HIGH COUNTRY
Robotics Projects for LEGO NXT and TETRIX
ROBOTICS
Edited
Brad Johnson
Eric Marland
by
Kimberly Marland
Tom Brown
HIGH COUNTRY
Introduction
ROBOTICS
Type of
sensor(s)
used or
lesson type
Each project or lesson plan is
labeled according to the
scheme at the right. Beginning
students should begin with
single sensor, difficulty “1”
projects and then work their
way up. Each project has a
basic outline filled in – how
much you provide for your
students is up to you. A blank
project page is included at the
end of this file for you copy for
your students or to create your
own project. Please share any
that you find particularly
useful.
Difficulty
Enumeration
Sensor / Lesson Key
T – touch
S – sound
L – light
M – motor / rotation
U – ultrasonic
E – engineering /
physics principles
O - other
HIGH COUNTRY
Table of Contents
ROBOTICS
Projects
M1a – Curveball.
M1b – Boomerang.
M1c – Slinking.
M2a – Parking.
M2b – Driver’s Ed.
M3a – Slalom
M4a – Dash
T1a – Touch and go.
T1b – Kiss and run.
T1c – Wait for it …
T2a – Too steep.
T2b – Search Pattern.
T2c – Getting stuck.
L1a – Don’t jump!
L2a – And counting …
L2b – Light maze.
L2c – Follow the trail.
L5a – Telephone.
S1a – Red light, green light.
S1b – Talk louder.
S2a – Drill field.
S4a – Robot whisperer.
S5a – Get funky.
U1a – Stay back!
U1b – Navigation.
U2a – Molecule too.
U2b – Stuck in traffic.
U4a – Claustrophobia.
U4b – Follow the leader.
E1a – Mechanical advantage
E1b – Light and sound
E1c – Human Programming
E1d – Pillar of strength
E1e – Magnetic personality
US4 – Trombone (Theremin)
TS4 – Trumpet.
UM4 – Soccer.
OM4 – Infrared Hockey.
UML5 – Parallel parking.
UM5 – Egg race.
Blank Forms
HIGH COUNTRY
NAME:
DATE:
PROJECT: PVC Maze Challenge (Part I)
OBJECTIVE: Solve a maze using only NXT touch
sensors.
ROBOTICS
DESCRIPTION OF TASK:
Program the robot to solve a maze by only using the touch sensors. One approach
to solving this problem may be to follow along the right side of the wall (or left side) until
you finish the maze. The maze will be created using PVC piping (or you could just use
books, etc.)
ROBOT DESIGN / SPECIAL FEATURES:
This project uses the base robot with one
touch sensors attached to the front of the
robot and one touch sensor attached to the
side of the robot. The sensors will be
adjusted so that they touch the wall.
MAP OF TASK:
PROGRAMMING FLOW CHART:
OBSERVATIONS AND QUESTIONS:
1.
Outline how your program was able to find the first wall.
2.
Were you able to solve the maze?
3.
How were you able to overcome being trapped in a corner?
4. Describe other difficulties with this project. How were you able to
overcome these difficulties?
5. Name one real world application where this project could be used.
HIGH COUNTRY
NAME:
DATE:
PROJECT: PVC Maze Challenge (Part II)
OBJECTIVE: Solve a maze using NXT touch
sensors and color sensor.
ROBOTICS
DESCRIPTION OF TASK:
Program the robot to solve a maze by using the touch sensors and the color sensor.
The program is the same as before, except the robot uses colors as hints. Detecting red tells
the robot to not travel down that path. Blue color means that the robot had finished the
task and should stop moving. The robot is not allowed to use the yellow colors just yet
(yellow is saved for the next exercise). The colored lines can be created using colored tape.
ROBOT DESIGN / SPECIAL FEATURES:
This project uses the base robot with one
touch sensors attached to the front of the
robot and one touch sensor attached to the
side of the robot. The sensors will be
adjusted so that they touch the wall. The
robot also uses a color sensor that should
be placed near the front of the robot
pointed towards the ground.
MAP OF TASK:
PROGRAMMING FLOW CHART:
OBSERVATIONS AND QUESTIONS:
1.Did you find the red tape being an advantage to solving the task?
2.How did the robot know when it had solved the maze?
3.In the previous exercise, would the robot know if it had solved the maze?
4.Give one example of how colors could be used on a transportation system
(maybe a train system) to perform some task.
5.Give a reason why colors would probably not be the best solution for a
transportation system to perform a task (for example: Buses use radio
frequency identification to determine where in the route the bus is, but hey
don’t use colors).
HIGH COUNTRY
NAME:
DATE:
PROJECT: PVC Maze Challenge (Part III)
OBJECTIVE: Solve a maze using NXT touch
sensors and color sensor.
ROBOTICS
DESCRIPTION OF TASK:
Program the robot to solve a maze as fast as possible by using the touch sensors
and/or the color sensor. The robot is allowed to use any of the colors as hints and can also
use touch sensors to detect walls.
ROBOT DESIGN / SPECIAL FEATURES:
This project uses the base robot with one
touch sensors attached to the front of the
robot and one touch sensor attached to the
side of the robot. The sensors will be
adjusted so that they touch the wall. The
robot also uses a color sensor that should
be placed near the front of the robot
pointed towards the ground.
MAP OF TASK:
PROGRAMMING FLOW CHART:
OBSERVATIONS AND QUESTIONS:
1.
What is the best method to use to solve the maze in the fastest time
possible?
2.
Were you able to solve the maze? If so, then how long did it take to
solve the maze.
3.
How could an automobile use a yellow line sensor on a highway?
4.
How could you change the angles on the yellow line to make it easier for
the robot to follow (the angles are currently at 90 degrees)?
HIGH COUNTRY
NAME:
DATE:
PROJECT: Classic Bull in the Ring
OBJECTIVE: Push off all of the cups that are inside
of a black circle
ROBOTICS
DESCRIPTION OF TASK:
The robot should start outside of the black circle. It should then drive into the circle
and push out any cups that are on top of the circle. The red circles represent plastic cups.
ROBOT DESIGN / SPECIAL FEATURES:
This project uses the base robot with
ultrasonic sensor pointed forward attached
to the top of the robot and a light sensor
attached on the front of the robot pointing
towards the ground.
MAP OF TASK:
PROGRAMMING FLOW CHART:
OBSERVATIONS AND QUESTIONS:
1.
What percentage of cups were you able to push out of the circle? If you
were able to push out all of the cups, then how long did it take to do so?
2.
Describe your biggest challenge with this exercise and the steps you took
to overcome this challenge.
3.
How did the robot detect the cups?
4.
Compare and contrast how does this exercise relates to a Roomba
vacuum cleaning robot?
HIGH COUNTRY
NAME:
DATE:
PROJECT: Create a Jingle (Mary Had a Little Lamb)
OBJECTIVE: Create a jingle by playing a tone
every time a robot drives over different
colored pieces of tape.
ROBOTICS
DESCRIPTION OF TASK:
The robot should drive forward over a pattern of colored tape. There needs to be a
gap in the tape between each note. Each color of tape represents a different note. The
gaps (probably white) should not play a sound.
ROBOT DESIGN / SPECIAL FEATURES:
This project uses a color sensor attached on the front of the robot pointing towards the
ground.
MAP OF TASK:
PROGRAMMING FLOW CHART:
OBSERVATIONS AND QUESTIONS:
1.
Why is it important to have gaps in the tape?
2.
The following are the musical notes for Mary Had a Little Lamb.
Compare the dots (solid or hollow) with the length of the tape on the
previous page. What can you conclude about a hollow dot compared
with a solid dot?
3.
What is the easiest way to slow or speed up your song with your robot?
4.
Using red, blue, yellow, and green markers . . . Draw a diagram of the
next line of the song. Note: a hollow dot without a vertical line attached
is 4 times longer than a single note.
5.
From the notes above, some of the dots are on horizontal lines and
some are in between. What can you conclude about the vertical
placement of the dots?
HIGH COUNTRY
NAME:
DATE:
PROJECT: Read a Bar Code
OBJECTIVE: Have a robot drive over a series of
pieces of tape and convert the color to a
binary number.
ROBOTICS
DESCRIPTION OF TASK:
Binary numbers are solely used in just about every computer. Binary numbers are
just 0’s and 1’s. For example, the binary number 1001 represents the number 9. This
makes computing much easier to deal with since computers use voltages . A 1 represents
+5V and a 0 represents 0V. In this exercise, you will have a robot drive over a series of
pieces of tapes and convert the tape into a binary number. After the robot is finished,
display that number on the NXT’s screen. From the diagram below, you should have the
robot display 1011100101 on the screen. (Hint: Read the light sensor at consistent time
intervals).
ROBOT DESIGN / SPECIAL FEATURES:
This project uses the base robot with a
light sensor attached on the front of the
robot pointing towards the ground.
PROGRAMMING FLOW CHART:
MAP OF TASK:
OBSERVATIONS AND QUESTIONS:
1.What was the most unexpected challenge faced with this task? And how
did you overcome this task?
2.If you have one piece of tape, you can have two numbers: 0, 1. If you have
two pieces of tape, then you can have four numbers: 00, 01, 10, 11. If you
have 3 pieces of tape, then you can have eight numbers: 000, 001, 010, 011,
100, 101, 110, 111. How many numbers can you have with four pieces of
tape? List them below.
3.How many numbers can you have with 5 pieces of tape? 6 pieces of tape?
7 pieces of tape?
4.Suppose you have a grocery store with 100 items. How many stripes must
you have on a bar code so that each item has a unique bar code?
5.A serial communication device (ex: USB) transmits voltages at certain rates
(known as a baud rate). In the diagram below, you can see how the number
010000010 is transmitted. By transmitting at a rate, you can communicate
any numbers with just 2 wires (signal and ground)! How does serial
communication relate to the exercise you just did?
HIGH COUNTRY
NAME:
DATE:
PROJECT: Classic NXT Black Line Maze
OBJECTIVE: Solve a maze by staying on the black
line.
ROBOTICS
DESCRIPTION OF TASK:
This is the classic NXT black line maze used often because of its ease to make
(don’t have to build walls). Use the light sensor to only stay on black lines. Solve the
maze without leaving the black lines. Designate where the start and finish are on the maze
drawing. You can modify these positions later.
ROBOT DESIGN / SPECIAL FEATURES:
This project uses the base robot with a
light sensor attached on the front of the
robot pointing towards the ground.
PROGRAMMING FLOW CHART:
MAP OF TASK:
OBSERVATIONS AND QUESTIONS:
1.What was the biggest challenges with this exercise and how did you
overcome these challenges?
2.Were you able to solve the maze and if so, then how long did it take?
3.How does this exercise compare with a mail man’s daily route?
HIGH COUNTRY
NAME:
DATE:
PROJECT: Bull’s Eye
OBJECTIVE: To drive a robot onto a target and
land on the bull’s eye.
ROBOTICS
DESCRIPTION OF TASK:
The robot will start outside of the target and drive until it reaches the bull’s eye.
Each ring of the target can be a different color or a more challenging problem would be for
the rings to only consist of 2 colors.
ROBOT DESIGN / SPECIAL FEATURES:
MAP OF TASK:
This project uses the base robot with a
light sensor attached on the front of the
robot pointing towards the ground.
PROGRAMMING FLOW CHART:
Drive
Forward
Black?
Yes
No
No
Turn Left
Black?
No
Red?
Yes
Drive Forward
Yes
Repeat for other colors
OBSERVATIONS AND QUESTIONS:
1.
What was the biggest challenges with this exercise and how did you
overcome these challenges?
2.
Finish the flow chart for the red, yellow, green, and blue stripes below.
HIGH COUNTRY
NAME:
DATE:
PROJECT: Edge Detector Design
OBJECTIVE: Design an arm that detects an edge
on a table.
ROBOTICS
DESCRIPTION OF TASK:
This is more of a design challenge than a programming challenge. The idea is to
design edge detectors so that your robot can be driving on a table top and can sense where
the edge of the table is. Use touch sensors to do achieve this.
ROBOT DESIGN / SPECIAL FEATURES:
This project uses the base robot with an
arm that has a touch sensor. The touch
sensor is normally pressed in by the ground
surface and is released when the arm goes
over a table edge.
PROGRAMMING FLOW CHART:
MAP OF TASK:
OBSERVATIONS AND QUESTIONS:
HIGH COUNTRY
NAME:
DATE:
LESSON: State Machines (Flow Charts)
ROBOTICS
State machines are flow charts for programmers that are used to help organize
thoughts and problem solving. They help a programmer think about a problem in a
systematic way, much like the way a computer thinks. Every time I have a
programming project, I jot down my ideas in a flow chart to help me later on with the
programming. After I finish the flow chart, the programming is just a matter of syntax
because all the problem solving has been done already.  This prevents me from
getting confused when I jump into the details.
In state machines (flow charts for programmers), there are typically three shapes:
boxes, diamonds, and ovals.
Boxes: Items written inside a box represent an output (such as a motor, a sound,
display, etc.).
Diamonds: Items written inside a diamond are inputs (such as a sensor or a button to
be pressed). Often, diamonds are called “decision diamonds.” This is because
depending on the input, the flow chart could take different paths.
Ovals: Items written inside an oval are conditional outputs. Conditional outputs are
outputs that happen depending on some input. For example, if we were designing a
soda vending machine, then we would have different outputs (soda) depending on
the button the user presses.
Anything that comes after a box (including the box) is considered a state. Anything
that is in a state happens simultaneously. All state machines have boxes, but they
don’t necessarily have diamonds or ovals.
Let’s design a washing machine. Some states that we may have are (1) Wait for Start
Button (2) Fill Washer (3) Agitate (4) Empty Washer (5) Rinse (6) Spin. We will just
design the first 3 states to get an idea of how a state machine works.
WASHING MACHINE EXAMPLE:
HIGH COUNTRY
NAME:
DATE:
LESSON: DC Motor
ROBOTICS
Electrical current is when electrical charge flows through a wire. When a current
flows through a wire, a magnetic field forms rings around the wire.
If you place a compass on top of a wire without electrical current flow, then the
compass will point towards magnetic north. Then if you allow the electrical current
to flow, the compass needle will suddenly move (as long as the compass is close
enough to the wire and there’s enough current to produce a strong magnetic field).
If you take a wire and form loops with it so that it forms a coil, then you have multiple
magnetic fields adding together to form a really strong magnetic field. This coil is
referred to as a solenoid and is the heart behind making motors, switches, relays,
transformers, electromagnets, and many other things.
To create a DC motor, we will need to make a solenoid.
HIGH COUNTRY
NAME:
DATE:
LESSON: DC Motor
ROBOTICS
To create a DC motor, we will need to make a solenoid. The wire used to make the
solenoid coil should be magnet wire which can be purchased at Radio Shack and
other places. We will also need a permanent magnet (the stronger the better) and
some paper clips and a battery.
We will need to scrape off the enamel that is on the magnet wire so that we can
make a good contact between the paper clip and the coil.
When the battery is connected allowing electrical current to flow, the coil (solenoid)
will create an electromagnet that will either be attracted (or repelled – doesn’t really
matter) by the permanent magnet causing the coil to spin. The inertia of the coil
wants to keep the coil spinning so it will actually spin past the attraction and
eventually it spins to the point where it is repelled. This cycle of attraction –
repulsion – attraction – repulsion will continue as long as current continues through
the coil. Hence, we have a DC motor! We converted electrical energy to mechanical
spinning.