Robotics Academy Blog  

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Engineering teams have been given a set of topographical maps and a sophisticated robotic system to solve a set of robotic challenges using state of the art software, telecommunications, and multi-sensor feedback.  Teams are using current methodologies demonstrated by the Mars Lander missions where NASA was able to remotely control its Pathfinder robot by sending snippets of code to control the robot enabling NASA to explore the Martian surface. Today, teams are challenged to write code that enables their robots to autonomously collect fuel cells to power-up the communications system of an abandoned robotic mining colony. The simulation software that enables this challenge to take place is being jointly developed by the Robotics Academy at Carnegie Mellon University, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and Robomatter Incorporated.  The software is being designed to inspire a larger percentage of students to pursue computer science related careers.

Computer science and robotic technologies are changing all facets of industry and the country that inspires its brightest students to pursue these areas of study will begin to secure its economic future. DARPA and other government agencies looking at our country’s economics are concerned that the United States doesn’t have enough students pursuing advanced computer science to stimulate future innovation.  The Robotics Academy and Robomatter have developed a new robotics education game called “Operation Reset”.  Operation Reset is a simulated virtual world where robots are controlled using ROBOTC, a leading educational robot programming language, and Unity Technologies game development engine. The simulation software provides an inexpensive solution  that allows students to program virtual robots which are equipped with a full physics engine and capable of providing real-time feedback using simulated encoders, sonar sensors, compass sensors, and light and touch sensors. The robot virtual world simulation is supported by free training materials which can be found at www.robotc.net.  The software enables students to control their virtual robots using the exact same code that they can use to program their LEGO and VEX robots.  The newer worlds have a videogame like feel to them designed to motivate and enrich the learning experience. If you already have the RVW license Operation Reset is a free download.

This project is part of the newly emerging Computer Science Student Network. Operation Reset has evolved from initial research conducted by the Robotics Academy around Robot Virtual Worlds into a multifaceted product being distributed through Robomatter Inc.

The Robot Virtual Worlds are programmed using ROBOTC software, which is used in robotic education classrooms and competitions across the globe. Programmers are able to use the same code on the simulated virtual robots and the real world robots. You can download and test out the beta version of the software here. For optimal performance your computer should meet the following specifications:

• PC Compatible OS: Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo processor family or better, AMD Athlon X2 processor family or better
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800GTS or better, ATI Radeon™ HD 3850 or better
• DirectX®: DirectX® 9.0c and DirectX® 10
• Hard Drive: 200 MB free hard drive space
• Sound: Standard audio device

Read more about computer requirements for Robot Virtual Worlds here.

For information about The Robotics Academy, ROBOTC Programming language and The Robot Virtual Worlds visit the following links:

http://www.education.rec.ri.cmu.edu

http://www.robotc.net

http://www.cs2n.org/rvw

Hi everyone!

ROBOTC 3.04 has just been released. Head on over to the download pages of ROBOTC.net to download the latest version!

3.03 to 3.04 Change log:

Change log:

1. Fixed silent updater bug
2. Modified sensor scale and full count settings for gyros for VEX PIC.
3. Eliminated deprecated warning for “#pragma platform”. Remove warning on “#pragma competition”
4. dited BuiltInVariables.txt to include Battery & Power Control category, including 3 new entries for VEX battery level.
5. Added intrinsic to ROBOTCIntrinsics to return BackupBatterLevel value.
6. Corrected BuiltInVariables.txt to prevent displayLCDPos from appearing in “Undefined Entries”
7. Updated BuiltInVariables.txt to reflect additions to VEX Display commands
8. Modified RobotCIntrinsics.c setLCDPos command to “setLCDPosition”
9. Merge fixes from 32Bit branch for >160 subroutines.
10. Rebuild VEX firmware files because they were out of date.
11. Change text for button on VEX remote screen from “Enter” to “Center”.
12. Support on Prolific cables for workaround to protocol errors for IFI defined special Cortex messages. Previously was only implemented on integrated USB-to-Serial.
13. Correct incorrect code generation for a parameter “call by reference” variable which is itself a “call by reference” variable.
14. Add new intrinsics for VEX LCD to specify line and char position of the “Put”. Add alias “setLCDPos” for “displayLCDPos”
15. Bump version to 9.04 / 3.04. Rebuild firmware.
16. Eliminate NXT EXE encrypted file headers. It causes a bug with >160 subroutines on NXT. Need to rebuild NXT firmware to support this change.
17. When return statement from a “non void” function is unreachable because function contains an infinite loop compiler used to generate an error message that “No return statement from non-void function”. Now it generates a warning that an infinite loop prevents return.
18. Timer values on VEX (and NXT) were incorrectly truncated to 16-bits instead of preserving the 32-bit value.
19. Incorrect code generation for assignments when the expression is a compound expression and it uses an intrinsic function that refers to the ‘l-value” of the assignment.
20. Fixed Licensing System but when deactivating any product but ROBOTC for Mindstorms and it was the only product in the list.
21. Hid two options in the “NXT Brick” menu to prevent crashing when in RVW mode
22. Fixed an issue where the “Toggle Comment” button may crash ROBOTC when used near the beginning and end of a file.
23. Fixed an issue where the “View” menu on the NXT was displaying incorrect data with the NXT Encoders.
24. You can now drag/drop files to the ROBOTC application and also associate .c and .h files with ROBOTC.

So folks have been asking how to use the Robot Virtual Worlds.  Here is a quick Video that shows you how to use the software.  If this doesn’t make sense please tell me what you are looking for.

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The new FTC Bowled Over Virtual Gameboard has been edited allowing the placement of robots in four different start positions. The ROBOTC development team has also fixed the physics problem found in the first build.  The VEX Gateway challenge now has four start positions and allows teams to test their programs with the gate up or the gate down. Download a copy of the Robot Virtual World at www.robotc.net/rvw to learn how Robot Virtual Worlds work click here: http://www.robotc.net/rvw/rvw-getting-started.pdf

Check it out.  It is cool.  Robots are configured with encoders, sonar, touch, light, and compass sensors.  You can build robot behaviors in the virtual world and test them.  The behaviors will need to be tweaked when you actually transfer them to the robot but you will have a large advantage by being able to begin you robot path planning.  The ROBOTC team is taking team suggestions on robot configuration at the ROBOTC Forum www.robotc.net/forum

Here is a quick video that shows the FTC Bowled Over Challenge -

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 Here is a quick video that shows the VEX Gateway Challenge -

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Teachers, coaches, and parents,

Now that the summer is here you may have time to review new curriculum. ROBOTC is the fastest growing robotics software available in education today! ROBOTC was just selected as the programming language that will be used in the PLTW school network.

The facts are in:
- ROBOTC has been optimized for education. The Robotics Academy conducts iterative testing on the end user experience and use the results of testing to improve ROBOTC’s features.
- It has the best-in-class built in debugger. The programmer can see all of the robot’s inputs and outputs real time. This information is incredibly valuable when debugging your robots programs.
- The curriculum continues to evolve with the product. The current curriculums are posted for free on the front page of  www.robotc.net
- There are continually evolving complementary products like the Robot Virtual World Software.
- ROBOTC is cross platform. You can use the same software IDE to program LEGO, VEX, and now Arduino robots.

We are committed to making programming easier for students and teachers globally.

Check it out. Its getting easier to learn to program every day.

Congratulations to all the VEX Robotics teams that participated in the World Championship! After seeing all of the creative, well-engineered solutions, it’s clear how much hard work you all put in this season. Job well done!

What is the VEX Robotics World Championship?
The VEX Robotics World Championship is a gathering of top robotics teams from around the world to celebrate their accomplishments and compete with/against the best of the best. The 2011 VEX Robotics World Championship will include top teams from over 200 VEX Robotics Competition tournaments happening in cities around the world from May 2010 to March 2011.

2012 JN4 Challenge introduction slide

As the school year winds down, the Robots in Motion project is ramping up! The cognitive tutor-based Robots in Motion project has released two additional lessons and a Unit Challenge for public beta testing. The entire 2012 JN4 Asteroid Unit is currently FREE for testing with no download required! Learn about Proportional Distance, Turning, and Speed, then tackle the rigorous task of navigating Asteroid 2012 JN4 in the gameboard challenge, where a damaged rover has only a few carefully metered tries to reach as many goal markers as it can… a well-prepared rover team will need to come up with a better method for distance-finding than guess and check!

Asteroid 2012 JN4 makes a great Spring classroom unit OR an excellent way to “take it up a notch” past guess-and-check this summer.

We’re looking for both student testers and adult reviewers to try our new units out and give us feedback on how to make them even better on our way to the main Fall release. To begin your test, simply click the link below or visit http://www.fire-ct.com to create your account and begin your journey today!

Robots in Motion preview: http://www.fire-ct.com
CS2N Home: http://www.cs2n.org
Robots in Motion Forums: http://www.robotics-academy.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=120

Got feedback? Help us make robotics education better. Please report bugs, suggestions and comments at http://www.robotics-academy.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=121.

Carnegie Mellon will release a fully working, downloadable “Technical Demonstration” of their new Robot Virtual World (RVW) programming tool to the world on February 9, 2011.

The first world takes students to planet H99 where they will be able to program their robots using feedback from encoders, sonar, and compass sensors. The RVW project is designed to blend computer science lessons, engineering design, and gaming to teach programming and CS-STEM concepts.

Level One World

Students will earn points and access new levels as they learn to program

Students will program LEGO and VEX robots during training, but they will also be able to program virtual world machines like the scientist’s rover or the flying methane sensor. These vehicles will be programmed using the same ROBOTC IDE that students use when they program their LEGO and VEX robots.

We are also integrating opportunities to program LabVIEW front panels into the RVW. The front panels will be developed using National Instruments free LabVIEW Web UI Builder software. Data fed to the virtual instruments will be derived from conditions in the virtual world as well as from the virtual robots.

Virtual World Programming and simulator

Planet H99

The first Robot to the Rescue Computer Programming Game is set on Planet H99. The year is 2050 and the Global Federation of World Evolution has a collaborative research project named H99; short for Habitat 99.  The goal of H99 is to place a human colony on the planet by 2099.

The planet is being terraformed by a team ofhumans and robots with the majority of the work is being done by the robots. (Terraforming is the process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere of a planet to make it habitable by humans.) The student’s job is to program and manage the robots!

Pictured above and to the right is the simulator that will display the robot’s behavior to the student.

Digital Display

Virtual Worlds screenshot

They will be able to zoom in and out and control the camera’s angle using this interface.

Pictured at the right is an example of the type of digital display that students will be able to design and program as they play the game. We envision opportunities to develop displays for the greenhouse, fuel stations, vehicles, the weather, and any other game element that has constantly changing data.