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Posted by on March 19, 2009, 9:23 pm
wrote:
> jsidell wrote:
> > Hi, I have been asked to create a robotics curriculum for my high
> > school. I don't have any experience in Robotics but since I teach
> > programming they thought I could handle it (*rolling eyes*). I'd like
> > to take a class or workshop for beginners. Any suggestions where to
> > get started.
> > I live in Northern California so west coast locations are preferred.
> > An online class for credit would be ideal, or a week-long workshop or
> > internship.
> I don't know the specifics of the curriculum they have, but Parallax is
> big in schools that don't do the FIRST thing (and many don't because of
> the costs). Their BOE-Bot platform is fairly capable, and can be
> assembled and disassembled many times, in order to help those interested
> in the mechanics and not just the electronics or programming.
> It's all self-study, of course, and Parallax's claim to fame is their
> printed and online support materials.
> They are in Northern California, not that it makes a difference.
> On a similar note, I have proposed an online course in beginning
> robotics to a well-known e-training site. Haven't heard anything back
> yet. It may be too narrow of a market for them, but we'll see.
> -- Gordon
Just to second Gordon's previous point. When I got back into robotics
after a ~20 absence I started with a boebot kit and worked through the
accompanying manuals. These are very well written. I usually start
new members of the college robotics team with a boebot kit and have
them work though the manuals. For high school robotics, I recommend
starting with the vex components. These are robust and there is a
healthy competition group which provides lots of external motivation.
I would recommend Robot C as a programming environment with the VEX
parts. Once you get a vex group down, FIRST is a nice step up in
difficulty.
Of course from your message it sounds like this is more something that
you HAVE to do. In that case, you might want to just get the school
to invest in a bunch of parallax robots and curriculum. It is the
most "ready to run" and polished of the any of the curriculum that I
have worked with. I have taught a sumo robot school for the past
three winters, but I do it as a six week course, so this probably
wouldn't work for you!
have fun,
mmason
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> school. I don't have any experience in Robotics but since I teach
> programming they thought I could handle it (*rolling eyes*). I'd like
> to take a class or workshop for beginners. Any suggestions where to
> get started.
> I live in Northern California so west coast locations are preferred.
> An online class for credit would be ideal, or a week-long workshop or
> internship.
> Thanks!