Subject:
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LEGO robotics dis'd in CACM Forum.
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Wed, 6 Oct 1999 17:51:20 GMT
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Viewed:
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533 times
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Howdy,
Has anyone seen the October issue of Communications of the ACM?
On page 13 is a letter critical of the recent article, "Using
Autonomous Robotics to Teach Science and Engineering," that appeared
in the June '99, page 85. The article is all about using LEGO robotics
in an engineering course at Case Western Reserve.
I won't reproduce the letter completely, just a summary and few choice
(read prejudiced) quotes.
The letter begins with a complaint about not covering "dynamics,
kinematics, and control theory," and goes on to say:
"Also, while LEGOs (sic) are a wonderful tool for encouraging creative
play in children, they fall flat as a university educational or
research tool. LEGOs (sic) have so many structural limitations, and
LEGO geartrains have such poor frictional and backlash characteristics,
that the techniques required to build a functioning LEGO robot are
completely different from those needed to design a real-world machine.
... The same criticism also applies, in lesser degree, to sensors and
actuators, which have poor noise and accuracy characteristics, making
it difficult to ascertain the performance of any higher-level
algorithms implemented on them."
The letter goes on to wonder why other robotic kits are not used
instead of LEGO kits since "most are just as flexible, reusable, and
cost-effective as LEGOs, and have much better mechanical properties."
Anyhoo, it's an interesting point. I'm not aware of other kits that
are mechanically superior *and* as flexible as LEGO. I always assumed
that the flexiblility and reusibility were the keys, as well as
teaching general problem-solving.
Just thought I'd throw this out.
as evah,
John C.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | RE: LEGO robotics dis'd in CACM Forum.
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| (...) Fischer-Technik is mechanically far superior and more flexible than Lego. It uses metal axles, allows variable positioning (not studs), and is much stronger overall. You can build mechanisms that do real work without worrying about plastic (...) (25 years ago, 6-Oct-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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