The RoboTics class
Over our four week course, families
constructed the brain and body of their first
robot. That was a tall order for most since they
had never soldered or programmed before
attending this class. We suspected this would
indeed be the case, so we developed a kit with
all the tools needed to make a robot. However,
the kit wasn’t enough. With this many
beginners in one classroom, participants class
needed the help of mentors if it was going to
succeed. The mentors were volunteers with
soldering and programming experience. They
were members of the local chapter of Mensa,
the BoRG, and the Voice of Idaho amateur
radio club.
The RoboT KiT Used
in The class
One of the problems we faced was that
robot kits can be expensive enough to turn off perspective
students. Since we designed the class for beginners who
may never take up robotics again, the robot kit required for
the class needed to include all parts and tools required to
assemble the robot (except for the programming laptop
and batteries). It had to remain inexpensive enough that it
didn’t turn people off.
We met our goal by designing a kit around the
CheapBot- 14 robot. The kit with all its parts and tools came
out to $109.37 per kit. We kept the cost low by
purchasing inexpensive (but more than adequate) tools
and finding sponsors who donated funds to offset the
price. The total cost of class registration was $70. Half of
that was for community education’s costs and the other
half was for the kit. By allowing two family members to
register for the class, we (in a sense) cut the cost for the
class in half.
RoboTics class
acTiviTies
We began the class by teaching our students how to
solder. The assumption was that if we started the
students soldering rather than started them listening to
lectures, they would be more motivated to complete the
class. Participants did watch a small Power Point
presentation, but this was as they were plugging in their
soldering irons and bending the leads of resistors.
Next, students opened their robot controller kit and
identified the components inside as we displayed them in a
second Power Point show. After they were acquainted with
soldering and identifying components, they began soldering
their robot controller. We outlined each step of its
construction in a third Power Point tutorial.
After completing the robot controller, we instructed
students to test their creation. This way, they would identify
potential errors prior to installing the PICAXE-14M2
microcontroller. We guided students though the testing of
SERVO 12.2013 37
The box of goodies that each family taking the class received. Believe it or not,
there's a robot buried in this box just waiting to get out.
A student and his mother waiting for the soldering
to get hot enough to begin soldering.
