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 NeedOne 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)
Instructional materials – I recommend the ROBOLAB Video Trainer CD, which has excellent programming video sequences ($50 single or $100 site)
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 SourcesUtility 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 ProgramCreate 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., FileSave as
Maria LineEnter)
Challenge 2: Square ProgramCreate and test a program to make the
robot go in a squareSave your program as your first name
and Square
Challenge 3: Light Dark ProgramCreate 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 lineMove forward along the edge of the lineSave 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 wallTurn moving backward for 2 secondsRepeat 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 lineStop for 1 second and beepRepeat for 5 linesFor fun, end with a different soundSave 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 behaviors repeat? You can loop them!
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