MindRover Teacher Guide
Robots in education
Robots provide a great platform for studying technology topics in grades 6-12. Designing, building, and analyzing robots can introduce students to topics in mechanics, electronics, software programming, mathematics, logic, algroithmic and analytical reasoning, as well as promote important engineering skills in design, creativity, debug and analysis.
Traditional robot kits focus the students on mechanical design. Students spend their time constructing a robot, trying out different motors, gears, and chassis. The emphasis is on building sturdy mechanics that sense their environment and move accordingly.
A programming and simulation tool, such as CogniToy’s MindRover, focuses the student on the behavior or programming of robot, rather than the mechanics. Students virtually construct a robot very quickly, and then focus on creating the desired behaviors, analyzing and tuning the result. The innovative, graphical programming interface doesn’t require students to know anything about a programming language to successfully program their robot. This is an important addition to the technology curriculum since it provides the fundamentals of software engineering.
Robot simulation tools are generally quite a bit less expensive, take less time for a student to experience success and don’t have parts that can get lost or broken. Many educators are turning to simulation tools as a great way to introduce students to the discipline of engineering on a small budget, or to enhance their already existing technology curriculum to include programming fundamentals.
Recently CogniToy has added the simulation of LEGO RCX brick (from the LEGO MindStorms set) and LEGO sensors to MindRover. MindRover together with the LEGO MindStorms kit provides the first complete hardware, software and simulation of affordable robots. More information on combining MindRover with LEGO can be found in the "Bringing the Physical and Virtual Worlds Together" chapter of this guide.
How this Guide is Organized
There are three main sections to this guide:
Getting Started
This section includes information on starting the MindRover program, running the tutorials and answers to some frequently asked questions.
Installing the software
Put the CD in the drive and the installation program should start. If it doesn’t start on its own, then navigate to the CD drive in File Explorer and double click on the ‘Autorun.exe’ program. From this menu you can run the short MindRover movies that provide a quick overview of how the program works.
During the installation a program called "Settings" will run that will let you set the program resolution and graphic card options. Choose the "Simulated OpenGL using Direct 3D" if you aren’t sure about the computer’s graphics capabilities. If you know you have OpenGL drivers installed, then you can choose "Standard 3D graphics".
Next choose "800x600, 16 bit color" (you can change this later), and click on "Test Settings". You should see a spinning cube. At the end of this test you will get a frame rate number (anything above 30fps is probably good), and you should "Save Settings" and "Exit".
If this program did not run properly or crashed when you tried to run it, then you need to upgrade MindRover to v1.08 and try again. You will find the upgrade at this URL:
http://www.mindrover.com/mindrover/downloads.htm
After saving the upgrade file and double-clicking on it to run it, you should get the Settings program again, as above. This time it should finish properly.
Start up MindRover through the Start, Programs button or by double-clicking on the icon on your desktop.
Running the Tutorials
When MindRover starts you get a login screen where you can add a new user name or log in as Guest. Adding a new user name will allow you to save your vehicles to your own directory.
If the screen is very dark click on ‘Options’ in the upper left after you have logged in. Click ‘F2’ to remove the tutorial prompts, and you will see an option labeled "Gamma Correction" (brightness). Move that slider to the left to make the screen brighter. Click "ok", and click on ‘F2’ to turn the tutorial prompts back on.
Now you are back in the Scenario Selection screen. Make sure the first Tutorial, labeled "Tutorial: MindRover Basics" is high-lighted and read through the tutorial prompts to learn about the interface and how to build a robot. If you don’t see the Tutorial prompts, click on the ‘F2’ key again.
There are 5 tutorials in MindRover. Each of them gives you some information about specific components and some ideas for how to use them. There are over 50 components in MindRover, so most of them are NOT covered in the tutorials. Exploring the components is a fun way to learn how they work. Highlight a component and click on the ‘F1’ key to get more detailed information and usage notes. The User’s manual lists all the components and is a good quick reference.
Go through at least 2 or 3 tutorials before trying out a challenge. Then try out a level 1 challenge such as "Sumo Hover" in the Sports category or "Word War I" in the Battles. If you would like a copy of the game that doesn’t include Battles or weapons, please contact us.
Getting Help
There are a number of people who visit the MindRover forums and will answer questions on the "New Player Discussion" or the "Advanced Player Discussion". You can access these forums from the following URL:
http://www.cognitoy.com/players/players.htm
If you have any questions on the installation, the non-battle version of MindRover or general questions about using MindRover in the classroom, contact us directly through the phone numbers provided on our website:
http://www.cognitoy.com/aboutus/contact.htm
Frequently Asked Questions
Why doesn’t my robot move?
MindRover robots move autonomously. You have to program them to move or they will just sit there. If you put a thruster on a hovercraft, for instance, you need to set the thruster power in the wiring screen before it will move. You can click on the thruster and set its power, or you can have another component, like a Timer, set the the thrust to 100% after 2 seconds.
What’s wrong with my wiring? Nothing is working properly
All the grey colored wires should normally work. Only use colored wires when you are using the Mode Switch component. Go through the "Tutorial: Modes" to learn more about this powerful component, or highlight the component and click on ‘F1’ for more details.
If you are using all grey wires but they don’t seem to be working properly, then check the properties when you click on each wire. Check the default settings of the components by clicking on each component. We have provided a number of components that can be used to help you debug your robot. For instance, the Fireworks launcher can be used to set off fireworks when another component fires. So if you are wondering if the radar is ‘turning on’, for instance, you can create a wire to the fireworks launcher that will launch fireworks when the radar ‘turns on’.
Debugging programs is an important skill that takes some time to master. Working in small groups can help provide ideas for overcoming a problem that sometimes seems impossible for an individual. Other components that can help in debugging are "Speaker", "Running Light", and "Debug Message".
How do I get the half-built tutorial vehicles?
Many of the level 1 scenarios include half-built vehicles that are a great way to get started. For instance, if you click on the "Misc" category and the "Pursuit" scenario, then click on "Vehicle", you will see a right highlighted arrow next to the empty vehicle slot. Click on this arrow and the slot will be filled with a vehicle that already has some components and wiring. You can read about the strategy that this vehicle is using and how to finish the vehicle, or you can just look at it in the wiring screen and finish it on your own.
You can also rename this vehicle to personalize it (and to be able to find it again later).
How can I get back the default vehicles for a scenario?
If you remove a vehicle from a slot or if you just want to go back to the original vehicles for this scenario, then click on "Scenario", choose a different scenario, then choose your desired scenario and click on "Vehicle". The default vehicles will be reset for this scenario.
How do I save vechicles?
All vehicles are saved automatically when you leave a scenario or click on "GO" to start the simulation.
Where are the vehicles that I built?
If you built a vehicle for a scenario in the "Race" category, then your vehicle will be in a special vehicle row called "Race". Click on "Vehicle" and then scroll down in the holobox at the top of the screen. The first row is always the empty chassis for building new vehicles. The next rows are the vehicles that you built for various categories.
NOTE: If you designed a vehicle that includes components or a chassis that isn’t legal for a particular scenario, then that vehicle will not show up in the holobox. If you are having trouble finding a vehicle, then choose the ‘Testing Ground" scenario in the Tutorials category. This scenario allows ALL vehicle types and ALL components, so your vehicle should show up.
For instance, if you built a wheeled vehicle for a race scenario, when you click on "Sumo Hover" in the Sports section, your wheeled vehicle will not show up in the holobox because "Sumo Hover" only allows hovercraft vehicles.
If someone used add-on components (from our website or a third party) to create their vehicle on their computer, then you must add those components as well to run their vehicle on your version of the game.
How do I play one vehicle against another instead of the CogniToy opponents?
First make sure that all the contestant vehicles are copied to the same folder. Vehicle folders are named by the user login name and can be found with file explorer under \mindrover\vehicles\<user name>.
Start MindRover and login with this user name. Choose the scenario and click on ‘Vehicle’. Drag one of the vehicle contestants to the open slot. Drag the default opponent out of the second slot and drag the second contestant into the second slot. Now two player defined vehicles will compete against each other.
For more automated scripting for contests, look for "Scripting Support" in the ReadmeV107.txt file. You will find the readme file from the start, program, mindrover menu.
How do I adjust the spinners and sliders more accurately?
Dragging a slider with the mouse provides the largest movement and does not allow for accurate settings. You can click the mouse just to the left or right of slider or spinner to adjust the value more finely. The left mouse will give you a coarse adjustment (usually increment by 1 or 5), and the right mouse will provide the finest adjustment (usually .1 or 1).
How do I rotate a component while placing it on the vehicle?
To place the component you hold the left mouse button down while dragging the component. To rotate it, click the right mouse button while dragging (keep holding down the left button).
How do I copy a vehicle?
The only way to copy a vehicle is to drag it from the holobox into two vehicle slots. When you drag it into the first one, you are working on the original vehicle. When you drag it into the second vehicle slot, this one gets a new name – no two vehicles in MindRover can have the same name – so we automatically rename it. You can then give it a new name (if you don’t like the one we provided).
So if you have a steering system or navigation system that you really like, you can drag that vehicle into two slots to copy it.
It is not possible to copy all the components and wires from one chassis type to another. In a future version of the product we hope to add a feature that lets you save components and wires as an object and place them on a new chassis.
Classroom Challenges
1. Sumo Hover
The easiest challenge to start with is probably the Sumo Hover, which is found in the Sports category. In this challenge, students build a hovercraft robot to push the opponent off the mat.
The simplest strategy is to rotate the hovercraft until it sees the opponent in its radar. Then thrust towards the opponent. When it doesn’t see the opponent in front of it any more, then it can go back to rotating.
The speed of rotation, the ‘scan width’ of the radar, and the forward thrust speed of the hovercraft, as well as the size of the initial chassis will all affect the robot’s performance. See if the students can beat the easiest CogniToy supplied opponents (there are 3 levels of opponents), and then set up a ladder to pick the winner for the classroom. See the FAQ above that describes playing robots against each other.
You need to decide ahead of time whether or not you will allow the brake component. For a hovercraft, the brake can act as an anchor and help to stop if from leaving the mat.
More advanced players might want to use the brake, the Track Sensor, which can see the edges of the mat, and/or the Waypoint Sensor, which is like a GPS. The Waypoint sensor can tell you where the "A" is relative to your vehicle. The "A" coordinates are in the center of the mat for this arena. You can see that most of the scenarios have letter markings that can be used with the Waypoint Sensor. [More advanced players can also practice against the more advanced opponents. In the Vehicle screen, click on the right arrow next to the opponent vehicle slot to get the medium and hard opponent.]
With more than 10 robots entering a Sumo Hover competition, it might be best to set up a ladder with single elimination rounds, and maybe add a consolation round so everyone’s robot gets to compete in at least two rounds. Since each contest starts the robots in a random position and orientation, then a match can be defined as 2 out of 3 wins (use the ‘Play again’ option rather than the ‘Replay’ option). Follow this URL to see an example of a ladder competition setup: http://www.cognitoy.com/players/DinkyDuos/fullcontest.htm
With fewer than 10 contestants, it is fun to have each robot get a chance against every other robot, perhaps in a 2 out of 3 match, and then add up the total number of wins to find the ultimate winner. Follow this URL (look near the bottom of the page) to see an example of a matrix contest where each contestant chose an icon to represent his/her robot: http://www.cognitoy.com/players/trackbattle/index.html#menus
Students learn:
2. Word War I (Battle version)
Many students get excited about battles and will spend time creating interesting vehicles. In this challenge the robots have to remain under a certain weight so they can’t put too many weapons on them. Navigation, finding the opponent, and aiming correctly is more important than the actual weapons. Some people might want to use the slow rocket launchers, and others might like the idea of getting close to the opponent to damage it with the ‘welder’.
The battle takes place in the space station library with bookshelves all around. The same basic strategy from Sumo Hover can be used: turn around in place and when you see the enemy, fire. This is the simplest strategy and should allow all the students to create a starting vehicle.
A more advanced student will realize that if they pushed behind a bookcase there is nothing they can do to get out, so they might add a Waypoint Sensor, which can direct them to the center of the room. Or perhaps they want to add some random motion or sequenced movements to their robot so it doesn’t stay in one place for very long.
In this challenge the robot that destroys the opponent three times is declared the winner. Unlike Sumo Hover you probably won’t feel the need to play the scenario 3 times for each set of opponents.
As with Sumo Hover, this classroom challenge can take the form of a ladder or a matrix depending on the number of robot entries.
Students learn:
3. Coolest moves contest
There is no challenge in MindRover with this name, but it is very easy to define the rules and run a ‘Coolest moves’ contest. There are a number of components in MindRover that are there just for looks and can be used to help in debugging. Creatively combined, these components can be used to design robots with "cool moves".
Choose the Testing Ground scenario (in the Tutorial category), where all the components are available. Some of the interesting components that we suggest for use include: Taxi light bar, Fireworks Launcher, Running Light, Speaker, and Sequencer.
Any chassis can be used for this contest. With a basic engine or thruster system each sequencer can be used to set up as many as 8 different moves that can be repeated or just played through once. The fireworks launcher or speaker can be fired at various points in the sequence to create interesting visual and sound effects.
This contest would have to be judged by humans – so you want to set up a judging committee that will be fair. It might be fun to put the finalists up on a large screen monitor for the whole group to vote on.
Students learn:
4. Website Project
Within MindRover the student can take control of the camera, zoom it around to get different views of robots during the challenges and even take screen shots. If you have students that can create a website or perhaps work in conjunction with another class in the school, then they can publish robot contest screenshots and winning robots.
CogniToy has created a couple of webpages to show contest information, contestants and winners for contests that we ran: http://www.cognitoy.com/players/contests.htm
There are also fan sites that are running contests for MindRover. http://www.mindrover.com/links/links.htm
Students learn:
5. Drag Race
The Drag Race can be found in the Races category. In this challenge, the player creates a hovercraft vehicle that races down a straight-away to the end as quickly as possible. There are two interesting rules that guide this challenge: the vehicle cannot cross the start line before the green light (6 seconds); and the vehicle has to stop or reverse direction just after the finish line before it hits the electric fence.
It is not easy to set up a classroom one-on-one contest with the Drag Race since each lane of the drag race uses different waypoint markings. While creating the vehicles the students will use the waypoint markings for the challenge track. If that vehicle is then put into the opponent track, it won’t use the waypoints in that lane, so it won’t work properly.
Instead of running vehicles against each other, keep track of the fastest times on the scoreboard and find a winner by time.
Students learn:
6. Hallway Race
In this contest students use the Track Sensors to help keep their robot on the track around a long hallway through the space station. Most of the turns are left turns, but at the very end there is a quick right and then a left turn to get to the finish line.
A simple strategy to start with for this challenge is to use track sensors on the front of the vehicle, and turn left when the right track sensor doesn’t see track and turn right when the left track sensor doesn’t see the track.
Start with a wheeled chassis and add an engine and steering wheel. Put a track sensor on the front left of the vehicle, and one on the front right. In the Wiring Screen click on the Track Sensors to set the direction they are pointing and the distance. Since this track is fairly narrow, the distance should probably be between 0.5 and 0.8 meters. The directions of the sensors can point out to the left and right instead of straight ahead.
Next create a wire from the left track sensor to the steering wheel that says when the track sensor ‘turns off’ (doesn’t detect the track), then turn to the right. Similarly, add a wire from the right track sensor to the steering wheel that turns to the left when the right track sensor no longer detects the track. You may want to add other wires that describe what action to take if the track sensor DOES see the track again (‘turns on’).
As with the Drag Race, this challenge might be best scored as fastest time wins. You can run the vehicles with the fastest times against each other to see what happens when the robots interact. They may knock each other off the track or turn the other one around so it is going backwards. If you do run the robots next to each other, you may want to run it more than once with the robots in opposite starting posistions (there might be an advantage to the starting position).
Students learn: