Transcript RoboKids Robotics Workshop

A Crash Course in LEGO
Robotics - Getting Started
Meri V. Cummings, Ph.D.
NASA-sponsored Classroom of the Future
Center for Educational Technologies
Wheeling Jesuit University
316 Washington Ave.
Wheeling, WV 26003
Phone: 304-243-2499
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: http://www.cet.edu/robotics/
Why Study Robotics?

Robotics is an excellent way to introduce the
students to integrated STEM areas (science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics)
 Students participating in robotics learn about
STEM careers and experience the same
activities as professionals solving real-world
problems
 Everyone – girls and boys alike – should get
a chance to see how much fun it is learning
engineering skills this way!
Organized Chaos Girl Scouts robotics team at the
West Virginia FIRST LEGO League tournament.
We’re looking for volunteer judges for our next
competition on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2007.
The Least You Need
 One
computer (ideally, a school
computer lab with ROBOLAB installed)
 One
robotics kit, such as LEGO
Education’s Team Challenge Set
($219), per 2-10 youth. I recommend
you start with a small group (e.g., 4
students) – 1 kit per 2 students is
perfect
 ROBOLAB
software to program the
robot ($69 single to $265 site license)
The Least You Need (cont’d)
materials – I recommend
the ROBOLAB Video Trainer CD, which
has excellent programming video
sequences ($50 single or $100 site)
 Instructional
 Robotics
kits can be shared in your
school, county, or state in 6- to 8-week
rotations – they can be used all day for
different school and afterschool
activities
Funding Sources
 Utility
companies are required to
provide educational grants – some have
utility robotics program partner grants
(e.g., American Electric Power has an
AEP-FLL partner award to customers in
its service area)
 NASA Space
Grant Consortiums fund
outreach programs
After you’ve learned the
basics, then what?

There are lots of robotics competitions kids
can participate in, such as FIRST LEGO
League (FLL) and Botball. Some are local,
some statewide, some are regional.

The tournaments tend to include multipart,
real-world problems and research and occur
over specific time periods (for instance, the
FLL challenge is released in mid-Sept. each
year. Competitions occur from Nov. through
Feb.).
The Problem-solving Process
What is the robot’s task?
 What behaviors are needed to accomplish it?
 Create the program – debug then download.
 Run the program.
 Is the bot behaving badly (doesn’t do task)?
 Check the robot first. If there’s a problem,
can you fix it?
 Next, check the program. Problem? Can
you fix it?
 Last, go back to the beginning and reread
the task. Does your program really tell the
robot what it’s supposed to do?

Challenge 1: Line Program
 Create
and test a program to make the
robot go forward in a straight line for
exactly 1 second
 Save your program as your first name
and Line (e.g., FileSave as
Maria LineEnter)
Challenge 2: Square Program
 Create
and test a program to make the
robot go in a square
 Save your program as your first name
and Square
Challenge 3: Light Dark
Program
Create and test a program to make the
robot:
 Go forward until it finds a dark line
 Stop for 1 second
 Go forward until it finds light
 Stop for 1 second
 Reverse for 4 seconds
 Save your program as your first name
and Light Dark
Challenge 4: Tracker Program
Create a program to make the robot:
 Go forward until it finds a dark line
 Move forward along the edge of the line
 Save your program as your first name
and Tracker
Hints: You need a loop, and it’s easier if
the robot starts at less than a 90 angle
Challenge 5 – Bump Program
Create a program to make the robot:
 Go forward until it finds a wall
 Turn moving backward for 2 seconds
 Repeat these behaviors for 5 “wall
bumps”
 Save your program as your first name
and Bump
Hint: You’ll need to use wait until Touch in
for the first step.
Bonus Beep Challenge
Create a program to make the robot:
 Go forward until it finds a line
 Stop for 1 second and beep
 Repeat for 5 lines
 For fun, end with a different sound
 Save your program as your first name
and Beep
ROBOLAB Video Trainer

The ROBOLAB Video Trainer CD has lots of
video sequences showing you how to
program ROBOLAB and how the robot
responds to the program.
 The Team Challenge Robotics set and
ROBOLAB and ROBOLAB Video Trainer
software are available from LEGO education
(www.legoeducation.com under LEGO
Mindstorms)
Robotics Web Sites

NASA Robotics Alliance Project
http://robotics.nasa.gov/home.php
 NASA Robotics Curriculum Clearinghouse
http://robotics.nasa.gov/rcc/
 Mars Exploration Rover Mission
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html
 Robotics Academy
http://www-education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/
 Minnesota High-Tech Kids
http://www.hightechkids.org
 FIRST LEGO League http://www.firstlegoleague.org
 Botball http://www.botball.org/
 BEST Robotics http://www.bestinc.org/MVC/
To Get Tankbot Building Instructions,
E-mail [email protected]

After you get your Team Challenge robotics
set from LEGO education, e-mail me
requesting the tankbot pdf

I’ll e-mail you a color pdf file of step-by-step
picture instructions to build tankbot, the robot
we used in this workshop and the CD videos

Tankbot is distributed courtesy of Robin
Shoop at the Carnegie Mellon University
National Robotics Engineering Consortium
Robotics Academy
Sample ROBOLAB Programs
Want to Learn More?
 If
you have a group of West Virginia
educators that want to get started,
contact me to schedule a workshop and
design a program plan that will work for
your situation – courtesy of NASA West
Virginia Space Grant Consortium!
Hands-on: Your Turn!
 Use
ROBOLAB to program the robot to
move in a square
 Think
about the robot’s required
behaviors to move in a square
 What
motors have to do what for each
behavior?
 Which
them!
behaviors repeat? You can loop
ROBOLAB Basics

Go to RCX settings in Administrator to unlock
programs 1 and 2
 Single-click the silver Programmer button
 Double-click the Inventor 4 button
 Maximize the lower Block Diagram window
 Drag the Function bar to move the Functions
palette to the lower right of the window
 If the Block Diagram window is accidentally
closed, open it by hitting Window -> Show
Block Diagram
 Hit Tab key to switch from hand to cursor tool
ROBOLAB Basics (cont’d)

Hit spacebar to toggle between cursor and
wiring tool
 Hit Esc to escape sticky wires
 Click on a wire or icon and hit Del to remove it
 Drag an icon within a cm of another, then with
the mouse still down, tap the spacebar to shoot
a wire between the icons
 Ctrl + B removes broken or partially deleted
wires
 Right-click an icon to replace it with another
using a new popup Functions Palette
ROBOLAB Basics (cont’d)

Always break a wire instead of placing a new
icon on top of the wire; otherwise, the icon
looks wired when it isn’t
 Click on Help-Show context help, then on the
icon itself in the block diagram to learn more
about a ROBOLAB icon, including seeing what
modifiers each icon requires and where to
attach them and to see the icon in a sample
program
 If the white download arrow under Edit is
broken, click on the broken arrow for
information about where the program is
miswired