Vex Starter Kit Curriculum Guide
The following syllabus is designed for use with the VEX starter
kit only
This is a multiyear project that teachers will get upgrades to over the course
of the project.
Time Allocated | Curriclum
Material |
Two days | Introduction
to Engineering –
a. What is Engineering?
(This set of concepts will be revisited
many times over the semester)
i. What is Engineering?
PowerPoint/Engineering
101
ii. Definitions
of Engineering PDF/Project
Management
iii. Engineering
Process PDF/Project
Management
iv. Have students
write their definition of what an engineer is or what an engineer does.
This introductory lesson will be reviewed as needed.
Extension Activity – Reverse Engineering Activity
|
Three days | Introduction
to VEX Systems –
A system is a group of parts which accomplish a task.
a. System Overview Hardware/Overview
Click the link and you will have an opportunity to see Vex in terms of
systems.
b. Unpack and store the kit Hardware/Unpacking
the Kit (This will be important for you to establish good cleanup
and storage procedures from the first day the kit is opened)
c. Test the kit – Build
the test bed that will allow students to see how the controller, crystal,
battery pack, motors, and remote control work together.
Homework – Have students find a complex piece of machinery and
identify the sub-systems that make the machine. Students are responsible
to present their machine to the class.
|
Two weeks | Rube
Goldberg Challenge –
Introduce the challenge, how to work in teams, and how to brainstorm before
you divide students into teams.
a. Rube Goldberg resources
i. Rube
Goldberg PDF/Engineering 101
ii. Rube
Goldberg Mechanism Video/Engineering 101
iii. Lab
Grading Sheet/Rube Goldberg Mechanism/Engineering 101
b. Working in Teams 1- day
i. Working
in Teams PowerPoint/Engineering 101
ii. Team
Building PDF/Engineering 101
iii. First
Team Meeting PDF/Engineering 101
c. Brainstorming 1-day
i. Brainstorming
PowerPoint/Engineering 101
ii. Brainstorming
Primer/Curriculum/Project Management
iii. Problem
Solving Strategies/Curriculum/Project Management
Divide students into engineering teams
a. Project Management 1-day
i. Using Gantt
Charts PDF
Curriculum/Project Management
ii. Master
Schedule PDF
Curriculum/Project Management
iii. Assign
students teams to solve the Rube Goldberg challenge. Each team is responsible
to turn in a completed Gantt chart.
Schedule the date of the challenge
i. Prepare
for the challenge
ii. Host the
challenge
iii. Score
the results of the challenge
Debrief with students – 1 day
i. Review
working in teams/brainstorming and talk about what worked and what didn’t
work.
ii. Review
what engineering is and how this activity related to engineering.
iii. Assign
students to write a summary of what they will do to improve team dynamics
with the next problem solving activity.
Homework assignment – Assign students to write a report about the
difference types of energy: (Potential, Chemical, Elastic, Gravitational,
Nuclear, Heat, Kinetic, Electrical, Electro-magnetic...)
Have students sketch ideas of their Rube Goldberg mechanism and share
ideas with the class.
|
Two weeks | Introduction
to programming the VEX remote control –
When you begin the Vex remote control lesson
you have the choice of either having students program with the Remote
Control Testbed or with Squarebot. Both work, the difference involves
whether you are interested in having your students build mobile robots
or mechatronic systems. Squarebot takes longer to build, but you can also
use it for the “how signals are sent lesson.”
a. Build squarebot – remote
control/build squarebot
b. Learn to program the radio for multiple
configurations.- remote control/lessons/
i. Config
menu
ii. Reverse
menu
iii. Scale
menu
iv. Edit
PT menu
v. Trim
menu
vi. P.
Mix menu
vii. Drive
menu
c. Have students complete teacher-designed
obstacle course to demonstrate their radio programming ability
|
Note to the teacher:
There are many types of design activities that you can pursue from here. The Vex
controller provides a control tool that can be used for mobile robots, automated
work cells, smart houses, student designed burglar alarms. ,etc. In the Engineering
101 section of the curriculum you will find an automated hot-dog maker that we
developed with a group of teachers – Curriculum/Engineering 101/Brighton
Hot Dog Challenge. You will find a video of a working model on the same page –
Vex Hot Dog Maker. This is a good point to discuss design reviews.