(412c) Practical Implementation of Data Acquisition to Enhance Problem-Based Learning in Chemical Engineering Labs

In Winter 2002, ten LEGO^® Team Challenge kits, based around the RCX microprocessor, were introduced in lab sessions in CHE 102 (Introduction to Engineering Problem Solving and Computations) for data acquisition utilizing light, rotation and temperature sensors. The software package ROBOLAB^®, developed at Tufts University based on the LabVIEW package by National Instruments, was chosen as the programming base for those experiments. An integrated course project was developed based on the NASA Mars Rover project which was being planned for a 2003 launch. The class has seen continued growth throughout the 7 years that we have utilized the LEGO-based labs. Based on the success of student engagement in the project and course, students in the Bioengineering program were added to the class in winter 2003. First-year students in the Environmental Engineering program were added in winter 2007. The teamwork design project has grown to 40 teams of 3 students working in three lab sections. This class included 43 women, one of the largest enrollments of women engineering students in a required course in the College of Engineering.

While the RCX microprocessor, developed and released by LEGO^® in 1998, has proven to be very reliable and robust, a newer more powerful microprocessor called the NXT with many enhanced capabilities was released in 2007. An additional attraction to the continued use of the LEGO^® platform is the development of interfaces to the NXT which allow direct use of a wide variety of new, lower cost sensors to provide process and physiological measurements. Our experiences with the RCX and first-year student retention will be discussed along with our plan to utilize the improved NXT capabilities and sensors in our second-year process data analysis lab and third-year transport lab.