Getting Started with Databot Banner

Welcome to the Databot family!

Welcome to Databot! You’re joining educators and learners around the world who are using live sensor data to make science, math, data science, coding, and STEM more engaging and hands-on.

This Getting Started guide is designed to get you up and running in just a few minutes. We’ll show you what’s in your kit, how to charge and turn on your Databot, and how to connect with Vizeey on your smartphone and start reading live data right away.

Once you’re up and running, we’ll introduce the different ways you can use Databot—from quick, inquiry-based explorations with Vizeey, to deeper data analysis with CODAP, to coding and physical computing with MicroBlocks.

Whether you’re teaching elementary students, running high school labs, or learning at home, Databot makes it easy to bring real-world data into science and math.

Ready? Let’s get your Databot running!

DC Public Schools students explore ultraviolet radiation.

Kit Contents

Your Databot kit includes four items, all stored in the soft-shell case:

1. External Temperature Probe
Waterproof and ready for hands-on experiments. Place it in a beaker, stream, or other liquid to measure temperature.
Important: Databot itself is not waterproof.

2. Micro-USB Cable
Use this cable to charge your Databot and connect it for programming.

3. Lanyard
Loop it through the hole in one corner of the Databot enclosure. Wear Databot around your neck to collect data while you move, or use the lanyard for motion experiments such as swinging Databot like a pendulum.

4. Databot
The heart of the kit — your portable sensor platform for collecting and exploring real-world data.

Contents of a Databot STEM learning kit.

The Basics - Charging & On/Off

Databot can do a lot—but to get started, you only need to know three things:

Charge It
Use any standard 5V USB power source, such as a phone charger or laptop. Plug the Micro-USB cable into the charging port shown in the image.

About an hour of charging will give you 2-3 hours of use. You can also give Databot a quick recharge between classes if needed.

Turn It On
Press the power switch once to turn Databot on or off. The switch sits behind a small plastic plate, so it can be a little hard to spot the first time. Once you find it, it’s easy.

Where to Connect the Temperature Probe
Plug the external temperature probe into the port shown in the image when you are ready to use it.

That’s all you need for now. Next, we’ll connect Databot to your phone and start reading live data.

Meet Vizeey

Vizeey is the fastest way to get started with Databot. It runs on iOS and Android devices, as well as Chromebooks, and makes it easy to connect to Databot and begin exploring live sensor data.

In the next few minutes, you’ll:

  • Connect to your Databot

  • Capture live sensor data

  • Explore your readings in Vizeey

  • Learn how to export your data

  • Experiment and play

Vizeey is simple to use, but powerful enough that it may be the only Databot app you ever need. Later, we’ll introduce other software pathways such as CODAP and MicroBlocks. For now, the goal is quick success.

Step 1: Install Vizeey
On your smartphone, open the App Store or Google Play, search for Vizeey, and install the app shown here.

Once installed, open Vizeey. You should see a welcome screen similar to the one in the image.

In less than five minutes, you’ll be collecting real data from the invisible world around you.

Load Experiments!

Step 2: Load Experiments

Vizeey uses pre-configured experiments, so there’s no setup required—just load an experiment, tap to start, and begin reading data.

You can add experiments by scanning a QR code or opening links from the Vizeey library.

For this quick start:

  1. Tap the + on the Vizeey home screen.

  2. Select Add Experiment from QR code.

  3. Scan the QR code shown here.

  4. When prompted to load the experiment collection, select Save All.

That’s it—your experiments are loaded and you’re ready to start collecting data.

Basic instructions for loading experiments into Vizeey.

IMPORTANT:

  • Always scan Vizeey QR Codes with Vizeey, not your camera app.
  • Your Vizeey device must be connected to the Internet to access and retrieve the experiment file. 

Read Data!

Step 3: Collect CO2 data with Vizeey

After scanning the QR code, your experiment library should appear as shown below. Now you can explore Databot’s sensors with just a tap.

Start with CO₂:

  1. Turn on Databot. You should see the blue light slowly pulse.

  2. Tap the CO₂ experiment in Vizeey.

  3. Allow Bluetooth access if prompted, then select your Databot from the pick device menu.

  4. When connected, Databot’s blue light will turn solid bright blue.

  5. Tap the Start ▶ button at the top of the screen.

Live CO₂ data should now appear in Vizeey.

Try it: Gently breathe toward your Databot and watch the CO₂ reading spike in real time.

Basic steps for connecting to databot and reading CO2 data.

Explore Your Dataset

Step 4: Learn Basic Vizeey Tools

While live data is displayed in Vizeey, you’re also recording a dataset. Exploring it is easy:

  1. Tap Pause to stop data collection.

  2. Tap the graph to expand it.

  3. Modes are displayed across the bottom of the screen.  In the default Pan & Zoom mode, drag with your finger to move through your data and pinch to zoom in or out.

  4. Find the highest CO₂ reading—likely where you breathed on Databot.

  5. Select the Pick Data mode, then tap that point to see its exact time and CO₂ value.

  6. Drag between two points to see the difference between them.

When you’re finished exploring, tap the close icon to return to the normal view.

Export Your Dataset!

Step 5: Exporting Data

Your CO₂ data is easy to take with you – don’t exit your CO2 experiment or your data will be lost.  Try this.

  1. Tap the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner of Vizeey.

  2. Select Export Data.

  3. Choose your file format:

    • Excel — the default and easiest option for most users

    • CSV —select the first option (comma delimited) a common format that works with most spreadsheet and data tools

  4. Tap Export Data.

  5. Review the sharing options available on your device – email should be one of them.

Try it: Email the CO₂ dataset to yourself, then open it on your computer in Excel, Google Sheets, or your preferred spreadsheet tool.

You’ve now collected, explored, and exported real sensor data with Databot.

Steps for exporting data from Vizeey.

Next Steps

Congratulations! You’ve completed Databot Basic Training.

In just a few minutes, you powered up Databot, connected with Vizeey, collected live sensor data, explored it, and exported your results.

Now it’s time to go deeper.

Databot works with three primary software platforms, each supporting a different kind of learning. Which one should you choose? Here are a few common pathways:

  • Elementary science: Use Vizeey on Chromebooks to make live sensor data simple, visual, and engaging.
  • Coding & technology: Use MicroBlocks for everything from introductory block coding to advanced physical computing and robotics.
  • High school science: Use CODAP for lab investigations that require deeper graphing, analysis, and interpretation.
  • Field investigations: Collect data outdoors with Vizeey on a phone or tablet, then bring the dataset into CODAP for deeper analysis.
  • Afterschool & informal STEM: Use Vizeey with hands-on sensor activities that connect movement, environment, science, and math.
  • Math & data science: Use CODAP to explore real-world relationships such as regression, quadratics, rates of change, and nonlinear patterns.

You don’t have to choose just one. Start with the platform that best fits what you want to do today, then explore the others as your confidence grows.

Review the three pathways below and choose your next adventure.

Or master all three and become a Databot Grandmaster!

Vizeey | Grades 4–12

Live sensor data made easy.

Vizeey is the easiest way to explore Databot on mobile devices and Chromebooks. Continue with our Quick Start Guides and Sensor Starters featuring 16 activities that introduce Databot’s sensors, or explore our Middle School Labs, with 30 investigations across Physical, Life, and Earth Science. There is also an extensive Vizeey experiment library providing a number of ready-to-go experiment configurations.

Vizeey UI and platforms displayed with logo.

MicroBlocks | Grades 4–12

Block-based coding with extraordinary power.

MicroBlocks makes it easy to begin coding Databot while providing plenty of depth for more advanced projects. Program sensors, lights, sounds, and external connections while learning how software interacts with the physical world.

Get started with MicroBlocks and explore more than 60 Coding Starter activities.

MicroBlocks sample code with grade levels and platforms highlighted.

CODAP | Grades 6–12

Powerful data analysis and exploration.

CODAP—the Common Online Data Analysis Platform—is a free, open-source environment for exploring and analyzing data. It’s approachable for beginners while offering the depth needed for high school labs, mathematical modeling, and data science.

Head over to the getting started with the Databot CODAP Connector to learn more and give it a try.

Additional Databot + CODAP lessons are currently in development and will be added to our lesson library.

Choose the pathway that fits what you want to do next — and keep experimenting!