At a glance
LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT Robotics is for schools that already own NXT robots: Profaqua leads the activity with your equipment, from grade 1 to grade 12. Students learn to program the robot from a computer, a bit like a little Wall-E.
With 3 electric motors and 4 sensors, the robot performs something new at every visit: a hip-hop dance, a sumo battle, finding its way through a maze or a choreography. The project runs over at least two workshops of 60, 75 or 90 minutes in school, or 6 to 10 weeks after school.
Your school already owns LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT robots, but you don’t feel ready to introduce your students to robotics yourself?
This is the project for you.
How about programming a little Wall-E? That is what we offer with the MINDSTORMS® NXT robot.
In this turnkey activity, your young coders learn to program the NXT robot from a computer. With 3 electric motors and 4 sensors, the robot performs something new at every visit: a hip-hop dance, a sumo battle, finding its way through a maze, a choreography workshop…
You will be impressed by your young scientists’ talent!
How it runs:
- In school: from 2 workshops of 60, 75 or 90 minutes.
- After school: 60-minute workshops over 6, 8 or 10 weeks.
Learning goals (elementary)
- Understand how the robot’s parts work together (brick, motors, sensors, frame).
- Understand a programming sequence in the MINDSTORMS® NXT software.
- Recognize rotation and translation in the robot’s movements.
- Identify mechanical parts and what they do (gears, cams, levers).
- Explain why fractions matter in robotics (gear ratios, wheel rotations).
- Recognize the challenges of building a robot (friction, direction, speed).
- Recognize the influence and impact of robots on today’s societies.
Learning goals (secondary)
- Describe what each part of a motion transmission system does (for example, a bicycle’s sprockets and chain).
- Describe how a transmission system changes speed or direction (for example, a 1:3 or 3:1 gear ratio) and how that affects the build.
- Identify motion transmission systems in a robot (friction wheels, pulleys and belt, gears, sprockets and chain, worm and wheel).
- Explain why a given transmission is chosen for a technical object (for example, gears rather than friction wheels for more torque and no slipping).
- Describe the pros and cons of grip and friction between parts and on the ground.
