It's best to allow most or all of a class period for this exercise, as it's likely to take 30-60 minutes to get the boxes stacked. While the students are working, you may want to step in occasionally to ask the brain to explain what it is doing or comment on what is happening. After Once the exercise is over, you may want to comment on a number of topics. Coordinating the arms is hard. Visual feedback, force feedback, etc. are important, and a big reason why this problem is difficult is that the feedback loop is indirect and inaccurate.
World knowledge is important.
This brings up a chance to talk about model-based communications and reasoning. The difficulty of constructing a plan without knowing the preconditions is quickly seen. Soon, the brain figures out that it must monitor the plan execution consistently, and replan as necessary. Follow-up Assignment Pick one error, miscommunication, or instance of bad luck from the robot exercise. Discuss why it occurred and how it might be prevented.