1 - Welcome, Mission Director

<< Parent note: this should take 20-45 minutes. >>

Congratulations! You are Mission Director for the next mission to Mars!

People in charge of imagining, building, and operating new space exploration technology are called Mission Directors. Here's a video about a NASA mission to build solar-electric rockets!

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/main/videos.html

People have sent several robots to Mars already. But we have never seen Martians. Maybe Martians are small and afraid of the other big robots we've sent there. So you are sending a fun, Lego robot that won't scare the Martians. So if the are there at all, maybe they will come out of hiding.

You asked your best engineers to design a robot for the mission and they've just given you the plans. Let's get to work.

Click here for building instructions which your engineers designed.

All Mission Directors document their experiences to improve for the next mission. Ask your parents to take a picture to share with your other Mission Directors. If your parent wants, they can add it to their social media with the hashtag #youcantech .

2 - All systems go?

<< Parents: we'll need your help on this one to get the PC or Chromebook set up. Make sure you have downloaded the Lego WeDo app. Also turn on Bluetooth on your PC or Chromebook. You'll find it under Settings. It will take 5- 15 minutes. >>

A Mission Director has to test to make sure everything is working. Push the button on top of Milo to turn it on. Connect Milo to your computer like this:

• Make sure that your computer's Bluetooth is turned on. Look in “settings” if it's not. If you can't find it, ask someone for help.

• Open the Lego EV3 app on your computer

• Start a new program with the + tab at the upper left, next to "Lobby"

• On Milo, push the button on top to turn the big Mindstorms brick on.

• Now on your computer, in the lower right, click to connect your computer to your big brick with Bluetooth

• Every time you want to send your program from your computer to the big brick, you'll click the down arrow by this box.

You need to know a few things about the programming screen here.

1. The yellow block with the green triangle is the "start" block

2. Click and drag blocks from the bottom row and connect them to the "start" block. If a block isn't connected to the row, the robot will ignore it.

3. To get rid of a block, drag it back to the bottom row

4. There are lots of blocks in the bottom row. Click on the colored boxes to see them all. We'll start with the green ones.

5. In the upper left, click on the word "Program" and change it to "Safe Landing". To make an entirely new program, click the + button in the upper left. You can put several different PROGRAMS under one PROJECT

6. In the upper right, click on the squarish SAVE button and save what we have so far. Remember to do this so you don't lose your work. You can call this project "Milo"

Now that you know your way around Mission Control, we are ready to launch Milo to Mars.

5-4-3-2-1 ... we have liftoff!

3 - Safe landing!

<<Parents: this activity takes 30-60 minutes. We might need your help to decide the first message.>>

The rocket has safely delivered Milo to Mars! Here's a video of how a real Mars landing worked, which is amazing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNviFQpRvwQ

Now, Milo has to tell you back on Earth that it arrived. It uses a code with his light. A letter is made of 3 flashes. The code sheet is in your kit, along with some blank decode sheets.

Start a new program on the app. Next to the "Start" button, which is the yellow block with the green triangle in it, place a block with the Mindstorms symbol in it. This is the screen block.

There are all sorts of options to choose! Click the folder, and then choose TEXT. In the little white box at the top of this block, type "Wow! I'm on Mars."

5 - Let's explore!

<<Parents: We might need a little help, but should be getting used to the programming now. This activity is 10-20 minutes. >>

Milo's mission is to explore, so let's get moving.

We need to modify Milo. Build a sensor onto the front with these directions .

On the app on your computer, choose "+ " for a new program.

All the green blocks are for the motor. Find a green block with "Large Motor" on it. Place it next to the yellow start button.

It has several settings again. Set it to move at 50 power for two rotations and then stop.

You've just written a more complicated computer program !

And just so you know, real computer programmers do the same things, but they write it in computer languages or "code" which uses lots of the funny symbols like on your keyboard like {#$ [ @: ; \ . They might have written this. You might not understand it fully, but you might be able to see how it looks like your program.

WHILE TIME < 2 SECONDS DO:

{ MOTOR.TURN ( DIRECTION = FORWARD, POWER = 8 ) } ;

STOP;

Mission Directors always document the first actions of their mission, and everyone cheers. Make a video of Milo's first moves on Mars and put it on the Classroom site so we all can see. Your proud parents can post it on their social media, too. Just be sure they call you by your proper title, Mission Director. You've earned it.

6 - Photo Time

<<Parents: Photo and video opportunities! If you can capture the first time your child gets this to work, it's often a great reaction. This activity is 40-60 minutes. >>

Milo’s mission is to explore. Out of the rest of the Lego kit, make 5 things Milo might find on Mars. Rocks? Trees? Weird flowers? Animals? You decide. Don’t make them flat, though. They should be at least as tall as Milo’s body so Milo can detect them.

For a camera, we will put the light sensor on Milo’s robotic arm. It's the one with the two eye-like dots on front. It doesn’t really take pictures, but it can tell when something gets closer or farther away. So as Milo drives by your Martian stuff, it will detect that something is closer than it was a second ago. Then we can tell Milo to stop and pretend to take a picture.

These pictures show how to build the robotic arm

Let's try out Milo's sensor. It helps to point the sensor downward just a little.

It can detect how far away an object is in front of it.

Move one of your Mars things closer until the number changes.

You can also see the sensor reading in the bottom right corner of your screen.

Here’s how we program Milo to go forward until it detects something.

Then we tell Milo to stop. At the end is a sound - you can add any sound.

DO:

IF LIGHTSENSOR.INPUT = FAR:

{ MOTOR.TURN ( DIRECTION = FORWARD, POWER = 4 ) }

IF LIGHTSENSOR.INPUT = NEAR:

{MOTOR.STOP; SOUND = 5; }

STOP;

You see on the green hourglass block? Instead of the number of seconds we used before, we now use the orange distance sensor block. The Sensor block has an arrow pointing TOWARD it. That means "turn the motor and keep turning it until you detect something is closer than before."

So when it gets a signal from the sensor that something is now closer, the program will go to the next block where it stops the motor. But until it gets that signal, the motor keeps turning and Milo will keep exploring until it detects somthing.

Put your Martian objects in a row so Milo can drive toward them.

When Milo drives up to something, it should stop, make a sound, and take a picture. You'll have to pretend on the picture part. Milo doesn't really have a camera. Then sound an alarm so the Martian can move out of the way.

But please take a picture now with you, Milo, and your Martian stuff. Put it on the Classroom page, and your parents' social media page so people know you're exploring Mars!)

Milo stopped after finding just one thing on Mars. But there are lots of things to explore on Mars. How can we make Milo continue? We could press the “go” button again.

OR we can give Milo a “repeat” command called a loop. The loop is with the orange blocks.

Here's what that looks like in code.

LOOPS = 0;

DO UNTIL LOOPS = 5:

IF LIGHTSENSOR.INPUT = FAR:

{ MOTOR.TURN ( DIRECTION = FORWARD, POWER = 4 ) }

IF LIGHTSENSOR.INPUT = NEAR:

{MOTOR.STOP; SOUND = 5; }

LOOPS = LOOPS + 1;

STOP;

Here’s how that looks in our programming blocks. Just place the loop block over your program like an umbrella. You can change how many times it repeats or loops. Here, you can see the number 5 under the loop block.

Point Milo's sensor to the side. Put the Martian objects in a line so Milo can drive by them all about 6 inches away. 6 inches is about as far as if you put both your hands flat on the table next to each other. Don’t put the objects right in front of Milo, of course. Milo should stop at each object it drives by and take a picture and make a sound.

8 - Meeting Martians

<< Parents: We will start building on our programming skills here. Encourage them to try things, to fail, and try again. Programming is tough, but not impossible. 20-40 minutes. >>

Martians heard all the noise from blasting rocks and came to see!

Make some Martians out of the Lego set. I wonder what they look like. Be sure to take some photos.

Milo wants to talk with the Martians. When it detects a Martian in front of him, make a sound. If you can, make this program without peeking at the solution below how I did it. The program will be a lot like the rock-blasting one except that Milo won't move. (Please make sure you turn off Milo’s Vaporizer 8000 Laser so it doesn’t scare the Martians. Or vaporize them.)

Some Martians really like to talk with Milo. Can you make the program repeat the Sound block until the sensor tells that the Martian left? The solution is below, but try it yourself first without peeking.

Smarty-pants Bonus - If you use the microphone block, you can actually detect if someone is making noise. Maybe if a Martian says "Hello" Milo can start talking. No solution here! You figure it out, Mission Director.

9 - No tickling the robot, please.

<< Parents: We are building our programming skills a little more. Encourage them to try things, to fail, and try again. Programming is tough, but not impossible. 20-40 minutes. >>

The Martian kids like to tip Milo over and tickle his belly. They think he’s a Martian pet called a Dozzagute. Make a Dozzagute if you like and post a picture of it on the classroom site.

But robots are VERY ticklish on their bellies. (You knew that, right?) Milo doesn’t like that. So sound a warning alarm if Milo gets tipped over.

We will use the other sensor which detects tipping. Stick it right on Milo's back and plug it in.

Here's what the code might look like:

DO FOREVER:

IF TIPSENSOR.INPUT = FLAT:

{ NOTHING;}

IF TIPSENSOR.INPUT = TIPPED:

{ SOUND = 4; }

You can figure this one out by yourself without a code solution, I think. If you really get stuck, the solution is at the bottom of the page.

You're getting skilled at programming! So try to put two programs together at once! If a Martian shows up to talk, talk. If the Martian kids tip Milo over, sound the alarm.

To do this, put both programs on the screen and start them both. Milo is a pretty smart robot and can do two things at once.

In code that looks like:

DO FOREVER:

IF TIPSENSOR.INPUT = FLAT:

{ NOTHING;}

IF TIPSENSOR.INPUT = TIPPED:

{ SOUND = 4; }

IF LIGHTSENSOR.INPUT = FAR:

{ NOTHING: }

IF LIGHTSENSOR.INPUT = NEAR:

{ SOUND = 5; }

10 - Getting gears

<< Parents: This involves building a little bit and measuring. We could use your help finding a ruler or even just marking on a long piece of paper. Also help by asking questions about how far Milo goes and why. 20-40 minutes. >>

Here's another way Milo can go fast and slow.

Let's rebuild Milo. Move the wheels to the front arms, and figure out how to make gears connect between the motor axle and the new wheel axle.

First, have Milo go 2 seconds at power = 20. Measure how far it goes and notice how fast it moves.

Now change the gears for different sized gears and run the same program to go at power 20 for 2 seconds. What is different?

Then take off the blue wheel and put on the little yellow donut ring. Run the same program. What is different?

If you have a bike with gears, you may have noticed what happens when you switch gears. It’s the same thing with Milo!

For another challenge. put the blue gear on the motor. Then take off Milo's tire and replace that blue wheel with the little yellow donut.

Post a video of the three different "configurations", that is, the ways to set up Milo's gears.

Write down how far Milo travels each time. You could use a chart like this.

Power Seconds Motor Gear - Wheel Gear How far?

4 2 Medium white - Big blue

4 2 Big blue - Big blue

4 2 Little Yellow - Big Blue

4 2 Big Blue - Little Yellow

Try other combinations!

Which combination would you use if Milo were excited and wanted to go fast?

Which combination would you use if Milo wanted to go slow, like climbing a big long hill?

11 - REALLY Hilly

<< Parents: We will re-build Milo in this Lego building activity. It's another good one for a video! We can use your help to get un-stuck since it's a little complex. 30-60 minutes. >>

Milo found some hilly places on Mars. Milo will need to rebuilt itself, with help from you, like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxPWm16GTW0

Also build some ramps for Milo to drive over.

Let’s use the tip sensor, which is the one with the arrows on it. Have Milo make a sound when tipped up going up a hill, and a different sound when tipped forward going down a hill.

No hints for this one! You have all the smarts you need to figure out the program.

But if you get stuck, try again. Real computer programmers get stuck ALL THE TIME. Like 20 times a day. Believe me.

So try at least three times yourself, then ask for help from your parent or your robot coach.

12 - More adventures?

Decide if you're done with Milo and want to call it back to Earth. There are more things for you to do as the "Robot Zookeeper" and with "Gears and Engineers."

But if Milo wants to stay on Mars longer, here are some other activities.

Milo Gets Loopy

Milo's Switch

Motion and Distance

13 - Heading home

<< Parents: Time for hearty congratulations. Talk with your child about which parts they liked best. Every child is different, but they all now know that technology isn't mysterious. They can build and create with technology. >>

Milo had a great time on Mars, thanks to your great work as the Mission Director. It’s time to fly home!

Build Milo some wings, rocket boosters, teleportation devices, propellers, or whatever it needs to get home. You're the Mission Director, so you decide.

Write your own program to spin the motor, flash lights, and make sounds for Milo’s trip home. Should it count down and blast off? Say bye to the Martians first? It’s all up to you!

Have a good trip home, Milo!

Be sure to post some pictures or videos!