Robotics Academy Blog  

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.

We have just made the 2010 FIRST LEGO League competition photos, scores & rankings available.

You can view them by clicking here, and SELECTING FIRST LEGO LEAGUE

On that page you will find all of the team rankings as well as Team Photos, Photos from the day, and also the comments that the Judges made about the teams during the presentations.

A big THANKS to everyone who came to experience FLL here in Pittsburgh and to all of the volunteers who helped make the event a truly special day!

- The Robotics Academy team

Most schools teach how to use computers, but nothing deeper

[Source of article can be found here: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-12/cmu-rfk120610.php by Byron Spice]

PITTSBURGH—Computer-related technology is increasingly driving the U.S. economy, yet computer science education is scant in most American elementary and secondary school classrooms and the number of introductory and Advanced Placement courses in computer science has actually declined in the last five years, according to a report released this fall.

“Some states and some schools are offering some really excellent courses,” said Mark Stehlik, co-author of the report, “Running on Empty: The Failure to Teach K-12 Computer Science in the Digital Age,” http://www.acm.org/runningonempty/. “But overall, the picture is pretty bleak,” added Stehlik, assistant dean for undergraduate education at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science.

The report by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) found that most schools focus on teaching students how to use a computer and run available applications, rather than also teaching deeper concepts, such as computational problem-solving, that lay the foundation for innovation. Fourteen states have adopted no standards at all for upper-level computer science education.

The report’s findings are sobering as educators observe Computer Science Education Week, Dec. 5-11, http://www.csedweek.org, which focuses on the critical role of computer science in preparing students for 21st century careers. Carnegie Mellon will host Computer Science Education Day on Dec. 8, http://www.cs.cmu.edu/csed/.

Recent federal initiatives such as No Child Left Behind and various programs designed to boost science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education have had the unintended consequence of undermining computer science lessons, the report noted. Those initiatives have focused lessons on traditional science and math courses that are covered by achievement tests or are core requirements for high school graduation. Only nine states count computer science credits toward graduation requirements.

The point is not that every student needs to become a computer scientist, but that all students have the basic knowledge they need to understand an increasingly technological world, said Leigh Ann Sudol, a PhD student in Carnegie Mellon’s Computer Science Department and another study co-author.

“Just like understanding a cell in biology class, understanding how a computer works is a fundamental skill for competing in the 21st century global marketplace,” she said.

The ACM and CSTA issued a model K-12 curriculum for computer science in 2006. Though no state has a set of standards addressing computer science specifically, the Running on Empty authors set out two years ago to assess the degree to which state school standards for science, math and other subjects included the 55 standards outlined in the model curriculum. In addition to Sudol and Stehlik, the report’s authors included Chris Stephenson, CSTA executive director, and Cameron Wilson, ACM director of public policy.

“Many studies have looked at what computer science teachers are doing in the classroom and much of that is fantastic,” Sudol said. “These teachers are enthusiastic and often generate their own class materials. But that’s never going to do more than create bubbles of excellence in the country as a whole. So we needed to take a look at what was happening from the top down.”

Sudol found that 14 states, including Georgia, Ohio, Massachusetts, Oregon and Florida, have adopted between 50 and 100 percent of the model standards. But that left two-thirds of the states with few, if any, computer science standards at the secondary level. Pennsylvania, Michigan and 12 other states, along with the District of Columbia, have no secondary computer science standards.

The number of secondary schools offering introductory computer science courses dropped 17 percent from 2005 to 2009 and the number offering Advanced Placement (AP) computer science courses dropped 35 percent in that time period. Stehlik noted that the low demand caused the College Board, which administers AP curricula, to eliminate the AP Computer Science AB test that examined advanced computer science topics such as algorithms and data structures. The AP Computer Science A test, which deals mostly with programming, remains available.

Scientific organizations and non-profits such as the ACM, CSTA and the Computing Research Association, along with corporations such as Microsoft and Google, have formed a non-partisan advocacy coalition, Computing in the Core, www.computinginthecore.org, to work for stronger K-12 computer science education. Among the policy initiatives it supports is the Computer Science Education Act, which was introduced this year by U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., and would provide federal grants to states to improve computer science programs and support computer science teachers.

Carnegie Mellon is leading a number of programs to improve computer science literacy. Among them is Fostering Innovation through Robotics Exploration (FIRE), http://fire.cmu.edu/, a federally funded initiative leveraging robotics and computer animation to increase interest in computer science among middle and high school students. The university makes Alice, www.alice.org a software environment that uses computer animation to introduce students to programming concepts, available for download free of charge. Carnegie Mellon is leading an international consortium funded through the HP Catalyst Initiative, http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/socialinnovation/catalyst.html, to develop new ways of measuring student competency in STEM. David S. Touretzky, research professor of computer science, is a founder and co-principal investigator of Advancing Robotics Technology for Societal Impact (ARTSI), http://artsialliance.org/, a National Science Foundation-supported program to increase the number of African-Americans pursuing computer science careers.

Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science was ranked number one among computer science Ph.D. programs this year by U.S. News and World Report, tying programs at MIT, Stanford and the University of California at Berkeley. Follow the school on Twitter @SCSatCMU.

About Carnegie Mellon: Carnegie Mellon (www.cmu.edu) is a private, internationally ranked research university with programs in areas ranging from science, technology and business, to public policy, the humanities and the fine arts. More than 11,000 students in the university’s seven schools and colleges benefit from a small student-to-faculty ratio and an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. A global university, Carnegie Mellon’s main campus in the United States is in Pittsburgh, Pa. It has campuses in California’s Silicon Valley and Qatar, and programs in Asia, Australia, Europe and Mexico. The university is in the midst of a $1 billion fundraising campaign, titled “Inspire Innovation: The Campaign for Carnegie Mellon University,” which aims to build its endowment, support faculty, students and innovative research, and enhance the physical campus with equipment and facility improvements.

Yep, there’s an app for that too.

MINDdroid recently updated its popular application that allows users to control their NXT with their Android phone.

Take a look at this video found on youtube:

embedded by Embedded Video

YouTube Direct 

The updated version (version 1.1) adds cool new features such as being able to run a pre-installed program from the phone, as well as adding support for the RoboGator model (known from the NXT 2.0 kit).

That’s great! But… how do I get it?

In order to get this app, just grab your Android phone and go to the Market. Do a search for “minddroid” and you’ll find the app.

The Robotics Academy is developing a cool new technology for RobotC!  What if you could use RobotC without a robot at home or at school?  Soon, you’ll be able to with the new RobotC Virtual World!

Coming in December, a free demonstration version of the RobotC Virtual World will be available for download.  You’ll get a copy of RobotC that works with the Virtual World and a cool island you can explore with your virtual robot.

We’re planning some fun activities and a High Score challenge for the island, so stay tuned for more details.

In the meantime, check out some of the videos of the software in development.  Remember: those Virtual Robots aren’t moving on their own accord; they’re being run by a real RobotC program you can write!

For those of you who want to know about the Robotics events that are happening in Pittsburgh, you’re in luck!

We have just updated the list of Pittsburgh Regional Events on our site.

Here are some upcoming events:

1. November 19, 2010:
   Western Pennsylvania VEX Robotics Round Up Competition at Cal U – Day 1
2. November 20, 2010:
   Western Pennsylvania VEX Robotics Round Up Competition at Cal U – Day 2

If you know of any events that are happening that aren’t on the calendar, please feel free to comment on this post and we will gladly add it!

The Robotics Academy Team is proud to present a beta preview of the VEX Cortex Video Trainer. This multimedia-rich curriculum features lessons for the VEX Cortex Microcontroller, which can also be applied to the older VEX PIC Microcontroller 0.5. It includes in-depth programming lessons for ROBOTC, multi-faceted engineering challenges, step-by-step videos, robotics support material, educational resources, and more. Whether you’re just looking for help getting started with the VEX Cortex and ROBOTC, or are planning on integrating it into the classroom, we’re confident that the video trainer will be an invaluable tool for you.

Keep in mind that the video trainer is still in development; your feedback is welcome and appreciated as we continue to add to this exciting product. Please send all questions and feedback to jbflot@cmu.edu

We have reached our limit of 16 coaches for the training sessions on October 6 and 13. Thanks to everyone who signed up to join our FLL New Coaches Training!

We have started a second session on Thursday, October 7 and Thursday, October 14.

To register, please contact Norm Kerman at nkerman@rec.ri.cmu.edu.

Because space is limited, please limit registrations to one coach per team.  You can find free resources designed to help students learn to program at :

http://www.education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/fire/competitions/fll/