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Dr. Frank Klassner, assistant professor of computing sciences, will be unwrapping lots of LEGO bricks this December but they are not Christmas gifts. Klassner has been awarded a $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to direct a three-year study of LEGO MindStorms’ to determine how the LEGOs can be effectively used in the computing education curricula across the country. This project is a continuation of work that Klassner began under a $73,000 proof-of-concept grant that he was awarded by NSF in 2001. This project is also a significant extension of the initial grant.

The LEGO MindStorms robotic system allows students to use traditional LEGO bricks to construct a working robot by adding additional computer components. The core element in the robot is a programmable CPU which is located in a centralized LEGO brick. The rest of the robot is constructed around the CPU. This is where students can use their imagination to create a working robot. Students may add a number of other components including sensors for detecting obs tacles as well as color and gears that are used to turn treads and move robotic arms.

According to Klassner, the goal of the project is to find effective ways to incorporate the LEGO MindStorm robots in the education computing curricula. These LEGO systems were originally designed to be used by students in middle and high school classrooms. Klassner and his colleagues have been conducting research to modify the programming so that the robots can be used in advanced computing areas.

As part of the project, computer science majors and graduate students will create
new MindStorms software packages, and they will also develop new hardware components.
Dr. Klassner has been using LEGO robots in his class on Artificial Intelligence (CSC 4500) for several years. His students learn basic robotic concepts and build LEGO robots to demonstrate how those concepts work. “The course usually concludes with a robot contest in which teams of students pit their robots against each other to capture colored pins and defend their home base,” Klassner said.

As part of the project, Villanova graduate students will also conduct advanced level research in areas such as navigation systems and wireless networking. In addition, faculty from across the country will participate in four-day training seminars at Villanova to learn how to use the MindStorms to enhance computing education. Klassner and his colleagues will also collaborate with faculty members at the University of Mississippi and Alma College in Michigan.