How To Play Botball

Transcription

1 Using Robots to Teach 6-12 Grade Students to Program Steve Goodgame Executive Director KISS Institute for Practical Robotics

2 Aerial Robot Contest

3 What is a Robot? 3

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5 My favorite autonomous machines/robots/syste ms 5

6 Why you should consider using robots to teach students to program. 6

7 Robots Intrinsically motivating Immediately capture the attention of students & adults Provide immediate feedback Incorporate new engineering standards Fun, fun and more fun 7

8 With all the options in robot competitions, why would you choose the Botball Educational Robotics PROGRAM? 8

9 We are an educational program and different from other contests Focus on autonomy and programming Open source software and hardware Kiss C- IDE, incorporates simulators which allow student programming and learning independent of the robot Students only, not adults, do the work 2 robots increases exposure and time on task for more students Robot size makes them easy to store Game board is classroom friendly and easy to construct Teacher support (professional development workshop/warranty) Required technical documentation and technical oral presentation Research based (best practices in mentoring) No machining, dangerous tools or equipment- classroom and teacher friendly All participants can participate in the International Botball Tournament Students receive immediate and direct feedback

10 The Botball Difference Focus on Autonomy-Sensor based intelligent systems (No Remote Control). Students learn to program in standard programming languages such as C, C++ and Java Successful Botball teams develop relatively small robots with many sensors and actuators, including precision servos and color cameras. These robots must complete very complex tasks in a limited time and do it all autonomously. -Bob Eckman, Botball mentor and retired engineer Lockheed Martin

11 The Botball Difference Students Only- Students learn by doing (adults are not allowed to work on the robots). At tournaments adults are not allowed in the pit areas. No machining of parts, no tools required. Working as an independent group, meaning without the aid of the teacher, allow us to truly understand the material and task at hand. -Botball Student 2012 season In all the years I have participated in other robotic competitions by far I have learned the most from Botball, the program is centralized on the development of the students, and not a hobby for the mentors. -Botball Student 2010 season

12 The Botball Difference Long Term Educational Approach Professional development for educators and reusability of equipment. Botball is more than a contest

13 How do you get started?

14 Starter Kits/Classroom sets We provide starter kits and other options for classroom implementation. Customizable to individual requirements. Botball Teams of middle and high school students (6 th 12 th grade) design, build, program, and document original autonomous robots to play in an open-solution tournament. A team receives 2 controllers an irobot create platform, ~1000 LEGO pieces, metal construction pieces, motors, servos and sensors. *Scholarships are available to help offset the cost of participation*

15 Botball Two-day professional development workshop Taught by KISS Institute instructor trained at annual instructor s institute Teams receive all equipment, open source software and resources Teams leave with two working demobots Aug- Dec Jan-Mar Apr-May Jun e July

16 Botball 7-9 week build period Students work on strategy, design, construction, programming and documentation Three online documentation submission periods which must include:» Project management» Software design» Mechanical design Last submission includes lessons learned and team survey Aug- Dec Jan-Mar Apr-May Jun e July

17 Regional Botball tournament structure (one-day event) Aug-Dec Jan-Mar Apr-May June July Seeding rounds- teams compete against the game task to score the most points Double elimination rounds-teams compete head to head against other teams Alliance matches-teams eliminated in double elimination are paired up to cooperatively score maximum points Onsite documentation-8 minute technical presentation to judges

18 What about the technology? 1 8

19 KIPR Link controller features Top: color touch screen (320x240 dpi), WiFi, 2000 mah LiPo battery, 800mhZ ARMv5te CPU, FPGA, imbedded Linux Side: HDMI port (display), speaker, side button Side: power switch, IR send/receive Front: 8 analog ports, 8 digital I/O ports Back: USB 2 (mouse, keyboard, flash drive), TTL serial, USB for IDE, Power Front: 4 motor ports, 4 servo ports, Bottom: Lego Technic spaced mounting holes

20 Open Source Software

21 Open Source Software

22 Debugging Error, Line 5 is missing a ";" line #: col # (on or before)

23 Simulator

24 Blob tracking

25 Resources! On your Team Home Base Workshop slides with ~20 activities Documentation Manual and examples Presentation Rubric & Example Presentation Demobot build instructions & Parts List Controller Getting Started Manual Construction Examples Hints for New Teams Sensor & Motor Manual Game Table construction documents All Game Documents Botball Community Site

26 Botball National Impact SINCE 1997 Over 65,000 Middle School and High School students directly impacted Professional Development for over 2500 educators Botball Teams Participating Current Region Over 400,000 indirectly impacted by attending workshops, tournaments and conferences

27 Botball impact 90.00% 80.00% Botball Participants by; Minority, > 50% Free & Reduced Lunch and Gender (% participants) 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% % Teams >50% Free & Reduced Lunch % Minority 40.00% % Female 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00%

28 Botball impact 2012 Botball Participants by Grade Level 12th, 16.4% 6th, 10.3% 35.7% Middle School 11th, 21.2% 7th, 12.8% 8th, 12.6% 10th, 14.4% 9th, 12.3%

29 Botball impact Botball Team Organization (%)

30 Botball participant experiences Botball Team Active Engagement (% teams) 52% of teams have adult mentors in addition to their teacher who help with the program 70% do not participate in any other robotic or engineering contest or program 89% would like the opportunity to participate in Botball again 94% rate the program good or excellent 8 week average from workshop to tournament Working as an independent group, meaning without the aid of the teacher, allow us to truly understand the material and task at hand.

31 Botball participant experiences The academic skills students learn are valuable and will contribute to their long-term success in college and ultimately in their careers. 61% of participants can write and understand basic programs in the C programming language 73% indicated and can explain how they used math while designing, programming and testing their robots 60% indicate they like to write computer programs 81% indicate they have more confidence in their ability to solve complex problems 65% indicate their time management skills have improved 78% report improved communication skills 96% plan on attending a college or university 53% indicate they would consider a degree and/or career in computer science 86% indicate the teamwork, project management and communication skills they learned by participating in the program will benefit them regardless of their chosen profession

32 2013 Botball National Sponsors

33 Regional Workshop & Tournament Hosts

34 Behavior-based Robot Byo-Bot "Build Your Own Robot