Summer Day Camps in Ohio for Kids Ages 7-13
By the end of 2014, there will be a Boy Scout Merit Badge to coincide with every one of our technology camps: Robotics, Game Design, Animation, and Programming! Here are the details for each badge: Robotics BSA Merit Badge We discussed the Robotics Merit Badge in 2011 when the badge first came out. Little did we know this was going to revitalize the entire Boy Scout Merit Badge collection! Released: April 11, 2011 Link: Requirements Attending a LEGO Robotics camp fulfills the … [Read more...]
It is mid-November, and this past weekend, our Classroom Antics sponsored team, the MindBlasters, took home the Best Robot Design award. The picture of them holding their trophy shows how proud they were of their achievement! I was one of four dads that helped mentor our kids through this big complex competition called FIRST LEGO League (also called FLL for short). This competition can be overwhelming, even for adults. And since our kids were 8-9 years old, they were also the youngest, which … [Read more...]
NASA is getting ready to land on Mars on August 5, 10:31 PM PST. The rover is named "Curiosity", and it's already on its way. This video details the incredible challenges it faces to safely land on the Red Planet. NASA has already sent the space craft with the rover that will ultimately land on Mars. We hope that it lands successfully and in-tact, which is a huge challenge given the complexity of the Mars planet's atmosphere. Seven Minutes of Terror Entry, Descent and Landing (also … [Read more...]
At the Medina Robofest today, I stumbled upon Nate and Jack controlling their LEGO Mindstorms NXT robot with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet running Android. I thought this was the coolest thing, so I asked them how they configured this. To my surprise, they used the built-in Bluetooth module on the NXT brick and a FREE app called NXT Remote Control from the Android Market. How It Works Inside the white intelligent NXT brick is a Bluetooth wireless chip. This chip is standard, so you don't have to … [Read more...]
** Registration for this event starts December 5, 2011. The event is March 3, 2012. Register at Robofest.net. (Special thanks to Deb Allen of the Medina County School's ESC Department for writing this guest article.) Robofest began in 2000, and is a robotics competition sponsored through Lawrence Technological University that targets students in grades 5-12. Students work on teams (2-3 students per team is recommended by Lawrence Tech) to build and program an autonomous robot. Students … [Read more...]
What is FIRST LEGO League FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is an international competition organized by a non-profit group called FIRST for kids (ages 9-14 in the USA and Canada, ages 9-16 elsewhere). In September of each year, FIRST announces a robotics challenge to which a team of kids must find an answer. Each team must use LEGO bricks and robotics to demonstrate the answer. Students then compete against each other in regional competitions, compare ideas, and display their robots. As a LEGO Team … [Read more...]
There are several different versions of the LEGO Mindstorms NXT kits available to buy. Which one should you get? Let's look at our options and decide what's best for you and your child. The first big choice to make is whether to buy the Retail version or Education version. The Retail version (code 8547) is the common store box you see at Toys 'R Us ($329) and Amazon ($274). This version has the LEGO bricks, motors, sensors and software you need to build some awesome robots. This box also has … [Read more...]
On November 18-20, 2011, Abu Dhabi will play host to the 8th annual World Robot Olympiad (WRO). World Robot Olympiad is an event where teams of three students, guided by their teachers and coaches, create, design and build robot models using LEGO Mindstorm NXT that compete in one of three competition categories. This year they anticipate over 35 countries and over 13,000 teams from around the world will take part in WRO activities. However according to the website the United States will not be … [Read more...]
Classroom Antics is very excited that Dexter Industries, a leader in advanced sensors and peripherals for LEGO MINDSTORMS, announced the release of a new sensor for the LEGO MINDSTORMS system. They are releasing a proper 6 Degree of Freedom (DOF) Inertial Motion Unit (IMU) sensor which measures rotation and acceleration of robots built with the LEGO MINDSTORMS system. The sensor is both an accelerometer and gyroscope for the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT. The new sensor can measure acceleration, tilt, … [Read more...]
Scratch is a programming language for kids that makes it easy to create their own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share their creations on the web. It was developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab with the goal of developing a program that was more "tinkerable", more meaningful, and more social than other programming languages. Classroom Antics and the developers of Scratch at MIT have always been intrigued and inspired by the way … [Read more...]
