Robots are all around us, and every day 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.

Concepts

• Environmental sensing
• Navigation, maze solving
• Logic and programming
• Simple mechanical construction

Robert A. Parsons   

Robert is the Lab Supervisor for the Department of Physics at UAF and has been an instructor at UAF since 2002.

"I was born in Minnesota and raised on a farm. Repairing farm equipment is just something you do on a farm, I grew up with it. I can remember welding together my first go-cart when I was 9 years old. If you really want to know how things work, build it yourself, there is no finer education and if it ain't broke, fix it anyway.

Electro-mechanical things have always fascinated me, and to understand how they worked I picked up degrees in Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry and electronics.

Robotics encompasses all these things and I always have a new robot in progress. I have been teaching robotics for nine years now, and it keeps on getting better. It is quite fun to see how the field changes as there are advances.

Mary (my wife) also works at UAF and we have three children. All of the kids have won robotics contests here at UAF, around the state and "outside". Jennifer and John (the two oldest) are currently students here at UAF."

Michael Backus
"I was born and raised in the Mat-Su Valley. As a kid I enjoyed hockey, running, skiing, reading, and music. After graduating from high school I went to college at UAF where I continued to play with Legos and make robots. After working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bangladesh for a while, I came back to Alaska, went back to school to become a teacher, and then taught at Burchell High School for two years. I now work at Twindly Bridge Charter School where I teach two robotics classes, and teach another robotics class after school at Fronteras Charter School.

I try to spend as much time as I can with my wife and two kids (ages 2 and 4), and often take them swimming, ice skating, or hiking. Aside from teaching, I enjoy playing with robots, working with computers, reading and helping people. I look forward to the day when my kids are old enough to build and program robots with me."

Check out Michael's website here: http://www.mbackus.com/lego/asra.php