Week 3 - Day 1

Week 3, Day 1 got our budding roboticists off to a great start with another round of design and revise exercises.  This time, campers designed a robot by sketching it and using the creative bricks to build it.  They then passed their designs to their neighbor, who then had to build it from the sketches they created.  The results were enlightening - and we discussed the challenges of using the designs of others to construct robots and other models. We met Alpha Trion, who taught us about programming and using sensors to make decisions.  He used his ultra-sonic sensor to stop before he ran into walls, or campers! We looked at robots performing functions, like these at the BMW car plant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R46x6k2wieU.  Next we began learning about sequential programming with the Mindstorms Labview environment, as we programmed our robot to travel certain distances before making a turn.  Finally, the 6-foot robot made another appearance as campers learned to program using psuedo-code.

Week 2 - Day 5

Battle Bots!  On day 5, campers designed and programmed robots to use their motors and sensors to  fight in the battle arena.  Using their knowledge of conditional statements and loops, they programmed the robots to automatically navigate the arena and attack when near objects.  Points were scored by overturning opponents, knocking over opponents' flags, or pushing opponents out of the arena.

Week 2 - Day 4

On day four our roboticists designed and played a game that was a combination of soccer and capture the flag.  Campers, built the playing field from PVC parts,  drove robots using the iPad Commander app and used the medium motor and arm they built on day 3 to retrieve the cargo box from the opponent's side and return it to the goal on the other side of the field.  Meanwhile, other campers built fortresses to defend against programmed ev3 robots using loops to repeatedly attack the strongholds.  We explored more sensors, including the color sensor.  Campers learned about lightwaves, amplitude, and frequency, and how the robot can make decisions based on that information.  Students also learned about conditional statements in programming, and wrote their own programs using conditional statements.

Week 2 - Day 3

Our campers started the day by reviewing the differences between people and robots.  We discussed how people use their sensors to make decisions, and so do robots!  We demonstrated how the robot could be programmed using conditional statements to navigate the course.  We made the course more difficult by adding a 45 degree angle turn at the end.  Most of the programs failed to get the robot to the end of the course, which allowed our roboticists to discuss the limitations of robots and their sensors.

Week 2 - Day 2

On day two, our campers learned how to navigate the robot through a two-turn course using sequential programming in the Lego Mindstorms EV3 Labview environment.  Teams experimented with adjusting the power to the motors and the angles for navigation.  Conclusion: the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.  Campers also learned about programming concepts using the iPad App Hopscotch. Finally, we built and installed the ultrasonic sensors in preparation for Day 3, where we'll use them to navigate the course using a sensor!

Week 2 - Day 1

Another Group of Bell Brick Bot Campers - Day 1

Our first day of Week 2 was a great one!  We covered the 3+1 laws of (Bell Brick) Robotics.  The 3 (+1) laws are, Respect Each Other, Take Turns, Listen, and Take Care of your Bots!  We talked about what a robot is.  How are robots different from one another?  What is their purpose?  How are they different from people?  What parts make up a robot?  Campers settled on the definition of a robot as "something created from technology that can help you with things".  We learned about sensors, programs, design, and revision.  Campers designed robots in groups, then built and revised them using the creative bricks.  We then shared our designs with one another, and met the teacher robot, Alpha Trion.  He's the EV3 bot that helps us learn about motors, sensors, programs, and computing.  At the end of the day, campers wrote programs to navigate a six-foot tall silver robot along a blue line on the floor.