Virtual Machine Shop -

Welcome to the Virtual Machine Shop
Machine tool training and instruction online

Click here for a library of topics

The Virtual Machine Shop (VMS) is a web site dedicated to the perpetuation of machine tool knowledge and training. This project is designed and maintained by volunteers from industry and academia and is free to everyone. Please feel free to learn here. Please feel free to teach here. The VMS is supported by donations (a donation of as little as $2.00 helps keep this site going).

via jjjtrain.com

Great resource for machine shop training.

Posted via web from Reflexions

TEES - TRC: Shop and Tool Safety Training

Course Description: This course will provide a basic overview of the hazards involved with use of shop equipment and tools, and how to reduce the risk of such hazards to acceptable levels.

As a result of this course, trainees will be able to:

• Describe general safety practices to be used when setting up a work area, selection of personal protective equipment, and utilizing tools at the work site.
• Identify hazards and state precaution taken when using electric powered tools, pneumatic powered tools, and fuel-powered tools.
• Identify hazards and state precaution taken when using hand tools, portable power tools, and stationary power tools

via tees.tamu.edu

What do you do for safety training for your students in the class or on the robotics team.? Here is a rescource of Powerpoints and handouts on safety.

Posted via web from Reflexions

Learn SolidWorks

via solidworks.com

Do you need to learn SolidWorks? He is a start with 9 video lessons to learn from.

Posted via web from Reflexions

Anyone Teaching Robotics? Please respond with helpful advice and suggestions.

Anyone Teaching Robotics?

I've been searching for a curriculum and some ideas for teaching robotics.  Im looking to build a course that is half a year of robotics and half a year astronomy.

I haven't found very much so far.  Some stuff at Carnegie Mellon and constant links to Lego products, but not much else.  Im looking to make this an elective the following year and I need to start figuring out how Im going to make this happen.

Some of you must either teach this course or have someone in your school who teaches this course.

I need some help please.

Please note my new school email address is nmorgan@eanesisd.net. 

Posted via email from Reflexions

Need team building ideas for your robotics team? Great Resource for any team or group.

Teampedia is a collaborative encyclopedia of free team building activities, free icebreakers, teamwork resources, and tools for teams that anyone can edit!
This site is designed for a wide audience including: team leaders, trainers, teachers, managers, camp directors, counselors, and youth groups.

Begin by browsing for games and activities below or read more about the mission, goals, and history on the About Teampedia page.

 

I used several activities today in my robotics classes from Teampedia today.   It was a fun Friday in class today.

Posted via web from Reflexions

The STOMP Network - What is STOMP? STEM Mentoring for younger students.

What is STOMP?

 

Overview

STOMP stands for the Student Teacher Outreach Mentorship Program. The STOMP model is designed to create partnerships between STEM "experts" and K-12 classrooms to assist K-12 teachers in developing and implementing interactive STEM lessons. Through this model, "experts" in the form of university students, high school students, and industry employees collaborate with K-12 educators to develop curriculum and resources aiding the long-term sustainability of STEM education. K-12 teaches benefit from the partnership by gaining knowledge of STEM concepts, subsequently becoming more comfortable with engineering and implementing engineering-based activities in their classrooms. STOMP participants, or fellows, also benefit in that they are awarded an opportunity to work with their local community gaining communication, teaching, and leadership skills.

 

---

History

via stompnetwork.org

High school students working with elementary and middle school students as mentors in STEM... sounds like a winning combination.

Posted via web from Reflexions

NOVA | The Great Robot Race | PBS

via pbs.org

TV Program Description
Original PBS Broadcast Date: March 28, 2006

The Great Robot Race homepage

Join NOVA for an exclusive backstage pass to the DARPA Grand Challenge—a raucous race for robotic, driverless vehicles sponsored by the Pentagon, which awards a $2 million purse to the winning team. Armed with artificial intelligence, laser-guided vision, GPS navigation, and 3-D mapping systems, the contenders are some of the world's most advanced robots. Yet even their formidable technology and mechanical prowess may not be enough to overcome the grueling 130-mile course through Nevada's desert terrain. From concept to construction to the final competition, "The Great Robot Race" delivers the absorbing inside story of clever engineers and their unyielding drive to create a champion, capturing the only aerial footage that exists of the Grand Challenge.

It would seem that the essentials to road racing are clear—a fast car and talented driver, right? Wrong. The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) turns this assumption on its head with its Grand Challenge, a contest solely for autonomous vehicles that go relatively slowly. Following its success with unmanned aircraft, DARPA is pushing for the same on-ground advantage to keep soldiers out of harm's way. Private Jessica Lynch's ambush in Iraq might well have been avoided if the U.S. Army could have had a robotic supply truck to carry out missions in dangerous zones.

Posted via web from Reflexions

STEMRobotics - STEMRobotics

Media:Steps_to_starting_a_VEX_robotics_program.pdf -- CMU's guide to Starting a Vex Robotics Program.

Media:VEX Robots for Beginners.pdf -- a guide to building VEX robots

Media:VEX for the Technically Challenged.pdf -- a detailed guide on building VEX robots, we use this for the Mentor's class.

Media:Robot Recipes.pdf -- a collection of cool VEX robots that you can build

Media:Clueless Coach.pdf -- timeless tips and ideas on how to be a competition robotics coach

Carnegie-Mellon's Summer Programs for Educators: http://www.education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/content/educators/professional_dev/index.htm

VEX Programming Information about the VEX Programming environments

via stemrobotics.org

Interested in starting a VEX robotics team or club in your school or area? If so, give this site a look for ideas and resources.

Posted via web from Reflexions

Robotics Help: NXT and RobotC for the FIRST Tech Challenge

NXT and RobotC for the FIRST Tech Challenge

-->

This Page Was Last Updated Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:01:58 GMT

    This website is being created to help those who are trying to program the LEGO NXT brick with Robot C. The website is a work in progress and we are looking for contributions of material (many pages show Under Construction). We appreciate any comments from those who try to use the site and we hope you will let us know where you have difficulties with it (submit your comments to jensn058@hsd.k12.or.us OR domesd@hsd.k12.or.us). We are high school students in a Robotics class and we are entering the First Tech Challenge. As an FTC team we are hopeful that this site is helpful to you.

via webclass.superquest.net

This site contains instructions and setup for RobotC with LEGO NXT kit. It is geared toward First Technical Challenge Robotics Contest.

Posted via web from Reflexions

Building a Structure With Legos: Oral Communication and Process Analysis - An Educator's Reference Desk Lesson Plan

Submitted by: Carol Szabo
Email: CBS53@aol.com
School/University/Affiliation: Elgin Community College

Date: February 22, 1999

---

Grade Level(s): 9, 10, 11, 12, Higher Education

Subject(s):

• Language Arts/Listening Comprehension

Duration: 45 minutes

Description: Students team up with a partner. They set up their work area so they are sitting back to back and cannot see each other's work space. Each partner gets a bag of lego pieces (both partners have the identical pieces). They take turns building a structure and giving directions to their partners to build the identical structure. Compare and discuss. Do the activity at least twice per person.

Goals: Students will become aware of the pitfalls of communicating both orally and in written expression. They will realize the importance of transitional expression, specific details, order and clarity when attempting to communicate. Also, realizing the importance of audience--how this influences the language used. Use as an intro to writing a process analysis.

Objectives: Students will be able to improve on their skills as the lesson progresses. The better their partner does constructing the legos according to the instructions given, the better job the partner is doing giving the directions.

Materials: baggies of lego pieces---each team must have identical pieces in their bags.

Procedure:
1. Give each team materials.
2. Position themselves so they cannot see each other's work space---back to back works well.
3. One member builds a structure from his pieces.
4. He then gives the partner oral instructions on how to duplicate his structure.
5. Neither may look at each other's work until the end of the exercise.
6. The person building cannot ask questions---just must follow directions.
7. Compare structures and then switch roles.
8. Do the activity at least twice.

Assessment: How well the structures are duplicated will give insight into the ability of the students to communicate effectively. Discuss the problems that came up and how to solve them. Apply the discussion to writing a process analysis--- what points are important to remember?

via eduref.org

Great idea that is simple to use with students to work on listening comprehension and effective communication skills.

Two skills any student can improve on.

Posted via web from Reflexions

Robotics Presentation - Lower Merion Portable Inspiration Project | Technology Student Association

The presentation is introduced with a slide show by advisors Rich Kressly and Mark Piotrowski. Then students are divided into groups and rotate through various stations entitled, “Simple Machines,” “Robots in Our World,” “Lower Merion Robotics,” “Teamwork,” and hands-on competitive experiences with operating VEX robots. Each station lasts about 5-7 minutes long and is run solely by the LMHS Technology and Engineering Club students. “When we use Portable Inspiration as a workshop package for elementary schools, we include the teacher at the end of a session by having him/her drive one of our 120-pound robots in front of the class. Each teacher leaves with a CD of files for follow up with the class on teamwork, simple machines, and robotics,” Mr. Kressly said.

via tsaweb.org

Robotics team students teaching younger students at elementary and middle schools with hands on learning experiences. All participants learn through this process.

We need more opportunities in our school systems utilizing this method of teaching and inspiration.

Posted via web from Reflexions

masterymaze - COOL TOOLS PRESENTATION

Details	last edit Dec 5, 2008 11:13 am by masterymaze - 47 revisions
Tags	none Type a tag name. Press comma or enter to add another.	Cancel

 Cool Tech Tools for Teachers April 2008.ppt

Original Creation by Susan Palmer, April 2008

Revised for ACS Conference Training October 2008. If you are using a hard copy of this presentation, begin in the wiki at www.masterymaze.com.

Today we will take a look at some cool tools. Please explore these in order presented, if possible. While some of them are "processing", you can go to the next and explore that as well!

PREFACE--A word about Schoolwires! I LOVE our website created in Schoolwires. It has become the platform for my online presence and my students love it! It is a great place to add cool tools to your instructional resources! Here's a peek at my schoolwires site!

I will not talk about podcasting today, however it has been the tool I have used most this past year. I will mention Camtasia Studio as my number one tool, and ask you to look to the podcast presentations and resources on this site after the presentation for more info! My "masterycast" podcasts are in the Subjects section of www.masterymaze.com.

Here we go...

via masterymaze.wikispaces.com

A great resource page with examples of how to engage students in your classroom with cool tools as Susan Palmer refers to them. Many of them are Web 2.0 that many educators are already using. If you are using them already, you might get a new idea or even post your examples as well.

We need more Susan Palmers in the classroom.

Posted via web from Reflexions

Competitive Robotics allow students to learn with hands on activities

On Sept. 3, the school’s team will head to UAB for the annual kickoff. There, they will receive a kit with materials to build their robot, which must perform an unknown task. They will have 42 days to design and build the robot before returning to the college to compete.

“This is abstract thinking,” LeCroy said. “They’ve got to take a clean sheet of paper, figure out how to make it work, and then make it work. The best one wins. In the real world, the best one gets the money.”

The team will consist of every division one would find in a real-life company — engineering, mechanics, sales and marketing, spirit and sportsmanship, and of course, a CEO. Teachers will function as the board of directors, and mentors will be real engineers who are willing to come in and work with the students.

via clantonadvertiser.com

BEST Robotics will be kicking off on different dates for each of the hubs. Capital BEST in Austin, Texas will be holding Kickoff on September 13 at Anderson High School with the contest to be held on October 24 at Westlake High School's Ninth Grade Center.

Know any engineers, web designers, computer programmers or any other individuals for that matter who want to mentor a team? Feel free to contact me for more information.

Posted via web from Reflexions