Materials:

• Wooden craft sticks

• Manual Hand Drill

• Small brass paper fastener

Background:

One of the important objectives in the development of robots is to enable robots to interact with their

environment. Interaction is often accomplished with some sort of arm and gripping device or end effector.

Procedure:

1- Drill holes through the craft sticks as shown in the diagram.

2- Each team will need four drilled sticks and four brass paper fasteners. Dampening the sticks before drilling can reduce cracking the wood.

3- Assemble robot arms as shown in the illustration below.

4- Try to pick up each of the following one at a time: a marker, a pencil, a paper clip.

Conclusion:

1- With what success were you able to complete the task?

2- What do you think would make the task more successful?

3- How would the arm and end effector have to be modified to pick up sediment and pebbles on Mars?

\

Adapted from the NASA Digital Learning Network Spacebots program

Background

Robots are machines that do specific tasks. Movies are full of robots that can do everything that humans

can do and more. However, in reality, there are limits to what robots can do. This activity is designed to

help analyze a simple, everyday task from the point of view of a robot. Gloves, blindfolds and pliers are

used to limit sensory information, and tongue depressors limit the number of moving joints.

Tying a shoe, an every-day task that seems easy enough for us, is difficult, if not impossible, for a

mechanical robot. Robots have limited movement, only a few sensors, and are controlled by computers,

which must be programmed with instructions for each step required. It is difficult for two people to work

together to tie a shoe. Likewise two robots working together is very difficult to coordinate and only

recently has been achieved. (A line of robots working sequentially in an assembly plant is different than

two robots working together on the same task.)

It is helpful for participants to discuss their experience after each variation.

Materials Needed

? shoes that tie

? tongue depressor

? masking tape

? heavy gloves

? 2 pairs of pliers

? blind folds

Procedure

Try tying your shoes blindfolded. Not too hard! Now, repeat the activity but with heavy gloves on your

hands. Then, tape tongue depressors onto your thumbs and forefingers and try again.

And if those activities weren't difficult enough, tie your shoes with pliers. First, use pliers in both hands;

then with only one hand; finally with two people -- each with one pair of pliers. For fun, these activities can

be set up as a race between two people

Last updated on 1/3/06 Page 12 of 17

Materials

• paper

• art supplies

• assorted materials (plastic food containers, Styrofoam packaging, spools, broken toys, etc.)

• glue

• tape

Background

NASA has shifted its planetary exploration strategies from complex and expensive "do-everything"

spacecraft to simpler and less expensive spacecraft that do only a few jobs. A good example of this

operational change is the Sojourner microrover robot spacecraft that explored small areas of the Martian

surface in 1997. Microrovers are easier to design and construct than the larger complex craft and several

can be constructed for the same price. If a major malfunction should take place in one rover, others can

be deployed to replace it. Recent studies of the Moon by the robot Lunar Prospector spacecraft have

confirmed that water, in the form of ice, exists at the Moon's South Pole. The water is found in

depressions that are forever shielded from the Sun's heat. The discovery of water means that future

human explorers of the Moon can use the water for drinking, for production of breathing oxygen, and for

production of rocket fuel.

Procedure

Challenge students to design a microrover spacecraft for exploring the Moon's South Pole region. The

purpose of the rover is to map the extent of water ice found there. The robot will have to have some sort

of transportation system, sensors, power, scientific instruments, and a communication system. Have

students sketch their robot design or construct a model of the robot from assorted materials. Have

students write a description of how their robot works or present an oral report.

Last updated on 1/3/06 Page 13 of 17