Robotics at St.

Regis

After I made my presentation of our new LEGO WeDo robotics kits to the 5th graders, the
students were asked to submit questions about robotics or drawings of what theyd like
to make. Here are my answers:

How long have you been doing this?

If you are talking about robotics, then about 3 weeks. If you mean
technology in general, then since 1996. (Actually, earlier, if you consider
the fact that I learned some BASIC programming at St. Regis in 1986, plus
learned how to read and write in Binary around the same time.) I
purchased my first computer in 1992, and since repair shops were hard to
find and parts were very expensive, I learned how to fix things myself as
much as I could. I installed my first modem in 1994, along with memory
sticks and a hard drive. Everything I know, however, is self-taught. I did
work as a supervisor doing software and hardware support for three years,
and I learned so much while I was there. I also created and presented
training for new support agents (our super-special name), and maintained
the departmental training website.
What days would the club be on?
Im not sure yet; I havent figured out the logistics. Since there will be huge
demand, I also have to come up with more equipment.
Would the app work on my LG Tribute 2 Android device?
Im not sure; the only way to find out is to search for Lego WeDo 2.0 in the
Android store, I think. If it doesnt show up, or if it says Not Compatible
with This Device, then your device isnt supported. Most laptops and
desktops are supported, however.
At home, I have old phones, recycling, cardboard boxes, old Amazon Kindle
Fire devices, and aluminum foil. What could I make with this stuff?
 I havent found anything using your specific list of ingredients, but I did find
this:

The full project can be found at bit.ly/easybot. Im sure we could come up

with some other projects with a little more time.
How do you get the robot to move?
I can create commands that are sent to the robot with my computer and an
application that connects wirelessly to the robots Smart Hub, or internal
computer. The commands for these particular sets of robots are built using
a drag-and-drop interface; that means I just choose the command I want to
use from a list of image blocks, and drag it where I want to go. The image
blocks are a simplistic way of communicating with the device, rather than
creating actual computer code to do it. Heres what the image blocks look
like:

This code tells the robot to move forward when something passes in
front of the sensor.
This is a similar bit of code built in the Python scripting language. Keep in
mind that this is only a small part of the code:
 import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
import time
GPIO.setwarnings(False)
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BOARD)
GPIO.setup(3, GPIO.IN) #Right sensor connection
GPIO.setup(16, GPIO.IN, pull_up_down=GPIO.PUD_UP) #Left sensor connection
while True:
i=GPIO.input(3) #Reading output of right IR sensor
j=GPIO.input(16) #Reading output of left IR sensor
if i==0: #Right IR sensor detects an object
print "Obstacle detected on Left",i
time.sleep(0.1)
elif j==0: #Left IR sensor detects an object
print "Obstacle detected on Right",j
time.sleep(0.1)
How can you make the robot speak?
With the robotics kits we have at school, you can record sounds and voices. To get the
robot to speak, you would have to create a program that would make the robot use the file
you recorded.
Can you make a robot flip and do twirls?
Im not sure about making these particular robots do flips and twirls; while we have a lot of
parts in the kit, and many commands that we can utilize, Im not sure they would have that
capability. We would have to try it out and see!
How much will it cost to get in?
That will all depend on many factors: will the students be given supplies that they can keep?
Will we have to purchase software licenses? Since we are in the early planning stages, not
many things have been definitively decided.