Plan for future course

For the past two years, I have not included any bot-building in the Robotics for Grandparents course.  I have found a good starter robot design that may just do the trick.  I'll be using the SPOT design from James Floyd Kelly's excellent book, "Lego Mindstorms NXT-G Programming Guide".  The students (each team) will get a bag of parts and a photocopy of the build instructions for SPOT.  I have found that having the parts pre-picked saves a lot of time.

On the right you see a picture of SPOT from the book.  Between now and next September I will tinker with SPOT and see how he fits in with my class lab exercises.

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.

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.

RFG Week 4

In Wednesday's class, we will cover three sensors, the display, and signal wires

• Sensors
• Ultrasonic sensor
• Touch Sensor
• Rotation sensor (the servo motor as a sensor)
• LCD Display
• Displaying text
• Displaying a number
• Signal wires
• Number to Text conversion

Labeling stuff

I'm working with 3 or 4 Mindstorms NXT kits at a time, so the parts can get mixed around occasionally.

Because the NXT sensor/motor cables are all black, they're somewhat difficult to tell apart, and it's important at the end of the day for each kit to have the right assortment of cables: 2 of the 50cm cables, 4 of the 35cm cables, and 1 of the 20cm cable.

The way I can tell what goes where is to make two labels for each cable: one with the kit ID and another with the cable length on it.  So each cable is labeled "TPO1" and "50cm", for example.  Both labels are at the same end, for ease in sorting them. 

I used Brother TZ tape, 3/4 inches wide, red on white, with large lettering.  This tape wraps around the wire and sticks very well to itself.

A similar scheme will work to keep the USB cables from straying.  It might be useful to label the sensors and motors as well.

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.

Class 3 Results

Today's class went well.  I tried out some new extra material, in which I discussed robots from my own professional perspective, which is space robotics.  I talked about the generations of robotic manipulators present in the Space Shuttle and Space Station programs, and I showed some pictures.  If I hadn't rambled on so long, I would have shown a few minutes of video, but timing wouldn't permit.

The class material and the lab were just about right in level of difficulty.  The class teams completed the exercise in about ten minutes each.  I noted that a MyBlock and a program need to have different names, and there's a possibility of tangling things up if they have the same name.

I have heard some interest in having a follow-on course (RfG II), and more questions about when the course would be taught again.  We'll have to see how this one goes before I try to design another course.  Susanne says that if I teach a second course, I'll need to get another robot kit to support it.  We'll have to see about that.  I'm not sure what material I would cover in a second course.

All together now!

This afternoon I reinstalled the NXT 1.0 software on the two laptops.
I then renamed all 4 NXT bricks to TPO-1, TPO-1, EP-1, EP-2.
I downloaded new firmware 1.05 to all 4 NXT bricks.
I set the sound and light sensor calibration to default on all 4 NXT bricks.
I tested each brick to see if it worked properly with the sound sensor.

I think all is well now....

I would like to upgrade the laptops and the ALIR desktop to NXT 1.1, but I can't locate the installation CD.
LEGO no longer sells the NXT 1.1 CD.  Boo.  Maybe I can find someone to loan me the NXT 1.1 CD.

Great results from Mindstorms Tech Support

Today I called the Tech Support line for Lego Education.  I spoke to Tim Lankford, one of the tech geniuses they have there.  We talked through the problem, looked in a few places, tried a few things, and finally came to a good conclusion.  No hardware needs to be returned/repaired, no software bug report is needed.
The main point of misbehavior was that the Sound Sensor calibration on the problem NXT brick was messed up.  The minimum and maximum were reversed, and had weird values.  Setting the calibration to default values was the main part of the solution.

Here's what I need to do to get all the bots and computers homogenized:

1. Uninstall the NXT software on all computers and re-install the latest (1.1) software.
2. Download the latest (1.05) firmware to all bricks.
3. Set calibration on the light and sound sensors to default on all bricks.
4. Give each brick a unique name, similar to what's on the outside ID label.

Tim was intrigued by the idea of teaching Robotics for Grandparents!  Maybe he will follow our blog!

Thanks again to Tim for being very patient, knowledgeable, and helpful.

Today's EP Robo Club Meeting

Today it was time to get finished building and get started programming the robots.  Some groups made more progress than others, but all of the time spent was well used.  One team had to start over with their building when they found that they were using building instructions from the old (1.1) kit and parts from the new (2.0) kit.  They were given an ambitious goal for the day, a programming task with several steps.  Next week they'll add some more capabilities and try some new tricks.  The teams are working well together.

EP Robo Club meeting

I just returned from the Robotics Club meeting at Encino Park Elementary School. When I arrived, Mrs. Pearce told me that there was a mandatory all-teachers meeting, and asked if I could talk to the kids for a bit. As luck would have it, I had a flash drive in my pocket with a few minutes of Space Shuttle and Space Station animation that I'd downloaded earlier today. So we trooped into the computer lab, which has a projector and screen, and I showed them the animations and talked about what was going on. I think the kids enjoyed it, because they were quiet and attentive, and several of them asked probing questions.

When the teacher meeting was over, Mrs. Pearce and Miss Craig got the kids organized. Their task today was to organize into teams, name the team, assign duties, and build the starter robot using the Lego Mindstorms kit. Most of them finished and tested the robot by the end of the club period.

I brought one kit home and will use it in next Wednesday's RfG class. Here are some pictures from the work parties, including a finished and tested robot from Team 1.

This is the first meeting of the 2009-2010 club, and there were more volunteers, including four student volunteers from last year's robot club, serving as hands-off advisors. The club is off to a great start!

Robotics Club today

Every Friday at 2:30 PM, I join the Encino Park Elementary School's Robotics Club for a meeting. The club is made up of about 25 kids, mostly fifth-graders. Each year the school draws names from a larger list of kids who are interested in the club. During the club meeting, the kids do small projects assigned by the teachers. Sometimes they will prepare for a competition with other clubs within the North East Independent School District. Alice Pearce and Vicki Craig are the teachers who sponsor this club.

My job is to help the teachers run the club meetings, and to tell the kids about my own experiences with robots.

During the six weeks of the ALIR class, I bring the borrowed Lego NXT robot kit back to the school for the duration of the meeting.

First class meeting is a success!

Today the Robotics for Grandparents class met for the first time. As expected, there were a lot of people, and the resources (PCs and robots) were stretched pretty thin.

Before class, I had a near panic when the "Baby laptop", an Aspire One with a 10.1 inch display, would not install the NXT software. The reason given was that the resolution of the display was insufficient. So my fallback was to use the Art Room computer for the third robot. When I installed the software on my new HP laptop, I got some odd results. Windows Vista (insert your favorite cusswords here) reported that the NXT software was not certified for Vista. I continued installation. When it came time to test the USB connection, all the USB ports were inactive. It turned out that was because Vista was attempting to update to Service Pack 2, which apparently disables some of the external interfaces. Anyhow, I stopped the SP2 update and rebooted the computer, at which time the USB ports came back. Panic over. When I arrived at ALIR, I realized that I didn't have the CD with class material on it. Not to worry, the older laptop had everything on it, so I copied the class material to a USB drive and took it to the Art Room computer. Waverly Jones of the Education Center staff had installed the NXT on the Art Room computer, as promised (thanks!).

As I said, there were lots of people who came to the class. I started by going through the Intro to Robotics presentation from Carnegie Mellon, which gave the class a good introduction to what we are going to do. Next, I gave a little demonstration of the NXT program editor and downloader.

Then it was time for the class assignment. The class problem required the robot to move straight ahead exactly 13.5 inches. The class members organized themselves into three groups (I expect those groups to be somewhat fluid). They worked together well, and came to (nearly) the same conclusion in about the same amount of time. Once a team had demonstrated their solution to the problem, I gave them an add-on: make the robot turn 180 degrees after stopping. The solutions for the turn varied somewhat, depending on how they did the turn.

By the time the teams had achieved the turn, it was time to wrap up the class.

I think the first class went very well. There was a lot of enthusiasm in the three teams, and the cooperation among team members was great.

Technical problem

The robot loaned by Encino Park Elementary's robotics club did something strange when I ran the little demo program to test it. It veered away from a straight line. It will take some more testing to determine whether the problem is in one of the servos or in a wheel or in the caster at the back. I will check the caster at the back first, by aligning it in a trailing position first, then in a leading position, then in a cross-path position. Each of those should produce a characteristic behavior. If that isn't the problem, I will check the tires. If one of them is mis-mounted on its wheel, I think that could cause the off-track behavior. If that isn't the problem, I will check the motors.

After checking again, I found no problems. Maybe a glitch, I don't know. Not to worry.

ALIR Fall 2009 instructor meeting

Today ALIR held its Fall instructor meeting, in which the instructors for the semester are recognized, and new ones are introduced. We were given class rosters and some additional rules and regulations (e.g., no food or drink in the classrooms). Briefings on computer usage were given to instructors who needed them.



A member of the NEISD staff kindly offered to install my NXT software on the classroom computer I'll be using. That avoids any problems that the NEISD IT folks might have with me installing a *driver* (God forbid) on one of their computers.



I ordered 18 copies of my seven page handout (21 slides, I think). They should be ready in my mailbox on Wednesday morning.



I'm sending a note to the 18 registered and 6 waitlisted students, welcoming them to the class and inviting them to participate in this blog.

The Robots are Ready!

I have finished building and testing the three base robots for this class. They are built from the design in the Quick Start guide for the Lego 8527 Mindstorms NXT kit. Students will write, download, and run programs for these robots.

The school-club robot gave me some trouble last night. Its memory was missing the "Demo" program that I needed for testing. I did a hard reset (paper clip 4 seconds in the hole below the USB port). The result was, as expected, that the screen was blank and I could hear ticking from the speaker. When I tried to download new firmware, the NXT was not found. I checked the driver, which seemed to be OK. I re-installed the NXT package on my laptop, to no avail. Someone on the RobotC forum suggested I hold the pin in for 20 seconds. That didn't help. Finally, I removed one of the AA cells from the NXT and replaced it after 10 seconds. That was the ticket. The firmware downloaded, and everything was cool, except when I ran Demo, the motors were a little sluggish. Fresh batteries cured that problem. Since the batteries were fresh from last night, and were pretty warm, I conclude that when the NXT brick is in "tick tick" mode, it draws power and doesn't have enough intelligence to shut itself down. So, when in "tick tick" mode and frustrated, pull the batteries before quitting for the night.

This morning I have an ALIR instructor meeting, and I will take some handout pages for copying.

I'm told through the grapevine that there are even more people wanting to take this course. I'm not sure what to do about that, except to promise them that we'll be back next Fall.

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.