LEGO Wheel Distance Explorer

Help students see how LEGO robot wheel rotations become distance traveled. The LEGO Wheel Distance Explorer animates a 5.6 cm wheel along a one-meter track, tracks spins and degrees, offers kid-friendly milestones, and generates move_for_degrees snippets that match the live readings.

Wheel Journey

Wheel Distance

Live Wheel Journey

Watch spins turn into centimeters. Use the keys below or nudge to explore.

Space — pause / play
← → — nudge wheel

Wheel Facts

Wheel type

LEGO SPIKE Prime 5.6 cm wheel

Diameter: 5.6 cm
Circumference: 17.6 cm
1 spin: moves 17.6 cm

Wheel turns

0.00 spins

Turned

0°

Distance rolled

0.0 cm

# This will move your robot about 0.00 meter forward! motor_pair.move_for_degrees(motor_pair.PAIR_1, 0, 0, velocity=280, deceleration=10)

About This Tool

Watch a LEGO wheel roll across a meter, connect spins to centimeters, and grab ready-to-run move_for_degrees code.

robotics LEGO SPIKE Prime wheel distance move_for_degrees STEM education visualization

Classroom Tips

Of course! Let's figure out how to make your robot drive exactly one meter.

Think of the wheel like a bicycle tire. Every full spin pushes the robot forward by the wheel's circumference. Walk students through these four steps right alongside the animation:

Measure Your Wheel

The standard LEGO SPIKE wheel (white hub, gray tire) travels about 17.6 centimeters per spin. That circumference matches 360° of rotation.
Do a Little Math

We want 1 meter, which is 100 centimeters. How many 17.6 cm chunks fit inside 100?

100 ÷ 17.6 ≈ 5.68 spins

So the wheel needs about 5.68 spins to reach the finish.
Change Spins into Degrees

The move_for_degrees command expects degrees. Multiply the spins by 360°:

5.68 × 360° ≈ 2045°

2045° becomes our magic number.

Fix Your Code

Swap in the new value:

# This will move your robot about 1 meter forward!
motor_pair.move_for_degrees(motor_pair.PAIR_1, 2045, 0, velocity=280, deceleration=10)

Important Tip: Floor friction and battery levels change the real distance. Encourage teams to test 2040° or 2050° and jot down their findings like engineers.

Show the Basic Python SPIKE Prime Tutorial so students connect the math with live robot code.

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Knowledge Base Articles

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