Lab 1 - Robot Arm
Main Focus Question: How does a robot arm relate to a human arm?
This Lab introduces the concept of a robotic arm by relating it to a human arm. Students will be asked to think about the parts of a human arm and relate that to how a robotic arm comes together. Students will then build the first part of the Robot Arm.
Students will relate what was built to part of the human arm, and ask what else needs to be added to make it a complete Robot Arm. Students will then complete the Robot Arm build.
Next, students will discuss what the Robot Arm could be used for, and experiment with moving a disk, and writing the steps needed to move a disk. Teachers will wrap up the Lab by trying out one group’s steps to see if they work.
Lab 2 - Motorized Robot Arm
Main Focus Question: How can a motor make the Robot Arm more useful?
Introduce the advantages of motorization, by talking about how humans have limits to their strength and stamina. Students will adapt their Robot Arm to add motors and switches to control the Arm’s movement.
Students will use the motors to move a disk and write detailed directions to decompose the process into discrete steps. Students will then swap directions with another group and will try to follow them to accomplish the task of moving a disk. They will revise the directions to make them accurate.
Lab 3 - Using the Electromagnet
Main Focus Question: How can I control a robotic arm using code?
Introduce the concept of coding the Robot Arm by asking students for a way that they could control the Robot Arm without touching it. Students will adapt their Robot Arm to add the Brain and Electromagnet.
Students will use VEXcode GO to control the movement of the Robot Arm, to try to move it to each of the 4 quadrants of the tile.
Students will code the Robot Arm to move a disk, using the Electromagnet, to a new location on the tile.
Lab 4 - Using the Eye Sensor
Main Focus Question: How does an Eye Sensor help the Robot Arm?
Introduce the Eye Sensor by engaging in a discussion about how humans and robots see things. Compare and contrast the Eye Sensor to a human eye. Introduce the concept of a condition, and how a condition in coding helps tell what to do with a sensor’s data.
Students will code the Robot Arm to detect and move a disk, using the <Eye found object> block, to determine if something is in front of the Eye Sensor. At the Mid-Play Break, the teacher will talk about how to tell the Robot Arm what to do with the object it picked up.
Students will then code the Robot Arm to use both the Arm Motor and Base Motor to move the disk to a new location. During the Share portion, students will discuss what condition they used, and how the Eye Sensor made the Robot Arm more useful.
Lab 5 - Making Decisions
Main Focus Question: How can a robotic arm make a decision?
Students are introduce the idea of robotic decision making using chores in daily life. How do you know how to put away materials in the classroom? Or your clothes at home? Talk about how humans think to sort objects, but robots follow patterns to make decisions. How can we code the Robot Arm to make a decision?
Students will code the Robot Arm to identify and move one colored disk to a specific location, based on the color. At the Mid-Play Break, students will try to guess the Robot Arm’s “favorite color” based on the code. Then, they will test to see if they are right.
Students will then code the Robot Arm to identify and sort all three colored disks and move to specific locations based on color. Students will discuss other objects the Robot Arm could sort, and make connections to real-world robots (like palletizing based on product, sensors, similar shapes/appearance).
