Robo Challenge 1 & 2

Grades 3 to 5.** Check out these photos of what our kids create in class!

Took our LEGO® Robotics class and want more? And more of a challenge? Or are  you in 4th or 5th grade, ready to launch into robotics with no previous experience?

This class is for you. In Robo Challenge I, instead of working with step-by-step building directions and sample programs, we’ll start each class with a programming challenge, set by our instructors. After meeting that challenge, we’ll use LEGO® robotics kits to design bots to go with our programs. Our instructors will be there to help you achieve success – presenting different problems every week or two.

How will you solve them? With what kind of sensor? Using what kind of sensor?  What type of gearing mechanism?  Some of the robots you’ll design include:  a wing flapping creature, a catapult, a crash-avoidance vehicle, and a hexbug nano catcher!
*3rd grade prerequisite: LEGO® Robotics

After Robo Challenge 1, check out the sequential class: Robo Challenge 2 with new, more challenging projects! We will use the same format in this class where a programming challenge is then followed by a building challenge to use the program that we just wrote.  Some of the robots that are built in RC2 includes:  a venus fly trap, a LEGO® counting conveyor belt, a marble shooter, and a marble soccer game! *Robo Challenge 1 is a prerequisite for Robo Challenge 2. 

Tired of having no clue what your kids do in all those clubs? We’re different. A day or two after every class, your instructor will email a note explaining what the class learned in the previous session and what’s next. Sometimes we even include photos and videos!

Check out this video of our instructors trying to use their LEGO® robotics traps to catch Hexbug Nanos:

Grades: Children in grades 4 and 5 may start this class with no robotics experience. Children in grades 3 need our core class, LEGO® Robotics as a prerequisite for Robo Challenge 1. Children in grades 2 may NOT enter this class, even if they have taken the prerequisite. For these second graders, we recommend LEGO® Engineers, which helps them solidify the mechanical engineering skills they’ll need to succeed in Robo Challenge.

Robo Challenge class format (same format for Robo Challenge 1 and 2)

• SEVEN meetings, once a week, 60 minutes per meeting.
• Max: 12 students.
• Student-instructor ratio: 6:1.
  
• After school tuition: $120 per student.
• Evening tuition: $125 per student.
• Scholarships: Yes, we offer them when your PTA organizes our class. Complete details here.

We provide for use during class: one LEGO® robotics kit and one netbook for each pair of students, and all ancillary equipment including Hexbug Nanos.

• Grades 4-5; third graders with approval of our instructor.
• Prerequisite for mature 3rd graders: our LEGO® Robotics class.
• Prerequisite for Robo Challenge 2: Robo Challenge 1.
• Unfortunately: Second graders are not allowed.
• Second graders who have taken LEGO® Robotics may want to try our new LEGO Engineers® class, which covers a lot of the mechanical engineering concepts we expect them to understand when they enter Robo Challenge as third graders. We are also developing a LEGO Robotics 2 for these students. We hope to offer it in Fall of 2013.
• Areas of exploration: independent problem solving, robotics, programming, logic.