Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Members of the OU Robotics Outreach Group have been running hands on school and community workshops using the Lego Mindstorms robot invention system. Typically, these activities have been based around remote control activities using prebuilt robots, programming workshops using prebuilt robots or hybrid workshops involving simple robot construction and programming tasks. In this presentation, we describe a new activity format - a robot construction activity using a preprogrammed robot controller capable of solving a situated task based on the popular RoboCupJunior robot rescue challenge.
Citation preview
Creative hands-on robot activities using pre-programmed controllers
Tony Hirst & Jon Rosewell
Background• Hands-on robotics activities at public events• Schools competitions• Hands-on activities in schools
Themed Activities
• Science Festivals
Themed Activities• Kre8 Workshops
Themed Team Challenges• RoboCup Junior Football • RoboCup Junior Rescue
Why Themes and Teams?• Vygotsky
– Social Situatedness: “the idea that the development of individual intelligence requires a social (and cultural) embedding”
– Zone of Proximal Development: “the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers”
Why Hands-On?• Papert• Constructionism
– “people learn with particular effectiveness when they engaged in constructing personally meaningful artefacts“
The OU-ROG Philosophy
The Problem of Resource• Robot kit• Computers• Software• Time• Knowledge/Skills of Mechanisms and Programming
– Pupils/students– Teachers
…or to put it another way• Programming often makes life difficult…
– Availability of computers– Suitable programming environment– Syntactic and control structure knowledge– Debugging
• …especially if you only have an hour…
The Solution?• Pre-programmed robots
– One computer (for downloading program)– Prewritten program– Some constraints on robot design
• Sensor/motor configuration• Optional requirement to calibrate robot sensors
The Task• A enhanced edge follower…• Variants already exist in several themed events
– Robocup Junior rescue– RoboJoust– RobotFashion Show
The Challenge, Technically• To construct a robot that will follow the edge of a black
line on a white background and detect pieces of silver foil placed at various points along the line.
• The robot controller is preprogrammed and requires participants to construct a robot in compliance with a partial specification.
• The robot controller requires the sensors to be calibrated before each run.
The Challenge, Actually• Robot Treasure Island• To build a robot that can find the treasure that was been
dropped by a band of evil pirates as they made a path through the island’s jungle undergrowth.
In Use• Technology Challenge Days, Isle of Wight
– Year 8: 1 hr 40 minute activity (optional ramp up to the pirate ship)
– Year 6: 50 minute activity• Science Week, Fenny House PRU, Milton Keynes
– Years 10-12(?): 50 minute activity
OU Robotics Outreach GroupFaculty of TechnologyThe Open UniversityWalton HallMilton KeynesMK7 6AArobofesta.open.ac.uk
