While it is not quite the dance off that my first semester class came up with to end the term, the students made some mini ad hoc presentations and shared their projects. I have a lot to think about and some good ideas to improve the course for next year. I will share those ideas in a later post.
Demonstrations include:
- general programming with large motors and medium motor
- ultrasonic sensor to detect distance
- color sensor detecting light from laser and colored tape
- elephant from the EV3 expansion kit
I hope you enjoy the video. Robotics Presentation at Assembly
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Monday, May 5, 2014
I'll Be Honest, Today Was Frustrating
We are coming towards the end of the semester and the students have picked core and expansion robots to build from the EV3 software. Gyroboy, puppy, color sorter, robot arm from the core set and tank bot from the expansion set were the chosen bots. Great progress was made on the color sorter, the robot arm and the tank bots. The gryoboy and puppy have been very problematic. After many calls to LEGO Ed by my students, disappointedly, they abandoned gyroboy and moved on to something else.
Today, I had two sets of girls that I worked with on the puppy. I am really conscientious about encouraging girls, but they were getting very frustrated with the puppy build. They made many errors building and had to take it apart to rebuild. I realize that this part of it all, but they just were not into having to do this. I persisted with them and eventually got them to fix the build. Then we noticed that one sensor was plugged into the wrong port and contained too short of chord. With another girl, I was trying to decipher the program that does not seem to work like it does on the video. Frustrating. We figured out how one of the my blocks worked, but the program is so complicated. Then the other group noticed that the puppy can't walk. Argh.
I called LEGO and wrote on the online community and asked if there were written explanations anywhere for what these robots are supposed to do and how they are supposed to respond. There isn't. They only have the videos, which are only moderately helpful. In addition, every LEGO workshop I have been to the instructor has encouraged us as teachers to have the kids write notes above the blocks so that they can go back and read easily what they do. Yet LEGO doesn't do that with their programs. I wish they did because then students and I could learn from their programming.
At the end of class, I spoke to the kids about frustration and problem solving and that is part of this whole venture. Butting up against frustration isn't bad, I told them. It's how you respond to the frustration that is either bad or good. So some important lessons were hopefully learned.
Thanks for reading.
Today, I had two sets of girls that I worked with on the puppy. I am really conscientious about encouraging girls, but they were getting very frustrated with the puppy build. They made many errors building and had to take it apart to rebuild. I realize that this part of it all, but they just were not into having to do this. I persisted with them and eventually got them to fix the build. Then we noticed that one sensor was plugged into the wrong port and contained too short of chord. With another girl, I was trying to decipher the program that does not seem to work like it does on the video. Frustrating. We figured out how one of the my blocks worked, but the program is so complicated. Then the other group noticed that the puppy can't walk. Argh.
I called LEGO and wrote on the online community and asked if there were written explanations anywhere for what these robots are supposed to do and how they are supposed to respond. There isn't. They only have the videos, which are only moderately helpful. In addition, every LEGO workshop I have been to the instructor has encouraged us as teachers to have the kids write notes above the blocks so that they can go back and read easily what they do. Yet LEGO doesn't do that with their programs. I wish they did because then students and I could learn from their programming.
At the end of class, I spoke to the kids about frustration and problem solving and that is part of this whole venture. Butting up against frustration isn't bad, I told them. It's how you respond to the frustration that is either bad or good. So some important lessons were hopefully learned.
Thanks for reading.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Grabber Challenge: "It's my robot! It's doesn't work!"
After completing the Robot Educator Basics in the EV3 Mindstorms software, I turned to Damien Kee's Classroom Activities for the Busy Teacher: EV3. The Grabber challenge seemed like a good one. I gave the kids the option of designing and building their own grabber attachment or using the instructions provided in Damien's pdf of his book. Most if not all chose his design. A spectrum of success ensued. Two groups had quick success while others struggled. "It's my robot! It doesn't work!" (Of course. How could it be something they have done?) I heard this over and over again from one group. We examined the program. We tried someone else's program that worked. It did not work on this robot. I began to think that the student was right, that maybe there was something wrong with their brick or robot. Then one girl came to rescue and spotted the problem. Can you?
Figure 1.
Figure 2.
Figure 1.
Give up? Figure 1 has a piece positioned incorrectly. Figure 2 has the same piece correctly positioned. See if you can find it.
Spoiler alert.
In Figure 1, the 2 module cross block that the worm gear axle goes through has the axle in a locked position so that the medium motor cannot move or rotate. Notice the difference in Figure 2.
It was not the brick after all. How long will it take before I learn that the problems the kids and myself have while programming or building are rarely, rarely ever due to a malfunctioning robot. Throwing up your hands and simultaneously declaring, "It's my robot!" is a way to avoid ownership and responsibility for the problem and to avoid making the effort to troubleshoot and problem solve. In my opinion, students need more experience in both of these areas. Taking responsibility and problem-solving apply to life in general.
As always, thank you for reading.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
US Sensor Wait Block: The Difference between the Change and Compare Modes
During my semester teaching with the Mindstorms EV3 software, I actually had to call and speak with a LEGO technical support representative because the difference between the ultrasonic sensor change and compare modes was eluding me. The representative was very helpful, and I basically came to understand the simplicity of the settings as the difference between the meaning of two prepositions, 'to' and 'from.' (See EV3 Wait Block- Ultrasonic Sensor.)
This semester, I designed an activity for the students to figure this out for themselves. The activity involved collecting class data in a Google spreadsheet so that the kids could draw the conclusion for themselves. They simply followed the instructions in the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Education edition software. The kids used the Robot Educator-Basics-Stop at Object tutorial. This tutorial uses the ultrasonic sensor wait block on the "change" mode. The students completed this tutorial from different distances that I tried to control and then they recorded their data in a spreadsheet shown below.
This semester, I designed an activity for the students to figure this out for themselves. The activity involved collecting class data in a Google spreadsheet so that the kids could draw the conclusion for themselves. They simply followed the instructions in the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Education edition software. The kids used the Robot Educator-Basics-Stop at Object tutorial. This tutorial uses the ultrasonic sensor wait block on the "change" mode. The students completed this tutorial from different distances that I tried to control and then they recorded their data in a spreadsheet shown below.
| Stop at Object Change Mode (11 cm) | ||
| Start Distance from Object (cm) | How far Robot Moved (cm) | End Distance from Object (cm) |
| 90 | 11 | 79 |
| 70 | 12 | 58 |
| 40 | 15 | 25 |
| 80 | 12 | 68 |
| 60 | 10 | 50 |
| 90 | 12.5 | 77.5 |
| 45 | 5 | 39 |
| 90 | 11 | 79 |
| 60 | 8 | 49 |
| 50 | 11 | 39 |
| 30 | 17 | 13 |
| 90 | 80 | 10 |
| 20 | 10 | 30 |
| 44 | 13 | 31 |
| 47 | 11 | 36 |
| 83 | 10 | 73 |
From this data, the students were able to conclude that even with a couple of outliers, eleven of the data points show movement of 11 cm +/- 1-2 cm TO the object.
The students then repeated the same experiment using the compare mode instead of the change mode. Their data is shown below.
| Stop at Object Compare Mode (11 cm) | ||
| Start Distance from object (cm) | How far Robot Moved (cm) | End Distance from Object (cm) |
| 90 | 75 | 15 |
| 90 | 42 | 48 |
| 60 | 46 | 14 |
| 30 | 16 | |
| 70 | 25 | 45 |
| 50 | 7 | 43 |
| 90 | 47 | 43 |
| 90 | 24 | 76 |
| 45 | 12 | 38 |
| 15 | 4 | 12 |
| 15 | 26 | 41 |
| 30 | 11 | 41 |
| 37 | 11 | 48 |
| 17 | 4 | 12 |
This data did not turn out as I had hoped. The third column should have contained end distances FROM the object closer to 11 cm. Some 11 cm were recorded in the second column which could have been placed in the wrong column by students.
Still, with a couple of demonstrations with the students looking on, they came to the conclusion that the "compare" mode causes the robot to move a certain distance FROM an object.
All in all, this was a fun exercise to introduce the students to the idea of collecting a set of data, drawing conclusions, and discussing possible sources of error.
For me, I learned that I need to provide students with more explicit directions on how to record data.
Thank you for reading.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Get Out of the Way of the Students
A new semester means fourteen new robotics students in my Robotics Innovation Design elective. This time, five girls and nine boys. Last semester, we started with LEGO Simple Machines kits and then moved on to the Mindstorms EV3s. This semester, we dove right into the EV3s.
It did not take long for 'Past Teacher' to rear his controlling head, but the enthusiasm of the kids caused 'Present Teacher' to fight back and allow the kids do what they wanted to do. (See earlier post for clarification "Classroom Conflict: Old Teacher vs. New Teacher.")
After the students learned the basics of programing their EV3 driving base robots to move forward, reverse, turn and spin, I presented them with the In N' Out House challenge. It seems simple enough, go in one side, spin 90 degrees and come out another side, but it takes a bit of perfecting.
Once the above challenge was completed and before moving on to the next skill, students were given the opportunity to design a challenge for themselves and the other students, using tape, cardboard, small whiteboards or whatever else we could get our hands on. Their challenges are often more difficult than what I produce. Pictured below is a challenge designed by two students.
The students titled it 'From China to America,' as the directions required kids to program their robots to go up the ramp, capture the cuboid, which has a Chinese
flag underneath it, and deliver it to the U.S. Flag on the left. The students were having all sorts of difficulty keeping the robots going straight as they transitioned from the different surfaces on the challenge.
Past Teacher wanted to tell them to get rid of the ramps and just do it on a flat surface. Present Teacher shut him up quickly and let the kids do what they wanted to do. Kids like making things go up and down ramps. The ramps were initially much steeper, but they figured out that that didn't work very well so they lowered the center portion. Isn't that what this is all about: trying something, experimenting and revising. Eventually, I just let them be and the kids were lining up to complete the challenge. The creators of the challenge produced a point system for different levels of accuracy of delivering the cuboid. Check out the excitement below.
Once again, I keep learning that one of the best teaching strategies is simply to get out of the way of the students.
Thank you for reading.
It did not take long for 'Past Teacher' to rear his controlling head, but the enthusiasm of the kids caused 'Present Teacher' to fight back and allow the kids do what they wanted to do. (See earlier post for clarification "Classroom Conflict: Old Teacher vs. New Teacher.")
After the students learned the basics of programing their EV3 driving base robots to move forward, reverse, turn and spin, I presented them with the In N' Out House challenge. It seems simple enough, go in one side, spin 90 degrees and come out another side, but it takes a bit of perfecting.
Once the above challenge was completed and before moving on to the next skill, students were given the opportunity to design a challenge for themselves and the other students, using tape, cardboard, small whiteboards or whatever else we could get our hands on. Their challenges are often more difficult than what I produce. Pictured below is a challenge designed by two students.
The students titled it 'From China to America,' as the directions required kids to program their robots to go up the ramp, capture the cuboid, which has a Chinese
flag underneath it, and deliver it to the U.S. Flag on the left. The students were having all sorts of difficulty keeping the robots going straight as they transitioned from the different surfaces on the challenge.
Past Teacher wanted to tell them to get rid of the ramps and just do it on a flat surface. Present Teacher shut him up quickly and let the kids do what they wanted to do. Kids like making things go up and down ramps. The ramps were initially much steeper, but they figured out that that didn't work very well so they lowered the center portion. Isn't that what this is all about: trying something, experimenting and revising. Eventually, I just let them be and the kids were lining up to complete the challenge. The creators of the challenge produced a point system for different levels of accuracy of delivering the cuboid. Check out the excitement below.
Once again, I keep learning that one of the best teaching strategies is simply to get out of the way of the students.
Thank you for reading.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Final Project: Robot Dance Off
Two songs: All the Single Ladies and Campfire Song Song. Two groups of students each with three robots. Four judges for 1. choreography, 2. costume and set design 3. technical skill 4. overall appeal. The results? See below.
"Could we have a dance-off?" Absolutely! Great idea. This was the students' final project for the course. Six EV3 robots meant 6 pairs of students coming up with their respective dance proposals. Before the students were allowed to begin choreographing their dances, Mrs. Nora Francis, the Brentwood School Middle School dance instructor, taught the students about some elementary dance moves. Some required elements included:
1. chaine- 360 degree turn
2. canon- one robot
In addition, the routines needed to include a sensor interacting with something on the dance floor. Eventually, two songs were chosen and the students programmed the robots to dance to those two songs.
The judges:
"Could we have a dance-off?" Absolutely! Great idea. This was the students' final project for the course. Six EV3 robots meant 6 pairs of students coming up with their respective dance proposals. Before the students were allowed to begin choreographing their dances, Mrs. Nora Francis, the Brentwood School Middle School dance instructor, taught the students about some elementary dance moves. Some required elements included:
1. chaine- 360 degree turn
2. canon- one robot
In addition, the routines needed to include a sensor interacting with something on the dance floor. Eventually, two songs were chosen and the students programmed the robots to dance to those two songs.
The judges:
The final contest was done at the last middle school assembly before winter break. The kids loved it.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
When a Challenge isn't Met
I created a challenge for my students called Escape in which the goal was to program the robot to find it's way out of the box. The students quickly realized that they didn't need to use any sensors at all, that they could just have the robot rotate around and go forward for a few seconds until it found the opening.
I adjusted the requirements and created Escape 2. This time the robot could not touch the walls of the box. Of course, they tried to wiggle out of this one by asking if the cords could touch. "Okay" I said looking at the cords sticking out of the back and thinking that would be fine. Then of course, one pair students takes all the cords out of the kit to wrap around the robot as a bumper. "No. That doesn't work."
Escape 2 turned out to be a fairly significant challenge. Several pairs of students were able to program the robot using the ultrasonic sensor to sense the long distance at the opening of the box and move their robot towards the exit. But more often than not their robots would catch a wheel on edge of the opening and get stuck. Another group decided to rebuild their robot in a minimalist fashion by changing out the big wheels and tires on the base robot for thin wheels and tires.
Ultimately, this group and one other out of 6 were able to complete the challenge. As the teacher, what to do? We have spent a lot of time already on this challenge and I felt it was time to move on. Some nagging questions remained. Do I allow all students time to complete challenges? Is it okay to move on with some having not done so? My initial thought is YES, this is okay to do. In today's world where many kids are so quick to shout "That's unfair!" when one kid gets something and they do not, this seems like an important lesson. People have different strengths. Many kids expect everything to be easy and doable, and if it is not, they give up. Certainly, if a student wants to take some time outside of class to pursue the challenge, I would gladly provide that time.
Any thoughts, ideas or advice on this topic would be much appreciated.
I adjusted the requirements and created Escape 2. This time the robot could not touch the walls of the box. Of course, they tried to wiggle out of this one by asking if the cords could touch. "Okay" I said looking at the cords sticking out of the back and thinking that would be fine. Then of course, one pair students takes all the cords out of the kit to wrap around the robot as a bumper. "No. That doesn't work."
Escape 2 turned out to be a fairly significant challenge. Several pairs of students were able to program the robot using the ultrasonic sensor to sense the long distance at the opening of the box and move their robot towards the exit. But more often than not their robots would catch a wheel on edge of the opening and get stuck. Another group decided to rebuild their robot in a minimalist fashion by changing out the big wheels and tires on the base robot for thin wheels and tires.
Ultimately, this group and one other out of 6 were able to complete the challenge. As the teacher, what to do? We have spent a lot of time already on this challenge and I felt it was time to move on. Some nagging questions remained. Do I allow all students time to complete challenges? Is it okay to move on with some having not done so? My initial thought is YES, this is okay to do. In today's world where many kids are so quick to shout "That's unfair!" when one kid gets something and they do not, this seems like an important lesson. People have different strengths. Many kids expect everything to be easy and doable, and if it is not, they give up. Certainly, if a student wants to take some time outside of class to pursue the challenge, I would gladly provide that time.
Any thoughts, ideas or advice on this topic would be much appreciated.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)