LEGO Robotics LEGO Mindstorms Education Introduction to Programming

Today’s economy requires that students develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills and be prepared with strong academic and technical skills. Workers must be able to think critically, solve problems, work well in teams, and communicate effectively.

Alignment with National Standards LEGO Education has created activities that align with national standards. The activities included in the teacher’s guide fulfill recommendations of the National Science Education Content Standards, most notably, Content Standard B, Physical Science, and Content Standard E, Science and Technology, for grades K-4 and 5-8. Additionally, you can find specific learning objectives listed at the beginning of each activity.

SCIENCE Investigating, collecting, sorting and transferring energy, force, speed, the effect of friction: simple machines, magnetism, calibrating and reading scales, scientific fair testing, purposeful inquiry, predicting and measuring, collecting data, making conclusions, and more. TECHNOLOGY Finding solutions for needs, choosing appropriate materials and processes: designing, making, testing and modifying: exploring systems and subsystems, using 2-demensional instructions: creating 3-demensional models; working cooperatively in a team. MATHEMATICS Measuring distance, time, speed(velocity), weight(mass), notions of accuracy in calibrating and reading scales, tabulating and interpreting data, informally calculating ratios, and more.

Technology Standards TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS Students will develop an understanding of the characteristics and scope of technology. Students will develop an understanding of the core concepts of technology. Students will develop an understanding of the relationships among technologies and the connections between technology and other fields of study. Students will develop an understanding of engineering design. Students will develop an understanding of the role of troubleshooting, research and development invention and innovation, and experimentation in problem solving. Student will develop the ability to apply the design process. Student will develop the ability to assess the impact of products and systems. Student will develop the ability to use and maintain technological products and systems.

Career and Technology Education prepares students for further education and careers in several workforce areas such as: Engineering Interactive Media Biomedical sciences Automotive Technology IT networking Culinary Arts Construction Trades

Michigan Content Standards Inquiry Analysis and Communication K-7 Standard S.IA: Develop an understanding that scientific inquiry and investigations require analysis and communication of findings, using appropriate technology. S.IA.E.1 Inquiry includes an analysis and presentation of findings that lead to future questions, research, and investigations. S.IA.00.12 Share ideas about science through purposeful conversation. S.IA.00.13 Communicate and present findings of observations. S.IA.00.14 Develop strategies for information gathering (ask an expert, use a book, make observations, conduct simple investigations, and watch a video).

Michigan Science Content Standards Inquiry Process K-7 Standard S.IP: Develop an understanding that scientific inquiry and reasoning involves observing, questioning, investigating, recording, and developing solutions to problems. S.IP.M.1 Inquiry involves generating questions, conducting investigations, and developing solutions to problems through reasoning and observation. S.IP.05.11 Generate scientific questions based on observations, investigations, and research. S.IP.05.12 Design and conduct scientific investigations. S.IP.05.13 Use tools and equipment (spring scales, stop watches, metersticks and tapes, models, hand lens) appropriate to scientific investigations. S.IP.05.14 Use metric measurement devices in an investigation. S.IP.05.15 Construct charts and graphs from data and observations. S.IP.05.16 Identify patterns in data

Why Robotics Education? Student: “Teacher, what did I learn today?” Teacher: “Why do you ask that?” Can robotics education solve this problem?

Workshop Goals Spark interest in teaching with robotics. Increase comfort level when working with technology Improve analytical and mathematical thinking Increase interest in science Promote team work

The 4 Cs Of Learning

Connect Robotics is exciting! Robotics is intriguing! Robotics is fun! Students can relate to robots!

Construct Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand!

Contemplate Students learn to think about what they have constructed. Students gain an understanding of how something works. Students learn how various concepts work.

Continue Students naturally want to solve problems. Students may quickly surpass you in their knowledge of and expertise with the LEGO Robots! This leads to a positive learning outcome, fueling students to overcome increasingly difficult challenges!

Robotics, A Growing Trend – 2009 Statistics FIRST LEGO League 55,000 Students 20,000 High school students in 900 teams participated in FIRST Robotics competitions in 2008 70,000 Students in 20 countries between the ages of 9 and 14 participated in the 2007 FIRST LEGO League (FLL) RoboFest sponsored by Lawrence Technological University. 14 Countries

Establishing a Program A great robotics program needs: Students of any age or learning level. A dedicated, energetic teacher.

Objectives Team leaders should be able to: Interpret and design a NXT program. Apply engineering principles to solve a problem. Apply creative thinking to solve an open-ended problem.

Components of the Robotic System Robot: a mechanical device that operates automatically The NXT Basic Bot is one example. It is compact, maneuverable, expandable, durable, and reasonably easy to build. We will be working with the Tankbot!

MINDSTORMS Education NXT A complete MINDSTORMS Education NXT system includes: Hardware Software Curriculum

Hardware: Intelligent NXT Brick

Hardware: Intelligent NXT Brick 32-bit ARM7 microprocessor 256 Kbytes FLASH, 64 Kbytes RAM 8-bit microprocessor 4 Kbytes FLASH, 512 Byte RAM Bluetooth wireless communication USB 2.0 port 4 input ports, 6 wire digital platform 3 output ports, 6 wire digital platform

Hardware: Intelligent NXT Brick Programmable Dot Matrix Display 60 x 100 pixels Loudspeaker – 8 KHz sound quality Many LEGO Technic holes Allow fast and easy building

Hardware: Interactive Servo Motor Built-in rotation sensor measures exact speed and distance Allows for precise motor control motors align the speed of robotic motion 1 degree step control LEGO Technic holes for easy building

Hardware: Sensors Light Sensor Touch Sensor Reads light intensity from environment Reads reflection from IR emitter Touch Sensor

Hardware: Sensors Sound Sensor Ultrasonic Sensor Measures DB and DBA Recognizes sound patterns Recognizes tones Ultrasonic Sensor Senses distance Recognizes objects Recognizes movement

Software Icon based programming powered by LabView™ engine with ability-based programming options: Easy palette: 7 icons Advanced palette: 40 icons Intuitive interface Low entry point with high ceiling Streamlined, multipurpose icons Available for PC (Win XP) and Mac (OS X) in 12 languages

LEGO MindStorms in Education LEGO MindStorms can be used for computer science education to teach Java C NXT code LabVIEW LEGO MindStorms can be used to teach Math concepts such as Numbers and operations Algebra Geometry and measurement LEGO MindStorms can be used to teach science concepts such as Scientific process Measurement technique Systematic and random error. Explain how LEGO MindStorms can be used to teach Math concepts. Explain how the various LEGO sensors can be used to conduct experiments.

Software Robot Educator integrated in software Provides interactive guidance throughout entire programming environment Uses standard simple robot model Provides basic teaching tutorials Tutorials indexed for optimal search and retrieval

Curriculum Developed by Carnegie Mellon University Focused on curriculum standards Science Technology Engineering Math Two curriculums Robotics Engineering l & ll

Curriculum Set 1: Introduction to Robotics Engineering Teaches fundamental STEM organized around robotics 30-hour course (6 wks) Six main activities

Curriculum Set 2: Guided Research in Robotics Engineering Teaches fundamental STEM and adds research component 45-hour course (9 wks) Three research projects

Additional Features LEGO® building elements optimized for curriculum relevant activities for use by groups of 2-3 students Sturdy storage boxes, containing: sorting trays with illustrated overview of all elements Robot Educator integrated into software and curriculum Allows independent and interactive learning Rechargeable battery eliminates battery handling Bluetooth technology: Allows teachers to communicate with students’ NXT bricks Eliminates interfering signals between student groups

The Robots are Coming! Are Star Wars type robots in our future? No one knows but in the mean time robotics technology is teaching students about Math, Science, and technology Explain how concepts learned using LEGO MindStorms are actually used in real world consumer products. And how

The Robots are Here! Robomower Roomba Qrio

LEGO Roomba Demo I Roomba – An autonomous robot vacuum cleaner 2 million sold since Fall of 2002 by the iRobot Co. The algorithm used by Roomba was given as an assignment to middle school students Roomba data from iRobot web site: www.irobot.com/news_central/news_backgrounder.cfm

Conclusion Parent: “What did you learn in school today?” Student: “I learned how to write programs for a LEGO robot using the NXT programming language to demonstrate the Roomba algorithm!!!”