Encino Park RoboClub is up and running

I got a note today from Ms. Vicki Craig, the teacher who is the principal sponsor for the Robotics Club at Encino Park Elementary School here in San Antonio.  She says the club will be meeting on Fridays from 3 PM to 4:30 PM.  The teams will get challenge problems to solve, now that they've built and tested their robots.  I'm planning to go and help, or at least observe.

Encino Park Robo Club

At today's meeting of the Encino Park Robotics Club, I presented the kids with the same material I used for Wednesday's Robotics for Grandparents.
I had a small group - about a third of the club - and they picked up very quickly on the line-following technique and the details of the light sensor. I heard some interesting questions, and we answered many of the questions by trying experiments with the robot. We didn't get through all of the kids, so one of the teachers or another volunteer will use my Powerpoint slides and the line-following robot at next Friday's meeting. I invited the kids to come to the SA BEST competition on Saturday, October 24th.

Robots for RFG Week 5

The three class robots are built and tested, and ready to go to work! Instead of a third-wheel caster, the design uses inverted "claws" as skids on the front. The skids press the paper down (if on the paper test track) as the robot goes over it. The robot can go astray - losing track of where the line is - and sometimes it will recover and get back on the line. Other times it will loop around aimlessly.  In the class lab, we will use a version of the program that's split into two parts: a Calibrate program and a Follow program.

Appropriate age for Mindstorms

One student in RfG mentioned to me that she had a 4 1/2 year old grandson who might have fun with the Mindstorms kit.  I said I thought the kit was a little advanced for that age kid.  I suggested a couple of possibilities:

1. LEGO has a product line called WeDo Robotics, which is intended for younger children.  It's a little pricey, but many of the best LEGO products are pricey.  http://www.legoeducation.com/

2. As a parent-child activity, Mindstorms might be surprising, even though the child is young.  My grandson is 4 1/2 too, and he and his dad and I built a robot arm last week.  Ben has tiny fingers and is good at handling small parts, so he had an important part in the project.  Now he is expert at operating the 5-joint manipulator arm, and is proud to show it off.  The product is called the OWI Edge Robot Arm.  Ben also likes to work with me on Mindstorms constructions.

NXT Brick problem

Lego Support has given me a case number for the NXT Brick problem.  I'll call them later today to see what can be done.

What is Robotics for Grandparents?

"Robotics for Grandparents" is the name of a six-week course I'm teaching at the Academy of Learning In Retirement (ALIR). ALIR is a Continuing Education program of the North East Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas.

The purpose of the course is to let grandparents understand and enjoy what their grandkids are doing with Lego Mindstorms robots.

Class meetings are on Wednesday at 1:00 PM, and each class lasts 75 minutes. The first class is September 16, 2009.

The course participants will learn some elementary robotic skills, using the Lego Mindstorms NXT 1.1 kit. Our lesson plans will be taken from the Carnegie Mellon University web site.

Current enrollment in the class stands at 19 people. I had originally intended to limit the class to 8 people, because I had only one Mindstorms NXT kit for the students to use. When I found that the enrollment was up to 19, I had to reconsider some things. I purchased one additional Mindstorms kit, for later donation to a local elementary school, and I was able to secure the loan of a third kit from another school's Robotics Club. With three kits available, I can break the class into two groups of six and one group of seven.

ALIR is providing a classroom (the Art Room), which has plenty of table space for robot work, and which includes a computer, projector, and pull-down screen. Since the students will be programming and testing the robots during most of the class, I'll need to provide laptop computers. I have three laptops available, so there will be one laptop per group.

The first class meeting will be used for familiarization with the Mindstorms NXT robotic elements: sensors, computer, motors, and development software. The groups will be given a simple task for the robot to perform: move in a straight line for a specified distance.

I plan to update this blog at least once a week until the end of the course.

Questions and comments are most welcome.