Archive for the ‘NXT’ Category
Earn a ROBOTC Student Certification this Summer for FREE!
Every student who completes a ROBOTC Summer of Learning course will have the opportunity to take a ROBOTC Student Certification Exam! This certificate will represent a student’s programming and robot problem solving accomplishments.
Throughout the course, the student will earn badges as they successfully complete challenges. Each badge contains information to help others understand what a student knows: who awarded it, who recognizes it, when they earned it, links to example student code, their videos, their scores, the types of questions they answered, or other information designed to show off their accomplishments.
At the very end of the course, students will have the opportunity to take an exam. This certification exam will consist of 125 questions to be completed in 100 minutes. Students will need to earn a score of 70% or higher in order to earn the certification.
Every student enrolled in one of our Robotics Summer of Learning class will have the option of taking the ROBOTC for LEGO or the ROBOTC for VEX student certification exam. Sign up for a class today:
And don’t forget about our free ROBOTC live training, starting Monday, June 17th:
FREE Summer of Learning ROBOTC Online Classes Start on Monday!
Starting Monday, June 17th, our free online classes will begin for the Robotics Summer of Learning. The ROBOTC team will show you the best ways to get started using ROBOTC and answer your questions LIVE! The goals for these classes is to support you, our users, and help you earn a ROBOTC certification!
The classes and Q&A sessions will take place throughout the summer on WebEx at the times listed below. The length of the class will be based on how many questions we need to answer.
VEX
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays at 11:00am EDT
LEGO
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays at 12:00pm EDT
How to Sign Up:
1. Register for Summer of Learning - Choose one of the following Robotics Summer of Learning Courses and sign up!
2. Choose a WebEx Course - Join your choice of WebEx courses 30 minutes before scheduled course begins:
VEX
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays at 11:00am EDT
LEGO
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays at 12:00pm EDT
If you would like to ask questions during the live class, make sure to have a USB headset. You can also submit your questions before and during each class through the ROBOTC forum or our social media sites.
ROBOTC 3.61.1 Update Released
We’ve recently been made aware of a bug in the recently released ROBOTC version 3.61. The bug would cause the IDE to generate an ‘Improper Argument’ window if the ‘Joystick Control – Competition’ Debugger Window was opened while ROBOTC was in LEGO NXT + TETRIX/MATRIX mode, and could subsequently crash the IDE.
If you are using ROBOTC for LEGO MINDSTORMS 3.61 and have encountered the bug, please make sure to manually download and apply the new update from ROBOTC’s NXT downloads page. Other versions of ROBOTC 3.61 are not affected.
As always, make sure to share your comments with us, either in the forums or on our Facebook or Twitter page.
Prizes for the Robotics Summer of Learning Announced!
We are very happy to announce the official prizes for the Robotics Summer of Learning competitions! We will be giving away VEX IQ and NXT Kits; ROBOTC and Robot Virtual Worlds licenses; and two $1000 scholarships. There will be three competitions eligible for prizes: CS2N VEX Toss Up Challenge, CS2N FTC “Ring It Up!” Challenge, and Robot Virtual Worlds Beacons and Barriers.
Each competition will be broken up into three divisions. Each player is eligible for only one prize per competition. The official rules are listed on the official Robotics Summer of Learning page.
Competitions are open now, so sign up today!
Divisions
- Middle School Division – 6th to 8th Grade (for the 2013-2014 School Year)
- High School Division - 9th to 12th Grade (for the 2013-2014 School Year)
- Open Division - Teachers, Mentors, Coaches, Educators, Hobbyists, Everyone!
Prizes
The official rules are listed on the official Robotics Summer of Learning page.
Start programming today for your chance at these awesome prizes!
Robot designed by Drew Ellis from The Noun Project and the Trophy is from The Noun Project.
Announcing ROBOTC 3.61!
We are happy to announce that ROBOTC 3.61 is now available! This is a maintenance release that added a few new features/fixes a few outstanding bugs.
ROBOTC is the premiere robotics programming language for educational robotics and competitions. ROBOTC is a C-Based Programming Language with an Easy-to-Use Development Environment. ROBOTC 3.61 contains three major updates, as shown in the changelog below.
You can download it here.
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3.60 to 3.61 Changelog
- NEW Joystick Configuration Utility – Added compatibility for custom joystick configurations; the Joystick Configuration Utility can now be used to configure a wide variety of controllers for use with ROBOTC. Read about it on the Custom Joystick Controls page on the ROBOTC wiki!
- Fixed Samostat.c sample program – There was a typo in the ‘nxtDisplayTextLine(status.nLine, “%s”, status.message);’ line of the Samostat.c program in ROBOTC 3.60 that prevented it from working properly. This has been fixed in 3.61.
- Updated Robot Virtual Worlds Curriculum Companion Tables – ROBOTC now includes the latest update of the Curriculum Companion Tables which added Quality Control Settings and now provides Update Notifications as well. Find out more about recent RVW updates here.
As always, make sure to share your comments with us, either in the forums or on our Facebook or Twitter page.
Beacons & Barriers Level Building Competition has Begun!
Get ready to create all new levels in the Robot Virtual Worlds’ Level Builder! Sign up for Beacons and Barriers, the Robotics Summer of Learning level design competition.
Beacons and Barriers is a design competition primarily intended for kids aged 12-18, but open to all, that is focused on creating fun and challenging levels using the Robot Virtual Worlds’ (RVW) Level Builder and Model Importer. In addition, the participants will write a succinct and easy to read set of instructions for completing the level. The competition is hosted online at the Computer Science Student Network (CS2N).
This competition offers a unique opportunity for students to create levels and get feedback from their peers. They will also give feedback on their peers’ work. Everyone learns not only how to evaluate projects logically, but also how to effectively communicate their assessment.
Entries will be judged based upon their difficulty, uniqueness, length, and fun factor. Their instructions will be judged on their ease of comprehension and grammatical correctness. The project’s final score for the competition will be based on the scores given by their peer reviewers.
There will be three divisions for this competition: Middle School, High School, and Open. The top five in each division will win the prizes listed below. Students in Middle School and High School who place in the top five will need to submit verification from their school about the grade they will be entering in for the 2013-2014 school year. The top entries from the competition will also be highlighted in a blog post after the competition, and the 1st place level will be posted on future CS2N Level building competitions as a benchmark for success.
** Middle School Division = 6th to 8th Grade (for the 2013-2014 School Year)
** High School Division = 9th to 12th Grade (for the 2013-2014 School Year)
Registration for the Beacons and Barriers level building challenge is available now, and is open to all members of the CS2N community.
Registering is easy:
1. Visit the Beacons and Barriers Main Page
2. Login to your account or register for CS2N.
3. Click on the box under “Step 1: Register.”
The final level file and instructions are due by August 31st, 2013. Don’t forget to look at the rubric that your level and instructions will be evaluated on. The files must be submitted in a zipped folder containing the .rvl file for your level and either a .pdf, .rtf, or .txt file that contains your instructions.
If you have any questions, whether it is about the RVW level editor, the competition, or how to do things like zip files, create pdfs, and so on, send your question to CS2N through “Contact Us”
We’ll do our best to respond to your question as soon as possible.
Remember: The competition does not end with the submission of files. Participants must grade and give feedback on other projects during the first two weeks of September (September 1st until September 14th, 2013). Each participant will have 5 other projects that they must review and give feedback. Participants will not be able to win prizes if they do not complete their evaluations. After the evaluation period ends, participants may choose to give their evaluators feedback on how useful their evaluation was.
The final winners of the competition will be announced on October 1st, 2013
Cool Project: Schuyler Horky’s Tutorial Videos
Schuyler Horky caught our attention with his detailed and fun ROBOTC tutorial videos. He has been working on a 10 part ROBOTC for NXT video tutorial series for the past three months to help local students and teachers with programming. We got a chance to talk with Schuyler to find out more about his programming experience….
Where are you from? What grade are you in?
I am from Monroe Washington, and I am a participant in my state’s Running Start program so that I can attend community college while still in high school. That being said, I am a senior in high school and a freshman in college
How long have you been a ROBOTC user?
I have used ROBOTC for MINDSTORMS for five years, and ROBOTC for VEX for four years.
What made you start using ROBOTC?
What made me start to use ROBOTC was my passion for electronics. ROBOTC was the easiest way to experiment with custom sensors, including I2C. At age 13, making my NXT support more motors and sensors brought me into the world of digital electronics, object oriented programming, and engineering.
What do you think of the software?
ROBOTC is the best way for any beginner to start programming, particularly with robotics. The real time debugging capabilities need a few tweaks, but just the fact that ROBOTC has it, is a huge advantage to alternative products. The absolute best thing about ROBOTC is the help menu. Every programming language I have learned has a good digital repository and RobotC is no exception. If I want to learn how to use a certain function, example code and a lengthy explanation are always at my fingertips.
What made you decide to create these tutorial videos?
At my local K-12 home school co-op program, I volunteer to help a math teacher teach programming, coach FLL teams, and mentor VEX robotics teams. In the off-season, I normally teach ROBOTC to the middle school students, getting them ready for more advanced LEGO projects and our VEX robotics teams. This year though, since my programming internship and three college classes per quarter have taken a bit out of my schedule, I cannot help as much, so I create tutorials so that the teacher can use them as curriculum.
ROBOTC is the best way to get excited about programming in C. The cross platform support means that you won’t have to re-learn anything when moving from NXT to VEX, or VEX to Arduino. ROBOTC can take you as a beginner and make you a proficient programmer. ROBOTC offers a huge repository of documentation and example code, powerful low-level functions, in addition to quick compile time, real time debugging, and extended 3rd party support.
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Thanks so much to Schuyler for taking the time to answer our questions!! You can find his entire YouTube playlist tutorial series here – ROBOTC for NXT Tutorial
Do you have a cool project or video you want to share with us? If so, send us an email at socialmedia@robotc.net.
Robot Virtual Worlds: Updates Galore Part 2
In preparation for the 2013 Robotics Summer of Learning, we’ve released a second round of Robot Virtual Worlds updates! New versions of the VEX Toss Up, FTC Ring It Up, and RVW Level Builder can be downloaded today.
VEX Toss Up 1.5.2
If you haven’t already signed up for the VEX Toss Up programming competition on CS2N, you should do so here.
Changes in this version of VEX Toss Up:
- Added Preload Buckyballs
- Buckyballs load into Intakebot, are placed at predefined location when using Ballerbot
- Better handling of game pieces when performing robot switch and realignment in a base zone (CS2N Competition)
- Updated scoring to include hanging with a ball bonus when low hanging
- Robots no longer fly away when hanging in CS2N Competition
- Added score submission for CS2N Competition
- Made “remember me” checkbox on login screen work properly
- Changed keyboard control mapping on Intakebot’s Tread motor to be more intuitive
FTC Ring It Up 2.5.2
Sign up for the FTC Ring It UP programming competition on CS2N here.
Changes in this version of Ring It Up:
- Fixed Scissorbot’s through-hole grip of rings
- Fixed scoring bugs with floor goals (CS2N Competition)
- Gripperbot’s range of motion is now limited to make it specialized for picking up rings from the ground and scoring on low pegs
- Added final score popups in Ring It Up mode
- Fixed bugs with the behavior of rings that are hanging on pegs
- Made “remember me” checkbox on login screen work properly
- Added score submission for CS2N Competition
RVW Level Builder 2.1.0
CS2N is also hosting a RVW Level Builder design competition, called Beacons and Barriers. Click here to sign up and see full competition details.
Changes in this version of the RVW Level Builder:
- Added “checkpoint” functionality. Robots must come into contact with checkpoints before reaching the stop tile.
- Added “obstacle” functionality. Robots must not come into contact with obstacles before reaching the stop tile.
All of the updates can be downloaded from the RVW Level Packs Download area at ROBOTC.net or RobotVirtualWorlds.com.
Robotics Summer of Learning
This summer students have the opportunity to learn how to program robots, design games, animate stories, and earn a chance to win over $10,000 in prizes and scholarships! The Robotics Summer of Learning program hopes to effectively increase students’ interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) related fields. The program is hosted online at the Computer Science Student Network.
The Summer of Learning initiative is sponsored by Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Academy - an educational outreach of Carnegie Mellon University and a part of the university’s world-renowned Robotics Institute. The Robotics Academy mission is to develop educational tools and resources to use the motivational effects of robotics to excite students and teachers about science and technology.
The Computer Science Student Network (CS2N) is a collaborative research project between Carnegie Mellon University (including the Robotics Academy) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) designed to increase the number of students pursuing advanced Computer Science and STEM degrees. CS2N is an online network for students and teachers to connect together and use engaging activities designed to teach how to program robots, animations, web pages, and games.
CS2N also includes tools for teachers/educators to create their own individual groups for students to join. Using the “groups” feature, teachers can track their students’ progress through every activity offered on the site. All of CS2N’s learning activities are designed to align with national educational standards.
Check out all the great features and challenges that will be offered through the Robotics Summer of Learning…
The Robotics Summer of Learning will offer students the opportunity to program a variety of robots in deep space, on a tropical island, and a VEX or FTC game board. The robots are programmed in ROBOTC, a programming language for LEGO, VEX and Arduino robots. Beginning ROBOTC users are able to utilize simple Natural Language commands like forward, reverse, and pointTurn at the introductory level and then migrate to full C-Programming to learn advanced computer science concepts like recursion, pointers, multitasking/threading, and multi-agent communications.
Students will program the virtual robots using the ROBOTC language and ROBOTC’s Robot Virtual Worlds (RVW) software, an interactive educational video game software that allows every student to experience the same benefits of learning robotics and programming. RVW tracks and stores student’s progress, through CS2N, as they solve different levels in each World. After successfully completing a World, students earn a badge that documents their achievements. At the end of the summer, students will have the opportunity to take an exam that will earn them a Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy programming certification, which can be included in the student’s academic portfolio.
Introductory programming lessons are taught in the tropical themed Palm Island, one of three virtual environments in Robot Virtual Worlds. Once students learn the basics in their first mission, they are then challenged to complete missions on Planet H99 in deep space, and underwater in the Ruins of Atlantis. The final challenge is a national robot programming competition that will include over ten thousand dollars in scholarships and prizes. Two new “programming only” robotics game have been developed specifically for the Robotics Summer of Learning programming competition, which take advantage of current VEX and FTC games in Robot Virtual Worlds. The games are played by autonomously programming your robot to place objects into scoring positions as quickly as possible.
CS2N’s VEX Toss Up challenges you to program your autonomous virtual robot with ROBOTC to score as many points as possible, via scoring or locking BuckeyBalls and large balls, as well as hanging from a colored bar!
CS2N’s FTC “Ring It Up!” challenges you to program your autonomous virtual robot with ROBOTC to score as many points as possible, via hanging rings on the center or corner post hangers and placing rings on the red floor tiles!
Animation programming languages, such as Scratch and Alice, make it easy for students to create video stories, animations, games, music, and art. By using storytelling and animation as a motivator, students learn the importance of the design process while using and learning interactive programming software.
Our Robotics Summer of Learning Animation Challenge is called Nature Doc-u-mentary. This challenge asks students to write a creative narrative and make an animated documentary using either Scratch, SAM Animation, or Alice 2.0.
Designing a digital game allows students the opportunity to creatively brainstorm ideas, create 3D objects to import into the game board, learn how to program in order to test the success of the game, and challenge them to think of ways to advance and optimize the gameplay. Robot Virtual Worlds comes with two great tools, the Level Builder and the Model Importer. The Level Builder uses a 12-inch by 12-inch board and our “desktop” models to create their very own Robot Virtual World. The Model Importer allows students to import their own 3D models into Level Builder to take their game to the next level. Students can use both tools while designing their own game board for a virtual robot to successfully complete!
Our Robotics Summer of Learning Animation Challenge is called Beacons and Barriers. This challenge will have users focus on creating levels for a virtual robot to navigate through. They will use the Model Importer, included in Robot Virtual Worlds, to create objects to serve as checkpoints and obstacles.
The Robotics Summer of Learning Program is excited for the opportunity to advance students’ interests in STEM and advanced their programming skillsets! Software and training will be provided for free throughout the summer. Students will have 24/7 access to the online course materials, as well as professional support from developers of the software and curriculum. There will be over $10,000 in prizes available to participants in the challenges, including free software, robot kits, and college scholarships. The Robotics Summer of Learning kicks off on June 1 and runs to September 1, 2013.
Sign Up Today for the Robotics Summer of Learning!
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Also offered during the summer are our Professional Development courses. These courses provide teachers and coaches with a solid foundation for robot programming in the respective languages, and experience in troubleshooting common student mistakes. It also focuses on identifying and extracting academic value from the naturally occurring STEM situations encountered in robotics explorations. Classes are available on-site or online.
Classes are filling up quick, so sign up today!
Tracking a Colored Ball with the NXTCam
The NXTCam from mindsensors.com
Vision systems are one of the more useful, albeit trickier, sensors that can be used in a robotics system. They allow a microcontroller to literally ‘see’ an object, its color, shape, and (in some cases) the material it is made from. They are used extensively almost anywhere an automated system needs to make a decision based on an object’s visual properties.
Fortunately, MindSensor’s NXTCam combined with Xander’s driver suite allows NXT users to quickly and easily program a vision system for their robots. ROBOTC forum member alain has recently created one of the basic NXTCam robots (a robot that will track a colored ball with relatively high accuracy) and was kind enough to share his programming journey on the ROBOTC forum and the video below.
If you’re interested in building your own color-tracking robot or have other, unique ideas for an NXT cam with ROBOTC, be sure to check out the Robotics Academy demo video for ideas on how the NXTCam can be used and the ROBOTC forum for coding help.
