New Grant for Two Rock 4-H SET Project

Judy Ludovise, Sonoma County 4-H YDP Representative informed me that the Two Rock 4-H Primary SET project has received $1,400.00 in State funding for use on our robotics projects and a 4-H Primary Science Field Day to be held in October 2010.

This is great news, as it means that we'll be able to do more robotics projects as a group, and show other 4-H clubs what we have accomplished.

Meeting #4

On our fourth meeting of the Two Rock 4-H Club SET Robotics project, we took our creativity underwater by building our first underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROV). Modeled after the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center (MATE) "ROV in a box", our mini ROV's were made of PVC tubing, small electrical motors and a control box.

The kids had a great time looking at the minimal instructions that were provided and building the ROV as shown in the photos. We learned about buoyancy and the importance of properly weighting an underwater craft so it can efficiently move. We also learned about propulsion, and the need to mount motors correctly so the craft moves in a predictable way.

Meeting #3

Our third meeting for the Two Rock 4-H Club Primary SET project was a lot of fun. This meeting was all about circuits, and what a circuit is and how to make one. We started off by looking at a simple circuit with a battery, wire and a light. Then we opened up our circuit kits which each of us made a circuit game. It was great fun watching the kids experience how to "test a nine volt battery" with their tongue! OK, let's not do this at home though.

The circuit kits were a great introduction to basic robot wiring and circuitry, and the kids were then ready to tackle more complicated tasks by experimenting with the Snap Circuits kit and rover. Thanks to all the parents who helped out and assisted kids in building their projects. We could not have a great SET project without all their help.

Meeting #2

We had another great meeting yesterday for the Two Rock 4-H Club Primary SET Robotics Project. Our meeting was all about motion – how robots move and how we use things like motors, gears, axels and linkages to make motion in mechanical things. To illustrate this concept for our kids, we all got Tamiya Robocraft Series robot animals (dogs, pigs, tigers, rabbits and kangaroos).

The mechanical walkers are great little robot kits that have many, many, small parts but are all similar in construction. Kudos to the brave parents that opted to build their kits from scratch – this was a big feat to start on the end of a Sunday but we all finished.

Meeting #1

On Sunday Dec 20, we had a great first meeting with the Two Rock 4-H Club Primary SET members. We started off the meeting by talking about what robots are, what they do and some of the activities we will do in our project such as building our own “bug bots” and underwater “Sea Perch” ROV’s.
Next, we were unwrapping our Hexbugs and seeing what these little robots can do, how they bump into each other and how the kids could trap them in various mazes. We finished the meeting by building our very own “bug bots”, all from scrap pieces of old pager parts, wire and a pill box. The battle between the “Bug Bots” and the Hexbugs moved to the floor and we finished the day. Pictures and videos of our meeting are below.

What Is BEAM?

BEAM is a design philosophy that emphasizes simple design solutions to building robots. The most common BEAM acronym stands for:

Biology | Electronics | Aesthetics | Mechanics

Biology
BEAM robots use nature as a guide in the design of your robotic creature. Why re-invent the wheel when nature has already done so?

Electronics
These are the guts of what run a robot. The difference here is that most BEAM robots do not use a programmed microcontroller. For some applications simple components like a reed switch can do the job quicker and easier than a microcontroller.

Aesthetics
Form follows function, there is a reason falcons are shaped the way they are, there is a reason pigs don’t fly. Although not always the case the general rule is that the better constructed the robot the better it will perform. The aesthetics can also be seen as the artistic side to building robots. If your going to do it it may as well look good.

Mechanics
No matter how good the control electronics are they can not make up for bad hardware, as it’s exceedingly difficult to walk on broken legs. This is key in determining the lifetime and performance of your robot. Don’t underestimate the value of good mechanisms.

More information on building the “Coat Hangar Walker” you see above can be found here.

Robot Toothbrush – Meet Bristlebot

The bristlebot, part mechanical robot and part toothebrush dates back to 2007, when the folks at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories came up with a novel way to utilize a few items laying around. The basic materials are an old toothbrush (cut to size), a motor from an old pager (you can find these at electronics parts stores) and a battery. Tape them together and you have a tiny robot that moves about – but won’t clean your teeth.

The bristlebot is derived form other types of vibrating robots or “vibrobots”. These move about from the vibrating motion of their motors, but have no sensors or “brains” like other robots. They are fun to build though, and come in many shapes and sizes. Info on how to make this bristlebot can be found here.