Tasks for Robotics

These tasks are being refined as each groups goes through the four tasks in Partner-Ship. The task for Robotics has to have something to do with ships, shipping, ship-building or the like.

At the end of their time in Robotics, we want the students to understand how the design process works and how messy (and fun) it can be. We want the students to have challenging problems so that when the problems are solved, they have a real sense of accomplishment. We also want the students to develop planning and teaming skills.

First Round Tasks

In the first set of tasks, (available as a Microsoft Word 2000 document) you can see I'm worried about distributing the equipment. We have only three large motors while we have four groups of five students each. The tasks are set so they can be accomplished with the equipment we have.

Container Loading Machine

Problem:
We have to make a machine that will move film containers filled with sand from a loading dock to a ship. Each group will make a robot that will be part of the whole machine. Each robot has a job to do and needs to work with the next part of the machine.
Job #1:
The first robot needs to find out if there is a film container ready to load. It also needs to let all the people around know the whole machine is going to start moving by sounding an alarm.
Job #2
The second robot does most of the transport. It needs to get the film container and move it to the third robot. It should stop once the container reaches the third robot.
Job #3
The third robot makes sure the containers are about the same weight. If the container is empty, the robot should turn on a light. If the container is too heavy, it should turn on a different light.
Job #4
The last robot has to make sure the containers are standing upright. If they are, they should slide the container right to the ship. If the container is tipped over, it should turn on a warning light. It also needs to count the number of containers and stop loading when ten containers have been counted.

Second Round Tasks

In the second round, Peggy and I wanted to see if the groups could share the equipment and create solutions less limited by an equipment quota. All the students agreed to share all of the motors and sensors so they could have more than one motor if they needed to steer their transport. They also had to spend more time talking about the problem they wanted to solve and this got them closer to the design process than the last round. There are the tasks for the second round (also available in Microsoft word 2000 format).

Container Loading Machine

Problem:
We have to move film containers filled with sand from a loading dock to a ship. You are a robot design team. What robot could you build to make life easier for us?

Here are some possible jobs to think about:
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