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.

Week 5 of Robotics for Grandparents

Today the class tried calibrating a light sensor and following a black line on the test track. The results were good, and there was some interesting discussion about how line-following programs and devices work (and sometimes don't). A simple line-follower such as we were using can easily get lost and can't easily recover (its search for the edge is very simple).

On Friday, I'll show the line-following technique to the Encino Park Robotics Club. It should be fun to compare the 5th-graders' reaction to that of the grandparents!

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

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.

RFG Week 3

In tomorrow's Robotics for Grandparents class, I will introduce some new concepts:

• Control structures
• Loops
• Branches
• Subprograms
• MyBlocks

If time permits, I will talk about the robots used on the Space Shuttle and Space Station.

RFG Week 2

Today I wanted to demonstrate the combined use of a sensor and a motor.  So this morning, before the class, I connected a sound sensor to one of the robots and downloaded a little program.  The little program didn't work properly.  I put the sensor on a different port with no effect.  I replaced the sensor with no effect.  I replaced the sensor cable with no effect.  Then I replaced the NXT block, and it worked.  The visible effect of the problem was that the reading from the sensor was erratic.  Using VIEW, the sensor output seemed OK, but when I monitored the sensor output in the monitor window, it was erratic.  Hmm.  I replaced the batteries, hoping that would solve the problem.  No such luck.  So, during the class I let one team use the defective NXT block for the first part of the lab and then watch the other teams for the second part of the lab. 

Some good questions came from the lab - nobody was asleep for very long, I guess.  One student asked how to upload programs from the NXT block.  I knew it was possible, but didn't know how to do it.

Next week I will try to borrow another robot from the Encino Park Robo Club.

This is the robot configuration used for this week's class.  The sensor on the robot's left side is a sound sensor.

Spring Semester 2010

Some people have asked if I plan to offer the Robotics for Grandparents class next semester (Spring 2010).
The answer is no.  If there is interest, I will offer the class again in Fall 2010.

It's likely that the class will continue in the six-week format, which I think is about right for an introductory class.  I expect to revise the material based on what we can accomplish this semester.

Why not offer the class in the Spring?  Susanne and I have plans to travel during part of that time, and it wouldn't be fair to interrupt the class.