Physics With Robotics: A decade with our little electro-mechanical friends

COFFEE_KLATCH · Invited

Abstract

Robotics tools for secondary classrooms have developed greatly in the past ten years. Currently available robotics resources offer a physics student many opportunities to explore the concepts and skills of physics. Opportunities range from 15-minute prediction testing exercises to multi-week engineering projects and multi-grade outreach projects. Physics skills developed through robotics exercises range from graph interpretation to experimental design. Topics to explore with robotics include kinematics, dynamics, thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, vibrations, and wave phenomena. This session will provide many specific examples from the authors past decade's work with robotics as a highly engaging student centered physics learning tool.

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Authors

  • Richard D. Averitt

    Trinity College, Department of Physics, Joint appointment in Teacher Education, Wright State University, Graduate School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Littleton High School, Department of Physics, Boston College, Department of Physics and Applied Physics, University of Massachusetts Lowell, North Carolina State University, University of Massachusetts at Lowell, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, Harvard University, Department of Chemistry University of Massachusetts Amherst, Center for Advanced Materials and Department of Plastics Engineering University of Massachusetts Lowell, Center for Advanced Materials and Department of Physics and Applied Physics University of Massachusetts Lowell, RMD Inc., Watertown MA, UMass Lowell, Lowell MA, Radiation Monitoring Devices Inc., Watertown, MA, USA, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA, USA, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA, ANL, IL, UMass Lowell, Brown University / Department of Chemistry, Sciprint.org, Physics Department, LESIMS Laboratory, Badji Mokhtar University, 23000 Annaba, Algeria, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Physics Department, Boston University