ASRA :: 2008 Lego Robotics Syllabus

Abstract
Robots are all around us, everyday there are more and more of them. But nearly all of them are stationary. But in Lego Robotics, we will focus on autonomous mobile robots.
We will use the ever popular NXT Lego Mindstorms Robotics kit.
In ten days we will study by the direct hands on approach consisting of; dream it, build it, program it, test it, repeat cycle as necessary. Since few things drive learning as much as competition, we will be having small competitions through out the session, ending with a final all out competition.
When learning something new, you need these qualifications, hard work, perseverance, the ability to learn and recover quickly from mistakes, and also the ability to work and learn with others, while simultaneously competing with them in a fun way. And believe me; you are going to make mistakes, both in construction and in programming; trial and error are good things. For some reason, the robots do what you tell them to and not what you want them to. Yes we are going to have fun “playing” with the Lego robots, but for a successful robot, include a healthy dose of the prior qualifications. When you have finished your 10 days, you will have a basic understanding of the complexities of letting a robot be mobile.
Instructors:
Robert A. Parsons   474-7857    Lab Supervisor - Department of Physics UAF

Michael Backus

Concepts
Environmental sensing
Navigation, maze solving
Logic and programming
Simple mechanical construction
Day 1 
History of robots, current robots, familiarization (play) with kits, PC operation, NXT Brick functions, IR tower, firmware, LABVIEW/ ROBOLAB/NXT Software
Day 2
GUI ROBOLAB/NXT software, transferring programs to NXT
Motors, wheels, tracks, motor power and direction commands, timing commands.
Dance contest, Start/Stop contest, wall contest.
Day 3
Touch sensor, loops, IF THEN commands, wall contest again.
Light sensor, modified wall contest.
RPM, circumference, travel rate, slippage, torque, gearing, ratios, PWM.
Speed contest, pull of war contest.
Day 4
Line following, 1 sensor, straight line contest
Line following, 2 sensors, straight line contest
Line following, 1 or 2 sensors, curved line contest
High speed Line following, 1 or 2 sensors, curved line contest
Day 5, 6
More complex tasks requiring branching commands with multiple sensors.
Day 7, 8, 9
Final Robotics contest
Rules, goal, time table, engineering design cycle
Intense building, testing, programming, no sleeping allowed …
Day 10
Presentation to ASRA. Will your bot rule?

Possible Field Trips
Steve Stevens’ micro computer lab, Artic Tortoise DARPA off road robot