FLL Rookie Workshop - WORLD CLASS - NYU POLY 9/27/14

Hello! Here is the Power Point and links to resources from the NYC FLL Rookie Workshop!

FLL Rookie Workshop Powerpoint

The best place to start is on the FLL Website. FIRST has worked REALLY hard on crafting a great list of resources for coaches. Start at the source:

FIRST LEGO League Website

http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/2014fllworldclass

http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/teamresources

Tech Brick

http://www.techbrick.com/

First experiences with MINDSTORMS EV3

This past summer I was fortunate to participate in the LEGO Education EV3 Seed Project and test drive the EV3 in my camp programs. These programs service children from 8 years old to middle schoolers.

I run two types of robotics camps. One is a one-hour introduction to robotics workshop, and the second program is a week-long robotics camp where students get to build upon a robot project over a full week.

I was really pleased with the versatility of the EV3, as it was a perfect fit for both programs. Since the kits were new and in "beta test" condition, I had to spend some time organizing the kits so that all campers could access the parts they needed, and put parts away independently. Please see my earlier blog post on how I organized the parts.

Now onto the camps...

One Hour Workshop
The challenge of a one hour workshop is how do you offer campers a great robotics experience in such a short time? The one-hour workshops I run are also traveling workshops where I travel to sleep-away camps and unpack my gear for campers to interact with and then re-pack the gear to move on to the next workshop. So I need to be organized and have models that can withstand a lot of play.

I usually design a "simple bot" that anyone could build, and that have few parts that can be lost/repaced. My recipe for a simple bot is a robot that is stable (lots of kid play), but uses a minimal amount of pieces (less to lose/replace), and one that can be assembled in a few steps (for maximum play time). The EV3 comes with an amazing metal wheel that serves as the perfect 3rd/pivot wheel which saved me a lot of time with pivot wheel design - thank you LEGO! The EV3 kit comes with cross braces that are easy to attach to the base of the EV3, which made designing a simple bot a snap.  I didn't use the cross braces in this model, but the EV3 starter bot in the software uses them and they are designer's dream.

Check out the 1-hour workshop "starter bot"

 
This robot, which we named the "Robbie Bot" (after one of the camp counselors), was made from about 50 pieces. We attached a wired remote with two touch sensors and preloaded a simple 2-button remote program to get the campers started with running the robot on an obstacle course (that matched the activities of the camp). Once the campers were in a groove we introduced them to the On-Brick programming on the EV3 to move them up to hands-on programming. The campers then disassembled the robots in preparation for the next group to play.

Here are some happy campers and their EV3 bots!

 

One Week Workshops

For my one week workshops this summer I relied heavily on the LEGO Education EV3 software for guidance. I had very little time to learn the new system before presenting it to the campers and trusted that the tutorials in the software could support me, and they did, BEAUTIFULLY. I would encourage both rookie and experienced MINDSTORMS teachers to take advantage of the software - there are a lot of jewels to mine in it!

We began each week building the "Driving Base" model and then following the programming tutorials from "Basics" to "Beyond Basics" programming movement and sensor blocks per the progression of the software. We usually made it through the movement and sensor programming by the end of day three (1/2 days of camp) which gave days 4 and 5 over to project days where campers had a choice to build off their robot or build a new robot. 

What was reassuring as a classroom teacher wanting to incorporate EV3 into my studies this year is that my campers found enough inspiration and support in the kit to excel at independent projects without a lot of teacher support. I was able to spend much of my teacher support time on extending projects, like learning how to record custom sounds and send them to the EV3 brick and teaching parallel programs (which I found to be much more intuitive in the new EV3 software).

I had a group of four boys (4th grade) build the color sorter model in two sessions, and two 3rd grade boys build the Gyro Boy in 2 sessions. All the boys could explain the functions of the motors, sensors, and programming blocks to visitors during their showcase!

In the week-long camps we also experimented with the On-Brick programming. We found it to be helpful with prototyping programing segments, and then bringing our results into our larger programs on the desktop software.

Here are some pictures from the EV3 in action from a week-long camp:

We also used the EV3, sensors, and medium sized motors to run mixed-media marble runs this summer.

In closing, I am looking forward to playing more with the EV3 this school year, and I encourage rookie and seasoned teachers to embrace and play with all its possibilities.

Stay tuned for future projects from LEGO Teacher.  

Happy fall all!

FLL Rookie Workshop @ NYU Poly 9/21/2013

Hello! Here is a collection of resources I shared at the Rookie Workshop at NYU Poly.
Have a great season everyone!

Rookie Workshop Powerpoint

Nature's Fury Robot Game Video
 

Read the Rules with your team (or even assign a "rules expert" job) http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/2013naturesfury

Visit the FLL Project FAQ Page
http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/projectfaq 

TechBrick Natures Fury Scoring Resources http://www.techbrick.com/Lego/Lego2013/Resources/scoring.html

FLL Tournament.com Simple Score Sheet
http://www.flltournament.com/Scoresheet.aspx?CID=15

EV3 Tutorials
http://www.stemcentric.com/ev3-tutorial https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHmxJtO84c_43ZCoWb5uOKg
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXNn7QnqlNphHWLhLK9IhDmMmt8sHTH1-

Interview with Lee Magpili LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 Designer

Former NYC FLL Emcee, coach, mentor, and teacher Evan Weinberg recently met up with Lee Magpili, LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 designer (also a former New Yorker) over tea to discuss the new EV3.

Check out the interview here:

http://evanweinberg.com/2013/06/27/tea-with-lee-magpili-and-the-lego-mindstorms-ev3/

MINDSTORMS Education EV3 Preview

I was recently awarded a Grant from LEGO Education (LE), to be a part of the "LEGO Education EV3 Seed Project." As part of the program, LE sent me a number of EV3 sets before their public release to try out in my robotics camps this summer.

The boxes came this week - here's a first look:

They are not the final version of what will be shipped this August. Usually LE MINDSTORMS kits come with a nice layout of how to organize the parts, but since this is a beta, I had to create my own organizational system.

I was given a PDF file of the parts list and made stickers of what parts should go where. I also labeled each bin with leftover price stickers I had around the house. 

Here's the parts list of the Core Set from LEGO Education:

I separated parts in the top bin into the categories that I will use to teach my students how to use and identify LEGO TECHNIC elements.

• Angled beams
• Straight beams
• Connectors
• 2 & 4 prong connectors
• Gears
• Axels (and all parts that have an axel pin)
• Friction pegs
• Bushings
• Pulley and skinny tire
• Ball parts (the new LE EV3 kit comes with an AMAZING ball attachment that can be used as a 3rd wheel- say goodbye to complicated pivot wheels!)
• Treads
• Misc. Parts

I separated parts in the top bin by:

• EV3 
• 2 large motors
• 1 medium motor
• Ultrasonic sensor (1)
• Touch sensors (2)
• Color sensor (1)
• Gyro sensor (1)
• Tires (2) & hubs 
• Wires & USB cable

I also laminated the bottom bin parts list for student reference.

Here are copies of the files I used for part stickers and bottom bin.  The top two .jpg's for the top bins, and are best printed at 60%, the third .jpg is the bottom bin reference sheet and can be printed at 100%. I print these on full sheet ink jet labels from Staples.

Top bin File #1:

Top bin File #2:

Bottom bin reference sheet:

The LE EV3 software should be coming next week. 

Stay tuned for first impressions of the software!

Just watch this and share

too amazing for words

Rookie Team Presentation @ NYU Poly

Rookie Workshop Powerpoint

Helpful ResourcesFIRST LEGO League Websitehttp://firstlegoleague.org/challenge/2012seniorsolutions 

Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy
http://www.education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/robots/nxteacher/index.htm 

LEGO Engineering
http://www.legoengineering.com/ 

Easy Scoring Sheet from Techbrick.com
http://www.techbrick.com/Lego/Lego2012/Resources/Documents/Challenge/FLL2012-SeniorSolutions-ScoringSheet-EN.pdf
NXT Tutorial
http://www.stemcentric.com/nxt-tutorial/ 

Dr Graeme NXT Tutorial
http://drgraeme.net/

NXT Programs
http://nxtprograms.com/ 

LEGO Parts List

Tech Brick
http://www.techbrick.com/Lego/Lego2012/Resources/index.html