Session 1 - Days 1 and 2 reflection
The first two days have been a whirlwind of activity in Room 38 at Bonham Middle School. We have taken students with little or no previous experience with robotics, and we have developed a build following standard principles of design (4D engineering model), using a very generic build (the Tufts University Constructopedia 2.1 Beta Car (pp. 51-65).
Our focus has been on "How fast can a robot go?" The young minds have taken simple designs and come up with some very unique and interesting variations on a simple theme -- going fast with robots. The experience has been a non-stop whirlwind with a lot of learning, a lot of excitement and a lot of summer fun.
Our wikispace (TISD-Bots) has a 2009 showcase of pictures and videos for your viewing pleasure. A few of the better views will be included below.
The one thing that is clear out of all of this effort is that there is a serious interest in the field from young people of varying ages and diverse populations. This offering is filling a necessary nitch in the summer programs that are offered and are going to be continued in offering for the near future.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Welcome to Temple ISD Summer Enrichment Robotics
Welcome to the 2009 Summer Enrichment Robotics Mini-Camp of Temple ISD.
I am happy to have you in the 2nd edition of Move Over, Robby! A Project Based Robotics Mini-Camp. We are a part of the Temple Independent School District, Summer Enrichment Program 2009. This year's offering will span 3 week-long mini-camps involving students who will be 4th, 5th, and 6th graders during the 2009-2010 school year.
This blog will be devoted to an review of each day's activities as they happened as well as an overview of the day's activities to come. Please feel free to visit here as well as on our wikispace at http://tisd-bots.wikispaces.com. There you can find complete information about our camp including pictures, videos, and information about robotics in general as well as references and resources for the projects we are going to do in our camp this year.
We are using the same format as last year with a focus on three specific tasks for our robots to complete. They are "How Fast Can a Robot Go (DragBot)?"; "How Can a Robot Park (LotBot)?"; and "How Can a Robot Follow a Line (FollowBot)?". We are looking at the following basic robotic techniques: robot building (construction), robotic commands (programming), and use of environmental input using sensors (sensory integration).
All of our efforts will use the Lego MINDSTORMS Education NXT Robotics kit #9797. This education-0riented kit is slightly different from the retail Lego MINDSTORMS NXT Robotics kit in that it has fewer parts, a rechargable battery pack and AC adapter/recharger, and NXT Programming Software.
I hope you have a wonderful experience with robotics during our mini-camp! Feel free to post your thoughts and reflections in response to any of my posts. This is our chance to reflect on the day's events, look forward to tomorrow, ask questions, and make comments. Feel free to contribute!!
Richard Buro (Mr. B.)
I am happy to have you in the 2nd edition of Move Over, Robby! A Project Based Robotics Mini-Camp. We are a part of the Temple Independent School District, Summer Enrichment Program 2009. This year's offering will span 3 week-long mini-camps involving students who will be 4th, 5th, and 6th graders during the 2009-2010 school year.
This blog will be devoted to an review of each day's activities as they happened as well as an overview of the day's activities to come. Please feel free to visit here as well as on our wikispace at http://tisd-bots.wikispaces.com. There you can find complete information about our camp including pictures, videos, and information about robotics in general as well as references and resources for the projects we are going to do in our camp this year.
We are using the same format as last year with a focus on three specific tasks for our robots to complete. They are "How Fast Can a Robot Go (DragBot)?"; "How Can a Robot Park (LotBot)?"; and "How Can a Robot Follow a Line (FollowBot)?". We are looking at the following basic robotic techniques: robot building (construction), robotic commands (programming), and use of environmental input using sensors (sensory integration).
All of our efforts will use the Lego MINDSTORMS Education NXT Robotics kit #9797. This education-0riented kit is slightly different from the retail Lego MINDSTORMS NXT Robotics kit in that it has fewer parts, a rechargable battery pack and AC adapter/recharger, and NXT Programming Software.
I hope you have a wonderful experience with robotics during our mini-camp! Feel free to post your thoughts and reflections in response to any of my posts. This is our chance to reflect on the day's events, look forward to tomorrow, ask questions, and make comments. Feel free to contribute!!
Richard Buro (Mr. B.)
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