z3+Quarter+Robotics

z3rd Quarter Assignments

Student Wikis

Extra Excercises

Course Information Goals: Students will work together to solve engineering challenges and gain an understanding of robotics. Students will work together to write programs allowing a robot to accurately complete certain tasks. Students will learn science, technology, engineering and math concepts related to robotics.

Cooperative Group Roles Students will work in cooperatives groups. Each person in a group will have a different role with responsibilities. The __Captain__- Keeps their area in top, "shipshape," condition. Keeps the team together with no one left behind. The __Programmer__- Makes sure everyone knows what each programing block does. The __Timekeeper__- Keeps everyone on-task and on schedule. Knows what should be accomplished each day. The __Materials Manager__- Takes care of the robot and its parts.

Course Overview:


 * The lessons occurs in pairs and they must be done in order.
 * Students should finish two lessons every four class periods at the very least.
 * Learning will be digitally documented by each student on individual wiki pages making an engineer's notebook.
 * Students must do the applied mathematics in the lessons to pass the math on the quizzes.

Grading:


 * Quizzes and Tests 40%
 * Participation 10%
 * Worksheets and Engineer's Notebook 50%

Major Activities There are twelve major activities sequences in this unit, students will complete at least two every four class periods: 1. The Full Speed Ahead Activity guides students step-by-step through the process of setting up the programming environment, programming the robot, and running the basic moving forward program. 2. The Wheels and Distance Investigation involves students in an investigation of the relationship between wheel size and the distance the robot travels given a set number of wheel rotations. 3. The Right Face Activity which guides students step-by-step through the process of building two different programs each of which produces a different type of turn. 4. The Measured Turns Investigation, which involves students in an investigation of the relationship between robot geometry, motor degrees, and the amount the robot turns. 5. The Follow the Guidelines Activity guides students step-by-step through the process of programming the robot, and running the basic line following program. 6. The Faster Line Tracking Exploration involves students in a study of the factors involved in line tracking, and explains how to modify their robot to line track more efficiently. 7. The Obstacle Detection Activity guides students step-by-step through the process of programming the robot to respond to two different types of sensory stimuli. 8. The Field of View Investigation has students further explore the detection abilities of the Ultrasonic Sensor but laying out a field of view plot and then scaling it to fit on a sheet of paper. 9. The Get in Gear Activity, which guides students step-by-step through the process of changing the robot’s gears, running the basic moving-forward program, and observing the differences created by the different gear ratios. 10. The Gears and Speed Investigation, which involves students in a quantitative investigation of the relationship between gear ratio and robot speed. 11. The Clap On, Clap Off Activity, which introduces students to sensors, specifically the sound sensor. Students are led step-by-step through the process of finding a threshold,programming the robot, and running through several programs that rely on the sound sensor to control their robots behavior. 12. The Frequency and Amplitude Exploration, which involves students in an investigation of the properties of a sound wave, and which properties of the sound wave that the sound sensor is able to distinguish.

Anytime Activities Over the course of the unit, some students will move faster than others, the “Anytime Activities” are designed to challenge advanced students while other student complete their work. The following anytime activities can be implemented: • __Hello! My Name Is__… - Not all robots work alone. Sometimes the have to interact with a human or human operator in order to perform their task. To make it easier and more pleasant for the human to understand what the robot needs, robot designers give their robots personalities using sounds and display options. Here, students will do the same with their Personal Assistant robots. • __Full Stop__ - No matter how well you design your robot, sometimes things just don’t go as planned. In this activity, students will design and program an emergency stop button for their robot, to make sure it can be controlled if it gets out of hand. • __Ramp It Up__ - The robot won’t be able to climb stairs, but it should be able to take advantage of a ramp if it can find one. In this Activity, students will explore the physical features of the robot that make it tip or be stable on a ramp. This includes a discussion of Center of Mass and support polygons.

End of Project Activities The End of Project Activities provide excellent opportunities for students to sum up the lessons learned in the NXT curriculum. Each activity highlights different aspects of the engineering process, be sure to think critically about which End of Project Activity best fits the needs of your classroom. • Research Report – For this assignment, students will reflect on their project, define key terms, and discuss and important discoveries. This activity is a good choice for classrooms that have the goals of understanding the engineering process and developing professional writing skills. • Sales Presentation – For this assignment, students will work in teams to identify a market for their robot, and then create an appropriate advertising scheme. This activity is a good choice for classrooms with and interest in the business aspect of product development. • Smart Housekeeping – This activity presents an open ended design challenge for students. Students are to build a robot that navigates a teacher designed game board. Source: []

Free Version of the LEGO software: Mindstorm NXT 2.0 Robot G / ISO file of the program. [] If you are on a Windows based machine: 1. Download Microsoft Virtual CD software here: [] []

Random Links and Resources:

[|Robots Dancing]

Student builds [|Mind and Glove Controlled Robotic Arm]

Other Robotics Projects

Mars Robotic Rover Curiosity Second [|Curiosity Rover] Link [|Seven Minutes] Mars Rover Opportunity Sumo Bots

[|My Blocks] Other Mindstorm NXT Links:

RobotG_Tips

Learn more about engineering

Sandbox

$[|10 Robots]

[|Robotic Open Source Simulator]

[|Robotic Snail]

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