Learning Robotics with ROBOTIS DREAM Systems - Softcover

Thai, Chi N

9780999391815: Learning Robotics with ROBOTIS DREAM Systems

Softcover

ISBN 10: 099939181X ISBN 13: 9780999391815

Publisher: CNT Robotics LLC, 2018

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The DREAM II™ (School Set) programmable robotic kit was released by ROBOTIS� in Spring 2018 for the USA market with a cost around $220 US. It is recommended for users at age 8 or older. It comes with instructions to build 23 programmable robot examples and it can be interfaced with two free popular programming tools:1) The first interface uses a ROBOTIS tool called TASK™ which can generate machine code that runs on the robot controller CM-150 allowing it to interact with its built-in NIR sensors and miniature speaker, along with a variety of external actuators and sensors. These TASK codes can be developed on MS Windows� platforms or on iOS� and Android� mobile devices, and they can be deployed via USB (wired) or Bluetooth�.2) The second interface uses the Off-Line version of MIT’s SCRATCH� 2 software to combine the power and multimedia services of a Windows PC with a direct control of the robot controller CM-150 via USB (wired) or Bluetooth and a helper application named R+SCRATCH, provided by ROBOTIS.This book is for you if you are a young robotics enthusiast looking at achieving on your own a firm foundation in robotics design and programming, or if you are an adult investigating the possible use of the DREAM II School Set to help children learn about robotics programming and design. This book will show that this kit can be quite a versatile tool to introduce students from 8 to 12 years old to fundamental concepts in several areas: mechanical design, computer programming, robot control, inter-device commu-nications and multimedia programming for richer story telling.This book consists of 6 chapters:1) Chapter 1 presents an overview of the DREAM II system and its relationship with the SMART III system. The Sense-Think-Act paradigm used in developing the contents of this book is also described in this chapter.2) Chapter 2 describes the hardware and software capabilities of the complete DREAM II system and shows how to get started with the School Set on Windows PCs as well as on Mobile Devices. This chapter also shows how to use the ROBOTIS MANAGER software tool using a basic wheeled robot design.3) Chapter 3 is a substantial chapter providing a gradual but in-depth tutorial about applications of the R+TASK software tool using three robot designs - “Avoider/Follower”, “TriCycle” and “Dowel Scanner”. Topics included autonomous-behavior and remote-control algorithms, communications and audio programming techniques. PC and Mobile uses of the TASK tool are developed in this chapter.4) Chapter 4 is also another substantial chapter mirroring the instructional approach and topics devel-oped in Chapter 3 but now using the R+SCRATCH/SCRATCH 2 tool chain and its multimedia and event programming features.5) Chapter 5 presents mechanical design concepts inherent in the mechanical components provided in Level 1 of the “complete” DREAM II system (i.e. non-programmable), with the goal of helping students understand the mechanical design concepts represented in the provided Level 1 example robots and be creative in their own robot designs by showcasing additional mechanical concepts and robot designs.6) Chapter 6 provides a closer look at select programmable robots provided in the School Set (i.e. Levels 2 and 3) to explain their hardware/software features and to offer suggestions to expand some selected robots beyond their original designs or solutions.This book also provides appropriate source codes and tutorial videos (via YouTube�) to illustrate the presented concepts, along with review questions to help students master learned materials. Please visit www.cntrobotics.com/dreambook for access options to the source codes and tutorial videos.

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From the Author

This book came about from my experiences in teaching Introductory Robotics to middle school students through weekend training in the Duke TIP program at The University of Georgia (2009 to 2016) and also for two programs organized by the Georgia Center (2011-present): Summer Academy (SAUGA- georgiacenter.uga.edu/youth/summer-academy/robotics-1) and Weekend Robotics Experience (WRE -georgiacenter.uga.edu/youth/robotics-programs).

Back in 2010-2011, we were using the OLLO BugBot (youtu.be/YrHwCo4aia0) and currently we use the DREAM System for the week-long Summer Academy and the PLAY 700 system for the WRE. I use a combination of the Reactive Control and Event Programming approaches to help students develop a problem solving procedure to be used from the analysis of the robotic challenge requirements, through the coding steps and to the robot performance evaluation phase. The unique feature of our programs is the emphasis on recognizing the effects of communication hardware and software upon the robot run-time performance. I used several "educational patterns" described in Joseph Bergin's book (amazon.com/Pedagogical-Patterns-Educators-Joseph-Bergin/dp/1479171824), in particular the "Spiral" pattern, to create instructional materials and to develop my teaching style.

About the Author

I am an engineer by training (B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, and Ph. D. in Agricultural Engineering). I have retired from 31 years of teaching and research at the University of Georgia (College of Engineering) in Educational Robotics, Multi-Spectral Imaging Applications for Plant Health Monitoring and Horticultural Products Quality Characterization, and also in the area of Agricultural Systems Modeling and Simulation.
In 2015, I published with Springer the 1st Edition of "Exploring Robotics with ROBOTIS Systems" which was written for university level engineering students. In late 2016, I started to improve it based on readers feedback and using recent ROBOTIS hardware and software updates. The 2nd Edition was released in early August 2017 for both hard-cover and e-book versions.
In September 2017, I published "Learning Robotics with ROBOTIS PLAY Systems" and in February 2018, I published "Learning Robotics with ROBOTIS DREAM Systems". Both books were written for middle school students. I hope that these books will serve as a good foundation in robotics for these students.
I also do face-to-face training at the UGA's GA Center via weekend programs (georgiacenter.uga.edu/youth/robotics-programs) and summer camps (georgiacenter.uga.edu/youth/summer-academy/robotics-1).
I am planning on writing a few additional books in Educational Robotics in the future.

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