Robotics Article by Lainie Ives

The following article, written by Academy parent and Robotics Club mentor Lainie Ives, appeared in the Spring 2010 issue of Heartbeats.

ker·fuf·fle n.  1. A sudden outburst of chaos or disorder.  2. Nickname of an autonomous robot constructed by an Academy Robotics Club team.

On Nov. 22, 2009, the Academy of the Sacred Heart sent two Robotics teams to the FIRST Lego League Regional Qualifying Event at Maryville University. It was a rookie year for the students and their mentors. There were a few kerfuffles along the way. But with gracious professionalism and good humor, the students programmed and reprogrammed their robots. They met with robot design judges. They performed original skits to present their research projects. At the end of the day, both teams qualified for the Missouri FLL Championship Tournament sponsored by St. Louis Community College.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a nonprofit founded in 1989 that sponsors robotics programs for students in grades K-12. This year 14,725 teams competed in FIRST Lego League competitions worldwide. The FIRST website, www.usfirst.org, explains:

The FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is a global program created to get children excited about science and technology. A hands-on program for ages 9 to 16 (9 to 14 in the U.S. and Canada), FLL uses challenges based  on real world scientific problems to engage children in research, problem solving, and engineering. The cornerstone of the program is its Core Values, which emphasize friendly sportsmanship, learning, and community involvement.

Each yearly challenge has two parts, the Project and the Robot Game. Working in teams of three to ten children and guided by at least one adult coach, teams have eight weeks to:

•    Build an autonomous robot to carry out pre-designed missions in 2 minutes and 30 seconds
•    Analyze, research and invent a solution to a real world problem

The culmination of all that hard work for many teams is the participation in an FLL event—much like a high-energy sporting event. Referees monitor and score the Robot Game. Judges review team presentations. An FLL event is a pumped-up environment with music and excitement that celebrates the work the children have done throughout the season.

Starting a robotics program has been a goal of Sister Maureen Glavin since she came to the Academy in 2004—a goal sparked by her own teaching background in math and science and strong personal desire to develop students who are prepared for life in the 21st century.

In August 2008, a pilot club of eight Upper School students began to meet. Led by Science Teacher Carolyn Kelly, Special Projects Coordinator Sister Mary Loretta Busch, and parents Dennis Bouvier, Joe Wolf and Lainie Ives, the group experimented with two different types of Lego Robot kits, explored programming languages, and evaluated online tutorials designed to teach basic programming skills. They set up a playing field and built mission models from a FIRST Lego League kit. Through this pioneering group, mentors and students gained the skills needed to enter the 2009–2010 competition.

Twelve Upper School students participated in the full 2009–2010 Academy Robotics season. Fifth Class students Niles B., Henry C., Robert G. and Peter T. along with Christopher G. and Matthew H. in Eighth formed team 3648, the ARCSBVMπ. Sixth Class students Ryan H., Charlie L. and Mitchell S. and Seventh Class students Jordan H., Elizabeth K. and Rachel W. formed team 7375, the ARC-itechs. Parent Derek Hebda joined the mentors.

The teams met together for two hours each Tuesday afternoon. The first few sessions were devoted to learning how to program a robot to perform simple tasks, like moving in the shape of a square, following a black line, and turning when it bumped into an obstacle.

Early in September, FIRST announced the 2010 challenge,  “Smart Moves—Transforming Transportation.” Each team was given a Lego kit and instructions to build bridge models, retaining walls, warning beacons, a crash test truck and a “spinny thing” called a dynamometer for their 4-by-8-foot playing field.

The students discussed the 10 possible missions their robot could complete. Should they try to launch the crash test truck? Deliver the four passengers safely to the target spot? Get over the spinny thing and push down the sensor walls? Grab the colored loops and bring them back to base?

The ARC-itechs decided to attempt to cross over the dynamometer (that spinny thing). After all, if they could just reach the back left corner, there were lots of easy points to earn. They tried a three-wheeled robot. They tried a four-wheeled robot. They tried combinations of large and small wheels. They even tried crawler tracks. They added Saturday pizza and programming sessions to their busy schedules. But with just a few weeks to go before the Nov. 22 Regional Qualifier competition, they were still stuck. Some designs delivered more power but less accuracy in turns. Both qualities were needed to get past the dynamometer without incurring penalties for knocking over warning beacons.

At a Saturday session, the group decided to take a different direction. They subdivided into three programming pairs. Each worked on a new mission. As one pair planned, another pair programmed, and the third tested the robot.

Student Rachel W. explained, “The biggest challenge our team had to overcome was figuring out what design to use. Everyone wanted to have the robot do specific things and it was sometimes difficult to incorporate some of what everyone wanted to do into one particular design. It was also hard when you would work on a design for a really long time and have it not work. I learned that you have to be patient when someone is working on the robot and use your time constructively.”

Sixth grader Charlie L. added, “The first couple of robot arm designs worked, but they didn’t accomplish what we wanted them to. We were all willing to share ideas to come up with a plan that would work the way we wanted.”

Through this cooperative trial-and-error, the team developed three successful programs. After explaining their process to the robot design judges at the Regional Qualifier, they earned the FLL Gracious Professionalism Award for outstanding teamwork.

The ARCSBVMπ group quickly mastered the challenge of collecting a colored loop. Then they developed an innovative way for the robot to reach the target spot at the end of the match by crashing through two access markers. However, at the qualifying tournament, the team learned that due to an unexpected interpretation of the game rules, they had to find a new  solution. Undaunted, they used their free minutes to reprogram the robot.

Parent Kevin Tollefson commented,  “I saw [my son] reach a new level of maturity during his time in robotics. It may have been coincidence, but his math skills, reasoning and logical thinking became more clear and, as a result, he had a better understanding of the math concepts he was learning in the classroom. I believe that the structured and logical thought processes required for the programming helped to enable this learning. Additionally, Peter, a fifth grader, was able to work with the older students in the eighth grade. Interacting so closely with the older kids helped his confidence level.”

Science faculty member Carolyn Kelly explains that robotics and the Academy science curriculum support and reinforce one another. “Our school espouses inquiry-based science. The curriculum emphasizes problem solving and creative thinking techniques. It’s pretty obvious how this meshes with robotics…it’s about the thinking skills used every day in class.”

There’s more to FLL competitions than the Robot Game. Each team was asked to research a transportation issue in their own community, propose an innovative solution, and share that solution with the community.

The ARC-itechs chose to tackle the problem of idling cars in the carpool line. They researched the amount of gasoline wasted and carbon dioxide produced by a mid-sized car in 10 minutes of idling. They shared their findings in the school newsletter and carried signs through the carpool line, asking parents to consider turning off their cars. They counted idling cars before they began their campaign and three times afterward. They reported that the percentage of idling cars decreased from 61% to a low of 14%! The team took home the first place trophy for research quality at the championship event.

The ARCSBVMπ team chose to evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of public transportation in St Charles. They looked into bus routes and ridership and examined the conditions that make public transportation successful in other cities. They interviewed ASH parent and transportation engineer Shawn Leight, who explained how he evaluates the transportation needs of a community and designs safe and cost-effective solutions. The team wrote a play to present their evidence in the form of a courtroom trial, car vs. bus. ARCSBVMπ won the Creative Presentation Award at the qualifying tournament.

After the season ended, fifth grader Niles B. commented, “The best part of robotics for me was that no matter what, you always have a job to do…For example, one day I would be working on the computer programming; the next day I would be testing the robot’s arm. I would recommend robotics to anyone, especially my friends.”

Parent mentor and Boeing engineer Joe Wolf explained, “I see robotics primarily as a fun way to introduce kids to the basic concept of what engineers do, and secondly to help fill a shortfall in the number of students selecting engineering as a career path. In the near term, I hope we presented students with a fun and educational opportunity, and in the long run planted a seed to a potential career path.”

Sister Busch added, “Robotics teaches the children to think outside of the box, to practice patience with themselves, their peers, and with the robot which needs much fine-tuning. It teaches the children to organize their time. The children are in the process of learning what it means to be part of a team. The ideals of the FIRST Lego League and the Goals of Sacred Heart Education are very similar.”

In late January, the Academy received a $2,400 grant for Robotics from the Pendergast-Weyer foundation located in Kansas City, Mo. The grant included funding for a laptop computer and three new robots, as well as the batteries and educational software needed to operate them. Student Christopher G. commented, “Because of the grant,  more kids will be able to program and work on the robots.” Ryan H. added, “Having the additional robots and laptops will allow us to spend even more time programming and testing since we won’t have to wait for another group to finish using it before we can get to work.”

FIRST Lego League recently announced next year’s challenge topic—“Body Forward: Engineering Meets Medicine.” It will be fascinating to see what the 2010–2011 Academy Robotics teams will accomplish!