High School Robotics Program: Columbia County, WI
I have been (and am still doing), 4-H robotics in Columbia County WisCOWnsin using Lego NXT robotics. We meet once a week, for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. We try to run beginning, intermediate and advanced sessions of 6-8 weeks each year, depending on interest. This year, we had an introductory class with 4th graders, using a parent as a partner. That went very well.
One of the things we've been struggling with is how to engage (and hold onto) the older kids. Towards the end of Jr. High, the kids start to outgrow the whole Lego thing some, and more significantly, after a year or two of participation with the NXT, the young roboticists are approaching the limits of what the hardware can do.
So, we have worked to start a new program for High School aged youth, based on the Propeller chip. We had our first meeting last Thursday, and things went great. We will ultimately be using the Prop BOE, but while we're waiting, we've started with the Quickstart Board. Last week, we had the kids load the Propeller Software, and worked on the traditional "Blinking LED". Once they had that working, they were able to play with the loop, and before I knew it, they were repeating the code with different values for OUTA, and the LEDs making waves and various other patterns. They did this on their own. All I did was work them through getting one LED blinking, and talked them through how to use OUTA to control "on and off".
A great Week 1!
Tomorrow (we meet on Thursdays), we'll be working to get a servo going back and forth, and if we have time, maybe a continuous rotation servo. Week 3 is slated to do PWM to a DC Motor controller.
Once we get past the intro on how to use the Prop, we will be giving the youth a "box o' parts". We're going with the 7.2 Volt Motor kit (Stingray Wheels), and Pololu motor controller for the drive system. We also have some Servos, and once they have the robots moving, we'll be getting them some sensors. For power, we're going with the LiION battery pack.
They will need to design and construct the robot, including the "chassis" or base.
The plan is also to "arm" the robots, with with either a laser (or other light) "gun", or a home made, spring loaded "air soft" gun. The laser/light is attractive from the "we can do this inside without having to chace down BBs" standpoint. They will also need to develop a way of sensing hits. These plans are subject to change, based on the interest of the youth.
Once they are "off and running" the thought is to run this as more of an "open lab", with minimal "class time", and maximum, explore and mentor.
Hopefully you'll see some of the kids on the forums here, and we can get a start on the next generation of Propeller Enthusiasts.
One of the things we've been struggling with is how to engage (and hold onto) the older kids. Towards the end of Jr. High, the kids start to outgrow the whole Lego thing some, and more significantly, after a year or two of participation with the NXT, the young roboticists are approaching the limits of what the hardware can do.
So, we have worked to start a new program for High School aged youth, based on the Propeller chip. We had our first meeting last Thursday, and things went great. We will ultimately be using the Prop BOE, but while we're waiting, we've started with the Quickstart Board. Last week, we had the kids load the Propeller Software, and worked on the traditional "Blinking LED". Once they had that working, they were able to play with the loop, and before I knew it, they were repeating the code with different values for OUTA, and the LEDs making waves and various other patterns. They did this on their own. All I did was work them through getting one LED blinking, and talked them through how to use OUTA to control "on and off".
A great Week 1!
Tomorrow (we meet on Thursdays), we'll be working to get a servo going back and forth, and if we have time, maybe a continuous rotation servo. Week 3 is slated to do PWM to a DC Motor controller.
Once we get past the intro on how to use the Prop, we will be giving the youth a "box o' parts". We're going with the 7.2 Volt Motor kit (Stingray Wheels), and Pololu motor controller for the drive system. We also have some Servos, and once they have the robots moving, we'll be getting them some sensors. For power, we're going with the LiION battery pack.
They will need to design and construct the robot, including the "chassis" or base.
The plan is also to "arm" the robots, with with either a laser (or other light) "gun", or a home made, spring loaded "air soft" gun. The laser/light is attractive from the "we can do this inside without having to chace down BBs" standpoint. They will also need to develop a way of sensing hits. These plans are subject to change, based on the interest of the youth.
Once they are "off and running" the thought is to run this as more of an "open lab", with minimal "class time", and maximum, explore and mentor.
Hopefully you'll see some of the kids on the forums here, and we can get a start on the next generation of Propeller Enthusiasts.
Comments
When the kid gets to high school age, Lego's are pretty much out, They want grown up stuff..
No problem, Just point them toward the OBEX, and blow their minds with a dozen different ways of IR control...:cool:
-Tommy
What are you going to use for the chassis?
-Matt
That is for the kids to figure out! Wood, plastic, foam board, metal, woven corn stalks. Whatever... (that's a big part of the exercise.
We also talked about working toward entry into the LFO (Line Following Open) at the Expo. The entries would need to be by "proxy", so we'll see what we can work out.
I use that stuff for "modeling" (working) prototypes often - it works well - especially if you get the good stuff. Not many corn stalks available here. I wonder how stiff I can make a piece of cowhide?
-Matt
When I was involved with model railroading, I did "scratch built" buildings, and always started with foam board mock ups. When re-creating a "real" building, I'd even attach scaled photos to it. This allowed a quick and inexpensive way to visualize things. I'm sure that's the same thing you were after. Easy to change and "tweak", and much easier to change if something doesn't physically fit.
In the case of robots, there is an interesting opportunity to learn about "structures" and how things like triangles and I Beam structures can make something relatively weak and flexible into something very strong and rigid (and light). Maybe I can get one or more of the kids to enter a foam board robot into the LFO!
I wonder if that could be put to use for an international LFO competition?...
You could have the same course set up all over the world, and run simultaneous events.., I can see it all now...
Potentially thousands of contestants starting a race all at the same time...
Of course it's not the same time in Beijing as it is in Rocklin, so timing might be an issue,(someone has to stay up late.)
LOL, I bought a Prop so I could build a really cool automated layout, but robots have crushed that dream,
I have not worked on the layout since the Propeller arrived...
Hey Matt, I thought those were goats grazing by the Parallax building, not cows...
-Tommy
Tommy;
They will have a feed again this year! I am the guy who has been doing the feeds...
A Line Following Contest in wisconsin with live feed to Rocklin and vise-versa.:thumb:
I might have been thinking big with international, but... it was your idea.
-Tommy
I also gave them a little homework. Each youth got two of the following to look up and tell us about: Volts, Amps, Resistor, Capacitor, Inductor, Transistor, Diode and lastly ADC/DAC as one. As part of this, we'll also be introducing Ohms law after the first three are discussed.
It is a challenge to do the "teaching/learning" part, these guys are into the "doing". I think they are beginning to understand why they need to do some learning, but in the mean time, we need to keep them motivated and engaged. As we get along, we'll be able to transition to more of an "open lab" concept for the "doing", and I'll be able to take some "learning time" and kind of back fill some of the fundamentals.
Given what they have done thus far, I am convinced that this is a good program for them, and not reaching too far. Once they have a robot working, they will be much more interested in the electronic fundamentals, and learning Spin.
We initially bypassed the PWM thing, and just turned the motors "on" full bore. The kids now believe me that this thing may move too fast until we learn and program better control.
We put in PWM, and things were much nicer at 20 - 50% power!
I gotta get pictures, hopefully next week!
The "contest" programs (First, VEX, etc.) are great programs, but for a number of very real reasons, they are out of reach for many people.
Robots are good for most kids say till High school.
But once kids get in High school they are going to want to use there phones and tablets to control things.
Robots, dorm room lights, unlock the door and talk to their cars stuff like that thats cool in the eyes of there friends.
You get the idea.
FRC is strictly high school, and is the largest of the Robotics competitions. Over 2,000 teams competed last year.
FRC team 1899 awards 2011;
Regional Chairmans's award
Dean's list winner
Regional Website award
Regional Champions
If you are asking me personally why not First (or any of the other competition programs), as I explained, my county, and may others, does not have the financial, time and/or leadership resources to embark on this journey.
We meet once a week, for about 2 hours. We have 4 youth in our group, and it is rare that all four are able to attend a given meeting. There is a definite difference in what can be done with an "in school" program, and a "club" level program like we have.
I am very supportive of these competitions for the most part, and would love to participate. Alas, I do not have the time.
We have robots moving, and I started guiding the kids through programming a "move" function ala Move(SpeedR, SpeedL, Duration).
There was a "light bulb" moment for one of the guys. After we had it written, and he sent it to his 'bot. You could see his eyeballs widen (literally) and he said:
It was half question half statement, but as he finished it, he realized it was all "statement".
A totally awesome moment!