Low-cost robotics platform from NI and LEGO

Fourth Quarter 2008 Electrical switching & drive systems & components

National Instruments (NI) and LEGO Education continue their educational robotics collaboration with the new LEGO Education WeDo classroom robotics platform. Powered by NI LabVIEW graphical design software, WeDo is a drag-and-drop icon-based environment that students ages seven to 11 can use to easily program their robotics inventions. Using the software, students learn basic programming skills while designing their robotics applications.

Teachers can incorporate the WeDo concept in a broad range of curriculum areas including science, technology, mathematics, language and literacy. When designing their robotics applications, students use creativity, teamwork and problem solving, which are crucial skills needed to compete in the global marketplace. The new software operates on the Intel Classmate PC running Windows XP, the One Laptop per Child XO running the Linux OS, any PC supporting Windows XP or Windows Vista (32-bit) and any Mac running Apple Macintosh 10.5.

“The system provides students as young as seven years of age with a robotics product that actively involves them in their own learning process and promotes creative thinking, teamwork and problem-solving skills – skills that are essential in the workplace of the 21st century,” says Lars Nyengaard, director of innovation at LEGO Education.

LEGO Education WeDo encourages teachers to issue curriculum-based challenges that students must solve. Working in teams, the children invent their own solutions by building LEGO models and programming them to perform certain tasks. After reflecting on what did and did not work, students can consult with peers, adapt programming, adjust models or begin again.

“National Instruments is passionate about educating and inspiring today’s students to become engineers and scientists through hands-on, project-based learning,” says Ray Almgren, vice president of academic relations at National Instruments. “Our collaboration with LEGO Education has leveraged the strength of both companies to deliver our third educational robotics toolset in 10 years.”

The NI collaboration with LEGO Education began in 1998 when ROBOLAB, the software powered by LabVIEW and developed by the Tufts University Center for Engineering Educational Outreach, was launched for the original LEGO Mindstorms robotics software. In 2006, LEGO Mindstorms NXT, the current generation of LEGO robotics, was co-developed by these companies to provide students with the latest hardware and software technology for building advanced, autonomous robotics.

WeDo will be available from LEGO Education in January 2009.

For more information visit www.ni.com/wedo or contact National Instruments, +27 (0)11 805 8197, [email protected], www.ni.com/southafrica

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