computer science

Sam Labs

Sam Labs is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sam Labs rather than just read about it. In short: SAM Labs is a startup that makes app-enabled construction kits, designed for people of all ages to learn STEM, play, and create with technology and the Internet of Things. The company has been featured in WIRED and The Telegraph.

Key takeaways

Sam Labs belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sam Labs to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sam Labs from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

SAM Labs is a startup that makes app-enabled construction kits, designed for people of all ages to learn STEM, play, and create with technology and the Internet of Things. The company has been featured in WIRED and The Telegraph. Founded by Belgian born CEO Joachim Horn, the company works out of their headquarters in East London. A month-long Kickstarter campaign initiated in October 2014 raised over $160,000, and helped launch the mass production of the kits. Backers included Jawbone co-founder Alexander Asseily, who pre-ordered the kit.

Kickstarter campaign On 29 September 2014, SAM Labs launched a month-long Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund the mass manufacture of the SAM kits for the spring of 2015, primarily through pre-orders of the kits. At the conclusion of the campaign on 29 October, SAM Labs had raised over $160,000 from 817 backers.

Products SAM Labs produces app-enabled construction toys, with sales both to both schools and other customers. The SAM Science Museum Inventor Kit was produced in collaboration with the London Science Museum. Using the SAM Blocks and the free SAM Space app inside of the kit, kids can build projects, games, inventions and hacks. The company's hero kit, SAM's Curious Cars, launched in October 2016. Available now at Barnes & Noble across the United States and John Lewis (department store) in the United Kingdom, the Curious Cars kit allows kids to build and program their own cars and games. Winning an IFA Markit Innovation Award, Consumer Electronics Show Award, and a KAPi award, the triple-award-winning kit also comes with its own app: Curious Cars. In 2024, SAM Labs acquired the Root educational robot product line from IRobot. The product line was then partially rebranded, with the mobile app being named SAM Root.

Partnerships SAM Labs has created a habit of working with local design talent. SAM Labs first partnered with MAP Project Office, the London-based creative consultancy that specialises in industrial design, to deliver the Kickstarter campaign. Map also featured SAM Labs in a video collaboration with Honda, where SAM led modules were featured in this promotional video, covering "Technology for Exploration." The second design partnership was with Pentagram Design Studio, to collaborate around the SAM Labs branding "that never stands still". Most recently, SAM collaborated with Hato Press and the London Science Museum to create the SAM Labs Science Museum "Inventor Kit".

Awards The SAM Labs kits have received two Design Week Awards: the Best of Show Award and the Interactive Design Award, the judges said: “A really cohesive design; from the elegant packaging, to the use of the product itself. An amazing use of code and education. This really steps above and beyond expected design and opens up hundreds of possibilities.” Additionally, the SAM Labs kit have received four Maker Faire awards by MAKE magazine: three "Editor's Choice Awards" and one "Best in Class Award". SAM Labs was a winner at the November 2014 Pitch@Palace UK Royal competition, which saw SAM being presented at the World Economic Forum in January 2015. In partnership with the Map Project Office, SAM Labs was awarded "Best Interactive Design" in the Design Week Awards 2015. SAM Labs also became a member of the Disrupt 100 most innovative companies for educational toys. Winner of a gold medal for the best Educational Gaming Toy in the 2016 Independent Toy Awards, SAM Labs swept up four more awards throughout Q4: a silver place for the UK Business awards for Disruptive Business model, an IFA Markit Innovation Award for Apps, Platforms & Ecosystems, Best Educational Toy in the Toy Testers awards, and a CES Innovation award in the Tech For a Better World category. After winning the Alphr + ITPro award for Best Startup of 2016, the company has landed a finalist position in the GESS Education Awards for 2017.

References

External links Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sam Labs

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sam Labs claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sam Labs before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sam Labs ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sam Labs

In research: Sam Labs appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sam Labs in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sam Labs is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics ARM architecture, Companies based in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Computer companies of the United Kingdom, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sam Labs outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sam Labs in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sam Labs means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sam Labs out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sam Labs in simple terms?

Why does Sam Labs matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sam Labs?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sam Labs.