Before You Begin
Essential Question: How do robots interact with their environments?
Unit Understandings:
- A sensor is a device that collects and reports data about the sensor's environment.
- Coding robots to interpret sensor data allows robots to adjust their actions based on changing or unexpected conditions.
- The AI Vision Sensor on the VEX AIM Coding Robot detects and reports data on objects like barrels, sports balls, and AprilTags.
- Macro blocks in VEXcode AIM combine multiple behaviors into a single block to perform complex tasks.
Standards Alignment
Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA)
- 1B-CS-02: Model how computer hardware and software work together as a system to accomplish tasks.
- 1B-DA-07: Use data to highlight or propose cause-and-effect relationships, predict outcomes, or communicate an idea.
- 1B-AP-08: Compare and refine multiple algorithms for the same task and determine which is the most appropriate.
- 1B-AP-10: Create programs that include sequences, events, loops, and conditionals.
- 2-CS-02: Design projects that combine hardware and software components to collect and exchange data.
- 2-AP-15: Seek and incorporate feedback from team members and users to refine a solution that meets user needs.
- 2-AP-19: Document programs in order to make them easier to follow, test, and debug.
- 3A-AP-22: Design and develop computational artifacts working in team roles using collaborative tools.
- 3B-AP-09: Implement an artificial intelligence algorithm to play a game against a human opponent or solve a problem.
Materials Needed (per group):
- VEX AIM Coding Robot
- One Stick Controller
- 2 orange barrels
- 2 blue barrels
- 2 sports balls
- AprilTag ID 0
- AIM Field (4 tiles and 8 walls)
For more information about the Macro blocks used in this unit, see this section of the VEX AIM API.
To learn more about teaching AI concepts with VEX, visit teachai.vex.com.
Suggested Time for this Unit: 6-9 Sessions
While pacing will vary classroom to classroom, suggested timing can help you plan effectively. A ‘session’ is considered approximately 45-50 minutes. You know your students best, so adjust timing as needed to best meet the needs of your students in your setting.
- Introduction: 1 session
- Lesson 1: 1-2 sessions
- Exploring an Example Project: 1 session
- Lesson 2: 1-2 sessions
- Unit Challenge: 2-3 sessions
This unit will introduce you to coding with the VEX AIM Coding Robot's AI Vision sensor. You will learn how the sensor enables your to robot respond and adapt to changes in its environment, like different objects or new positions. You will use AI Vision to code the robot to pick up and deliver barrels and kick sports balls positioned randomly around the field. By the end of the unit, you will participate in a timed challenge to collect sports balls and kick two goals!
Watch the video below to see the robot:
- Collect sports balls from anywhere on the field.
- Score goals from anywhere on the field.
After watching the video, you will have a class discussion about it. Record your answers to the following questions in your journal, to help frame your thoughts in preparation for the discussion:
- How do you think the robot knows how to find the sports balls even when they change positions?
- How do you think the AI Vision Sensor could help your robot move with precision and accuracy?
- What do you see in the video that supports your ideas?
- What questions do you have about coding with the AI Vision Sensor?
- What skills and understandings will you need to develop to complete the challenge?
After watching the video, you will have a class discussion about it. Record your answers to the following questions in your journal, to help frame your thoughts in preparation for the discussion:
- How do you think the robot knows how to find the sports balls even when they change positions?
- How do you think the AI Vision Sensor could help your robot move with precision and accuracy?
- What do you see in the video that supports your ideas?
- What questions do you have about coding with the AI Vision Sensor?
- What skills and understandings will you need to develop to complete the challenge?
After students have watched the video, follow the established procedure to facilitate a whole class discussion to elicit students' observations and prepare them for co-creating learning targets for the unit.
Next, help students to make a real-world connection to the content in this unit and to engage prior knowledge using the following prompt:
What are some examples of sensors you see in everyday life? What kinds of information do these sensors detect? How do they help machines or people respond to changing conditions? Students may suggest:
- Automatic doors in stores that open when they detect motion.
- Smoke alarms that sense smoke and warn us of fire.
- Thermostats that detect temperature changes to keep rooms comfortable.
- Cars that use backup cameras or parking sensors to help drivers avoid obstacles.
- Phones that adjust screen brightness automatically based on surrounding light levels.
Co-Creating Learning Targets
Now that you have watched the video, you know that you will be coding the robot to interact with objects in its environment using the AI Vision Sensor, even if the robot or the objects change positions. Think about what you’ll need to know and be able to do to accomplish this. You will co-create learning targets with your group and your teacher so that you have a shared understanding of your learning goals for this unit.
Record your learning targets in your journal. You will return to these learning targets later in the unit to reflect on your progress and plan for future learning.
Now that you have watched the video, you know that you will be coding the robot to interact with objects in its environment using the AI Vision Sensor, even if the robot or the objects change positions. Think about what you’ll need to know and be able to do to accomplish this. You will co-create learning targets with your group and your teacher so that you have a shared understanding of your learning goals for this unit.
Record your learning targets in your journal. You will return to these learning targets later in the unit to reflect on your progress and plan for future learning.
Guide students as a whole class through the process of co-creating learning targets.
- Brainstorm with students what they will need to know to complete the activities shown in the video above. Frame these as “I can” statements.
- Example “I can” statements for this unit include:
- I can code the robot to pick up a sports ball from anywhere on the field, even if its position changes.
- I can use the AI Vision Sensor to help me target on a goal to kick a ball through it.
- Example “I can” statements for this unit include:
- Co-create learning targets based on that list.
For more guidance on co-creating learning targets with your students, see this VEX Library Article. Then, go further and learn more about co-creating learning targets with this lesson from a VEX PD+ Masterclass.
Select Next > to begin coding your robot to use sensor feedback.