GCER 2010 Preconference Sessions

The Global Conference will feature three preconference sessions this summer as outlined below. Preconference is not included in the price of regular conference registration. You must select the preconference class you wish to attend from the GCER registration page. You can log into an existing account if you’ve already registered for the conference and add a preconference class or you can create an account and select a preconference class.

Students attending a preconference class MUST be chaperoned by an adult who is registered for the same preconference class.

SolidWorks CAD Design

Wish you had time to learn how to use the SolidWorks software that comes with your Botball kit? This class is the answer! Designed for people with little to no experience using SolidWorks or CAD software, the class will provide an overview of SolidWorks during which participants will create basic LEGO pieces and learn to use them in multipart assemblies. Each participant must bring their own laptop computer and must have administrative rights to install new software. The instructor strongly recommends that each participant bring a USB mouse to use with their laptop.

Intermediate Programming

Have you attended a regional Botball workshop and maybe even done some of the programming for your robotics team? Want to learn more? This class will focus on some of the features of KISS-C that cannot be covered in the regional workshops. Some of the topics that will be covered in this class include: variables, arrays and structures; functions and multiple file compilation; basic control algorithms and more! Each participant must bring their own laptop computer and must have administrative rights to install new software.

Advanced Programming: Navigation and Controls

Robot navigation can be a tricky thing to work around. How can I get my robot to drive and turn accurately? Where does my robot think it is? How can I drive to a specific location on the board? These problems can be solved using basic controls and navigation techniques. This preconference workshop will cover concepts and some implementations of controls and navigation for mobile robots. Participants will need to know how to write functions in KISS-C, read sensor data programatically, basic camera operations and be familiar with moving the iRobot create. Basic algebra skills will also be required and simple trig functions will be used in some navigation examples.