[chbot] My Arduino robotics class in Korea

[Andrew Errington]

Hi all,

Thank you all for your suggestions a while back for my proposed robotics 
class.  There was a delay due to funding problems, but I have decided to buy 
10 Arduinos, 10 TB6612FNG dual motor drivers on PCBs and 10 Magician chassis.  
I can get all this stuff here, although the driver and the Magician are 
imported from SparkFun and horrifically expensive.  Still, my school wants to 
buy from a Korean supplier (who is importing them).

The Arduino is available in a kit with a handful of parts to experiment with.  
There is enough stuff to introduce Arduino and then make an interesting robot 
that wanders around.

I propose to teach basic stuff step by step.  I don't want to make it too 
boring (too much theory) but I want them to learn some stuff so they can have 
fun doing their own things with confidence.  Here's what I hope to do:

1. Intro to Arduino
Theory: Arduino is a tiny computer. Inputs and outputs. Logical true and 
false.
Practice: Flashing an LED.

2. Digital inputs
Theory: Binary numbers. Digital input. Arduino serial debugging.
Practice: A simple switch input

3. Analog inputs
Theory: Ohm's law. The potential divider.
Practice: Using a potentiometer with the Arduino ADC.

4: Outputs
Theory: Current capability. The transistor as a switch.
Practice: Turning a motor on and off

5. Programming
Theory: Conditionals
Practice: A bump-switch robot.

Each lesson is 45 minutes, and I can't do too much stuff in that time.  Some 
of it ties in with their science classes, so this will be a practical 
demonstration of something they've learned.  I want to have them "do 
something" in each lesson so they can quickly see cause and effect, and the 
relation between something physical happening and its representation inside 
the computer.  Lessons might also expand or contract depending on how it 
goes.

After this series of activities they will have a wheeled robot platform that 
they built and programmed from scratch.  I won't pretend they will understand 
everything about programming or electronics, but I think it's enough to show 
them that it's not mysterious and they *can* learn more.

From that point I will make a light-seeking robot and a line follower (with 
the same components), and I'll try to get feedback from the students about 
what they want to do or see or try.  One of the other teachers at school has 
already suggested our students should take part in a robot contest, before 
we've even started...

Thanks for reading.  Comments and suggestions welcome!

Andrew