Then
d
n
a
NOW
NEW APPROACHES TO
ROBOTICS EDUCATION
by Tom Carroll
At the end of March, I decided to go to the Autodesk Oregon Regional FIRST Robotics Competition
in Portland to observe, photograph, and help out in any way I could. I’ve always enjoyed robotics
competitions over the past few decades, most starting out with just a few competitors and some basic
rules. FIRST — For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology — started out the same way
in a high school gym in Manchester, NH in 1991 and was (and still is) the brainchild of innovator Dean
Kamen and MIT professor, Woodie Flowers. Before delving into the modern FIRST competitions, I’d like
to go back a few decades to those classes at MIT, Professor Flowers, and the innovative student rivalry
that started it all.
MIT Found a Better Way
Most of us have had a college professor who just
seemed to use a better method to teach. Instead of a
boring spiel that could have been presented by a tape
recorder, he or she had that special talent of
being able to tune into what the students
were thinking and was able to present
course material in a most unique way. I had
such a professor who taught anatomy and
physiology — the absolute hardest class that
I’d ever taken, but the most interesting, by
far.
I remember to this day, many of the
most obscure details of the body, organ
function and structure, and numerous Latin
names of all the bones in our bodies. I think
that’s pretty amazing for a person who
ended up in aerospace, robotics, and RF
systems, and had nothing to do with
medicine or human physiology. This
learning/retention was not because I was an
amazing student. I give credit to this one
professor because he taught in a way that
made me and my classmates want to learn.
Engineering course, “Introduction to Design” back in the
1970’s; it was recently renamed to “Introduction to Design
and Manufacturing.” This was a hands-on class; not one
with a professor who droned on as the students nodded
off. It was an amazing success and was the seed for
contests to come later.
The original syllabus for Flowers’ course
specified as a final assignment, “Design and
build a robotic system for putting a round
peg in a square hole, while a competitor
tries to put another peg into the same
hole.” Not only did the student have to
design a pretty robust robotic system, the
student was in a competition with other
students — always an exciting plus.
Students received a box of materials that
included two motors, various sprockets,
cords, cardboard tubes, cardboard, and
even some rubber bands. Unlike a simple
term paper that some educators might
request, Woodie had his students put
‘mettle to the metal’ and produce a working
robot. He then had them compete with
fellow student’s machines. Like the anatomy
and physiology course that I took years
back, this course was not an easy A, but the
students loved it.
After the students had formed teams and completed
their individual robots, they took their creations to the on-campus Johnson Athletic Center. One would think it was
some sort of rock concert turned athletic event inside as
FIGURE 1. Woodie Flowers
Putting Mettle to
the Metal
MIT Professor Woodie Flowers (Figure 1) is one of
those amazing teachers. He taught the Mechanical
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