Why robotics in Education?

DEI
The University of Padova
Why robotics in Education?

“A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words“

 Why robotics in Education?

 Emotional engagement
 Interaction with physical devices
 Learning by doing
 Multi-disciplinary learning
 Constructivist approach
 Why robotics in Education?
• Robots have an intellectual and emotional appeal that
transcends any other type of engineered product
• robots inculcate an interest in science and increase self-
esteem, as well as teach basic life skills such as
problem solving, decision making, goal setting and
logical thinking.
• Robots represent a practical application of physics,
computer science, engineering, and mathematics, and
may be used to speculate about concepts of humanities
• Robotics in the classroom offers teachers the
opportunity to bring together many different areas of
study

(adapted from Ken Berry, Founder of RoboEducators)

 Why robotics in Education?
• It also allows students the chance to realize their full potential,
moving from possibility to reality through a hands-on process that
uses their many skills as a human being including cooperative
problem solving and critical thinking.
• Robot can also used to teach humanities (like ethics, philosophy,
etc.)
• Robotics its-self is a discipline worth to study because the robots are
no longer restricted to the factory floor or hazardous environments,
robots are making their way into human environments.

(adapted from Ken Berry, Founder of RoboEducators)

 What robotics can teach?

Endow rigor
 Learn something real
 Teach the realities and depth of science

Design
 Use tinkering to explore
 Connect high and low level issues
 learn uncertainty and variability of the world

Work in teams
 competitions are an exciting performance assessment
 foster team spirit and camaraderie
 Constructionism and Robotics

Constructionism adds to constructivism (learning as
“building knowledge structures”) the idea that learing is
felicitous in a context where the learner is consciously
engaged in constructing a public entity, whether it’s a
sand castle on the beach or a theory of the universe


The Lego Robotic system leads to a bottom-up oriented
developing of the first phase: starting from the basic
brick, which defines the fundamental standard for all
the other elements of the Lego kits, you can build more
and more complex architectures combining simpler,
already realized parts and a robot is a public entity.
 Constructionism and Robotics

Learing is open-ended

There are not right and wrong answers

In a tought class the learning is limited, in a project
class there is no upper limit to leaning.

In a design competition, students are encouraged to
explore fields and solutions beyond topics covered in
class.

Design teachers often grade as B the meeting of the
class requirements and as A if the requirements are
exceeded in some way
Why Lego Mindstorm?

DEI
The University of Padova
 Several educational robot kits
Electronics/mechanics kits

<=== Simpler More complex ===>

Humanoid robot kits

Robovie-i

Robovie-M
 Advantages of Lego Mindstorm
 students have a previous experience with Lego
bricks
 it has robust software and hardware
 is a good tradeoff between complexity and
possibility
 simulation environments are available more and
more
(one can avoid to buy a kit for every student)
 several third parts software and hardware to
enlarge experimenting possibilities
 The kit cost allow the students to buy one to
continue experimenting at home
 Advantages of Lego Mindstorm
(from teacher perspective)
 it is a widely used platform (several
resources on the web)
 Educational activities developed by
other schools are on the web
 The Mindstorm NXT-G graphical
interface is built on LabView and allows
a step by step migration to
programming in LabView. [One start
programming the robot in NXT-G, then control it through LabView,
then he/she programs in LabView other instruments.]
 Advantages of Lego Mindstorm
(from teacher perspective)
 It comes straight from Papert
experience
 Logo -> Dacta --> Mindostorm

 ??? PLEASE HELP:

from Terecop partner with knowledge
on history of contructivism ???
LEGO© Mindstorms Educational
Kit

IT+Robotics Srl
A spin-off of the University of Padova
 The Mindstorm NXT
Kit educational

In the two boxes you have:

 Hundreds Hardware pieces

 5 Different sensors .......

 3 motors

 Programmable brick to control motors and sensors


To be bought apart:
 Mindstorm NXT-G visual programming environment
What you can find into LEGO© Mindstorms Educational Kit?

Mindstorms gray box Educational blue box

•LEGO® MINDSTORMS
•Gray box contains:

• The NXT
• Sensors
• Servo Motors
• Basic LEGO Mindstorms
pieces
• USB cable
• RJ12 cable
LEGO® MINDSTORMS Educational
Blue box contains:

much more LEGO Mindstorms pieces to express your immagination

The NXT is the brain of a
MINDSTORMS® robot. It’s an intelligent,
computer-controlled LEGO® brick that lets
a MINDSTORMS robot come alive and
perform different operations.
 NXT: the brain

 32-bit ARM7 microcontroller

 256 Kbytes FLASH, 64 Kbytes RAM
 8-bit AVR microcontroller
 4 Kbytes FLASH, 512 Byte RAM 360 deg. unwrapped image
 Bluetooth wireless communication
 USB full speed port (12 Mbit/s)
 4 input ports, 6-wire cable digital platform
 3 output ports, 6-wire cable digital platform
 100 x 64 pixel LCD graphical display
 Loudspeaker - 8 kHz sound quality.
 Power source: 6 AA batteries
 Touch sensor
• The Touch Sensor gives your robot a sense of touch.

• The Touch Sensor detects when it is being pressed

by something and when it is released again.

• You can use the touch Sensor to make your robot

pick up things: a robotic arm equipped with a Touch
Sensor lets the robot know whether or not there is
something in its arm to grab.

• You can use a Touch Sensor to make your robot act

on a command.
Sound sensor
The Sound Sensor makes your robot hear!

The Sound Sensor can detect both decibels

[dB] and adjusted decibel [dBA]. A decibel is a
measurement of sound pressure.

The sensitivity of the sensor is adapted to the

sensitivity of the human ear. In other words,
these are the sounds that your ears are able
to hear.

Also, the sensor can detect some sounds that

are too high or too low for the human ear to
hear.
 Light sensor
The Light Sensor is one of the two sensors that
give your robot vision

The Light Sensor enables your robot to

distinguish between light and dark. It can read
the light intensity in a room and measure the
light intensity of colored surfaces.

You can make a burglar alarm robot: when an

intruder turns on the light in your room the
robot can react to defend your property.

You can make a line-following robot or a robot

that can sort things by color.
 Ultrasonic sensor
The Ultrasonic Sensor enables your robot
to see and detect objects.

You can use it to make your robot avoid

obstacles, sense and measure distance,
and detect movement.

The Ultrasonic Sensor measures distance

in centimeters and in inches.
It is able to measure distances from 0 to
255 centimeters with a precision of +/- 3
cm.

The Ultrasonic Sensor uses the same

scientific principle as bats: it measures
distance by calculating the time it takes for
a sound wave to hit an object and return –
just like an echo.
 Servo Motors
The three Servo Motors give your robot the
ability to move.

If you use the Move block in the LEGO

MINDSTORMS NXT software to program
your motors, the two motors will
automatically synchronize, so that your
robot will move in a straight line.

Built-in Rotation Sensor

Each motor has a built-in Rotation Sensor.
This lets your control your robot’s
movements precisely. The Rotation Sensor
measures motor rotations in degrees or full
rotations [accuracy of +/- one degree].

The built-in Rotation Sensor in each motor

also lets you set different speeds for your
motors
 Mindstorms NXT Software

The LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT

software enables you to program
your NXT robotic invention and
upload your programs to the NXT
via USB or Bluetooth connectivity.

The intuitive Mac and PC

compatible drag and drop
software, powered by National
Instruments LabVIEW, comes with
building instructions and
programming guides to easily
begin constructing and
programming with MINDSTORMS
NXT.
 Important Accessories
Battery pack for Standard 9v transformer
rechargeable battery plugs into an AC outlet to
recharge your battery

USB 2.0 cable to connect

your PC to your robot and
Bluetooth pen program it
Enable wireless communication
between your LEGO®
MINDSTORMS® NXT robot and
your PC or Mac
RJ12 cable to
connect the sensors
to the NXT
Understanding NXT-G Software

DEI
The University of Padua
 NXT Software (first screen)

1. First Directions

2. Tutorials on each
program block

3. Programming
Command
Palette
4. NXT File
manager
Press GO to start
5. HELP
programming!
 NXT Software
(programming canvas)

1. Canvas where you drop

the program blocks

3. Selector of 2. Controller
• standard palette
• complete palette
• custom palette
 NXT Software
(the controller)

Connect to NXT Download & Run

Selected program

Download & Run

Download Stop
 NXT Software
(program blocks)
 NXT Software
(program blocks)

For a detailed description of the single program blocks

refer to the “Appendix A - Program Blocks”
Other languages & platforms
to program NXT robots
UPNA
Public University of Navarra
When using other alternatives to program NXT we should
check:

Type fo interface

Type of language

Needs new firmware or no

Etc….

At the end the reader will find a link to the

“teamhassenplug” web page with a complete list of the
features that we should check…..
LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT

http://www.ni.com/academic/mindstorms/works.htm

The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT software enables you to

program your NXT robots and download your programs to
the NXT via USB or Bluetooth connectivity. The drag and
drop software, powered by National Instruments
LabVIEW, comes with building instructions and
programming guides to easily begin constructing and
programming with MINDSTORMS NXT robots.
LabVIEW Toolkit for LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4435

Program your LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT using NI LabVIEW

• Program and control LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT with the full

power of LabVIEW
• Get real-time updates from the NXT during program operation
with LabVIEW front panels
• Create native Blocks for the MINDSTORMS NXT
Next Byte Codes & Not eXactly C (NBC & NXC)
http://bricxcc.sourceforge.net/nbc/

Next Byte Codes (NBC) is a simple language with an

assembly language syntax that can be used to program
LEGO's NXT programmable brick (from the new LEGO
Mindstorms NXT set).

Not eXactly C (NXC) is a high level language, similar to C,

built on top of the NBC compiler. It can also be used to
program the NXT brick. NXC is basically NQC for the
NXT.
leJOS NXJ: http://lejos.sourceforge.net/

What is leJOS?

leJOS (pronounced like the Spanish word "lejos" for "far") is a tiny Java
Virtual Machine. In 2006 it was ported to the LEGO NXT brick.

leJOS NXJ offers the following:

* Object oriented language (Java)

* Preemptive threads (tasks), Recursion, Synchronization, Exceptions
* Arrays, including multi-dimensional
* Java types including float, long, and String
* Most of the java.lang, java.util and java.io classes
* A Well-documented Robotics API
RobotC for LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT :
http://www.robotc.net/index.htm

RobotC isdesigned for engineering,

programming and robotics education.
pbLua for LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT :
http://www.hempeldesigngroup.com/lego/pbLua/index.html

an exciting new text-based language for the Mindstorms

NXT; it has these characteristics:

1. It's written in portable C, with

minimal runtime requirements
2. It can be compiled on the fly on
the target machine, which is the NXT
in our application
3. It's a small, easy to read, and easy to write language
4. It has extensive documentation available online, and a
very friendly newsgroup
NXT Programming Software Comparison:
http://www.teamhassenplug.org/NXT/NXTSoftware.html

Other possibilities:
URBI (Universal Robotic Body Interface) for NXT:
http://www.gostai.com/lego.html
LEJOS OSEK is an open source firmware for LEGO
MINDSTORMS NXT
http://lejos-osek.sourceforge.net/