Independent Record Reports on the Montana City School Robotics Exploratory
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Robotics
By MARTIN J. KIDSTON - IR Features Writer - 05/02/2006 Programmed with the ability to follow a thick black line, “Mrs. Botfire” dusted as she moved about the table top. In comparison, “Upchuck,” a fortified robot, looked ready to attack. It’s pretty easy to guess which gender designed which robot at ExplorationWorks! last week. The girls used their friend-making power to design a domestic robot. The boys, feeling a need to compete, designed their machine for physical domination. Liz Gundersen of ExplorationWorks! has seen it before. She teaches the basics of robotics to area school kids, a topic that includes computer languages and logic problems. “Boys always build things that fire stuff,” Gunderson said. “The first thing they want to do is ram someone else’s robot.” Gunderson said the girls generally take a more passive approach to their projects. Their robots often perform social functions, she added. More times that not, projects created by the girls also resemble a person or an animal. They decorate their robots with ribbons and fabric. “The boys seem to be more comfortable with Legos and the three-dimensional aspect of building,” Gundersen said. “The girls take a little longer to figure out the building element. But they like to work in groups and design things that have some useful purpose. ” After a crash course on the basics of robotics, the students — boys and girls alike — use the computer lab at ExplorationWorks! to design their machines. The package, dubbed ROBOLAB, applies a powerful combination of LEGO blocks and National Instruments LabVIEW software to introduce engineering concepts to students. The software, jointly developed by National Instruments, Tufts University and LEGO Dacta, is engineered for the classroom. It teaches basic computer programming, robotics and automation skills. “You have to learn that iconic language and the sequence of steps you want your robot to do,” Gundersen said. “It’s basically a logic problem. The skills will translate directly to learning any computer language in the future.” Once students get a grasp of the simple robotic software, they are inclined to tackle more difficult programs like Java, HTML and C-based languages. The application for those range from the Mars rover to simple Web design. “They’re internationally based languages,” Gundersen said. “It’s a way to communicate with people around the world.” ________________________________________ |
 | Mrs. Botfire (left) Upchuck (right) |
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