VEX IQ
Week 1 -
- Teambuilding activity - an important part of our after school program involves learning how to work together with one or two other students. Each week we will begin with a team building activity to promote working together, listening to another person's ideas and how to problem solve when something gets hard.
- Winnie the Pooh challenge (http://stemactivitiesforkids.com/2015/12/10/team-building-for-stem-challenges/#more-502)
- Materials (string, large book ring, tennis ball)
- Build - This week we'll be introducing the kits and talking about how to care for our VEX IQ Kits (and why we want to take care of them)
- Demonstrate where to put the lid and any paper materials that are inside of the kit
- Point out how the kits are organized (what goes in the trays and what goes in the bottom of the kit
- Discuss the brain and the controller and how they communicate (wireless radio)
- Discuss what happens if pieces get lost (can't complete a build)
- Role model what to do when pieces are dropped (immediately get down on the floor and pick them up
- Free build challenge: Build a structure that will move at least 6 inches when gently pushed.
- Reflect -
- Synergizing; On a scale of 1-3 how well did you and your partner work together as a team. (1 - not very well, 2- we did ok, we could do better 3 - We worked well together)
- Did our structure meet the criteria? Tie to Proactive and Begin with the End in Mind
- Yes-what worked?
- No-what would you modify (change) or do differently next time?
- Materials: On a scale of 1-3 how well did we manage our materials? (1 - not very well, 2- we did ok, we could do better 3 - We treated our materials with respect)
Week 2 -
- Teambuilding activity - an important part of our after school program involves learning how to work together with one or two other students. Each week we will begin with a team building activity to promote working together, listening to another person's ideas and how to problem solve when something gets hard.
- VEX IQ Scavenger Hunt (learn the VEX IQ Parts)
- Build - This week we'll be exploring gears as we make a gear simulator and see what happens when different gear combinations are put together. We'll also begin using our composition tablets to keep track of our work today.
- what combination of gears would you use for speed?
- what combination of gears would you use for more turning power?
- what are all these gears used for? (worm gear, crown gear, beveled gear, rack, simple gear)
- how do we identify a gear?
- Reflect -
- Discuss composition tablet - what did you capture.
- On a scale of 1-3 how well did we manage our materials? (1 - not very well, 2- we did ok, we could do better 3 - We treated our materials with respect)
- Did our structure meet the criteria? Tie to Proactive and Begin with the End in Mind
- Yes-what worked?
- No-what would you modify (change) or do differently next time?
- Synergizing; On a scale of 1-3 how well did you and your partner work together as a team. (1 - not very well, 2- we did ok, we could do better 3 - We worked well together)
Week 3 - Drivetrain and Object Manipulator (content.vexrobotics.com/vexiq/pdf/228-4411-VEX-IQ-Robotics-Camp-Handbook-LR-20150612.pdf)
- Teambuilding activity - an important part of our after school program involves learning how to work together with one or two other students. Each week we will begin with a team building activity to promote working together, listening to another person's ideas and how to problem solve when something gets hard.
- VEX IQ What's the part (learn the VEX IQ Parts)
- Build - This week we'll be continuing our exploration of gears as we make a gear simulator and see what happens when different gear combinations are put together. We'll also begin using our composition tablets to keep track of our work today. This is a finish of what we started last week.
- Challenge cards (from last week - working with gears)
- Introduce drive train and scrub - from Summer Camp handout. Have students look at the diagram and build different wheel configuration examples. (Teacher) Refer to questions in packet. Which wheel configuration gives the most control? Which is hardest to control.
- Introduce three ways of moving items (push - plow, lift - elevator, grab - claw). Connect to simple machines.
- Reflect -
- Discuss composition tablet - what did you capture.
- On a scale of 1-3 how well did we manage our materials? (1 - not very well, 2- we did ok, we could do better 3 - We treated our materials with respect)
- Did our structure meet the criteria? Tie to Proactive and Begin with the End in Mind
- Yes-what worked?
- No-what would you modify (change) or do differently next time?
- Synergizing; On a scale of 1-3 how well did you and your partner work together as a team. (1 - not very well, 2- we did ok, we could do better 3 - We worked well together)
Week 4 - Standard Drive Base
- Teambuilder -
- Review what we did last time - which drive base worked best and why?
- Drivetrain - chassis
- Turning scrub - friction that resists turning - this FRICTION is created from the wheels dragging sideways on the ground as a robot turns. Does more turning scrub make it easier or more difficult to turn?
- wheelbase (distance between wheels) is wider side-to side than front to back
- use different wheels and or tires to decrease the friction of the turning scrub
- Review what we did last time - which drive base worked best and why?
- Build - Standard Drive base - connect to gear simulator and drive base - demonstrate and discuss some things that could go wrong (starting and stopping the video, putting a part on upside down, how to tell what size shaft). We are going to be using motors, the brain and the controller to drive our standard drive base.
- Drivetrain design -
- rectangular chassis (structure that holds wheels, motors, and any other hardware)
- two motors
- four wheels
- gears to move power from motors to all of the wheels
- Standard Drive Base build (clawbot) - https://content.vexrobotics.com/vexiq/pdf/228-3428-750-Clawbot-IQ-Build-Instructions-Rev10-20150901.pdf - use this if you want to just read the directions and see pictures.
- Animated build - http://www.vexrobotics.com/vexiq/animated-build/clawbot-iq#1 - use this to see short movies of how to build your standard drive base. You can pause and play the movies.
- Moving items - Introduce three ways of moving items (push - plow, scoop - lift, grab). Connect to simple machines.
- Plow - applies force to the side of an object to move without actually picking something up
- Scoop - applies force underneath an object so that it can be lifted and carried. Gravity keeps the object on the scoop.
- Friction Grabber - applies a force to an object in at least two places so the object can be pinched or grabbed. They can hold objects securely and usually give you the most control (pinching claw)
- Accumulator - handles multiple objects (collects and holds)
- Lifting - in competition you'll be creating robots that can lift and move objects. Here's three common ways to do that. For our competition we'll be focusing on using Rotating joints.
- Rotating joints - create an arm using shaft and gears attached to a motor. The arm will rotate and lift up or down
- Elevators - uses straight line motion to lift something straight up. Can be built with rack gears and sliders.
- Linkages - has a series of rigid bodies (links) connected together by freely rotating joints. Convert an input motion into a different output motion.
- Drivetrain design -
Week 5 -
- Teambuilder -
- Build -
- Introduce challenge - You need to design and build a robot that will move from point A to point B and move 2 blocks from point B back to the holding area by point A. Add either a plow, scoop/lift, or a grab to your design base to move the blocks.
- Review ways of moving objects (handouts) - see week 4
- plow - how would you design this?
- scoop or lift - you would add a motor and attach it to your scoop - how would you do that?
- grab - design your own or follow the clawbot instructions (look in the animated directions from last week (part 2 only)
- Continue with building the standard base design (3 groups need to finish)
- Plan your design in your tablet and then begin building your model.
- Reflect -
- Discuss composition tablet - what did you capture.
- On a scale of 1-3 how well did we manage our materials? (1 - not very well, 2- we did ok, we could do better 3 - We treated our materials with respect)
- Did our structure meet the criteria? Tie to Proactive and Begin with the End in Mind
- Yes-what worked?
- No-what would you modify (change) or do differently next time?
- Synergizing; On a scale of 1-3 how well did you and your partner work together as a team. (1 - not very well, 2- we did ok, we could do better 3 - We worked well together)
Week 6 - Students continued working on their robots for their challenge. All groups were able to create a robot that would run the challenge. One group needs a little more time to troubleshoot before they tackle the challenge.