Lego Robotics

Instructor:
Dr. James Carroll, Associate Professor Electrical &Computer Engineering

FTC Robotics & Lego Robotics Overview

This hands-on, five-day workshop is appropriate for any 4th-6th-grade teacher interested in integrating robotics into the classroom or any school activity to enhance Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. Building and programming robots is a highly interdisciplinary activity that develops creative problem solving, teamwork, leadership, and project management skills. Students participating in robotics-based curricula learn about STEM careers firsthand, by experiencing what professionals do when solving real-world problems.

A series of hands-on project experiences will familiarize participants with the design and construction of autonomous robots using LEGO Mindstorms NXT kits and RoboLab software to program the NXT robot’s motors and sensors. Best practices and methodologies associated with introducing robotics into grades 5 through 8 will be addressed throughout. A final engineering design challenge will prepare participants to coach a FIRST Lego League (FLL) team within their schools in the Fall semester of 2007, including a local FLL tournament sponsored by the St. Lawrence BOCES and Clarkson University in December 2007.

LEGO Robotics Newspaper Article, December 7, 2008 (Watertown Daily Times)

FTC/Lego Robotics Project Video One
FTC/Lego Robotics Project Video Two
FTC/Lego Robotics Project Video Three