Control Systems — Robotics Programming Unit
A scaffolded assignment series that teaches beginners to program a robot controller in Java — from wiring the hardware to using sensor input and conditionals to drive outputs.
- Role
- Instructional Designer & Curriculum Developer
- Audience
- Entry-level robotics students — no coding experience
- Platform
- REV Robotics Control Hub · Android Studio · Java
- Format
- Hands-on lab + scaffolded assignments
A Control Systems unit that teaches robotics students to program a real robot controller in Java. Learners write and deploy code to a REV Robotics Control Hub — the same controller used in FIRST Tech Challenge — and watch it run on a custom testBoard wired with a motor, servos, a potentiometer, a limit switch, a push button, and a color sensor. The displayed document is Assignment #2, where students start writing code of their own; the full series is linked below.
The platform the unit is built around
Every assignment runs on the same hardware loop, so cognitive load stays on the new concept rather than the setup:
- REV Control Hub + battery, with the testBoard of inputs and outputs.
- An Android phone as the Driver Station to start and stop programs.
- A computer running Android Studio, where students edit the code and deploy it to the hub over a cable.
How the series is sequenced
The unit scaffolds from hardware to autonomy across five pieces:
- Assignment 1A & 1B — orientation to the Control Hub, the Driver Station app, and the testBoard: deploy provided code and confirm the toolchain works.
- Assignment 2 (shown here) — the first real programming: variables and
data types (
double,boolean,int), conditional statements, reading a sensor (the limit switch) and reporting it with telemetry, then using those conditions to drive outputs like the motor and continuous-rotation servo. - Assignment 3 — extends the model to more sophisticated control logic.
- Robot Challenge — a capstone guide for setting up a program to complete an open-ended robot challenge, putting the whole sequence to work.
The instructional pattern inside Assignment 2
Each assignment runs the same loop: comment in, deploy, observe, reflect. Students get a working program scaffold with sections commented out; a numbered TODO has them enable one section at a time, deploy it, watch the testBoard respond, and answer reflection questions before moving on.
Assessment alignment
Each assignment pairs its enabling objectives with a matched check. The predict-then-observe reflection questions give formative evidence of conceptual understanding, and the Robot Challenge is the performance assessment: an unscripted task the learner can only finish by combining sensor input, conditionals, and output control from across the series.
Assignment #2 is shown above as a web-optimized preview. The full-resolution original and the rest of the series — the hardware intros, Assignment 3, and the Robot Challenge guide — are available as downloads.
On mobile, inline PDF preview may not render — use Open PDF or Download above.