Subject:
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Re: Robot That Sorts Lego Pieces
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics.vc
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Date:
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Sat, 12 Apr 2003 03:02:15 GMT
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Viewed:
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5794 times
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You want a fast, efficient robot for sorting? Look in the mirror....lol.
Think of it as a Zen-like exercise which allows you to achieve a state of
altered consciousness while still performing "useful" work. It also
improves your pattern recognition skills and small motor skills.
After teaching 6 or 8 session "enrichment classes" in elementary schools,
I've come to the conclusion that as much time is spent outside of class
dealing with "resorting" as is spent in class actually teaching. This is an
inevitable part of such courses. I manage to 'minimize' post-class sorting by:
Color coding parts sets when possible. Assortments of parts for building
are all the same color. Blue, red, yellow, black, white and gray sets are
possible. This can be done but it takes time and effort. I've duplicated
the classic 1030 sets and put together basic robotics sets this way. I
would LOVE to see a wider color range of classic technic beams and plates -
this was raised in a "Technic Bucket" concept a while back.
Attempt to enforce (and you wil not be completely successful) a "work from
your own set" rule.
Provide groups of kids with 'work-in-progress' boxes so that parts stay
segregated.
If time allows, you can dedicate a class session to a "put things back in
the box" effort - but to do this you need compartmented storage trays with
printed contents pictures. "Rewards" (candy or whatever) for good jobs help.
Even with all this I often find that it's easy to check the colored pieces
(and more so if you have them "stacked" in the set - offset plates by one
position so they come apart, simply stack beams and bricks). However, gears
and such need sorting and checking and common parts like pins axles and such
are often best given a simple once over to insure some minimums are in place
- just provide a common tray for kids to draw these parts from when
building. It's rarely worth the effort to count out connector pins and
small axles and such.
I suspect that ANY form of robotic "sorting" will take far more time than
simple manual efforts. Enjoy.
John H.
In lugnet.robotics.vc, John Shearing writes:
> Hi All,
>
> I am running a little robot discovery group at my local elementary school.
> When I started the group, all the pieces were sorted in see through plastic
> ziploc bags. But after only a few days the kids have all the pieces in one
> big mess.
>
> So I would like to build a robot for sorting the Lego pieces when the kids
> are done using them. I would think that the most difficult part of the
> project would be a program for recognizing the pieces.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas on where I might find a program that would work
> with Vision Command for this purpose?
>
> Has anyone already done this?
>
> Also, any other ideas and comments would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks, John
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Robot That Sorts Lego Pieces
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| Hi John, (...) I am a little too pig headed to achieve any Zen like stated of mind. Once I come up with an idea for reducing labor I will spend thousands of hours finding ways to bring the idea to life. This eventually produces one of two possible (...) (21 years ago, 15-Apr-03, to lugnet.robotics.vc)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Robot That Sorts Lego Pieces
|
| Hi All, I am running a little robot discovery group at my local elementary school. When I started the group, all the pieces were sorted in see through plastic ziploc bags. But after only a few days the kids have all the pieces in one big mess. So I (...) (21 years ago, 12-Apr-03, to lugnet.robotics.vc)
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