iRobot Webquest

• Introduction• Task• Process• Evaluation• Conclusion• Credits

•Teacher Page

Introduction

You have been hired by iRobot to design robots. Your first job is to invent a robot or robots to help clean your room.

Task

You will need to create a presentation using Word, PowerPoint, webpages, or posterboards that presents your design(s).

Your job will be to persuade the iRobot Review Board (your classmates) that your design could be built and that the robot(s) would be able to complete the tasks you’ve designed them for. Be sure to read the rubric so you know what is expected of you.

ProcessYou will be working in teams of three.

Part 1

Before you begin, you’ll need some background knowledge about robots.

Find out what a robot is, what kinds of tasks robots are good at and how they work. Write that information down on your work sheet.

http://www.galileo.org/robotics/

http://www.essortment.com/all/whatisrobot_ojq.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_robot

http://www.thetech.org/exhibits/online/robotics/activities/page05.html

What kinds of robots are already cleaning homes? Record this information on your work sheet.

http://www.irobot.com

http://www.service-robots.org/applications/cleaning.htm

http://www.readybot.com/

ProcessPart 2

Decide what task your robot will complete.

•Interview five people and find out what part of cleaning their room is the one they wish they had a robot for.

•Vote on the task you’d like to your robot to complete.

Part 3

You need to figure out what your robot has to do to complete the task.

•Does it need to move through the room or sit still? If it needs to move, will it use wheels? Tracks? Legs or something else? What happens if it falls over?

•Does it need to move things (does it have actuators)? Will it use grippers? Suction cups? What else would work?

•How will it find the things it has to move? What sensors will it have?

•What will give it energy?

•How will it know to do it’s job? Break the task down into detailed steps.

ProcessPart 4

Design your robot. Use the Design Worksheet to track your progress

• What is its job?

• What are its sensors and actuators?

• What will it look like?

• What’s it’s name?

Part 5

• Prepare your presentation

• A good presentation will include pictures, a clear description of the task the robot will do, why this robot is great at its job, and why iRobot should build it.

• Your job will be to give a 3-5 minute presentation to your classmates, the iRobot Review Board.

Evaluation 

Beginning Developing Accomplished Exemplary Score

1 2 3 4  

Process: Worksheet completed

Worksheet not completed - no more than one task, definition or a robot and/or existing robot.

Worksheet not completed - no more than one category completed OR no more three tasks, definitions and or existing robots.

Worksheet completed - Each category has at least four items listed, at least one category completed

Worksheet completed - Each category completed  

Process: Robot task selection

Interview not completed, vote not completed Interview OR vote completed

Interview and vote completed

More than five people interviewed and vote completed.  

Process: Robot design

Worksheet not completed - no category completed, sensors and actuators not listed, no description or sketch

Worksheet not completed - no more than category completed, no more than one or two sensors and actuators listed, no detailed description or sketch

Worksheet completed - Each category has at least four items listed, at least one category completed

Worksheet completed - Each category completed  

Task: Presentation

Design elements are not presented, pictures do not relate to the project and there is no reason for iRobot to build it.

One or two design elements are presented, there is no well presented reason for iRobot to build it. Not very neat or creative.

Three or four design elements are presented, pictures are clear and make sense for the project. The iRobot Design Board is convinced. Neat and creative.

Five or more design elements are presented, pictures demonstrate why the robot is perfect for iRobot. The iRobot Design Board is enthusiastic. Creative and exciting.  

Task: Speaking

Does not speak clearly. Lacks volume and/or rate. many verbal or physical distractions. Does not meet time requirement.

Speaks clearly but lacks consistent volume and rate. Some verbal/physical distractions. Does not meet time requirement.

Speaks clearly at an appropriate rate and volume. Minimal verbal/physical distractions. Meets time requirement.

Speaks clearly at an appropriate rate and volume. No physical or verbal distractions. Meets time requirement.  

Mechanics

Major mechanical errors in grammar, formatting, and spelling.

The final body of work has 3-5 mechanical errors in grammar, formatting, and spelling.

The final body of work has 1-2 mechanical errors in grammar, formatting, and spelling.

The final body of work is free of mechanical errors.  

Conclusion

Now that you’ve designed your robots you may want to talk about other places robots can help make a difference in people’s lives. What kinds of robots do you think people will build in the future?

CreditsWe would like to thank:

•Galileo.org, for a link on page 5. Galileo.org is dedicated to improving student, teacher and leaders learning through creating and researching 21st century learning environments.

•Essortment.com, for a link on page 5. Essortment's mission is to provide high quality free information to web surfers.

•Wikipedia.org, for a link on page 5. Wikipedia is a free web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation.

•The Tech Museum of Innovation for a link on page 5. Their mission is to engage people of all ages and backgrounds in exploring and experiencing the technologies affecting their lives, and to inspire the innovator in everyone.

•The Technical Committee for Service Robots of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society for a link on page 5. They are a  forum for exchange of information related to the design and development of service robots.

•Readybot, for a link on page 5. Readybot is working on a single goal: to create an easy-to-use, modular, off-the-shelf, robotic work platform.

PermissionsWe all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is granted for others to use and modify this WebQuest for educational, non-commercial purposes as long as the original authorship is credited. The modified WebQuest may be shared only under the same conditions. See the Creative Commons Attribution • Non-Commercial • Share-Alike license for details.

Teachers’ Page

This WebQuest was designed for grades 4-6 based on the standards presented by the International Society for Technology in Education (http://www.iste.org/) National Educational Technology Standards (http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=NETS).

The objectives are

-Understanding what a robot is

-Identifying how a robot accomplishes a task

-Understanding the basic technological requirements of a robot