Lego NXT Mindstorms NXT-G Programming, Robot Building and Problem Solving

Intended Audience This course is suitable for teachers with little or no prior programming experience in either robot building or programming. Its goal is to provide a starting point for those who wish to learn how to program and build robots and to provide them with a good understanding of the underlying principles and concepts. Course Overview The aim of this 5 day course is to provide a thorough introduction and confidence building experience for teachers wanting to explore the world of Lego NXT Mindstorms and programming so that they can use this knowledge in the classroom. It is not aimed solely for IT, Science and Technology Teachers, but for all teachers - especially junior school teachers and arts teachers. The goal is to "de-mistify" robotics and programming so that pupils see "non-technology" teachers as well as "technology teachers" using Lego Mindstorms with confidence, and do not go away with the impression that its only for "geeky" types. It is also hoped that the programming skills learned will be capable of being transferred to other "technologies" such as Scratch, Lego's WeDo and Arduino ... for which FTT also provides beginners courses. This course is suitable not only for teachers but also for parents, and teaching assistants with a technical background. The most important background requirements are some familiarity with computers, curiosity and the love of puzzle solving and toy/model building. Unlike traditional programming courses this course introduces programming concepts such as variable, branching, looping , input output, and the use of modules as a natural part of the problem solving involved in building robots to perform various tasks of increasing complexity. Another important aspect of this course is the introduction of basic design concepts and notation based on simplified UML and flowcharts. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Course Outline Introduction to LEGO NXT Mindstorms background and basic concepts what microcontrollers are how microcontrollers differ from PCs how microcontrollers interface with sensors (e.g. buttons) and actuators (e.g. motors) why the LEGO NXT contains two microcontrollers which microcontroller is programmed Introduction to LEGO NXT Mindstorms understanding robot designs and building a basic robot basic anatomy of LEGO NXT robots patterns of building blocks using building block patterns to construct more complex robots patterns for combining sensors and actuators to get interesting behaviour First steps in programming robots overview of the NXT G programing environment creating projects overview of the various NXT G software building blocks "let my robot move" - programming motion using simple Smart Motor commands "let my robot feel" - programming robot awareness of its surroundings, working with light sensors touch sensors sonar sensors sound sensors programming more interesting behaviour patterns obstacle avoidance searching out sources of light responding to sounds understanding program flow structuring problem solving and structured code development more advanced program logic choices and decisions - switch blocks code repetitition - loops combining loops and switches - switch loops building a robot to go round a "multi-challenge" obstacle course Programming in greater depth variables and assignment of values to variables modular programming using data hubs processing and displaying text and numbers- text blocks, number to text blocks, display blocks decision making using logic and comparison blocks using scenarios and use cases to help design robot programs and applications using flow charts to work out what a program is to do overview of strategies and patterns for implementing programs showing purposeful (goal oriented) behaviour navigation and construction of simple maps searching planning Communication between robots and between robots and PCs using Bluetooth Description and explanation of the Bluetooth protocol Patterns and examples of co-operative behaviour amongst robots Examples of how to control several robots from a PC Using NXT Mindstorms Robots in Science Experiments Introduction to the logging features of the NXT 2.0 software Designing experiments Collecting,graphing and analysing scientific data Teaching the use of Lego NXT Mindstorms as a "problem solving tool" Overview of alternative programming environments LabView RobotC Full ANSI C using the IAR Embedded Workbench LeJos and Java programming of robots Building bigger and more complex robots - a glimpse Introduction to the Tetrix building platform Introduction to robot vision and camera systems available for use with Lego NXT Mindstorms Course format The course is approximately involves approximately 40% teaching and 60% hands on practical work. In addition there will be an opportunity to discuss teaching aspects of the use of Lego NXT technology in teaching and attendees will also be organised into small teams who will be expected to design, program and build robots to solve various "structured challenges" that will be added on to the lab sessions. Each team will put together a presentation on a topic they have chosen, but concerned with uses of robotics in teaching, and present it to the class on the last day of the course. Course Timeline: Day 1 basic robot building and NXT G programming understanding how microcontrollers, sensors and actuators work programming - basics understanding the possibilities of basic robot behaviour patterns Day 2 program flow and programming with loops, switch blocks and switch loops programming obstacle avoidance behaviour team session - building a robot to tackle an "obstacle course" Day 3 more advanced programming using variables, data hubs, comparison blocks, text, number to text and display blocks bluetooth and robot to robot and robot to PC communication team session - getting two robots to co-operate on a task Day 4 using sensors for data acquisition sensors in science teaching logging, graphing and analysing data introduction to other programming environments Day 5 introduction (with demonstrations) to more advanced robot applications and behaviours team project presentations wind down, debriefing and awarding of certificates