Robot+Challenges

=Beginning Robot Challenges for a Car without a Sensor= Build the [|NXT Simple Car] or build the. I find it very effective to have beginning robotics students build a simple car and start programming it right away to do the following challenges. It takes them about 15-20 minutes to build the car, and then they dive right into the programming after I introduce a mini-lesson on how to get their car to move forward and turn in one direction. This is usually enough to get them started figuring out how to use the programming to solve the first five challenges.
 * 1) Program your robot car to go forward for one second.
 * 2) Program your robot car to go forward for one second, then turn right and go forward for one second.
 * 3) Program your robot car to go forward for one second, turn right, go forward for one second, turn left, and then go forward for one second.
 * 4) Program your robot car to go forward one second, turn right, go forward for one second, turn left, go forward for one second, and then go backward for one second.
 * 5) Program your robot car to circumnavigate a chair (within a foot of the chair) in a rectangular fashion such that it ends up back in its starting position.

=Beginning Robot Challenges for a Car with a Touch Sensor= Next I have the students build a touch sensor device that they attach to the front of their car. Then I give them a mini-lesson on programming touch sensors and I let them loose with the next two challenges.
 * 1) Program your robot to play a song you composed whenever you press the touch sensor.
 * 2) Program your robot car to avoid obstacles by using the touch sensor. It should do this repeatedly. (How can you make sure that it doesn't get stuck in a corner?)
 * It is important to break this down into smaller steps and have the student make the car accomplish each step before going on to the next one. First have the student get the car to stop when it runs into an obstacle. Second, make the car get away from the obstacle. Third, make the car find another direction to go forward. Fourth, make the car keep doing this forever?

=Beginning Robot Challenges for a Line Following Car with a Light Sensor= Now the fun begins. I show the students how to attach a light sensor facing down to the front of their car (almost touching the floor) and then I give them a mini-lesson on programming a light sensor and then let them loose on the next three challenges.
 * 1) Program your robot to start on a white surface and stop when it reaches a black surface.
 * 2) Program your robot to start at one end of a curved black line, and follow the black line to the other end.
 * 3) Program your robot to follow a black line that forms a loop.

=Advanced Robot Challenges for a Line Following Car with a Light Sensor (or Two)= Now the challenges become challenging. Now the students have to develop a more sophisticated program that can figure out which way the robot needs to turn to find the line again. They also need to start dealing with some building issues to make their robot more effective at the tasks at hand. I don't always give my students these challenges at the beginning of the course. Often I let them build their own robots for awhile and then we come back to these challenges after they have gotten more familiar with building and programming.
 * 1) Program your robot to able to follow a curved black line no matter which end of the line you start your robot.
 * 2) Program your robot to follow a line that has a right angle.
 * 3) Program your robot to follow a line that has a right angle and a left angle.
 * 4) Program your robot to solve a maze.
 * 5) Program your robot to solve a maze that someone else built without your first seeing the maze. (This is very challenging!)