Home Page for Robotics Education

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Curriculum & Robotics

Our Curriculum

• NC Science standards http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/science/
• NC Mathematics standards http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/mathematics/
• NC Technology standards http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/computerskills/
  

Correlation Efforts

• Botball Robotics program - national science standards integration. http://botball.org/educational-resources/national_science_standards.php

Robotics Lesson Plan Models

• Lego Education Division - Sample Activities selection page
• NASA's Robotics Curriculum Clearinghouse - http://robotics.nasa.gov/rcc/
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Educational Leadership on Robotics

• NASA's Robotics Alliance Project http://robots.nasa.gov/
  
• 2006 National Conference on Educational Robotics will be held in Norman, Oklahoma from July 7 - 10, 2006. http://botball.org/current-season/national_conference.php ;  Conference Call for Papers 
  

The Technology

Lego Mindstorms

Background readings

• Koerner, Brendan I. (February, 2006). Geeks in Toyland. Wired Magazine. Available at http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,69946-0.html  This article is a must read. It reviews the Lego robotics vision and the important differences between the old (1998-2001) and new (2006) versions making a strong case for buying the improved features of the 2.0 model (see Next Generation table, p.108).
• Davis, Joshua  (April, 2005).  Applying Math & Science: La Vida Robot. How four underdogs from the mean streets of Phoenix took on the best from M.I.T. in the national underwater bot championship. Wired Magazine. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.04/robot.html
  
• Lego Mindstorms http://mindstorms.lego.com/
• RCX Internals. The RCX is a programmable, microcontroller-based brick that can simultaneously operate three motors, three sensors, and an infrared serial communications interface. The brick is one of approximately 727 pieces of LEGO® set 9719 Robotics Invention System. This document is a description of the internals of the RCX, a reverse engineering of the "brick" by Kekoa Proudfoot.
• FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) http://www.usfirst.org/about/
• The FIRST LEGO League (FLL), (http://www.usfirst.org/jrobtcs/flego.htm)  the "little league" of the FIRST Robotics Competition, for students aged 9 through 14, using real-world context and hands-on experimentation.
• brickOS is an open source embedded operating system and provides a C and C++ programming environment for the Lego Mindstorms Robotics Kits, allowing the owner of such a kit to program in good old C (and now C++) instead of the standard Lego Programming Language. Available at http://brickos.sourceforge.net/about.htm#What%20is%20brickOS
• pbForth: another version of Forth, designed to work with the LEGO Mindstorms RCX brick as alternative firmware for the RCX http://www.hempeldesigngroup.com/lego/pbForth/overview.html
  
• HiTechnic Products produces sensors, controllers and other accessories for Lego MindStorms© robotic systems; compatible with the Lego RCX© and the NXT ™. "All HiTechnic Sensors are based on industrial sensor technology developed by HiTechnic's parent company, Dataport Systems, Inc" Product list (with prices) includes: remote control sensor; motor power booster; magnetic compass; Electro-Optical Proximity Detector (EOPD) sensor using visible light instead of infrared; Ultrasonic Range Sensor; Infrared Proximity Sensor.
  
• Searched Amazon.com for "Lego Mindstorms" books. On May 18, 2006 it listed 34 books.
• Lego Factory -  a web site where users can download the Lego Digital Designer software which let's them design unique Lego products, then order the parts to be manufactured and shipped back to the designer while their design becomes available for anyone to purchase. Consumers become a free product design team for the company. http://www.lego.com/eng/factory/default.asp
  

MIT Crickets

• http://llk.media.mit.edu/spotlight.php?id=3 "The PicoCricket Kit is similar in many ways to the LEGO® MINDSTORMS™ robotics kit. But while MINDSTORMS is designed especially for making robots, the PicoCricket Kit is designed for making artistic creations with lights, sound, music, and motion."

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