Robotics - Week 3

Which robot would win in a race around the Library? I am sure this questions has been on the back of every student's head coming into week 3.  Well what a fun way to warm up for the day with some light Robot Racing!  

Using the LEGO Commander app we were able to turn our iPads into remote controls for our robots.  The students helped build the course using cones, and the race was on!  Controlling the robot with the iPad took a little bit of getting used to, but once the students figured it out the race was in full motion.  

Once everyone was amped up and ready to add on to their robots I let the students know what their mission was for today.  They had to build a cannon and attach it to their robots.  This is a very cool build, a small mechanical device that uses gears and a motor to launch "Cannon Balls".  

Building the cannons took a lot longer then I had anticipated.  The complex nature of the small parts, gears and motor working together had to be built with a strong attention to detail.  It was really great! Every one of the students were able to get their cannon built and tested by the end of the class by working together and answering each other's questions.  I really loved the trial and error that this build forced upon the students.  It is hard to tell the exact size and color of the pieces in the instructions, so it took a bit of patience and experimentation to get the cannons built.  

In week 4 we will be finishing up with our little robots, programming them to complete a course and firing the cannons at the end.  I am very excited to get back into the programming piece of the robotics course - it will be amazing to see how the students get their "Simple Bot" from point A ---> B ---> C ---> D using only their programming skills!  Very cool!