and 0 means “OFF” or “FALSE.”

Although you can flip the switch to power off Zumi, it is best to properly shut down Zumi’s computer through the dashboard.

Zumi will beep and flash her lights when her battery is low. When this happens, you’ll want to charge her battery.

You’ll also be able to tell what her battery percentage is when she boots up by checking the screen. Later, you will learn how to find out the battery percentage from the dashboard.

Charging when Zumi is OFF

You can charge Zumi by plugging the micro USB cable into her micro USB port, located where you’d usually find the gas tank on a car. You can plug the cable into an outlet adapter or to your computer’s USB port.

Zumi is fully charged when the red LED turns off. Then, you can disconnect the USB cable.

Charging when Zumi is ON

Zumi can also be charged while she is on. This is very useful for when you’re just coding and don’t want to drain her battery.

While charging, the red LED will be on. When Zumi is fully charged. the red LED will turn off.

If you have broken the USB port, you can still charge Zumi using the Pi Zero Micro USB ports. Lift the side window to access the additional Micro USB ports.

You are now ready to turn on Zumi and navigate to the dashboard. First, you need to learn about how you are connecting to Zumi. You will be connecting to Zumi wirelessly. Imagine that Zumi will generate her own internet connection that you can connect to just like your home or school network.

When you initially connect to Zumi, you will not be able to use the internet. That’s because you haven’t connected Zumi to the internet yet! If you don’t want to use the internet while connected to Zumi, you can skip connecting to the internet. Zumi is pre-loaded with lessons and is always shipped to you with the latest version of the dashboard.

Connecting to the internet

If you connect Zumi to the internet, then you will be accessing your home or school network through Zumi. The video below will go over how to connect and check for updates.

⚠️ Note: Zumi can only connect to 2.4 GHz WiFi networks, not 5 GHz networks. Most routers have both, but if yours doesn’t, you may need to connect to a different network or use a mobile hotspot to update Zumi. Remember, connecting Zumi to a Wi-Fi network is optional.

Now, choose a programming language and start learning!