Vex Robotics Unit

 

TEACHER TUTORIAL: Your First Blocks Project in VEXcode IQ (2nd gen) - teacher tutorial from VEX PD; good info for you before you get started with your kids.

COMPETITION BUILD INSTRUCTIONS: VEX IQ build instructions

1. VEX IQ - Getting Started - best short video
2. Coding in VEX IQ part 1 (Drive code) - how to program Misfire, Swish, choo choo, or any Catapult - hipster robotics guy, and students may like him; he’s using more sophisticated VEX robotics, although the coding may be the same.
3. How to Drive and Code a VEX IQ Robot- step-by-step, but not too engaging.
4. VEXcode IQ Blocks - “Getting Started” Tutorial - short overview

1. Build your Basebot

2. Connect your robot to VEXcode

• Plug in or connect the controller

• Make sure it shows as connected

3. Open a BaseBot example project

• File → Open Examples

• Choose BaseBot (Drivetrain 2 Motor)

4. Add movement code

• How many seconds will you set?

• Where do you predict your robot will stop?

5. Download and run your program

• Click Download

• Click Run (or press play on robot)

Carnegie Mellon University Lesson

Missing/Incomplete Work in STEM

Students and Parents,

As we are about to move completely into the Wood Shop, I have a lot of diverse assignments being done all at the same time. I keep PowerSchool updated to the second. When a student demonstrates mastery, I immediately enter the grade into PowerSchool. Please make sure that you're both checking for missing and incomplete work by going to https://sis.k12albemarle.org/public/home.html and clicking on the Q2 grade for my class regularly. Right now, you SHOULD see something that looks like this:

If you see a yellow exclamation mark, it means that the entire assignment is Missing, while a half-full blue circle indicates that the assignment is Incomplete and part of it is still missing and needs to be made up. If it's not marked with one of those, it's not something that can be made up. 

Students can sign up for my STING on Wednesday mornings between 10:36 and 11:16 on PowerSchool Adaptive Scheduler, during Advisory. They can also request that I pull them before my STINGs fill up. If you see either of these two symbols for any assignment on Q2, please encourage them to do that! 

It is the student's responsibility to use STING to catch themselves up on work that they are missing, whether it's due to absence or due to not completing it in class on time.

Thanks for your help at home! I hope this helps keep you informed and helps you see how I keep students informed of their progress in their STEM classes here at Henley!

CADding lumber

How to measure with a tape measure

First, you need to know how to measure with a tape measure. I have a lot of them in my Measurement Drawer. You will need to measure all the wood that we have in the shop: 2x4s, 2x6s, plywood sheets, and more!

We will be drawing an enlarged inch, to scale, on an actual board. 

And then you will be marking some lengths, using a tape measure, a pencil, and a speed square:

Once you have correctly and confidently measured using these tools, you are ready to start CADding wood on TinkerCad! Think about how many different sizes of wood that we have piled in the Shop from Cardinal Home Center (for benches and picnic tables) and Better Living (for H.O.W.S. doghouses)!

So why is a 2×4 smaller than 2 inches by 4 inches?

When lumber is first cut from a log, it really is close to 2 inches by 4 inches. But that’s when it’s freshly sawn and full of moisture — what we call “green” wood.

Before it’s ready for use, that lumber goes through two important steps:

• Kiln drying, which removes moisture and naturally causes the wood to shrink.
• Planing (surfacing), which smooths rough edges for consistent size and a clean finish.

By the time it’s ready for your next home project, that 2×4 now measures about 1½ inches by 3½ inches — a standard size used across the industry.

What About Length?

Good news! When you buy lumber labeled 8, 10, or 12 feet long, that’s exactly what you get. The lengths are true to size even though the thickness and width are nominal.

And thanks to U.S. lumber grading rules, those finished dimensions are consistent everywhere — no matter which mill produced them.

On TinkerCad, create a 3d design. Call this design your username and the word lumber (Ex: jwb2f Lumber). Click [Settings] to make sure that you are in Metric and not in Imperial. Your [Snap Grid] should read 1mm. You are going to make a scale model of the wood that we will use, where 1 mm on TinkerCad will be equal to 1" (one inch) in real life.

Start with the 2x4. You will need to measure it in 3 dimensions. Length, Width, and Height. The length will be VERY long, a LOT of inches! Remember that 1' (one foot) is 12" (twelve inches) long!

What other pieces of wood do we have in there? Measure them all!

Finally, in one of my classes, we will rip-cut a 2x6 all the way down the length, so the width will be half the inches. You can copy and paste your 2x6 and then change the width.

Check your table team's work. You will all come up at the same time for me to check and give you a grade. You won't get a second chance, so make sure you all have the same answer, and you are all confident that it's correct!

The goggle sanitizer is where you put your safety glasses at the end of class.

This is the measurement drawer. Make sure it looks like THIS at the end of class!

If we're using box cutters, you have to put yours IN MY HAND at the end. DO NOT leave them laying around when you are responsible for them!

How to use 3d printers and lasercutter in the Barber Shop

 3d printing on a Prusa

1. Click on PrusaSlicer

2. Pull out the SD card, plug it into the Vanja “Thumb Drive” and plug that into the computer.

3. Click on Add.

4. Find your .STL file in the 00001BARBERTECHNOLOGYFOLDER without typing (the list SHOULD be in ABC order … double-click or click and open.

5. Click Slice Now in the Bottom Right corner.

6. Click Export GCODE in the Bottom Right corner.

7. Find “USB Drive” on the left side to save it in. (Save)

8. Click the Eject Button (NOT THE X).

9. Remove the Vanja and SD Card and put them back where you got them (Vanja Thumb Drive goes back in the Orange Tray & SD Card goes back in the Prusa- MAKE SURE THE METAL IS FACING YOU.

10. Turn the knob clockwise until it points > to your file and then poke it in quickly like a button. DO NOT HOLD IT IN TOO LONG.

Lasercutting on a Universal Systems Laser

PROTOTYPES ON CARDBOARD MUST BE APPROVED BEFORE YOU CAN LASERCUT FINAL PRODUCTS ON BIRCH

1. Open your Adobe Illustrator Project. After the previous lasercut is done, click File & Print.

2. On the Print Window, click Print.

3. Click on the red lasercutter icon (next to Adobe Illustrator on the taskbar).

4. If all your lines are bright red and blue, you are ready to move your design. If it is light & gray, STOP & get Mr. Barber! Click on the button with 4 arrows. Some whitesquares will appear. Drag the squares to move your design around. Take care not to miss and accidentally ZOOM in.

5. The “Focus View” button to the left of the “arrows button” will put a red laser pointer dot on the material. Click on all the edges and corners to make sure your design will fit on your material (the top has to be open for the red dot to appear).

6. Once you are sure it will fit, click on the magnifying glass button to change the red “Go” button to “Settings”.

Cardboard Click on the Manual Control Tab: MAKE SURE TO CLICK “APPLY” AFTER EACH ROW	BIRCH, go to Materials Database, then click on + next to Natural + next to Wood + next to Hard Wood Then click on the actual words General Hard Woods Set the thickness to ____ (Calipers???) AFTER YOU HAVE RUN IT ONCE, IT MIGHT NOT HAVE CUT THROUGH!! You might need to run red only again!
Color Mode Power Speed PPI Black Skip Doesn’t matter, just click Apply Blue Rast/Vect 100% 60% 500 Red Rast/Vect 100% 12% 300	7. BASSWOOD, go to Materials Database, then click on + next to Natural + next to Wood + next to Soft Wood Then click on the actual words General Soft Woods Set the thickness to ____ (Calipers???) AFTER YOU HAVE RUN IT ONCE, IT MIGHT NOT HAVE CUT THROUGH!! You might need to run red only again!

You’re ready to lasercut!

8. Shut the lasercutter, and DON’T LET IT SLAM!! 

9. Turn on the fan, by flipping the light switch on the outlet behind the lasercutter. 

10. Click the big, green play button to start it. 

11. Monitor it closely to make sure it doesn’t catch on fire. If it DOES catch on fire … yell, scream, and freak out until Mr. B comes running over. 

12. After the duh-duh noise from previous cuts, the next person can click File >> Print as you can cut off the fan and retrieve your lasercut!!

FIRE??? If it DOES catch on fire … yell, scream, and freak out until Mr. B comes running over. Post-fire, we open the garage door and point every fan OUT. Leave the exhaust fan on, even though we won’t lasercut for a bit!

 3d printing on a Bambu

	On the computer, double-click on “Bambu Studio”		6. Click “Eject”
	On the computer, left-click on “Create New Project.”		7. Click “Eject” again
	On the computer, left-click on the cube/plus button and select your .STL file without typing!!		8. Remove the USB drive and insert it below the screen on the left side
	On the 3d printer, click the 4th button down (that looks like a nut/bolt head)		9. Now you are ready to slice. Use the pull-down menu to change the button to “Slice all,” & then click “Slice all.”
	On the 3d printer, click “USB Storage”		10. Use the pull-down menu to change the button to “Export all sliced file,” & then click “Export all sliced file.”
	11. Export it to the USB drive. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR .gcode FILE’S NAME!		16. Choose your .gcode file.
	12. Click the “Eject” button before removing the USB & reinserting it into the 3d printer.		17. Click “Next” button.
	13. Click the “Home” button.		18. This is how you switch the colors.
	14. Click “Files.”		19. Click the color that you want (Look at the actual spools … they might not match the pics on the screen!)
	15. Click “External.”		20. Then click “Print.” It will take a second before guessing how long the print will take