ROBOTICS CAMP PLANEvan Henson, Arthur Cooper, Patrick Goodwin, Michael Lucas, Trevor Swiggard, Nick Leyba

About the Camp

Camp dates: July 14, 15, 19 - 22 Our group worked with STARS members

Wickus Nienaber Randy Flood Leanne Galleta

Our purpose was to inspire our camp members from Nim’s Middle School to be interested in Math, Science, and Technology with Lego’s Mindstorms

Time Frame

June Meetings Organized the schedule of who can work

which days. Came up with different challenges. Built a few robots and programmed them. Built maze walls from 2x4s and “L” brackets. Found different examples of robot videos

from Youtube to help show the kids different types of robots and different applications.

Time Frame cont.

July Camp Day 1 (July 14)

Introduction/Robotic History Introduction to Motion and Input & Output

Camp Day 2 (July 15) Introduction to Sensors Navigation of Maze via Touch and Ultrasonic

Sensors Camp Day 3 (July 19)

Review Line Follow via Color Sensor

Time Frame cont.

Camp Day 4 (July 20) Bluetooth Communication Built Dancing Robot

Camp Day 5 (July 21) Dancing Robot Competition Built Alpha Rex (Walker Robot)

Camp Day 6 (July 22) Finished Building Alpha Rex Racing Walker Robot Competition

What Did We Do?

We did a lot of planning. Lesson Plans/Slides. Explored Mindstorm NXT software.

During the Camp Kept the kids focused on building and

programming the robots. Assisted the kids with any questions about

building and programming the robots.

Lessons Learned

Initially had issues with the NXT software. Bluetooth slowed down the Macs. Had to use USB cables.

Difficult to keep the kids all focused at once. About half were really interested in doing the

challenges. The other half built ball shooters and tried to

distract the ones that wanted to work. Competitions with candy prizes worked fairly well.

Kids were very intimidated with the more advanced programs.

Going Forward

The next group will have the basics done. The next group could condense what we

did over the 6 days into probably 4 or 5 to make room for a creative robot project for the last day.

The next group could explore the more complex programs and find ways to make the more advanced things less intimidating.