Major+Robotics+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.