4-H Robotics Curriculum
Lego
Mindstorm
NXT Robot
Building STEM
and Teamwork
Skills with the
LEARNING
MODULES
Prepared
August 2014
Seilstad, David O, Regional 4-H
Youth Development Specialist,
Iowa State University
4-H Robotics Curriculum
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction – page 2


Starting with New Kits
Key Online Resources
LESSON 1 – page 9
Building Teamwork in a Team of Youth
LESSON 2 – page 14
So What’s in the Tubs?
LESSON 3 – page 23
Let’s Get the Robot Moving
LESSON 4 – page 29
Let’s Turn the Robot
LESSON 5 – page 37
Avoidance using Sensors
LESSON 6 – page 41
What Kinds of Jobs do Robots Do? And Switching on the Light Sensor
LESSON 7 – page 46
Programming a Switch for your Robot to Follow a Line
LESSON 8 – page 49
Learning to Work with GEARs
Appendix
Appendix 1 – page 52: Preparing your Team to Work with Robot
Challenges
Appendix 2 – page 54: Team Building Activities
Appendix 3 – page 55: SUMO Robot Challenges in Building and
Programming
This Curriculum and all of the resource pieces referred to in the
curriculum are all posted on the Harrison County Extension Office
Website:
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/harrison/ne
ws/4hbeginningroboticsnxt
Building STEM and Teamwork
Skills
with the LEGO Mindstorm NXT
Robot LEARNING MODULES
Prepared by David Seilstad, Regional 4-H Youth
Development Specialist, Iowa State University
Extension and Outreach
Robots are a great way to help youth learn engineering, math,
programming and teamwork as youth work together to build, program and
adapt their robot to accomplish challenges you initially provide for the team.
Shortly into the process, you will be providing them the opportunities to
access the tools and resources to create their own process of discovery.
Whether you are a classroom teacher, adult volunteer with a youth
organization, or an involved parent, you will find the discoveries that teams
make in working with their LEGO Mindstorm Robot help to nurture a youth’s
problem solving skills and help them to appreciate the sharing of
responsibilities and talents of their team as they work together.
Youth at middle and early high school ages are often used to problem
solving on their own in working with technology and must learn the
importance and the fulfillment of working with others to come up with ways
to accomplish the challenges given to the group in working with their robot.
As they find their strengths and talents in the group, they will find that
cooperating instead of competing is such a rewarding part of the engineering
and technology world. They can accomplish so much more in working as a
group than any of them individually. The robotics program is the path that
they travel down in learning these important life lessons that will serve them
well in any STEM career.
To be successful in using robots as a teaching tool, the youth need to
learn:




some basic building skills which many of them already have in working
with the newer LEGO building sets beyond just the bricks
basic programming skills in building a sequence of instructions using
the programming blocks of the NXT software to have the robot do
what they would like the robot to do
become familiar with programming and using sensors in their
programs to have their robot use distance from objects (ultrasonic
sensor), bumping into objects (touch sensor), stopping on a line or
following a line (light sensor), or start, stop or respond to sound
(sound sensor) as an instrument to help their robot navigate
and apply their knowledge of building, programming and using sensors
to successfully have their robot complete challenges given to them or
that they design and create for others to complete
You will find that this curriculum combines lessons in teamwork with
the lessons to learn about building and programming the LEGO Mindstorm
NXT Robot to create a successful set of STEM Skills. It is also built on a
pattern of discovery for the youth you work with. You will find very quickly
that the youth in your program will go beyond what you know about the
robot building and programming and you will be more of a facilitator of their
learning and helping them to apply what they have learned to new
challenges.
Author’s Note: Because youth robotics programs are so successful in upper
elementary and middle school STEM programming, and the primary robot
platform that you will find being used is the LEGO Mindstorm NXT, you will
find a very welcoming network of resources available to you on the web to
use with your youth. You will feel instantly welcome to this wonderful
supportive network of youth and adults working with the NXT and any youth
robotics programs like FIRST LEGO League or local robotics programs being
taught in the school and after-school. This includes the creative youth that
are participants in these programs, who are more than willing to work with
your program and share what they know. It also includes the many formal
educators—teachers, and informal educators—volunteers working with 4-H,
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and afterschool programs who have shared
resources on the web. It is a wonderful community to connect with and they
will all share that working with youth and robotics is one of the most
rewarding experiences that they have had in working with STEM
programming and youth. They will tell you that you just need to share a
small foundation of knowledge and then the youth are off and learning with
each other as they discover more and more about working with the robots
through their own interests and interacting with some of the learning
resources on the web. It really comes down to the youth learning problem
solving and figuring out how to build and program their robot to solve
challenges and complete challenge tasks. Feel free to also contribute or help
improve these lessons through what you learn or find as additional resources
as you create or adapt resources and are willing to share.
FOR 4-H Volunteer Leaders WITH NEW KITS:
The LEGO Mindstorm NXT Educational Kits, includes two tubs, a grey 979797
NXT Education Robot Base Set Kit tub and a blue 979695 NXT Education
Resource Set tub. You will need to do some setup following receiving the kit
to get ready for youth to build a robot and attachments.
1. You will need to unpack and sort the kits into the top and bottom trays
of the blue and the grey tubs. Each tub comes with a cardboard insert
that will show where you would put the parts in sorting them into the
trays from the original bags they arrive in. You certainly can have your
youth participants help with this process at your first meeting or you
can invite a couple of volunteers from your youth Robotics team in to
help you do this as prep for your first meeting.
2. You will need to insert the rechargeable battery into the back of the
brick and plug it in so it is charged and ready to go for your first
working session with the youth.
3. You will need to install the Educational NXT-G software on each of the
computers the youth will be using for programming.
4. Once you have installed the software on a computer and have charged
the NXT Brick, you will need to open the software and hook up the
brick to the computer to see if the firmware needs updating. The
firmware is the software installed on the brick that allows it to run the
NXT Software. New bricks may come with the current firmware or may
need to be updated. It is a very simple process to upgrade the
Firmware on the brick.
a. Click on the NXT 2.1 Programming shortcut on your desktop
(orange box inside of a white orange outlined box) and when the
program opens, click on the GO link on the Start New Program
box in the middle of the screen. (Starting the software-PC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuA4w7ldjSg or Starting
the software on the Mac
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muTFbLpIOJ8)
b. Start the brick by pressing the orange button in the middle of
the brick. Then using the USB cable, plug one end into your
computer USB port and the other end into the port on top of the
brick alongside the A-B-C motor ports. (Connecting the robot to
your computer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q5fgLUHfW8#t=80)
c. When the brick connects to the computer, it will just connect and
you know that the firmware is current on your brick or it will
bring up a window asking you to update the firmware on the
brick. (Updating Firmware on your NXT Brick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6IYHCW6J8A )
d. To update the firmware go up to the Tools menu and click on
“Update NXT Firmware.” Then click on the download button and
it will go through a short process to update the software on the
brick. The process is complete when you get the message at the
bottom of the window “Successfully Downloaded Firmware.” If
you have any problems with updating your firmware, give LEGO
Technical Support a call 1-866-349-5346. They are available
from 7:30 a.m. -5:00 p.m. Monday-Friday.
It’s Not Rocket Science: Keep it Simple! Check out this webpage for
confidence on LEGO engineering.
FROM DAMIEN KEE, A LEADER IN TEACHING ROBOTICS: “The word
‘robotics’ can be a little intimidating to a teacher new to the field. I
constantly encounter teachers who have been thrust unsuspectingly into the
role of the ‘robotics teacher’ simply because they were in the staff room at
the time the Principal was looking for a volunteer. They hear the words
‘robotics’ and ‘programming’ and are immediately filled with dread. But while
it is possible to use robotics to create amazingly complex creations, we often
overlook the fantastic array of simple and educationally effective activities
we can do.”
The following is a range of activities you can run in class using just a single
Block in NXT-G, the ‘Move’ Block
With this block we can get the robot to move based on the following
parameters




Direction
Steering
Power
Duration
At this website, you’ll find four great starter activities in challenging your 4-H
Robotics Team.
Key Online Resources
So you are excited to lead a group of youth through Robotics Discovery
Learning…
As a leader/teacher of a group of youth who will be going on the journey
with you building, programming and meeting challenges with the LEGO
Mindstorm Robot, there are several online resources you should plan on
using to get you and your youth started. Some you need to go through a
simple process of registering to access and others are available without
registering. The registration process is simple and at no cost with minimal
info shared and opens a wider set of resources than would be available
through the public unregistered part of the website. You might want to
register now to be able to have the resources available to you later on in the
curriculum.
1. Educational Robots for Absolute Beginners has a lot of video resources
that are great to become familiar with the NXT Robots and software. It
is a self-paced course specifically designed for K-12 Teachers to use
the LEGO NXT robots with youth. Just Click on the Get Started and
sign in with your Google Account as it is a program Funded by Google
CS4HS (Google Computer Science for High School).
https://cs4hsrobots.appspot.com/preview There will be some video
resources referenced in the curriculum to access for sharing with your
students.
2. STEMcentric NXT Tutorial Essentials Section— This is an excellent
tutorial geared for adult leaders and youth in 5th Grade through Middle
School, for getting starting with the programming using Move Blocks,
Loops, Wait Sensor Blocks, mounting and using the Light Sensor and
use a Switch Block. This site can be accessed directly with no
registration process: http://www.stemcentric.com/nxt-tutorial/
3. GEAR-TECH-21 has a series of short teaching modules that will take
you and your students through a set of screens to learn the
programming lesson for using making turns, using loops and switches
and a helpful demo on how to program the follow the line program.
This is one of the sites you will need to register to use later as a
resource. GEAR-TECH-21 Registration Page. Click on and create a New
Account and when they approve your account through email
confirmation, then Login and on the Homepage choose Camps/Camp
Activities and then Camp Activities –YEAR 1 Or Camp Activities YEAR
2. Since their curriculum focuses on Robotics and GPS/GIS, The
lessons for Robotics in Camp Activates Year 1 are: Simplebot (building
a quick robot); Hello World; Get Moving; Turns; Loops; Avoidance;
Decibel Detection; On Cue; and Camp Robot Challenges. Use the
Next button on top of the navigation modules for each lesson and
follow the directions for accessing the step by step programming.
4. Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy is a site that you will need to go
through a short registration process to access their CS2N (Computer
Science Student Network): https://www.cs2n.org/ and Click on
“Create a CS2N Account. This will give you access to CS2N- 4H
Robotics Learning Resources in two short learning courses:
a. 4H Robotics 1: NeXT Technology (509)
b. 4H Robotics 2: NeXT Steps (510)
c. and probably the most valuable resource to you as a teacher will
be the resources part of the 4H Robotics Courses down in the left
bottom corner of the course window when you first access the
course is the NXT Video Trainer with several video lessons that
you will find to use as you move through the lessons on
programming the robot.
LESSON 1: Building Teamwork in a Team
of Youth
For many of you, the youth that you will be working with “know” each
other. That loosely translates into them going to school together, but do
they really know and appreciate what they and their teammates bring to the
team. A process of getting to know each other to share their strengths that
they have to contribute to the team is a process of discovery as important as
the robot building and programming skills that they will learn. Engineers
must work together closely communicating as they go, in developing new
products and designing all of the components that go into the finished
product.
All of them need to learn the principles of building and programming,
but some of them might have a real passion and endurance for adjusting
robot build designs or spending hours working on the programming to have
the robot complete a task, or communicating and marketing their work and
solutions to others which is very important to a team. Most importantly, they
may know what they do well, but discovering and appreciating their
teammates for what they do well is critical to working as a team. SO the
process of building a team out of individual youth working together is an
important part of the HyperStream Club experience.
Activities/ Challenges
Find Your Twin
Supplies: Copies of the “Find Your Twin” activity sheet (one per team
member) can be found in the Team Building Activities folder, and pencils or
pens.
Activity Instructions: Have the youth fill out their preferences in the first
column after the description in the box and then go around the group to find
others that match their answer as “finding their twin.” Each of the matching
persons who have found a twin will sign each other’s paper in the second
Twin column. The goal of this activity is to find others who share their
interest or preference, so they should try to not have anyone sign their
sheet as a twin more than twice to three times to make sure that they
compare their answers with all members of the group rather than sit down
and find a bunch of twin matches with just one person. They may have a lot
in common with a friend in the group, but they should branch out and get to
know as much as they can about others in the group.
Ride the Bus
Supplies: Just need Ride the Bus leader sheet for list of Field Trip Stops and
description of activity (found in the Team Building Activities folder), and
pencils or pens.
Activity Instructions: Everyone loves field trips in getting to go places and
try new things. This activity will challenge each person in the group to make
a choice between two opportunities at each stop along the field trip. To
make their choice, they must exit the bus on the left or right depending on
their choice of what they would like to do or eat at each fieldtrip stop. You
will need to set out two rows of chairs parallel to each other with a space in
between the rows or lay down two lengths of rope parallel with space in
between to provide the space for the youth to “Be on the Bus.”
You will then work with the group to have some fun in making sounds for
the bus taking off and the bus stopping at the next stop on the field trip.
Have the group choose a sound to make for the bus accelerating and then
give them a choice of sound for the brakes as the bus stops at the field trip
stop. I usually give them a choice between air brakes with a “cushing” sound
or screeching brakes with a “screech” sound. Then have them all join in to
make the acceleration noise for the bus taking off and the brake sound
choice for their field trip stop and announce the choices, “Out the right side
of the bus to……” and “Out the left side of the bus to…..” They may not stay
on the bus or straddle the bus in a desire to do both. They must make a
choice. Continue through the starting and stopping sounds of the bus and
announcing each Field Trip stop choice.
Playdough Pictionary
Supplies: You will need a container of Playdough and a set of index cards
with the objects written on them for team members to form out of
Playdough for the rest of the group to guess. The list of objects to put on
index cards and activity description are in the Team Building Activities folder.
Activity Instructions: If you have a small group, you can have them all
participate in one group and if you have a larger group of youth, you can
have groups of four or five each complete the Playdough Pictionary process
through forming the object on the card with Playdough so that their group
guesses what it is. This is not a competitive event as each group will go until
their group guesses the object. They may not use the Playdough to spell out
the letters of the object on the card. If a team member gets stuck, they can
say STOP and ask one other group member to go off to the side to tell them
what it is that they are trying to make out of Playdough and they can come
up with a plan to make out of Playdough to help the group guess the object.
Be The Bot Activity –Retrieve an object
Supplies: 1 sheet of paper and pencil per group of 2 or 3 youth
A water bottle or other prop that the robot must retrieve and bring back to
the group. The resource sheet for this activity can be found in the Team
Building Activities folder.
Activity Instructions: In this activity for Be the Bot, you will divide the team
into groups of two or three, where one of them will be the robot and the
other one or two members must write down in a list format the exact
instructions for their robot to go from sitting to retrieving a water bottle or
other prop from somewhere in the room. They will learn how precise and
complete the instructions must be for a robot to complete a task or
challenge.
When they have completed recording their instructions, it is time for them to
either give the instructions line by line to their robot and have the robot
complete the instructions only doing exactly what the instructions list. This
may take some reminding of the robot that they can only do “EXACTLY”
what the instructions tell them to do. An extra element that you can add to
this activity is to have groups exchange their line by line BE the BOT
instructions that they recorded with another group to test the program and
see if it takes them to their goal object (Thanks to Merry Barney, Underwood
MS for this suggestion. Her instruction and line by line programming form is
included in the resources for this activity. Using another group’s instructions
sometimes allows the group to be very honest in only executing the
instructions given.)
Note to Adult Leader or Mentor: You will need to help the team be as
specific as possible in giving instructions to their robot. You may have to
stop them if they have omitted or assumed an action without specific
instructions. This is not meant to be a frustrating activity, but it is very
important to help them see how precise their instructions to their robot must
be in how much to turn (in degrees and direction) or the specific instructions
that it would take for their hand to reach out and grab something to retrieve
it…many steps are involved in how to extend the arm, to open the hand, but
how much? And how to get the hand to grip the bottle and not crush it or let
it slip out of the hand. Just be a reminder that they need to be specific as
best they can to help them be precise in their instructions, since the robot
person can see and would have picked up an object in their hands before,
but now specific instructions must direct their actions.
Be The Bot Activity-Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
Supplies: A piece of paper and pencil, plastic knife and paper plate for each
group of 2 or 3 students, loaf of bread, jar of peanut butter, jar of jelly for
group. The resource sheet for this activity can be found in the Team Building
Activities folder.
Activity Instructions: In this activity for Be the Bot, you will divide the team
into groups of two or three and they as a group must write out the exact
instructions for one of them to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Then one of the team members will serve as the sandwich making robot and
complete each of the steps in the instructions to complete the peanut butter
and jelly sandwich. The adult leader must make sure that only the
instructions that are given will be followed to complete the sandwich making
process. If any step or detail in a step is left out, the team must stop and go
back to their seats and add any instructions that are missing before coming
up and trying the sandwich making process again.
They may leave a sandwich in progress and resume their sandwich making
process when they have completed writing down any omitted instructions for
their robot. The teams will be done when the sandwich is completed, and
they may divide and eat the sandwich if the process was completed in a food
safe manor.
Note to Adult Leader or Mentor: You will need to help the team be as
specific as possible in giving instructions to their robot. You may have to
stop them if they have omitted or assumed an action without specific
instructions. This is not meant to be a frustrating activity, but it is very
important to help them see how precise their instructions to their robot must
be in how to open a jar…many steps are involved in how to extend the arm,
to open the hand, but how much? And how does one grip the knife and
spread the peanut butter or jelly on the bread? Just be a reminder that they
need to be specific as best you can to help them be precise in their
instructions, since the robot person can see and would have picked up an
object in their hands before, but now specific instructions must direct their
actions.
Two Really important videos to show after your Be the Bot Activity:
If you have time to show these two videos at the end of the Be the Bot or at
the beginning of your working time together with the youth, they are very
foundational to understanding programming robots for teams:
1. The first video will help youth understand that programming is just
defining your goal for the robot and programming the steps needed to
accomplish that goal. The video is part of the Carnegie Mellon
Robotics Academy NXT Video Trainer resource, Lesson Thinking About
Programming:
http://www.education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/previews/nxt_products/nxt_vide
o_trainer/partial_product/basics/thinking/thinking.html
2. This video focuses on the fact that programming must be precise
which the youth would have learned in their Be The Bot activity.
Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy—Introduction to Programming
LEGO Mindstorms EV3—Basics, Big Ideas 1 and 2:
http://www.education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/content/lego/ev3/curriculum/pre
view/ Click on “Big Ideas” “1-2” and click arrow to play video.
3. The third video that is very helpful throughout your NXT Lessons is a
great introduction to the Engineering Process from Carnegie Mellon
Robotics Academy.
http://www.education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/previews/nxt_products/robotics
_eng_vol_2/preview/content/process.html
LESSON 2: So What’s in the Tubs?
Activities/ Challenges
Teamwork Activity:
“Lego Builders Greet around the World” is an activity for members to
learn new handshakes for greeting other Lego Builders in other places and
then come back to those handshake partners to discuss a topic. You can
find the “Lego Builders Greet the World” Activity in the The resource sheet
for this activity can be found in the Team Building Activities folder. No
supplies needed.
So What’s in the Tubs Activity:
Getting a chance to open the tubs and see what is in them is a fun
way to start the process of learning. So let’s open the kits and get your
hands on probably the most important pieces in each of the kits to use when
building.
A great resource piece for you to have available as you are going
through the kits is from Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy and can be
downloaded from
http://www.getsetsite.org/nxt/LEGO%209797%20Part%20Names.pdf
This is a wonderful resource for adults but used sparingly by youth as
they just look at the robot building instructions and build not caring what the
name of something is or they may already be familiar from past building
with the pieces. It is good to mention the names of some of the pieces as
you go through to remind them as engineers, they will need to know names
of many elements of construction when they have to ask for some part from
others or need to refer to a part in their building instructions and may not
always be able to refer to the visual pictures of parts.
CARDINAL RULE WHILE WORKING WITH THE TUBS: When you remove
a tray, the tray must be set flat on a sturdy surface to insure that it won’t
get knocked off or spilled.
NXT Brick. It is a mini computer and will be where
you download your robot programs to make them
run the robot. It has two sets of ports: on top, you
have ports A,B, and C which will be used for the
motors and on the bottom, ports 1, 2, 3, and 4
which will be used for connecting the sensors to the
brick.
For more info on the NXT Brick:
https://cs4hsrobots.appspot.com/unit?unit=24
3 Motors which will connect to the B and C ports for
the drive motors and the Motor Port A for an
attachment or grabbing mechanism motor.
Touch Sensor. There will be two of these. The
sensor is activated most commonly by the front
button being pushed when it bumps into an obstacle
or object.
Ultrasonic Sensor. It sends a signal out one side
and receives that signal back in the other socket
which will tell it how far away (distance in inches or
centimeters) it is from the object that reflected the
signal.
Light Senor. When activated, a red colored light is
emitted and the amount of light that a surface
reflects will indicate how light or dark that surface is.
Light colored surfaces reflect more light and dark
surfaces absorb more of the light.
Sound Sensor. Probably the least used sensor with
the NXT Robot because the amount of sound in a
room of students working is quite loud. You can take
it out in the hallway and make the robot start or stop
on a clap or loud command.
Motor and sensor cables. You should have seven
in your kit, one for each motor and one for each
sensor if all are connected. They plug in like a
telephone cord.
USB Computer cord. This will connect your
computer to the top of the NXT Brick. It is a basic
USB Printer cord in case you ever have to replace it.
Some other pieces
you will need from
the tubs are Wheels
Tires. You will find five different types and sizes of
tires in the tubs and a set of tracks.
A couple other
pieces you will need
to know about
Beams. These beams are referred to in the building
instructions by the number of holes in the beam
ranging from 2 to 15 holes.
Axles. You will also find a lot of axles which are
measured by the number of holes on a beam that
they cover up. A #5 axle when set over a beam will
cover up five of the holes on the beam. This is very
important in building when they ask for a #8 axle,
you just find a long beam and lay the axle along the
beam to find one that covers 8 holes.
90 Degree Bent Beams. You will also find 90
degree bent beams which will be referred to by the
number of holes…a 3 x 5 has three holes on the
bottom and five going up
Angled Bent Beams. There are also bent beams of
different angles which you probably will just
recognize by the picture in the building instructions
Joining pins are
probably the last
important pieces to
be able to identify
Short Pins. Short pins are black. These will join two
pieces connecting them together. There are 120 of
these in your kits so you will use these a lot.
Long Pins. The second most common pin is the long
pin which is blue—but may appear in building
instructions sometimes as black as older kits had
black long pins. This can be confusing to tell if the
pin was short or long since they changed the color to
blue. These will join three pieces together.
Axle Pins. Axle pins can fit into a round hole on a
beam or hanger and a cross hatched hole that you
will find on some bent beams and other pieces.
Gears. There is a whole assortment of gears that
you can use to make a robot or motor go faster or
slower or cause a claw to open or close. We will
spend a lesson on learning how gears work for speed
or torque.
See Full Inventory in
MindstormNXTInventorySheetCombined979797
& 979695.pdf or LEGO 9797 Part Names.pdf
found in the Robotics Resources
Most of the other
pieeces you will
match up with the
pictures on the
building instructions
to find and use
them.
Those are probably the most important pieces to recognize.
REPEATED--CARDINAL RULE WHILE WORKING WITH THE TUBS:
When you remove a tray, the tray must be set flat on a sturdy surface to
insure that it won’t get knocked off or spilled.

Some Very Important Building Notes-1. The Long Pin is actually blue but may appear as black
in many of your building instructions. The first NXT kits
started with a black short pin—a connector that can connect
two pieces—and a black long pin—a connector that can
connect up to three pieces together. They changed the Long
pin color to blue so that it could easily be distinguished in
building instructions from the short pin. You will find many of
the building instructions posted on the Internet were
published during the black long pin era, so you will need to
look carefully to see the long pins if not listed in the parts list
for the building model and use the blue long pins, which most
likely your kit will have, in the black long pins place.
2. When the building instructions have a number next to
them, the number with the x is the number of those
pieces that will be needed and a number next to a
beam or next to an axle is the length of the piece.
When the instructions list a #12 axle, lay the axle over a
beam and count the holes that the axle covers to tell what
size axle it is. Find one that covers 12 holes on a 13 or 15
beam.
The way to find the correct size beam piece is to count the number
of holes in a beam and that will the size of the beam so if it calls for
a #15 beam, look for one with 15 holes—
A Great Piece on Building Tips and Tricks for NXT Robot Building is
at LEGO engineering:
http://www.legoengineering.com/wpcontent/uploads/2013/06/NXT-Building-Tips.pdf
3. Some Defaults are very important in connecting your motors
and sensors to the NXT Brick
a. When you hook up the cords to the two drive
motors, ALWAYS connect them in the B and C
ports on the top end of the brick. Use the A Port
connection for an attachment motor that may operate a
pinching mechanism or lifting arm. The reason is that
when you go to program your robot, a move block in
building a program to move the robot, forward or back
will always list the default motor ports of B and C for
the drive motors. If you choose to use other ports than
the B and C ports, like A and B or A and C, you will
have to remember to change the move block EVERY
TIME YOU PROGRAM using a move block, which I can
guarantee will be a problem when you forget to change
the move block to your A and B ports, your robot will
not move correctly. So don’t fight it. Just plug your
drive motors into motor ports B and C in the top of the
brick.
b. When hooking up your sensors to the brick on the
bottom of the brick (sensor ports 1, 2, 3, and 4),
always use the default port to hook up the cords
from the sensor to the brick. When you bring out a
Touch Sensor program block in programming your
robot, it will automatically figure that the touch sensor
is plugged into the Port 1. So unless you want to
change the programming block in the software each
time you move a sensor programming block into your
program, always use the sensor’s default port which
are—WRITE THESE DOWN AND HAVE THEM HANDY
when adding sensors to your robot build:
PORT
PORT
PORT
PORT
1
2
3
4
– Touch Sensor
-- Sound Sensor
-- Light Sensor
-- Ultrasonic Sensor
A great resource explaining the NXT Sensors and their use is at
LEGO engineering:
http://www.legoengineering.com/nxt-sensors/
You have many choices when it comes to building your first robot, just
remember the simpler the building plans, the quicker you will have a robot
to begin programming. Sometimes building a simpler robot as your first
robot is preferred so you can get programming. A more complicated robot
will take an hour or two to build before you can start programming it.
Included here are several plans for building robots from several sources:
Domabot –fastest robot to build in 20 minutes so you can get to
programming quicker. Domabot building plans can be viewed or downloaded
at: http://www.damienkee.com/storage/domabot_build.pdf or adapted
complete instructions, “Domabot Full Robot Build with all Sensors” can be
found in the Robotics Resource Pieces folder.

Five Minute Bot—probably the quickest and easiest robot to build, but it
has a fixed back wheel which will run fine on a smooth floor, tile or vinyl
flooring, but will have difficulty turning on carpet with the fixed wheel in
the back: http://www.nxtprograms.com/five_minute_bot/steps.html
The Domabot or Five Minute Bot can both be adapted to have a ball back
wheel which makes for easier turning on all surfaces as the ball just rolls.
The back wheel building instructions can be viewed or found in the Robotics
Resource Pieces folder.

The LEGO Mindstorm Tri-bot building instructions are found in the
booklet included with your LEGO Mindstorm NXT Kit or can be
downloaded or viewed at:
http://www.getsetsite.org/robokids/downloads/NXT/BI%20Driving%20B
ase.pdf

Many other NXT Vehicle plans can be found on the Internet by just
searching on “NXT Building Instructions.”
Some vehicles that we have been successful in building and programming
are:

Several vehicle building instructions can be found at NXT Programs.com:
http://www.nxtprograms.com/projects1.html and choose “Cars and
Vehicles.”
Those which we have successfully built and programmed: (Just click
on the Building instructions under the picture of the robot when you
get to the webpage)
o Castor Bot: http://www.nxtprograms.com/castor_bot/index.html
(This is the base robot for most of the vehicles at this site and you
can add other attachments to make other vehicles using sensors as
seen in the next two robots)
o Bumper Car:
http://www.nxtprograms.com/bumper_car/index.html (The Castor
Bot with a front touch sensor attachment)
o Mini Sumo Bot:
http://www.nxtprograms.com/mini_sumo/index.html (The Castor
Bot with a light sensor attachment and an inclined plow)
o Multi Bot. Just click on the Vehicle Building Instructions or Vehicle
Variations Building instructions to see how to modify the original
construction for variations like the tracked Multi Bot or SUMO
Pusher which adds a plow to the tracked vehicle variation. Just
click on the building instructions after building the original vehicle:
http://www.nxtprograms.com/NXT2/multi-bot/vehicle/steps.html

Three Motor Chassis is another sturdy base robot build from
nxtprograms.com. It features a third motor sticking out in front of the
robot to use for lifting or attaching an arm:
http://www.nxtprograms.com/NXT2/3-motor_chassis/

The Catt Bot building instructions from Carnegie Mellon Robotics
Academy:
http://www.education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/content/lego/building/build_shows/
cattbot.pdf
When you have built a couple of vehicles and the team is looking for a build
challenge, you can check out some very challenging builds in the Robotics
Resource Pieces folder.

One challenging but sturdy build is for the Grand Four Belt Rover at
LEGO Education. It will take several days to build, but uses gears and is
a very sturdy robot.
LESSON 3: Let’s Get the Robot Moving
Once you have a robot built, it is time to begin using the LEGO NXT
Mindstorm 2.1 software to have your robot move.
PROGAMMING the LEGO Mindstorm NXT
There are several good online sources for your first NXT Software
experience, opening the software and using the Programming Blocks along
with saving and downloading the program to the NXT Brick.
If your team is not familiar with the NXT Brick buttons, controls, and
screens, an excellent video of introduction is the Educational Robots for
Absolute Beginners Lesson 3.1:
https://cs4hsrobots.appspot.com/unit?unit=24&lesson=31

NXT Tutorial—Oregon Robotics STEMcentric, Move Block—Writing your
first NXT Program: http://www.nxttutorial.stemcentric.com/Move.html

Educational Robots for Absolute Beginners—3.2. Writing your first
Program! This is actually a lesson to program your robot to say “Good
Morning,” but it is a good tour of programming your first program and
what tools are available on the programming window:
https://cs4hsrobots.appspot.com/unit?unit=24&lesson=32
After running this video tutorial, then go to the 3.8 Dancing Robot
lesson to get your robot moving:
https://cs4hsrobots.appspot.com/unit?unit=24&lesson=38

Another NXT Programming Mentor Resource would be to find out if you
have any FLL members or alumni who would have worked with the
Mindstorms NXT 2.1 software in participating in FLL over the last few
years and would be very familiar with the software. This might also be
a position of leadership if you have any youth in your group already
familiar with the software along with those who are new to the
software program. They may know the software, but may need your
assistance in figuring out how to share their knowledge with your
group.
If your team is familiar with the NXT Programming software, you can move
on to your first Robot Programming Challenges.
Basic NXT Mindstorm Programming Lesson
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
Once you have your ROBOT Built, it is time to program your robot.
Open the NXT 2.1 Program. It is the icon on your desktop that looks
like a little box within a box.
When the program opens up it will look like this
Give your first Program a name Forward Back
Then click on Go.
So let’s look at the screen and see what tools you will use to program
your robot.
We will be programming with the “Common” Pallet, so check your
Tools and make sure they look like this.




You can change it by clicking on the bottom icons. The common pallet
is accessed by clicking on the green circle icon on the bottom of the
tools palette.
The way to build a program is to click on the Move Block, the one with
the two gears and drag it over on to the Program Beam.
Any time you bring a programming block onto the Programming Beam,
it opens up a control box down below that requires you to give the
program block some directions.
For a “Move” Block, you will get these lines for giving the programming
block instructions:
o Port: When you bring a move block onto your Program, it will
always default to having Motors B and C checked. This will run
both motors for the robot to move forward or backward in
moving your robot. You will find times when you want the robot
to turn and you will need to click only Motor B or click only Motor
C to control just that one motor for doing a point or swing turn.
You will choose only one motor, Port A, when you want an
attachment motor controlling some attachment to operate in
opening or closing and lowering some attachment.
o Direction: this is where you will set the robot to drive forward,
Back or Stop.
o Steering: By moving the arrow to one side or the other, it will
cause the robot to turn in that direction. You can try using this to
turn to one side or the other, but you will find that this process
of turning your robot is not real precise so we use a
o
o
o
o
programming method to turn the robot more precisely which you
will learn in the Turns Lesson.
Power: This is where you will set how fast you want the motors
to run. It will always start at 75% and you can speed it up or
slow it down. When you are going straight forward or back, you
can go at 100%. If you are turning, you will need to slow it
down. Why do you think you need to slow it down to make
turns? You may use the example of riding bike at full speed and
trying to make a sharp turn.
Duration: The most common setting you will use is Rotations.
This tells the robot how many times for the wheel to turn with
this move block. A rotation is one complete turn of the wheel.
Other settings on the Duration are Unlimited which is used when
you use a sensor. Degrees is another setting where you can set
the wheel to turn by degrees (360 degrees is one turn of the
wheel). The last setting is seconds which sets the number of
seconds that the motor runs. You will use the Rotation setting
most of the time. In the rotation setting, you may find that five
rotations is not enough and six rotations is too much, so you will
need to use a decimal point in your turn instructions. In the
previous example you might try 5.5 or 5.6 to move the robot
more than five but less than six.
Next Action: This will tell the robot to brake or coast when done
with the move block. It will start on Brake and you will leave this
setting on brake most of the time. So, if you want the robot to
go forward and then back, you will use two move blocks—one to
go forward and one to go reverse.
Let’s finish talking about the Programming Screen. On the top of
the programming window are a row of small icons that are
shortcuts to opening, saving, doing a save as which you can
probably just figure out by the icon shape or if you hover your
mouse over top of the icon, the name of that icon will pop up for
reference. This provides the same function as clicking on the File
Menu and then clicking on the action for the file.
 Save Icon or File Save As
 New Program Icon
 Open File Icon
o MOST IMPORTANT. Once you have a program and you need to
get it to your robot, do the following:
 You must connect the USB cord to your computer and to
the top of your Robot Brick
 Your robot must be turned on
 Then click on the DOWN Arrow on the square at the
bottom left hand side of the screen to download the
program to the brick.
Now it is time to program your robot to move forward and to move
back. If you did not create the Forward Back program when you opened the
software, then click on New File and Save As and type the name into the
save window and save the program. Using the common programming
pallet, bring a move block (two gears) out onto the programming beam.
Now set this block to go at 100% speed forward 5 Rotations. Now bring a
second Move Block onto the Programming beam next to the first and set this
move block to go at 100% in reverse for 5 Rotations. Now download this
program onto your brick. Once you have your robot moving forward and
then back you are ready for your first set of Robot Challenges.
ROBOT PROGRAMMING CHALLENGES
Adult Leader Setup: For this first series of Challenges, you will need to use 1
inch Blue Painters tape. Place a strip of tape (3-5 foot long depending on the
number of robots that will be doing the challenge) down on the floor as your
starting line for all of the challenges. Then place another strip of tape equal
in length down parallel to that line about 6 feet from the starting line. Then
place another piece of tape equal in length down parallel 4 feet further along
from the second line
o Challenge 1: Start behind starting line. Go past the second line
and back behind the starting line.
o Challenge 2: Start behind starting line, go past the last line and
end up back behind the starting line.
o Challenge 3: Do both. Start behind starting line. Go past the
first line and back behind the starting line AND Start behind
starting line, go past the last line and end up back behind the
starting line.
o FINAL CHALLENGE>>>>> The most accurate Drag Race. Start
at starting line, go past the second line and end up as the first
robot back BUT THE ROBOT MUST end with a wheel touching the
start line. The first one back that has a wheel touching the
starting line wins. So first one back, but without a wheel
touching the line, will not win.
LESSON 4: Let’s Turn the Robot
Activity
A Quick Engineering Break:
Supplies needed: a ruler for each team working with a robot
You have learned to move your robot forward and back, but now it is time to
add a little calibration to your engineering skills.

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How far does your robot travel in one rotation? Record this value for
using later.
How many rotations does it take to move your robot one foot? Record
this value for using later.
Now how could you use this information for estimating the number of
rotations to travel a measured distance?
TAKE THE SIX TILE CHALLENGE to use this new rotation calibration
measurement.
o Measure out six tiles and put tape at the beginning and end of
the six tiles. Using only your calibration skills write a program to
go that exact distance. You will get one attempt and no practice
runs, so be as accurate as you can in your rotations or degrees
setting for your move block. Then take the challenge. How did
your calibration measurement of rotations or degrees help?
Besides your robot driving straight, the other most used driving program
instructions will be to turn your robot. There are basically 3 ways you can
turn your robot.
So let’s begin by explaining what a point turn and a swing turn are:

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
A Point turn is where the robot powers one wheel forward and one
wheel backward and the robot will appear to turn on a point as if it
were pinned to the ground.
A Swing turn is where the robot moves one motor forward and the
other motor is stopped. The robot with one wheel turning swings
around the stopped tire.
A third type of point turn is to use the steering mechanism on the
move block and pull it to the right or left almost to the end to make a
right or left turn. These turns are not as precise as programming a
swing turn or point turn. Using the steering mechanism on the move
block can be experimented with, but in many years of doing
workshops, we have found that programming a point turn or swing
turn is more accurate in turning.
SPECIAL NOTE #1 on Turning: Whether you're trying to do a point turn
(pivot in place) or a swing turn (one wheel is stationary while the other
turns), you need to understand that entering "degrees" in the move or
motor blocks is not the same as telling the robot how far to turn. Entering
degrees in duration field tells the motor(s) how long to rotate the hub. 90
degrees moves the motor hub one quarter turn. 360 degrees turns the hub
one full rotation.
SPECIAL NOTE #2 on Turning: When you are learning to program your
robot to make a 90, 180 or other degree turns using either the point turn or
swing turn, you will need to adjust the duration of the motor or motors
turning to make a precise turn to the left or right or turning around. This will
take some time. When you save the precise 90 degree turn, you may open
this file at any time to copy the turn and paste it into another program
whenever you need a precise 90 degree turn. This is the cool part of
programming. You can copy any precise move to another program when you
need a precise turn or if you remember how you programmed that turn, you
can recreate those blocks in another program.
To understand the two basic programming turns, the point turn and the
swing turn, there are two good sources for teaching this and programming
for these turns. The basics of the turns are described below. For more help
on the turns, go to online resources:
1. This set of YouTube Videos by Robotics Tutorial is probably the best
description and programming instructions on the point and swing turns
with the NXT.
a. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3hFuVPax-k Description
and visual of the robot turns
b. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2qzWnUivDw Programming
a Swing Turn, one motor forward, one motor braked. You will
need to adjust your rotations on the moving motor to make a
more precise 90 degree turn.
c. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqNYrNt2tl0 A right turn or
left turn using the steering mechanism of the Move Block.
d. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJr-RDlgKCg Point Turn
using a rotation sensor block. Pretty simple and it works.
i. Your Program for using the Motor Sensor Block is:
ii.
Place two move blocks on your
program beam. On the first one, uncheck Port C and set
the duration to unlimited going forward. 0n the second
move block, uncheck B and set the duration to unlimited.
iii. Move Block 1…Motor B Forward Unlimited
iv. Move Block 2….Motor C Reverse Unlimited
v. Then bring a wait Control Sensor block on to the program
Beam and change it to Sensor and choose rotation sensor
and set it to Port B Forward and Wait until Forward arrow
checked and > and set to rotations and try 1.75 to start
with. You will adjust this rotation setting duration to make
a good square 90 degree turn.
ANOTHER POINT TURN INSTRUCTIONS USING TWO MOTOR BLOCKS:
There were no videos on how to program a simple Point turn with two motor
blocks, so please use the following instructions for programming a simple
point turn where both motors are running at the same time, one forward and
one backward.
In Point Turn Programming, you will need to use a motor block which is
found in the Complete Pallet tool set. You can select it by clicking on
theThree colored boxes at the bottom of the pallet window.
You will find the motor block in the Action tools by clicking on the 2nd box
down on the complete palette on the lime green box and click on the single
gear graphic and drag onto the programming beam. It will default to motor
A when first placed on the programming beam, so you will need to change it
to B or C for programming the point turn.
Motor Block shows single gear
Drag two of them out onto the Programming beam
and set the Motor Block 1 to:
B Motor
Forward
Action Constant with Power 75%
Duration 1 rotation for now until you fine tune the
turn.
Leave motor power unchecked AND most importantly unclick “Wait for
Completion” so both motors will turn at the same time—one going forward
and one going backward
Motor Block 1—symbol single gear
Motor Block 2-- symbol single gear
Set the second motor block 2 to:
C Motor
Reverse
Action Constant at 75%
Duration 1 rotation for now until you fine tune the turn
And leave Wait for Completion checked and Next Action Brake
Once you fine tune this turn to 90 degrees, you can now copy and paste this
set of two motor blocks in any program where you need to turn 90 degrees
and your robot will execute a nice 90 degree turn for the program.
ROBOT PROGRAMMING CHALLENGES
90 Degree turn
Place two pieces of tape on the floor creating lines perfectly perpendicular to
each other to run your robots to test if they are turning exactly 90 degrees.
Follow the Maze Challenge
Your Challenge—have your robot complete this simple maze.
Tape off the floor in the dimensions of the Maze. Robot must enter from
behind the start line and stay within the maze borders and exit on the other
end.
The maze should be three feet wide and proceed as follows:
--Straight for 3 feet
--Turn 90 degrees right
--Straight for 10 feet
--Turn 90 degree left
--Drive straight out over
the
finish line
The Square Challenge
Now that you can drive
your
robot forward and you can
make 90 degree turns, it is
time
to tape off a perfect square with 3 foot lines of tape and the Robotic
Challenge is to program your robot to travel around the square starting and
stopping on the same corner. This will require figuring out how long a
duration for their robot to travel along one side of the square and then copy
and paste their 90 degree turn and then repeat the process three more
times so that the robot travels around the square.
An Advanced Programming Challenge: Create a “My Block”
programming block for your 90 degree turn
When you need to use a 90 degree turn in another program, you can copy
and paste the move or motor programming blocks from your 90 degree turn
program or create the blocks each time. Or a third option that can be very
useful is to create a “MY BLOCK” for your 90 degree turn blocks. What this
will do is save the move or motor blocks that make up the 90 degree turn
and save it as a single “90 degree turn” MY BLOCK. To learn the simple
process of how to create and save a MY BLOCK go to the NXT Tutorial
lessons and click on “My Blocks” in the Advanced section. It will take you
step by step through creating a “MY BLOCK,” naming it and giving it an icon.
You will now find your My Block as a stored programming instruction block in
the Custom Tools Pallet
Let’s Get Looping
What if you need to “drive forward and make a 90 degree turn” and “drive
forward and make a 90 degree turn” and “drive forward and make a 90
degree turn” and “drive forward and make a 90 degree turn.” These are the
programming instructions you developed for your robot to go around the
square. There must be an easier method and you would be correct. A loop
will allow you to repeat programming blocks for a set number or a set period
of time.
To learn how to use loops in the NXT Programming software, review the NXT
Tutorial at:
http://www.nxt-tutorial.stemcentric.com/Loops.html
Or on the common palette, select the loop block and drag it on to your
programming beam. The loops icon is
on the common palette.
Click and drag it onto the programming beam just ahead of your program
move and turn blocks;
then select your program
blocks for driving ahead and turning by drawing a box around them with
your mouse or click the first block and then while holding down the shift key
click on the other programming blocks to select all of them to go inside the
loop. Then click and drag the selected set inside the loop.
Then click on one of the end blocks of the loop
to open the Loop setting box.
Click on the control to select count and then set the count to 4 for driving
around the square. If you want it to display the number of times the loop is
repeated on the screen, click on Show Counter.
ROBOT PROGRAMMING CHALLENGES
Drive the Square using loop programming
Repeat the square challenge using the loop to program the driving forward
and turning around the square. When you programmed the square
previously, you did it the long way in programming a forward Move block, 90
Degree turn, forward move block, 90 degree turn, forward move block, 90
degree turn and forward move block and 90 degree turn. Save your drive
around the square program with a “Save As” and rename the program as
Square Loop. See if you can get the robot to go around the square using one
of your forward move blocks and 90 degree turns and a loop.
LESSON 5: Avoidance using Sensors
Starting to Work with Sensors: Touch Sensor and Ultrasonic Sensor
In this lesson you will learn to use two sensors to tell when you have
bumped into the wall or obstacle or are within a specific distance from the
wall or obstacle. You will need to mount the Touch Sensor on the front of
your robot and your Ultrasonic Sensor on top of the brick. You may need to
go back to your original robot building plans for instructions on how to
mount these sensors on your robot. You can also free build attach them.
Special note on attaching the
Ultrasonic Sensor: Be careful not to end up
with any cords or attachments directly in front of
the ultrasonic sensor in your attaching it to the
brick. It uses the two round “eye looking” circles
on the front of the sensor to send out a signal
that bounces off the wall or other obstacle that
is in front of the robot and the time it takes for
that signal to reflect back gives it the data that
tells it how far away it is from whatever reflected
the signal back to the sensor.
Also remember, when you program the
ultrasonic sensor, the sensor will measure the
distance from the actual position of the sensor
on the robot to the wall, and not from the front
of the robot, so consider the distance from the wall or from an object that
you want the sensor to detect. You may have 6-8 inches of robot out in front
of the Ultrasonic sensor with the touch sensor mounted on the front of your
robot so you will need to figure this extra distance from the wall when you
want the robot to stop and turn in programming your robot with the
Ultrasonic sensor.
Special note on attaching the Touch Sensor: When you mount
the touch sensor in front of the robot, you might want to mount a small axle
(4 or 5) and a small gear or a small brick to bump into the wall or other
object it comes in contact with.
TWO VERY IMPORTANT PROGRAMMING NOTES FOR WORKING WITH
SENSORS:
 You will always want to program your move block before the
sensor to be UNLIMITED so that you can start your robot in the
middle of the floor or across the room and the motor will
continue to run until the sensor provides feedback that it has
pressed against the wall for a touch sensor or detected that it is
<10 inches away from the wall for the Ultrasonic. Whenever
using a wait sensor block, start with the move block set to
“unlimited” so that the motor will just run until the sensor
returns information that will then have it move on to the rest of
your program.

ALWAYS use the Wait sensor blocks that are identified in the
sensor programming block with an Hour Glass symbol in the
upper right hand part of the sensor block. This is very important
as the robot will drive with the move block set to
unlimited…WAITING for the sensor block to sense that the touch
sensor has been touched or the Ultrasonic sensor detects that it
is less than the programmed distance to an obstacle and then
the motor will stop and move on to the next programming blocks
in the program.
How do you program your robot to stop when it touches the wall?
You can access instructions for programming the touch sensor to
detect the wall in the GEAR-TECH-21 NXT Lesson on Avoidance
Advance to the Touch Sensor lesson and click on “Touch Sensor
Program.” :
Make sure your touch sensor is mounted out front of your robot to be the
first thing to touch the wall or object you will bump into.
Create a new program and go to your File Menu to Save as and name it
“Touch Wall.”
Then bring out a Move block and set the move block to Unlimited.
Next bring a Wait Touch Sensor Block
on to the Programming Beam and
leave it set at the default settings of
Port 1 and Pressed.
Then bring a Move block onto the Program beam and set it to Stop. Last add
another move block set to reverse 4 rotations so your robot can start from
anywhere on the floor, drive forward until it bumps into the wall and then it
will stop and drive backwards 4 rotations.
ROBOT PROGRAMMING CHALLENGES
Touch Sensor Challenge
1. Touch Sensor Challenge: So that wasn’t very challenging to have the
robot stop at the wall and drive backward a little bit. Your next
challenge is to bump into the wall, then back up a short distance, turn
90 degrees and drive parallel to the wall for 12 rotations.
2. Touch Sensor Challenge: See if you can program your robot to bump
into an obstacle, backup and turn and then go forward until it bumps
into something again. So the response of the robot when it runs into
an obstacle is to back up and turn. (Hint: You will need to use a loop
to repeat the process over and over as it runs into obstacles, backs up,
turns and then runs into another obstacle, backs up and turns and so
on).
How do you program your robot to stop when it nears the wall?
The quickest way to do this part of the
lesson would be to go to your touch Sensor
Program, do a “Save As” and rename the
program to Ultrasonic Stop and then hit
save. Then go in to this program and replace the touch sensor with a Wait
Ultrasonic block, and set the ultrasonic sensor to less than 10 inches. Then
have your robot stop when the ultrasonic sensors detects it is less than 10
inches away from the wall and back up 4 rotations.
If you want to view the screen lessons on programming with the Ultrasonic
sensor similar to the Touch Sensor From the GEAR-TECH-21 NXT Lesson
on Avoidance Click on this link GEAR-TECH-21 NXT Lesson on
Avoidance to go to that lesson and Click on the “Next” button to advance to
the Ultrasonic lesson and click on “Ultrasonic Sensor Program” button on
the screen.”
Or to learn some different skills, I challenge your group to go to Lesson 4.7
in the Educational Robots for Absolute Beginners curriculum and go through
this lesson on programming using the ultrasonic sensor with some music
files to help you understand how the Ultrasonic sensor works This is a very
good lesson on programming using the ultrasonic sensor teaching new
programming skills that your youth will use. To go to this Lesson 4.7 on the
web Navigate to:
Educational Robots for Absolute Beginners Using the Ultrasonic Sensor
Lesson: https://cs4hsrobots.appspot.com/unit?unit=25&lesson=55
Ultrasonic Sensor Challenge
1. Ultrasonic Sensor Challenge: So that wasn’t real challenging to have
the robot stop near the wall and just back up. Your next challenge is to
program your robot to stop 10 inches from the wall, then turn 90
degrees and drive parallel to the wall for 12 rotations.
2. Ultrasonic Sensor Challenge: See if you can program your robot to
stop 8 inches away from an obstacle, backup and turn and then go
forward until it detects another obstacle and continues to do this
around the room. The response of the robot when it detects it is 8
inches away is to back up and turn. (Hint: You will need to use a loop
to repeat the process over and over as it detects 8 inches away from
obstacles, backs up, turns and then detects 8 inches away from
another obstacle, backs up and turns and so on).
LESSON 6: What Kinds of Jobs do robots
do? And Switching on the Light Sensor
Part 1
Activity
What Kinds of jobs are robots designed to do for humans?
These jobs usually fall into one of four categories of tasks for humans and
you will find this well documented as you work with robots in the real
working world:
1. Dirty jobs—able to work in dirty, smelly places that humans might not
be able to live and work in
2. Dull jobs—able to do repetitive jobs that might pose a physical risk to
humans in performing over and over
3. Dangerous jobs—military and disaster applications that might not be
safe for humans to work in and around
4. Delicate jobs—medical and micro environments where magnification or
working accurately in small spaces is important
Instructions for team:
Take a piece of notebook paper and divide it into four parts. Write one of the
robot job categories in each of the four parts. Now brainstorm in small
groups jobs that you think would fit into each of these categories. Share
your ideas popcorn style in the group. Asou focus on one of the robot job
types, have each group share one of their ideas and then keep going around
the group with each sharing another job until they have all been shared and
recorded for that job category on the whiteboard or on a sheet of newsprint.
Then choose the next job category and have groups share one idea from
their list until all groups have shared all of their jobs. Continue with the
same process of sharing until all four job categories have been covered.
Next share a couple of the following YouTube Videos to help understand the
Dirty, Dull, Dangerous and Delicate jobs that robots are being designed to
do for us.
Dirty Robot Jobs 1-5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foGLkRP4jmY
Dirty Robot Jobs 6-10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsqkPVSI99M
Robots do jobs that are Dull, Difficult or Dangerous:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdUlQ4p_5fs
Newport Nursery Uses Robots for Time Consuming, Dull Job
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjmzSCKGTog
Warehouse Robots at Work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWsMdN7HMuA
Robot Farming at Work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIpelnM1NBE
Military Robots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00NlrY3tHE4
Military Robots Carrying Heavy Equipment following Soldiers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj7DgklsZDk
US Military tests Iron Man like Exoskeleton:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2W23ysgWKI
Snake Robot Search and Rescue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9OdUPY3OyE
Medical Robotics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbfW_DjktK4
Robot Surgeons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb79-_hGLkc
Part 2
Turning on the Light Sensor
In this lesson, you will learn how to program the robot to start and stop on a
line. You will learn how to calculate a light threshold which you must have
to set your light sensor block in a program. You will use a new tool in your
programming, the SWITCH, which will allow your robot to test conditions
and run one set of programming blocks if the robot detects the dark line and
another set of instructions if the robot detects the light surface.
MOUNT THE LIGHT SENSOR ON THE ROBOT: Go back to your original
building plans for your robot to see if they have instructions on mounting the
light sensor. If not, the light sensor should be mounted in front of the robot
facing down. It will need to be mounted just slightly off the floor surface as
it detects reflected light. It needs to be mounted no more than ¼ inch or 2
pennies width from the surface that it is sitting on.
For lessons on working with the Light Sensor, learn to use the WAIT
Light sensor block by following these instructions:
Once you have learned to drive and stop using a sensor, you will program
the robot in the same way that you programmed for the touch and ultrasonic
sensors stopping at or near the wall.
To do the Stop on a Dark Line Challenge, you must put down a dark line on
a light surface. If your floor is dark, put a light colored line on the dark floor,
either white or yellow duct tape on a dark surface floor.
CALIBRATING A LIGHT THRESHOLD:
In order to understand and build your program to use the light sensor, you
need to learn how to calibrate a light threshold. There are basically two ways
you can do this.
1. You will need to start a new program and do a Save As and name the
program Stop on Dark or Stop on Light. Your first programming block
will be a move block set to unlimited on your Program beam. Then add
a WAIT Light Sensor, then download this part of the program to your
robot. Click on the light sensor block and as you do you will notice that
the bottom left hand corner of your dialog box on the computer
programming screen will serve to give you readings that you will use
in calibrating the light threshold which you will use in programming the
robot to use the light sensor. While the robot is still hooked up to the
computer, hold the light sensor over the light surface of the floor and
record that % of light reflected value that you will see in the lower Left
corner of the light sensor settings box. Then set the robot light sensor
over the dark line you are have placed on the floor for the robot to
stop on and record the reflected light percentage in the lower left hand
corner of the light settings box.
This is the
measurement
for the light
surface floor =
72 % reflected
light
This is the
measurement
for Black duct
tape line on
floor= 36%
2. The second way and maybe the easier way to check the % reflected
light on the dark surface and the light surface is to use the NXT Brick
“VIEW” function. You can access this tool by turning on your robot and
using the gray right or left keys on the brick to click over to the View
tool. Next, click the orange enter button to start this tool, then use the
gray arrow keys to click over to the Reflected light. Select the reflected
light and then switch the port by clicking the gray buttons to choose
port 3, the light sensor default port and then your light sensor light will
come on. Set the light sensor over the light surface and record that
value of reflected light percentage. Then set the light sensor over the
dark line and record that value of reflected light percentage.
Your last step in calculating the light sensor threshold value:
Once you have recorded the value of reflected light from both the light
surface and dark surface from one of the above steps, it’s time to calculate
the light threshold. Add the % reflected light from the light surface and the
% reflected light from the dark surface and divide by 2. For example, if the
light surface value was 65 and the dark surface value was 27, then the light
sensor calculated threshold would be 65+27 = 92 and then divide this sum
by 2, 92/2 = 46. 46 is now the light sensor threshold that you will use in
programming with the light sensor.
A Note on Reflected Light Values:
Light colored surfaces will have a higher percentage of reflected light
because they reflect more light back to the sensor. Darker surfaces like your
stopping line on the floor, usually dark tape or black electrical tape, will have
a lower percentage of reflected light value, because darker colors absorb
more of the light and reflect less back to the sensor.
Your stop on a dark line program would look like this with an unlimited move
block, a light sensor block and a move block set to stop:
The light sensor would be set with
the threshold value and < 46 (less than
46) for stopping on dark. You would set it
opposite > 46 (greater than the threshold)
if driving on a dark surface and stopping
on a light line.
Light Sensor
ROBOT PROGRAMMING CHALLENGES:


Stop on a dark line— Did you get the robot to stop on a dark
line when driving across a light floor?
Stop on a light line— Can you find a dark surface colored floor
and place a light colored duct tape or light colored paper strip
taped to the floor and program your robot to stop when it comes
to the light line?
LESSON 7: Programming a Switch for
your Robot to follow a line
In this lesson you will program the robot to follow a dark line on a light
surface or light line on a dark surface. You will use your light sensor
calibration skills and a new programming tool—the switch—which will allow
your robot to test conditions and run one set of programming blocks if the
robot detects the dark line and another set of instructions if the robot
detects the light surface.
Start by taking some dark tape (black duct tape or black electrical tape) and
place a long strip of it on a light floor. Now using the view method, find the
reflected light percentage values of the light floor surface and the dark line
and calculate the threshold for the light sensor.
Watch this short video to see what it is you are creating in programming a
line follower robot. Video resource for programming the Follow the Line
program on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO-uFcClRTA
Now it is time to build your line following program.
If you want to view the screen lessons on programming the “line following
program” from the GEAR-TECH-21 NXT Lesson “On Cue”, advance to
the Line Follower Screen and click on “Line Follower” to go screen by screen
through building your program.
A little bit longer version of building the program video can be found at:
Educational Robots for Absolute Beginners, Robot Educator example:
Line Following
Start by putting a loop out on your programming beam and we want it set to
forever. Then add a switch inside your loop and set it to Light Sensor and in
the compare section, set it to less than your calculated threshold value
figured above.
So, to explain what a switch does, if the light sensor reading is less than the
threshold or over the dark line, the switch will run the bottom set of
programming blocks. If the light sensor reading is above the threshold, over
the light floor, the program will run the top set of programming blocks.
On the top programming beam of the switch, you will need to put two move
blocks with the first block set to motor B set and unlimited duration and the
second move block to motor C and stop.
On the bottom programming beam of the switch, you will need to put two
move blocks with the first set to motor B to stop and the second move block
to motor C set to unlimited duration.
Now Download your program and place the robot over the line so the light
sensor is in the middle of the dark line on the floor and start your program.
The robot should jog back and forth along the line until it reaches the end of
the line.
ROBOT PROGRAMMING CHALLENGES
Using the Line Follower Program
 Program your robot to follow a line along the floor
 Create a rectangle or square shape on the floor with tape and
see if your robot will follow completely around the shape outline
LESSON 8: Learning to work with GEARs
In this lesson, you will be introduced to gear ratios, some building
helps to implement gears on your robot, and the uses of gears to create
more power or speed to the motors and the limitations and adjustments in
using the NXT gears. You may want to view this great video lesson to
introduce using Gears: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWJdVjNgLWw
The primary function of using gears is to gear up and create more
speed, or to gear down and create more power or torque. This is really the
time to build and experiment by building with beams, gears and axles to
actually gear up the driver axle or to gear down the driver axle creating
more power.
Some gear assemblies to try can be found at:
http://www.teamhassenplug.org/NXT/Gears/
Remember the rule that when putting gears together in a series of two
or more, an odd number of gears always rotates in the same direction so if
you are planning on driving two wheels with one motor such as in a 4 Wheel
drive robot, you must always use an odd number of gears 3, 5, or 7, so that
both wheels will drive in the same direction. An even number of gears, 2, 4,
or 6 will turn the wheels in opposite directions—one driving forward and the
other backward which will not drive the robot. You can use 2 or 4 with one
wheel, but remember it will drive opposite of the direction the motor is
driving.
Remember that there is a trade-off to speeding up the robot as it may
move faster but not have as much power if you are doing any work with it or
engaging another SUMO bot. If you gear down and create greater push or
pull power with your robot, you give up some speed, so you may not get to
the other robot quick enough before they have engaged your robot and
pushed you off the SUMO board.
To add gears to your Domabot or simple robot build, view this video:
Dr Graeme’s Challenge 30 –Climb the Highest Mountain and scroll down
past the challenge to 30.7-30.7.10 to see a basic build for adding gears to
make your robot a 4 wheel drive robot. You can adjust the gears added to
change the speed or torque of your robot. You may have to adjust by using
a longer beam for larger gears.
http://www.drgraeme.net/DrGraeme-free-NXT-Gtutorials/Ch30/Ch30V1BCG/default.htm
To find other ways to add gears to your robot chassis, search the
internet. There are many robots that have gears, but you may have to
modify or rebuild your robot to accommodate the gears.
NXT 4 Wheeled ATV Robot
A Dragster Robot Build is at:
http://nxtprograms.com/dragster/index.html if you would like to build a fast
car for fun, geared up and using all three motors. Just scroll down the page
and click on the Building Instructions for how to build the robot.
After playing with gearing up and gearing down, it is now time to put
this knowledge to some use.
ROBOT PROGRAMMING CHALLENGES
Using the Knowledge you have of GEARS:
 Gear up your robot for a drag race. Set out two lines of tape
on the floor at least 10 feet apart. Run your robot as fast as you
can as it is built to cover the distance between your two lines on
the floor. Record the amount of time it took to cover the
distance. Now experiment gearing up your robot to see how fast
you can get your robot to drive the distance between the lines.
 Clipboard Tractor Pull Challenge— Hook up a clipboard to
your robot so that is sits flat on the floor behind the robot. Be
creative in hooking up the clipboard with LEGO pieces or other
tethering to be able to pull evenly on the robot for a balanced
pull. Place objects like pop cans or water bottles to add weight to
the clipboard. Challenge the team to pull the clipboard while you
add one and then additional cans or bottles to the clipboard to
see what their original build could pull and then adapting it using
gears to increase the amount of weight that it can move. The
robot must pull the weight at least two rotations with the weight
attached.
 Dr. Graeme’s Challenge 30 – Climb the highest Mountain
(used with permission) You can find this challenge in the
Robotics Resource Pieces folder. This challenge is great for
learning to gear down your robot for power. The basics of this
challenge is that you will need a big stack of books and a 4-6
foot long board about 12 inches wide. You will start with the
board stacked on top of just a few books and with your robot set
to a simple forward block of about 5 rotations, see if your robot
can climb the board. Keep adding books to see at what count of
books, the incline becomes too steep for your regular robot to
climb. When does it just start spinning out and stop climbing?
Record this number of books. Then modify your robot to the
four-wheel drive model shown in 30.7-30.7.10 of the online
challenge. Now start the Mountain Climb Challenge again with
your modified 4-wheel drive robot and see how many books you
can stack before it stops climbing the board.
Other Gear Resources:
A nice moving illustration of gear concepts http://education.lego.com/enus/preschool-and-school/upper-primary/8plus-machines-andmechanisms/constructopedia
Appendixes
Appendix 1: Preparing your team to work with Robot Challenges
Working through Robot Challenges is an important process of figuring
out what you need your robot to do and then modifying, building
attachments and programming the robot to accomplish the challenge. This
really just takes practice with challenges that will help the team figure out
who is really good at building, programming, understanding the challenge
goal, and communicating that challenge which are all needed for your robot
to be successful in meeting the challenge.
There are many challenges throughout this curriculum that should help you
in preparing for live challenges and your team roles or specialties.
It really is pretty easy to come up with challenges and you can even
have the youth come up with a challenge to share that you would challenge
other teams to successfully complete. Just send your challenge to
HyperStream and we will post to the Robot Challenges and send a note out
to coaches to share with other teams.
A great video to get you started with your challenges is the
Introduction to the Engineering Process from the Carnegie Mellon Robotics
Academy:
http://www.education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/previews/nxt_products/robotics_eng_v
ol_2/preview/content/process.html
Some additional Challenges are:
 The Moon Challenge: To create this challenge you will need to build
a multi-branched free-standing tree about 10 inches tall to serve as a
portal. This is your first building challenge to build the tree. (See
Robotics Resource Pieces Folder for photo of tree.) Then mark out
four 6 inch lines to serve as starting points about 30 inches away from
the tree on each of four sides. Then explain that this tree serves as a
portal to ship your 3 prized possessions of each team member to the
moon ahead of you as astronauts that will be traveling to the moon
shortly. You will need to build some type of container to carry these
prized possessions and place it under the tree portal without moving
the tree from its starting position or tipping the tree over. Each team
member will need to share what their three most prized possessions
are that they are sending to the moon ahead of them. The Challenge is
successfully completed when the team has placed the container with
the team’s prized possessions behind one of the start lines, the tree
was not moved, and the robot is safely back behind the original
starting line.

THE FOREST CHALLENGE: Using the same tree constructed as the
transport portal for the Moon Challenge, and same starting lines, the
team’s task is now to start behind one of the start lines, approach the
tree, cut it down and drag it out of the forest back to behind the
original starting line. This will require the team to build some type of
attachment using the third motor which will be able to grasp the tree
and remove it from the forest back over the start line.

CONTROL BY REMOTE: Download an NXT Remote app for a smart
phone (Android) and control the robot by blue tooth using the remote
control interface with the remote app. Drive the robot through an
obstacle course using your NXT Remote App from Google Play. In most
cases, we would like the robot to run without need for human control,
so now to finish your challenge, you must come up with a commercial
use for a remote control with a robot. Does the remote control make it
easier to control the robot, or would you prefer the robot be preprogrammed to use sensors?

NXT Snail Car Challenge: In this activity, design and construct an
NXT car or snail which is capable of traveling extremely slowly. The
cars compete in a snail race with the last car to cross the finish line
crowned as the winner.

CROSS THE PIT NXT CHALLENGE From LEGO engineering: Design
and construct a car that can cross from one side of a 1 foot distance
between tables without falling. For Ideas or help building, go to the
LEGO engineering challenge page by clicking on CROSS THE PIT.

Clap on Clap Off! Robot Challenge from LEGO Engineering:
Design and program a robot that moves forward when you clap softly
and stops when you clap loudly. Check out this Clap On Clap Off!
challenge at LEGO Engineering.

FREE NXT LEGO Mindstorm NXT-G Challenges from DrGraeme website:
CREATE A ROOMBA CHALLENGE-- Challenge 16 - A Fast Robot
Floor Cleaner? (NXT 1 & NXT 2) - click here.
Challenge 40 - Robot Tug-of War! - click here.
Challenge 46M - Robot SUMO! - click here
Challenge 54 - Bull in the Ring! - click here.
Challenge 102 - Line Following Using Two NXT Light Sensors click here.
Appendix 2: Team Building Activities
In this section, you will find a set of Teamwork Activities to help your team
get to know one another and to help them to work with each other to
accomplish much more than any of them working on their own. These
activities are optional, but may be used to start or end a team work time for
fun and team building.
You will find these activities in the folder, Team-Building Activities.
 Lego Builders Greet around the World
 Find Your Twin
 Ride the Bus
Playdough Pictionary
 Be the Bot
LEGO Builders Greet around the WorlD
Equipment Needed: Boom box with CD and some kind
of upbeat music
Time required: 15-20 minutes
This is a good get acquainted game that can be used with most
any audience.
Brief Introduction to this Get Acquainted Activity:
Building Legos and working with NXT Robots is something that began in a
builders workshop in Denmark and now is a universal building system that is
used by youth around the world in designing and building all kinds of Lego
Worlds.
In 1934 Ole Kirk Christiansen, master carpenter and joiner adopt the name
LEGO for their products, formed from the Danish Words:”Leg GOdt” which
means play well. Later they realized that in Latin the word means, “I put
together.” His Grandson Godfred Kirk Christiansen starts creating models out
of the LEGO blocks when he is 17 years old.
From that small beginning almost a hundred years ago, we now have the
classic bricks that we all grew up with and now the LEGO Technics pieces
that we use in building robots and the NXT Robotics system from LEGO.
We are going to take a trip to meet other kids around the country and
around the world to see what they like to do with their LEGOS. So to prepare
us for that adventure we first have to learn and practice some very
important greetings, so we will fit into the cultures we will visit. So we need
some traveling music and when the music is playing, I want you to move
around through the room and mingle, but when the music stops, I want you
to find a partner. At that time, I will give you some instructions and a
demonstration on how to do the handshake or greeting in the part of the
world that we will land in. When we are done with our visit, we will share the
traditional LEGO send off known across the world. you will say to each
other…
and practice saying it with me—Glad to have met ya (pause and have them
say that part) I know I’ll never forget ya, (pause and have them say that
part).. See you back here in just a little while.
Let’s practice saying that again, Glad to have met ya (pause and have them
say that part) I know I’ll never forget ya, (pause and have them say that
part).. See you back here in just a little while.
So let’s start the music. Remember to mingle when the music is going and find a
partner when it is done.
START MUSIC –Play for about 10-20 seconds
STOP MUSIC
“Find a Partner”
We have landed in the wonderful state of Oregon—remember that they pronounce
it “Ore-gun”
Well in Oregun, LEGO builders greet each other with a hardy Lumberman’s
handshake:
Demonstrate with a partner---Oregon Lumberman’s Handshake: One of you
begin the handshake by thrusting out your fist with the thumb raised. Your partner
grabs the thumb and then sticks their thumb up on that same hand. You continue
until all four hands are stacked and look like you are grasping the hand of a
crosscut tree saw and you saw back and forth as if cutting down a tree.
Now we need to share our parting words: Glad to have met ya (pause and have
them say that part) I know I’ll never forget ya, (pause and have them say that
part).. See you back here in just a little while.
Now Find a new partner and we will continue our travels.
Now we traveled up to the great state of Maine where one of the favorite things to
do in Maine is fishing off the coast, so in main we will do the Maine Fisherman’s
Handshake:
Demonstrate with a partner—Maine Fisherman’s Handshake: Cast out with your
fishing rod you’re your partners opposite shoulder, then REEL in and then pat the
inside of your partners forearm with your hand that will feel kind of like a cold wet
fish shaking.
Now we need to share our parting words: Glad to have met ya (pause and have
them say that part) I know I’ll never forget ya, (pause and have them say that
part).. See you back here in just a little while.
Now Find a new partner and we will continue our travels.
We traveled to the wonderful state of Wisconsin and in Wisconsin lots of LEGO
Builders live on Dairy farms, so we must do the Wisconsin Dairy Handshake:
Demonstrate with a partner—Wisconsin Dairy Handshake: One member
interweaves fingers with thumbs raised and then turns it over for their partner to
milk the thumbs.
Now we need to share our parting words: Glad to have met ya (pause and have
them say that part) I know I’ll never forget ya, (pause and have them say that
part).. See you back here in just a little while.
Now Find a new partner and we will continue our travels.
Finally we land in Canada where LEGO Builders give the Hockey Check Greeting
where the they greet each other by bumping shoulders and Say, See ya out on the
Ice Eh?
Demonstrate with a partner— Canadian Ice Hockey Hand Shake:-- Bump opposite
shoulders and say “See ya out on the Ice, Eh?
Now we need to share our parting words: Glad to have met ya (pause and have
them say that part) I know I’ll never forget ya, (pause and have them say that
part).. See you back here in just a little while.
Ok….well as good LEGO Builders it’s important to remember our LEGO partners
from other places—
So I would like you to find your Oregon Lumberjack partner and do your Oregon
Lumberman’s Handshake
and then spend just a minute visiting with them about –What is the coolest thing
you have built with LEGOS?
Now I would like you to find your Maine Fisherman partner and do your Maine
Fisherman’s Handshake
and then spend just a minute visiting with them about – What actual building,
machine or landmark do you think it would be cool to build out of Legos?
Now I would like you to find your Wisconsin Dairy partner and do your Wisconsin
Dairy Handshake
and then spend just a minute visiting with them about – Where would you like to go
on vacation if money were no object?
Now I would like you to find your Canadian 4-H Partner and do the Canadian Ice
Hockey 4-H handshake
and then spend just a
minute visiting with them
about – What job do you
think would be cool to have?
What great traveling
partners you all make….I
hope we have a chance to
travel again in the future!
Find Your Twin
Write down your answers to each of the following
Questions. Then find your twin that answered the same as
you and have them sign your question.
Question
1. In what year
were you born?
2. What color are
your eyes?
3. What is your
favorite color of
M&Ms?
4. Which movie
would you
rather watch a
comedy or
action movie?
5. Which would
you rather
snack on..Fruit
or Veggie?
6. Which would
you pick
Pumpkin or
Apple Pie?
7. Would you
rather discover
a new
renewable
energy source
or become a TV
Celebrity?
Answer
Your Twin
______________ ______________
______________ ______________
______________ ______________
______________ ______________
______________ ______________
______________ ______________
______________ ______________
8. In your future,
would you
rather live in a
big city, small
town or on a
farm?
9. Would you
rather design
robots for deep
sea drilling or
for special
medical surgery
or for building
cars?
10.
Would you
rather help out
in a hurricane
damaged area
of US, go on a
special trip to
help in Africa or
go on a medical
trip in Asia?
11.
Would you
rather vacation
on the beaches,
at a giant water
park, at Disney
World or just
hang out with
friends?
______________ ______________
______________ ______________
______________ ______________
______________ ______________
12.
Would you
rather drive a
truck or a sports
car or an
______________ ______________
electric car?
13.
Would you
rather have
pepperoni,
hamburger,
______________ ______________
Cheese or Taco
Pizza?
14.
Would you
rather drive in a
NASCAR Race,
sing or star in a ______________ ______________
teen sitcom, or
go deep sea
diving for
treasure?
Ride the Bus
You have the opportunity to travel around the
country on a field trip meeting many other Lego
Builders. As you take this opportunity to travel, you will have to
make some choices along the way of things you would prefer to
see, to do, and to eat as we go on our field trip. To start out each
part of the trip, the group will as a group, make the sound of the
roar of the engine to take off toward the next stop and then the
group will make the sound of the brakes as we are ready to make
our next stop. At each stop you will need to make a choice
between two choices available. There is not an option of staying
on the bus….You will need to make a choice and step out of the
right or left side of the bus based on your preference.
At each stop as youth have made their choices, quickly ask them
to share about their choice which is written into each stop on the
Field Trip Choice instructions.
Set this up by putting two lines of chairs representing the sides of
the bus or two lines of masking tape on the floor where the youth
stand between them to simulate being on the bus..The youth
must exit out the left or right side of the bus indicating their
choice for the situation.
Which do you like Better….Step out that side of the bus
We have a chance to visit an animal shelter and help out with the
animals…If you would like to play with some kittens and cats on
the left or on right some puppies and dogs
Followup: Ask them to share how many of each pet they might
have at home and the names of their cat or dog or if they had
one what would they name it.
Our next stop is at a MoviePlex Theater…on the left is a scary
movie, on the right is a comedy movie
Followup: Ask them to share their favorite scary movie or comedy
movie or the most recent one that they have seen.
We have stopped at the historic Drake Relay Grounds…where
Olympic champions have spent their time….on the left if you
would like to run this historic track and on the right if you would
rather walk around the track.
Followup: Ask them to share what Guiness World Record they
would like to set?
Our next stop is for a healthy snack…on the left is Fruits and on
the right are vegetables
Followup: Ask what their favorite fruit…or vegetable is.
It’s time for Dinner…your choices are Fettucine Chicken Alfredo
on the left and on the right a big juicy steak.
Followup: Ask where is the best place (name of restaturant or if
they choose at home) that they have had Chicken Alfredo or
Steak.
We have another stop for recreation…on the left if you would
rather swim, on the right if you would rather hike.
Followup: Ask those that chose swimming whether they prefer
swimming in a lake or pool and for those who chose hiking, would
they prefer hiking on flat winding trails or up and down on trails
in the mountains.
Last stop for food…on the left for fast food and on the right for
Home Cooking.
Followup: Ask those that chose fast food to name their favorite
fast food restaurant and those that chose home cooking, what
their favorite meal to have at home would be.
We finally got clearance to finish our field trip visiting
Washington, D.C. , if you would rather fly there on the left, if you
would rather drive there on the right.
Followup: Ask the group taking the bus what the advantages of
traveling to D.C. by bus and for those flying, what advantages
there would be in flying.
Kittens
Scary Movie
Walking
Fruits
Chicken
Alfredo
Swimming
Fast Food
Flying Long
Distance
Puppies
Comedy
Running
Vegetables
Steak
Hiking
Home Cooking
Driving Long
Distance
LEGO MINDSTORM NXT BEGINNING 4-H ROBOTICS CURRICULUM
Playdough Pictionary:
Have the 4-H Robotics Team members play as one team or if you split them into
several teams, they are only working to get their team to guess what it is they are
building with the playdough. Each player will take a turn at building what is on the
card. The object is working as a team to guess what it is that the team member is
building. The difference is you are not competing but cooperating to figure out what
it is they are building….Now some people may build slower than others and that is
ok….you are not on a timer, but trying to do what you can to help your team
members guess what you are building….If a team member building gets stuck, they
can choose a partner to help…they go off out of hearing range of the team and
make a plan and then come back and work together to build out of playdough. Oh
and they can’t spell out the object name with the playdough. If more than one team
is participating, just have the team say “Got It” when they get it and not blurt out
what it was so the other teams can continue until they get it with their team
member building.
You just need a can of playdough and the words that they will build with playdough
on index cards.
After the activity, it is important to ask the group what things did members do that
made it easier to guess the object that they were building. Which team members
really shined in the process of this game and what would they share about their
success with the other team members.
Use playdough to make the thing and people guess from making the object.
Sun
Boat
Chair
Windmill
Stars
Puppy
Soccer Ball
Computer
Team
Robot
2nd
list:
Pool Table
Chicken
Camera
Bingo Game
Rain
Pumpkin
Bowl
Lantern
Fishing
Motorcycle
LEGO MINDSTORM NXT BEGINNING 4-H ROBOTICS CURRICULUM
Acitivity Adapted from game shared by Karen Pattison, Iowa State University
Extension, 4-H Youth Specialist
Be The Bot Activity
–Retrieve an object
Supplies: 1 sheet of paper and pencil per group of 2 or 3
youth
A water bottle or other prop that the robot must retrieve and bring back to
the group
In this activity for Be the Bot, you will divide the team into groups of two or
three, where one of them will be the robot and the other one or two
members must write down in a list format the exact instructions for their
robot to go from sitting to retrieving a water bottle or other prop from
somewhere in the room. They will learn how precise and complete the
instructions must be for a robot to complete a task or challenge.
When they have completed recording their instructions, it is time for them to
give the instructions line by line to their robot and have the robot complete
the instructions only doing exactly what the instructions list. This may take
some reminding of the robot that they can only do “EXACTLY” what the
instructions tell them to do.
Robot Program Instructions
LEGO MINDSTORM NXT BEGINNING 4-H ROBOTICS CURRICULUM
LEGO MINDSTORM NXT BEGINNING 4-H ROBOTICS CURRICULUM
Be the Bot Activity 2
Form teams of two (anyone that is not already on your team ). Choose one
of you to be a “bot”. Work together to write down in list format the exact
directions for a “bot” to get from where you are in the room to where there
are suckers laid out, retrieve 2 suckers and return to your place.
Once the directions have been written, your “bot” will shift one “team” to the
left. The new “bot” will follow EXACTLY the directions AS WRITTEN, to get
suckers for your team.
Robot Program Instructions
LEGO MINDSTORM NXT BEGINNING 4-H ROBOTICS CURRICULUM
LEGO MINDSTORM NXT BEGINNING 4-H ROBOTICS CURRICULUM
Appendix 3: SUMO Robot Challenges in Building and Programming
These following resources will help you think through the process of
building a SUMO Wrestling Robot and programming the robot to execute the
important steps of finding the other robot, staying on the mat and engaging
the other robot.
To participate in the SUMO Wrestling Robot Challenge, you will need to
know the rules of the matches that are set by the HyperStream IT-Olympics
Robotics Venue document:
http://hyperstream.org/index.php/competitions/it-olympics/robotics-venue/
You will find the robots will be competing on a 4 foot round circle that is
black with a 1-½ inch white border. Matches are the best of three rounds for
the winning robot. Each round is up to 3 minutes in length or until any part
of one robot touches the floor surface off the SUMO mat circle. The robot
requirements include that the robot must fit inside a 1 foot by 1 foot frame
and must not weigh more than 2 pounds maximum weight.
Probably the easiest way to understand the robot matches is to watch
a few highlighted in these HyperStream IT-Olympics Team highlight videos
during the High School SUMO Robot Competitions at Hilton on Iowa State
University Campus:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPimhkNqqvc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYELmetsGAE&index=16&list=UUJeUNs
86VYH8KZxbQa3JWTw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc1cZmqlelI&list=UUJeUNs86VYH8KZxb
Qa3JWTw
To help you consider key building and programming considerations in
building your SUMO Wrestling Robot, I asked four-year HyperStream
Robotics Venue team member Braden Rosengren, now a sophomore
Electrical Engineering Student at Iowa State University, to share some
planning thoughts.
In building your SUMO wrestling robot:
Placement of the Brick - The most obvious place to mount the brick is as
close to the center as possible, to make a more central center of gravity.
But I think the best placement for the brick is back just an inch or too. It
gives the robot more weight on its back tires or the back of the treads (thus
more traction), if the front part of the robot happens to get lifted up into the
air.
LEGO MINDSTORM NXT BEGINNING 4-H ROBOTICS CURRICULUM

Tires or Treads - Really this comes out to a personal preference,
there have been debates about whether treads give better traction but
I think wheels do just as well. In fact I prefer wheels because they will
give a little extra speed that the treads don't have, and this boost can
help you reach the other robot and push them off the edge before they
can spin to charge you. PRO TIP: the large thin tires are a no-no, too
much torque at the ends when they sometimes start to spin when
pushing against the other robot and you lose most of your traction. I
prefer the medium sized, thick tires.

The Plow - The plow on all of our past robots have constituted about
one third of the weight (give or take). It needs to be at a gentle
enough of an angle that the other robot can drive onto it, but steep
enough that only the front wheels of the opposing robot can get on;
otherwise the enemy will drive right over you. The closer to the board
you can get the front of the plow, the better the chance your plow will
go under the other robot. Once the other robot is engaged by your
plow, if your front tires are forward enough then your traction will
increase by about a quarter and often times your robot just walks the
other robot to the edge.

Wires - Keep these as wrapped and 'inside' your robot as possible.
Wrap them around beams, stuff them into open holes, etc. They are a
great thing for the other robot to grab onto.

Placement of the Ultrasonic Sensor - if the sensor sits too high or
points upward, it will not always be able to 'see' the other robot. If the
sensor is too close to the ground or points downward, then the sensor
will think it can 'see' the other robot before the robot is actually in
range.

Placement of the Light Sensor - The light sensor should go on the
front third of the robot so the center of gravity is at least an inch
behind it. This way if you come close to an edge, the robot can stop
before tipping onto the ground. A light sensor on the back usually isn't
necessary because if that sensor 'sees' the line, then either the robot
is off the edge of the board, or it's getting pushed off the board by the
other robot.
LEGO MINDSTORM NXT BEGINNING 4-H ROBOTICS CURRICULUM
The Program - The program needs to do several things:
1. It must start with a Wait time block for three seconds to allow the
robot operator to exit the SUMO ring after starting the program.
2. The robot must move slightly forward as its first move.
3. The robot must turn and drive forward while searching for the other
robot with the Ultrasonic sensor. (Not too fast or the robot will have
to spin in a complete circle to find the enemy again.)
4. Charge the other robot when it detects it. (100% power no matter
what!)
5. Then one of three things can happen: you win, you lose the robot or
you see the edge of the board.
6. If you lose the detection of the other robot, your program needs to
return to Step 2 turning and looking for the other robot.
7. If your light sensor detects the white border on the edge of the board,
it needs to back up. And turn looking for the other robot.
8. The best position to engage the other robot is straight on the front of
your plow.
In four years of this competition I've used the same basic program to
search and find the other robot with several different robot builds. So if you
design a working program of turning and finding the other robot as quickly
as possible, that is to your advantage. Also the benefit of having most of the
weight over the drive wheels helps having greater traction to push the other
robots off the SUMO ring. And it's exactly what I wrote above.
Other modifications to add to the program and robot:
1. Touch sensors to start the program so that when the left touch
sensor is pushed, the robot will turn to the left and drive forward as its first
move after going forward. When the right touch sensor is pushed, the robot
will turn to the right and drive forward as its first move after going forward.
2. Be creative
Another Lego SUMO Robot Competition in Vienna, Austria, with restrictions
on base of robot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tguWcKTXQI but you
get the idea of what the robot needs to do.
LEGO MINDSTORM NXT BEGINNING 4-H ROBOTICS CURRICULUM
ROBOT Resources (All available on the 4-H
Beginning Robotics NXT website for
download)
 9695-grand-four-belt-rover
 9797_LME_UserGuide_US_low
 Ball Back Wheel Construction for
Domabot, 5 minute bot
 Challenge 11 Climb a Mountain
 Cross the Pit – NXT
 Domabot Full Robot Build with All Sensors
 LEGO 9797 Part Names
 MindstormNXTinventorySheet combined
979797 & 979695 Blue and Grey Kits
with Common Elements
LEGO MINDSTORM NXT BEGINNING 4-H ROBOTICS CURRICULUM