Artbotics with lego mindstorms (abstract only)
Adam Norton, Holly A. Yanco · 2014
This workshop introduces participants to the Artbotics program, which combines art and robotics to teach students about computer science while creating kinetic, interactive sculptures. The material covered will be provided in introductory fashion, requiring no prior experience with computer science, art, or robotics. The Lego Mindstorms NXT platform will be used to create two projects during the workshop: a spirograph-like drawing produced by programming a car holding a marker to drive using a sequence of motor movements (teaching the need for looping in programming) and an interactive, kinetic sculpture that reacts to sensor input (teaching the need for decisions in programming and building simple mechanisms). Examples of both projects can be seen at youtube.com/artbotics. The workshop will end with a short discussion of lessons learned and best practices, using examples from previous Artbotics programs for a variety of ages. Topics will include appropriate time frames, how to best use limited resources, and appropriate levels of depth for each age group. The workshop administrators will be providing laptops with the proper Lego Mindstorms NXT software, Lego Mindstorms NXT kits, and all needed building materials.