Summer 2010

Great discussion of `Fundamental Principle of Robotics'.  Students seemed excited, engaged, interested in the topic.  One group managed to navigate a complicated maze using a robust wall-following algorithm.  Another group ambitiously tried to implement both motorized ultrasound scanning and mapping--ultimately the program was too large to compile successfully.

Group dynamics are problematic.  Both 2009 and 2010 had one of the four groups deteriorate due to frustration and incompatibility.  Limited time added extra stress and strain to the activity, detracted from learning basic lessons.

Apparent sources of frustration:
  1. too few robots; poor sharing between groups
  2. conflicts within groups; stuents don't work together effectively
  3. inadequate materials; hardware doesn't perform as expected, software is difficult to work with
  4. poor performance; task is challenging, and it is extremely difficult to rectify theoretical design with physical limitations
  5. too little time; ambitious groups did not have time to debug and test thoroughly, while slower groups get overwhelmed and discouraged

Proposed solutions:
  1. it would be great to buy two more kits next year
  2. smaller groups might improve the dynamic; extra kits would be required
  3,4,5. with extra time, could include more hands-on instruction and discussion, addressing the challenge of rectifying theory with reality; more time should also alleviate stress, though it introduces additional group management challenges.  More milestones and intermittent instruction / `lessons learned' could help.

Overall, I think the activity was successful.  Sándor offered to have me take a 2-week lecture whenever I am ready.  I think I'd rather run the full-day activity once more and acquire two more kits before I commit to the full 2-week course.