My first class on Robotics was last Monday. This class is currently for 4th and 5th grade students and is using EZ-Robot products. The class is strictly voluntary and is taught after school. 50% of the students that are in the 4th and 5th grade have chosen to stay at school an extra hour to learn about robotics through this program. We have called the program SM@RT which stands for Science and Math through Robotic Technology. There are other programs currently running that other students had previously committed to participating in that are held at the same time. Some of these programs are over in December and I expect that participation percentage to be closer to 60% by that time. Here is what some of the parents had to say about the program after only the first day...
Stacie Smith Cobbs Sounds fun! Grace really wanted to take the class and she was so disappointed to find out it was during allegro. Which also is on Mondays.
School board member Stacy O'Toole Webb They are SO excited! Thank you from all Stacy O'Toole Webb And, now we are doing chores to earn a robot. Whatever it takes.
Parent Melissa French Luke F. loved it! Thank you for giving of your time and knowledge!
Headmaster who saw some of the first lesson Steve Lessman Incredible! Thank you for using your knowledge & insight to help students at SWCS.
Parent Rick Megan Still Ethan loved it, he wouldn't stop talking about it all the way home! Thank you!
Parent Christi Jones-Martin Great! Grayson will be joining you in January when Allegro ends!
Parent Mykl Spaeny You blew my boys away! They talked my leg off tonight. Jake has put a robot on his Christmas list. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thank you EZ-Robot for making it easy to teach a subject that is so complex. I cant wait until they make the robot move for the first time.
We covered a lot in the firs class including Analog data Digital data Default wire colors and what they represent Sonar sensors - how they work and what they are used for IR distance sensors - How they work and what they are used for Light sensors - How they work and what they are used for Cameras - When they work great and when you would want to use other sensors instead Microphones - when you would use them and why Servo motors - how they work and when you would want to use them Stepper motors - How they work and when you would want to use them Analog ports on the EZ-B V4 Digital ports on the EZ-B V4 Camera port on the EZ-B V4
They soaked the information in like a sponge. I quizzed them at the end of the class some and they did great. Tomorrow I am going to go meet these students for lunch. I look forward to it.
The next lesson is going to be on Electricity. That is a huge subject but we will cover Electrons, Protons, and neutrons Volts Amps How batteries work How electricity flows through their robots. How to limit this electricity for devices that require less voltage
I have some fun ways of teaching about electricity that help the kids remember principles of electricity that many people dont understand.
Feel free to follow the students progress at HTTP://cochranrobotics.com/SMART
you are doing a Great job!
i wish, i lived in the same town and could help you as an assistant only.
maybe you need someone like that?
j
I have a 9th grade student who is helping. This is all new to him also, but he is picking it up very quickly. Next year will be so much easier for many reasons. The first year is always the hardest, but sets the way for the rest of the classes to come, so it is very important.
Oh , one other thing I covered in depth just for DJ, and this was probably the thing I spent the most time on, is what the question marks are for in the controls. They know now to press the question mark next to the control if they have a question about the control.
This seems like such an easy concept but most people dont get it when they see it. These students were no different. We discussed how they should search for the answer to a question before asking others and how important this is. It lets them have an understanding of the question before they ask it, which allows them to understand the answer when it is given. I hope they understood this concept most of all.
Keep up the good work @d.cochran!
Over the last week I thought a lot about where the SM@RT program should go next with these students. Last week was difficult and it didn't seem to me like the students learned a lot. I decided late last week that we would put the knowledge that had been gained to the test this week in the form of challenging the students to build a robot. Some of the students excelled at this and others didn't understand as much. It was about a 50/50 split on who grasped the assignment and who didn't.
We designed and built a 2 wheeled robot that has an LED, ping sensor, light sensor, a couple of servos and a camera. It took about 20 minutes to design and about 15 minutes to be built. The purpose of this lesson was to have the students start thinking about how these pieces could go together to form a robot. They also worked as a team pretty well. There were some groups that were really focused and drew out what they thought the robot should look like, and others that really didn't do much. When everyone saw the robot come together, everyone got really interested.
Another purpose of this lesson was to point out at the end of class that even though we had built a robot, it couldn't do anything. There was no code that would make the robot move or do anything other than just sit there. I told them that the fluorescent light in the ceiling would be more fascinating to stare at than the robot that did nothing. This was to point out that last weeks lesson was very important and the other lessons with the laptops will also be very important. Without them, we might as well be staring at the lights in the ceiling. I think I got the point across to the students. We still all had fun and learned, but also learned a valuable lesson about what makes the robot do things.
Next week, we will be working in ARC again, and I think the students will be more focused on what we are doing.
The robot the class designed
The cool thing is the servo for the camera functions opposite of the servo attached to the disk when roaming. It allows the camera to stay stationary while the bot roams and uses the ping sensor to avoid obstacles. When the robot is stationary, these two 180 servos allow the camera to have almost 360 degrees of motion.
Its a pretty cool idea and I scripted it to work. Now to show the students how to use the controls using this guy.
Very nice design concept with some robotic functions visible.
Great robot and testing platform!
You are doing a great job and thanks for sharing what you are doing.
j