How to Take Good Photos of LEGOs

I learned a lot of how to take better photos of LEGOs.

New Season for Climate Connections

http://www.firstlegoleague.org/default.aspx?pid=70

Let the new season begin with summer project assignments that will help you prepare for the new challenges. The assignments are not ready yet but they should be ready before the last day of school.

A collection of old video for Nanites's Robots

1. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2878333684982442565&hl=en
2. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6052590439230021451&hl=en
3. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7201057868417850831&hl=en
4. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4438485948573508375&hl=en
5. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5204025358765068785&hl=en
6. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3492848498976757920&hl=en

Some really cool NXT robots...

NXDave has some really cool NXT robots. Check them out.
http://mindstorms.lego.com/nxtlog/projectlist.aspx?memberid=179e28a0-323b-44f2-8cff-9cc088e7879d&username=NXDave

About HTK Open

The Nanites like the HTK FIRST LEGO League International Open. The organizers did a good job in communicating almost every aspect that we need to pay attention to before and during the tournament. Their scoring system for the entire event seems reasonably fair too. Our team did not win any trophy but they were happy to be in the 12th place overall. We had very strong competition within our bracket in our strengths, e.g. team work and programming, so we did not get call backs. We were happy that Brothers Keepers (also in our bracket) got the call back as we bonded with them right from day 1. We also made good friends with other teams such as Some Assembly Required. We were fortunate to be in the same alliance with these two teams, along with Roboloco from Columbia. We did well enough as an alliance to be placed third (out of 16) in that event. We really like the concept of the alliance event and perhaps we can try a mini version of that in Oregon?
The kids visited all other teams and shared our brochures and collected giveaways from them. They played together with many other teams. They had so much fun that sometimes they forgot to come back to practice. I guess that is the spirit of the tournament - have fun and enjoy! Many teams visited us and took photos with us too.
The judges for research, team work and robot design were all very friendly and encouraging. Many teams were very friendly and showed the spirit of FIRST as well. It is indeed a very friendly competition as teams are helping each other. For example, Some Assembly Required offered us parts that we did not bring along.
As for our own team, the only low point is our robot did not perform there, The robot used to score about 390 points failed to score above 300 points in the tournament. Thus the kids have a good lesson.

HTK International Open is Over Today

The Sylvan Nanites were happy to be placed 12th overall (out of 63 teams and 11 countries) with a balanced scores in all categories except that the robot that used to score ~390 points could not run properly on the tables. The kids enjoyed the 2 days of tournaments and met many new friends in very friendly competitions.

Time Limits...

Well, the Sylvan Nanites have now found it possible to accomplish all the missions within 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

Our highest score was 389 (It was actually in 2:32...)

But we also got 385 (2:18 - Our best time!)

Our maximum score is, if you look below, 395, since we took out the coal mission. (We did manage to score 395, but it was over time, so it did not count. Hopefully we can manage to make 395 within the limit, of course)

:)

Less than 1 week to go...

The exciting opportunity to meet with teams from other parts of the world is just 1 week away. The Nanites are still trying to get ready for the opportunity to share the joy of robotics, research and just having fun with other teams participating in the HTK International Open. Time is running out and we have to finalize the research projects, the programs, the missions and the attachments.

We need to get all 5 programs done in two and half minutes! Our best score was 395 points but it took 2 minutes and 49 seconds for that run.

We will get better!

A few tips on debugging

Throughout the years working with the kids and coaches, we have found a few techniques useful for debugging for both RCX and NXT.

1. Add an icon in your program to play a sound when you expect something to happen, then watch the robot's motion to see if the sound is played at the right time.

2. Add a brief case, or a container to store a debug delay time, say, 2 seconds. Add an icon with that delay to locations you want to check proper behavior. For performance runs, you replace the brief case or container with 0 seconds and you get no delay at the table.

3. Use data logging, available for both RCX and NXT, and log the sensor readings or other events to a file and then review the file.

There are certainly many other techniques. But the kids like 1 the most as they can understand it. Some advanced kids can understand and use 2 effectively. Using 3 to debug is too much work for most kids.

Sylvan Nanites Going To FLL International Open

The Sylvan Nanites are invited to FLL Internatianal Open at University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Campus. The FIRST Lego League International Event will be held from May 1 - 3, 2008.

http://www.hightechkids.org/?2-1-1111

Congratulations to the Sylvan Nanites!