Last week I finished teaching the five-day “Hands-On Robotics for Teens” robotics course at Stanford University. As I thought would be the case, the planned robotic sumo event was the highlight of the week. The winning sumo-bot, “Kill-Dozer,” was a treaded vehicle with a slope that had TECHNIC teeth at the end. The design proved to be very effective, enabling it to win even a “king of the hill” round (i.e., pile all the sumo-bots onto the arena and see who lasts the longest).
The students, each of which had a computer with Internet access, also enjoyed creating robots from Dave Parker’s excellent nxtprograms.com website. We built the Catapult, Modular Test Vehicle, Machine Gun, Rattlesnake, and more. Below are some random pictures I took during the week. Besides enjoying the robots, I also enjoyed the nice weather there: a high of 70s during most of the week!
I think that science competitions are great for kids. They not only help to develop critical thinking and problem skills, but they also introduce kids to the world of science and technology. I really like the Lego Mindstorm NXT kits. They offer all the pieces that you need to create a number of different robots, including robots that respond to sound and movement. My students love them, and so does my son.
Science competitions in general and MINDSTORMS competitions specifically are indeed great for kids. I’m glad to hear your students and your son love NXT robots, and I hope they can learn a lot from them–while having fun!