Day 5, Continue Research

Today, we continued researching the regional sites. We had difficulty with the wireless connection to the network. I wired some of the computers using a hub. Some of the students repaired the connection while some of the students went to the Commons to be closer to the wireless hub.
I informed the girls in the classes of the potential connection to UT and NASA. The girls seemed very excited about the potential.

Day 4, Begin Research

Today we will finish the Discovery Video on First Robotics. The students will begin researching teams' websites. Each pair of students will research a regional site. They will create a presentation on the team websites they visit. We will begin presentations next Wednesday. The students will research today, Friday and Tuesday. The presentation will include unique ideas they found on the team websites as well as minimum team requirements of a team.
On Wednesday afternoon, I confirmed the reception with Solidworks on September 5th. Tim and I will attend the reception. Solidworks will be celebrating their 25th anniversary.

Day 3, August 29 - Beginning Brainstorming

We finished watching the Discovery Video First Robotics 2005 Championship in Houston. After the video was over we discussed themes, robot names, colors and uniforms. This was a basic exercise in brainstorming.

I received several emails today concerning the class and the competition. Kevin Sevcik from Houston sent me a list of robotics materials to start with along with a competition for us to have.

One of my students had a contact with ARM here in Austin. Mr. Morris emailed me wanting to visit more with me about the program. I also called Solidworks about the reveal/celebration of their new release next Wednesday. Tim and I will be going to the event. I visited with Brad Crabtree from Solidworks about our program and the possibility of sponsorship and/mentors.

I also received an email from Cheryl Miller, a contact of Ray Almgren's. She forwarded my contact information to the Robotics and Automation Society. They helped Anderson last year in their first year of operation.

All in all, a very productive day for the Robotics program.

Day 2, August 28, 2007

We watched the First Robotics special by Discovery on Google Videos today. The students began to turn in their surveys and information sheets. We stopped the video without about 10 minutes left in class for discussion. The excitement of the contest and inspiration was exciting for the students to watch.

I announced the possibility of Hill Country Middle School's shop as a possible location for our building of the FRC robot. They were excited to hear of a possiblity for a shop location. I also announced that I had heard from Greg Young with Best Robotics. We are on the waiting list for the Capital Best Robotics Competition. They are hosting a training on September 8th for sponsors, mentors and coaches. Tim and I are planning on attending.

Linda Rawlings and I visited about the past few days and the updates I had for her. We discusssed the importance of a shop on campus for the students to work in. We also discussed the VEX kits and how I would implement them. We are going to purchase 4-8 kits for the students to begin to practice building. WHS will host a mini-competition between teams of our students. I will use a 6 week plan similar to the FRC so they will get used to the time frame.

Stephen Shands and I visited about our California trip. We will go out on October 10th. Our initial plans are to visit three schools: Poway, Mt. Carmel and High Tech High. Kara Wolf, Stephen and Suzanne Summers will visit the Biotech classes while I visit with the Robotics instructors.

Time to get ready for day three.

First day of class

We began classes today. I had two classes of Robotics today. First period has 2o students including 19 seniors and one junior. Second period has 15 students all of which are seniors.

I introduced the concept of Robotics and First Robotics Competition. We discussed the apsects of the contest and the competitions we will participate in this year. The students were very excited about the course.

Students received an information form to fill out concerning the class.

Tomorrow is the day!

School starts tomorrow. The classroom is all setup and as ready to go as it can be.

Today, I received a call from the First Robotics Regional Director from Houston. We visited for over an hour on the phone. She was a wealth of information. All three of her sons participated in FRC when they were in High School, in fact they are all still involved with the program. Robotics mom instead of soccer mom. I will need to find some Computer Moms and Dads here in Westlake.
She put my mind more at ease about the competition in the Spring. The contest will be the 4th weekend of March at the Merrill Center in Katy, Texas. We can also attend more than one regional but they must be two weeks apart so we can get the Robot returned and then shipped to the next event.

The most important piece of information I received was about the building of the Robot. If we do not finish before the ship date, go ahead and ship the Robot. Teams will help make final touches to the Robot at the Regional competition. First Robotics is truly about making the entire program better. One example is what they called gracious professionalism.

Dr. Woodie Flowers, FIRST National Advisor and Pappalardo Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, coined the term "Gracious Professionalism."

Gracious Professionalism is part of the ethos of FIRST. It's a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community.

With Gracious Professionalism, fierce competition and mutual gain are not separate notions. Gracious professionals learn and compete like crazy, but treat one another with respect and kindness in the process. They avoid treating anyone like losers. No chest thumping tough talk, but no sticky-sweet platitudes either. Knowledge, competition, and empathy are comfortably blended.

In the long run, Gracious Professionalism is part of pursuing a meaningful life. One can add to society and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing one has acted with integrity and sensitivity.

Teams compete at a high level but not at the expense of their fellow competitors or community. John Sperry from Anderson High School has already demonstrated this aspect in his willingness to volunteer his knowledge and offer his input as well as advice about his program.

We need to order some VEX kits and begin to work with them in the class. The VEX controller will be used in the FTC as well as the FRC.

First year teams can qualify for the National Competition in two ways: qualifying for nationals by winning the regional or winning Rookie of the Year as Anderson High School did this past year. You can also apply to go to the National Championships by applying. Applicants are chosen on a Tier system. We would be in Tier 1 since this is our first year to compete. Of course, you would still have to pay the entry fee.

She advised looking at Team Delphi website for resources. They have an unbelievable program.

T Minus Two Days!

I worked in the classroom today trying to get it ready. I wish I had more time to be ready for Monday. The room looks so bare and sterile. The Mindstorm kits are still in the boxes but that is by design. When it comes time to open them up, I want the students to have some of the fun in that part. I got stools delivered on Friday afternoon. We now have a place to sit while we work on the labtops. The gas jets have been removed from the desktops. Twenty students will be tight in the room but we will make it work.

Jeff Steimle sent me two emails today. He sent a link for a Youtube video on a Mindstorms in Action that makes small Lego cars.

I am glad to see Jeff excited about the Robotics. I invited him to participate in our program. I know he has some expertise we could tap into. In addition to the link he sent above, he also said he was installing the Mindstorm software on the laptops on Sunday. He plans on delivering the computers on Monday morning.

I called John Sperry, adviser from Anderson High School. Check out their Robot on youtube; Austin TinCans. He and I had a good conversation. I appreciate his willingness to help and provide feedback and support. John suggested we participate in the Best Robotics, Inc competitions this fall to get the students excited about competition and motivated. I will have to do some research into this competition. His idea was to have the students compete in teams in my classes. Project management was a key factor to their success this past year. By the way, Austin TinCans were the Rookie of the Year in the First Robotics Contest. I look forward to our continued relationship.

Tonight, I looked at the Lego Mindstorms book, BoeBot Book and Mobile Robots Book.

More work to do tomorrow at school to be ready for Monday.

Norman, have an open mind!

Wow, what an interesting close the summer. Last Wednesday, Linda Rawlings gave me a call about my teaching assignment for the upcoming year. The offer was for me to take over the Robotics classes. I knew that I was being considered earlier but thought it had all been worked out. What a big surprise. Now I have two new classes to teach as well as develop the curriculum for both classes. The other class is an Intermediate Science class. I will be working with students on preparing for the TAKS tests in the Intermediate Science class.
But back to the Robotics. Where do I start? What do I need? Who do I call? I began my research on the internet almost immediately. We have Lego Mindstorm NTX kits and BoeBots kits for the class. I began looking at the First Robotics site for information concerning the contests. It is a bit overwhelming but I am very excited.
Tim Jordan will be assisting me with the robotics team. He is an engineer who was recently hired to teach Physics at Westlake High School. We will have 35 students in the Robotics class for the inaugural year.

Today, Tim and I met with Ray Almgren from National Instruments for lunch. We visited about all aspects of the Robotics curriculum, contests, needs and plans for the future. He attended the FRC National Competition this past spring. He said it was so exciting. In our discussion, he gave us the names of two team leaders here in Austin, John Sperry from Anderson High School and Tony Bertucci from LASA, LBJ High School. I look forward to visiting with these two team leader/teachers.

Dr. Wellman and Linda Rawlings have discussed trips for me to take to find out more information about the contests as well as the curriculum. We are making plans to visit Poway and Mt. Carmel in the San Diego area. I visited both of these schools this past year on our site visit to California. Little did I know at the time that I would be actually teaching the course.

You must always be careful what you ask for. The past few years, I have been saying that I wanted to teach something new. Well I got my wish and then some.

Come on along for the ride.