Length of program: Feb. 7, 2005 - April 29th,
2005
Meeting time: 1:00-2:00 pm, every Saturday,
starting Feb. 12
Enrollment limit:
Enrollment is limited to 20 participants;
apply early to reserve your seat
Applications must be received by February 19, 2005
How to Apply?
DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM
Students will build and program intelligent robots using the LEGO
Mindstorms Robotics Invention System. Intelligent robots can
navigate obstacles, follow trails, or react to changes in light
detected by their sensors. No programming experience is necessary.
Participants will work in teams. Each team will consist of two
students. A committee of three judges will select the first, second,
and third place winners. Awards, sponsored by the
Corpus Christi
Section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE), will be as follows:
First place winner will receive $200.00
Second place winner will receive $100.00
Third place winner will receive $50.00.
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PROGRAM ACTIVITIES
Students will have the option to either borrow a Lego Mindstorms
kit for the period of the program or buy their own. Participants
will attend an orientation session to go over the major features and
capabilities of the Lego Mindstorms and cover basic programming
techniques. Weekly meetings will be held in the engineering
technology labs to monitor progress of student learning, solve
problems, and share experiences. Participants will be required to
submit a project proposal.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
It is hoped that participants in this program gain technical
knowledge and understanding of both hardware and software concepts
and techniques. By having students work in teams, the activities
provide students with the opportunity to enhance their teamwork
experiences, self-directed learning capacities, and problem solving
abilities. The programming exercises should prove valuable in
students’ college learning experience.
RECRUITING TAMU-CC STUDENTS
This program is open to all TAMUCC students. Given the technical
nature of the project, however, it is expected that a large number
of students will come from the College of Science and Technology,
with the majority of them being in the Department of Computing and
Math Sciences.
OTHER PROGRAM OUTCOMES
It will be useful to know if such activity may be used to recruit
students into science and technology disciplines in general and
engineering technology in particular. Surveys will be used to help
us understand what type of student is attracted to this kind of
activity and how successful the project is in motivating students
and encouraging them to consider majoring in engineering technology.
If this project is successful, the Engineering Technology program
may adopt it to enhance its retention and recruitment efforts. In
such a case, it can become an annual event that requires minimum
resources once the process is in place.
