LEGO & ARDUINO ROBOTICS Summer computer camp CurriculuM-2019
DAY 1
Introduction to Robotics Lesson 1-1: Robot Construction / Race Competition STEP students will enter into the future world of Robotics. They will work in teams to create racing robots. Once their robot is constructed and the team votes on its name – they will compete with the other groups and their robots. The race will consist of two tracks including obstacles, which they have to complete three times. The winner is decided by the best two out of three completion times. Lesson 1-2: Robosumo Competition The battle has begun! With their basic robot models equipped with infrared sensors, STEP students will guide their robot to push, pull, and drag their opponent outside of the “Sumo” circle. After the basic round, with an understanding of what kind of weapons are needed, STEP students will strategically design their new advanced Sumo Fighter. With only 20 minutes to create their advanced warrior – teamwork and strategy will be important. The winner is decided by the number of wins and the amount of time they survive in the circle of battle. Lesson 1-3: Basics of Coding STEP students will now learn how to make their robots smart. With the basics of code, our future programmers will methodically make their robot move forwards, backwards, and turn by specific values to route through specific shapes (squares, triangles, and figure eights).
DAY 2
Introduction to Arduino Lesson 2-1: Scratch for Arduino In this series, STEP students are introduced to the basics of electronics. They take theory and apply it directly to their light projects including the creation of blinking LEDs, streetlight projects, and more. Building on their coding skills they will create coded photo resistors to increase and decrease light intensity. Lesson 2-2: Programming of a touch sensor With each lesson the robots are continuing to evolve. By adding a touch sensor to the robot, students are able to navigate obstacles, find them, and make turns to avoid them. During the process of navigation our students are learning one-level conditionals and complex branched conditions – furthering their understanding of computer programming – and in actuality, the decision making process of everyday life. Lesson 2-3: Building a catapult This lesson combines engineering and tech. With LEGO students will construct a catapult and through their coding tech skills they will adjust the power of the catapult’s swing. These adjustments will come into play during the following contests, in the same style as Boules / Bocci, except with robots, where aim, force, direction, and strategy will decide the winner.
DAY 3
Buttons on Arduino, Balancing Robot and Line Racer Lesson 3-1: Arduino - Code Buttons Up, Down, Left, Right, and Space – these movements will be created with Arduino’s five directional buttons. And it’s these buttons that STEP students will use when creating their own Mario game on Scratch. Lesson 3-2: Balancer Tilting forward, tilting backwards – but never falling down – that’s the power of a balancing robot. STEP students will learn the mechanics that allow this perfect balance. Lesson 3-3: Color sensor and line race Sensors have the power to become color detectors. With special sensors STEP students will make their robots track colors and make decisions based on color values. In real world industries this has many applications - for our young engineers they'll use them to enter into races where the route may be a specific colored line.
DAY 4
Piano and Ultrasonic Guitar Lesson 4-1: Arduino Piano STEP students will explore their imaginations and with Arduino there is no limit. A piano with bananas instead of keys? Yes, nothing is impossible with technology and a creative mind. Lesson 4-2: Ultrasound Sensor This lesson will teach students how to create a following robot, i.e. follow their hand and stop in front of obstacles and execute turns based on algorithms. Is it possible to change the robot’s speed based on distance to a wall? We’ll find out! Lesson 4-3: Ultrasound Guitar STEP students will discover that ultrasound sensors can also be used for sound production! With this understanding they will build a robotic guitar which is able to create sounds based on the distance of a brick to an ultrasonic sensor.
DAY 5
Build your own robot Lesson 5-1: Completing Maze Using ultrasound sensors students will design a custom program that will help their robot find its way through a maze. The basic algorithm is simple: the robot starts to move, turns left if there is a wall. If it detects another wall, it
turns 180 degrees right. But there are many ways to improve, which our students will soon discover. Lesson 5-2: Build your own robot Now it's time for STEP students to combine all their newly acquired skills. They will build their own robot that must be unique and have a specific real-world application. Lesson 5-3: Presentation of projects Presentation of projects to parents, final photos and awarding of certificates.
IT STEP computer academy • Established in 1999 • Works in 18 countries and 53 cities • 1200 professors • 35 000 of students • 95 000 alumni
+41 78 203 44 22 geneva.itstep.org
Just in 10 years technologies evolved from smartphones to 3D printers, robotics and artificial intelligence. Thanks to the speed of data transmission our lives changed radically. Even greater changes await our children. Junior Computer Academy is a special program for children ages 7 to 14 to prepare them for the future challenges. In 2017 the program was awarded as a Champion during World Summit on the Information Society-2017 in Action Line C4 "Capacity building".