NEW SWEDEN, Maine — In one of many recent efforts made by New Sweden School teachers to nurture students’ interest in science, middle-schoolers participated in an NXT robotics program for the third year in a row. This year, they created fully functional amusement park rides out of plastic blocks, using the Lego Mindstorms NXT programmable robotics kit.
The NXT kit utilizes a small white computer called the Intelligent Brick, which controls three motors and takes input from four sensors. Students are able to create programs using the Intelligent Brick’s small LCD display and wirelessly transfer them to other bricks. The kit includes software which allows programs to be written on either a Windows or Macintosh computer.
According to New Sweden Principal Laurie Spooner, the robotics kit was donated to the school through a grant from the Perloff Family Foundation.
“This time the project was designed so they were not making anything that was a vehicle. They’ve made a lot of vehicles, so I encouraged them to do something different. If you go and search for different NXT programs online, you can find plenty of different ideas.
“Since there aren’t really any amusement park programs online, the kids had to make them from scratch. They couldn’t just go and borrow a program online. I wanted to encourage them to do something on their own, and they rose to the occasion,” she said.
Among the robotic structures are a tilt-a-whirl, a train, a ferris wheel, and the tower of terror.
Along with the NXT technology, students also utilized Edison robots. Like the NXT kit, Edison robots are easily programmed and compatible with Legos.
According to Spooner, some students even utilized the school’s 3D printer to help with their robotic creations.
