Robotics Workshop for Teachers & Aids

Objective:

In order to make Information technology more interesting and understandable in our nation's schools we have been sponsoring annual high school robotics competitions, including the Botball tournaments produced by KISS Institute for Practical Robotics. These have been well produced and well received by teachers and students, but they don't automatically lead to including the technology in the classroom. This workshop is a step toward making "An Introduction to Robotics" a part of a high school curricula.

Two specific issues are addressed in the workshop:

1. Providing teachers and aids with a better introduction to the coding needed to build a set of basic robot behaviors.

2. Designing contest projects which can be quickly developed as learning exercises which can be inserted into the classroom experiences and also can lead to informal local contests for shared science experiences between classes and between local schools.

Approach:

The workshop leverages the experience and materials received by the teachers who participated in the Botball tournament, held at NASA Ames. It is divided into multiple two segment activities: The first segment is largely tutorial material based upon a prebuilt vehicle using the Botball kit and a desktop computer to host the coding environment. The second segment is designed as an interactive discussion with teachers providing most of the input regarding how best to translate and present the basic robot concepts to the students in the form of a game/contest, and the logistics of holding the contests. The plan is to have 4-5 activities aimed at the kit sensors and effectors and providing coding examples for projects to illustrate Newton's laws and basic control. A list of projects which can be optionally covered are:

1. Sample and display sensors for voltage, touch, rotation, & proximity measurement.

2. Light measurement and light trigger design for remote starting of a contest such as 'Sumo Wresting' to illustrate the 3rd law (action/reaction) and friction effects.

3. Preparation experiments for a 'Can race' to illustrate the 1st and 2nd law (force & acceleration) and friction.

4. A 'Line-following race' to illustrate feedback control.

To maximize the focus on coding for robot behaviors, we have presented a mechanical design specification and building guidelines for a Lego robot, and request that the teachers have their students assemble the vehicle in advance of the workshop. This task should not be difficult for those who participated in the competition, as the robot is simpler than what they have already built. We request that the robot design allow for an optional gearing between the motors and the drive wheels: one for high initial force, and one for high final speed.