All the Best Bits » Robotics

Science Meets Art in Paper Horse Kit

Phillip Alvelda — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:48:22 +0000

Art and science complement each other very nicely in this incredibly cool and simple paper kit to build an articulated horse by James Watt from Clockwork Robotics. (Any relation to the Steam Engine linkage inventor James Watt?)

It may not look all that interesting in the static photo above, but check out this video of the model in motion!

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HILp4VyEi6g]

The natural motion of the model is derived from a neat construct of linkages driven by a single small motor. Here’s a small animated GIF of the CAD model that abstracts the linkages and the drive motor.

James’ site has some great images of his initial brainstorming that led to a few art pieces and the eventual paper kit product.

(Note that it all starts with a little brainstorming on the chalk board or notebook!)

The folks over at Make magazine have a nice sequence of images outlining their step-by-step assembly of the ~$15 kit which only took them a few hours.

For any of you participating in the FIRST or other similar robotics competitions, this kit is a great intro to customizing complex motions through multi-arm linkage design. For you artist-types, don’t let the enginering mumbo-jumbo put you off, as it’s only a few hours of cutting, folding and pasting!

For those of you REALLY into this type of design/art, you can find some nice curriculum materials with real-life applications of kinematic design and hands-on crafty engineering excellence over at the fantastic Cornell University KMODDLE site. They are perfect for high school math, physics, and robotics classes, and some would even inspire the precocious middle schooler. If there is any interest I can post some follow-on materials and pointers to those lessons.

In the meantime, go forth and design. And don’t forget to post your comments, pictures and results here if you build one of these or anything inspired herefrom!

MA Regional First Championships

Phillip Alvelda — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:38:00 +0000

During my trip to Boston last week for the National Science Teacher’s Association conference (more on that later) I totally lucked out in also catching the FIRST Robotics League Northeastern Regional Championships . If you haven’t been to one, you simply must go. As remarkable as this sounds, there is almost certainly one in your area. It was AWESOME. There were more than 7,000 people in attendance in the Agganis Arena at Boston University to see the real deal, professionally produced and run, very well-organized, with pro announcers, cameramen and lighting.

Over forty teams of high school students were running robots that they built from nothing inside of 6 weeks to accomplish a VERY complicated challenge. They were so FANTASTIC that I am going to run out of superlatives before getting to the end of this post. The very idea that this organization has grown since 1992 to reach more than 13,000 schools across the US, and that there are 41 REGIONAL competitions before the upcoming late April finals in Atlanta is just incredible. Better yet, FIRST has clearly been very successful in perpetuating and growing a model that is self-sustaining, with many teams having competed for several years, with former FIRST team members returning to mentor their old team or going on to start new ones.

I managed to arrive just in time to watch the contest start up for the final day with a performance by the Blue Man Group, followed by the grand entrance of Woodie Flowers, the legendary MIT professor who founded FIRST, and before that was the originator of the famous MIT 2.70 and 6.270 robotics contests. Check out how these people LOVE him as he enters the arena using an interesting MIT spin-out technology called the Atlas Ascender (a self-contained box that allows rapid ascent as well descent.)

Woodie Rappelling – Boston Regional 2008.

The day began with the quarter-finals matches and I stayed through the final. The designs were quite varied, with the older more experienced teams (you could tell from the low team numbers below 100 that were granted years ago) clearly demonstrating that years of experience really helps in refining robust approaches to complicated problems. That said, even the rookie teams showed great creativity and incredible dedication and teamwork. Check out these photos of several of the robots.

The matches were real nail-biters with cheering and chants that rivaled any football game I had ever attended (except maybe the Chelsea Tottenham match in London). To see this leve of excitement and adulation usually reserved for sports and entertainment celebrities unleashed on students for engineering and innovation just warmed my heart. Something has been made right in the world.

Everyone I spoke with loved the experience and couldn’t even imagine failing to participate next year. And as Steve Wozniak, one of the FIRST luminaries said, “There are lots of prizes and awards, and only one of them is for winning.” Their hearts and minds are certainly in the right place.

Find out about your local FIRST events and sign up however you can, as a participant. mentor, coach, parent, whatever. You won’t regret it.

Sneaking Out of the House to Build Robots

Phillip Alvelda — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:47:00 +0000

My favorite story from the whole FIRST Northeastern Regional competition was revealed in the delivery of the “Woodie Flowers” award. Woodie, you see, is the MIT professor who founded FIRST with Dean Kamen of Segway fame, after starting the legendary 2.70 and later 6.270 robotics contests at MIT. In many ways, Woodie was responsible for my attendance at MIT, just as he has now been responsible for inspiring tens of thousands of aspiring technologists across the US through FIRST.

So in thanks and recognition, the Woodie Flowers Award is granted to the team mentor at each regional and final First contest that best exemplifies Woodie’s spirit of contribution, teamwork, and inspiration.

Woodie Flowers and Elizabeth Carruthers

This year’s recipient, Elizabeth Carruthers from the Columbus School for Girls, had a great story. As a high school student, her parents weren’t all that supportive of the time and energy that FIRST demanded, so she had to sneak out of the house to work on her team’s FIRST robot.

She was so committed to the program and her teammates, that when her parents caught her sneaking out, she told them that she was just going to “parties with her friends,” which turned out to be okay with them. You see, they wanted her to be socially well-adjusted, and feared seeing their daughter turned into a nerd.

Given that she has now gone on to a technical undergraduate program, and returned to mentor her old high school’s FIRST team (an all-girl’s team, at that) into the regional finals, (a remarkable accomplishment that takes MANY more skills in communication and leadership and interpersonal relationships than just the technical ones) I’d say she’s VERY well adjusted!

Congrats, Elizabeth. Our nation need more inspirations like you.

Dean Kamen’s Prosthetic “Luke” Arm

Phillip Alvelda — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 02:12:00 +0000

What a technical home run. If you need any more motivation to engage in cool robotics projects, just check out the reaction when the test subject figures out he can feed himself for the first time in 26 years. That’s social impact. From the IEEE Spectrum site.

i-Limb Bionic Hand Video

Phillip Alvelda — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 01:46:00 +0000

Just in time for NBC’s new series reprise of “The Bionic Woman,” reality has caught up with science fiction. Watch this incredible video of the first commercial bionic hand which operates entirely using nerve impulses.

Robocup 2007 in Atlanta

Phillip Alvelda — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:56:00 +0000

All you Atlanta natives have no excuse for missing the 2007 Robocup competition, currently ongoing (July 1st-10th) at Georgia Tech. The official competition just began yesterday (Tuesday, July 3rd), but the event continues through finals on July 10th.

It’s so cool I don’t think I need to even say anything more about it other than check out these images and videos. And get over to GaTech and check it out!

FIRST Lego League Registration is Open!

Phillip Alvelda — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 14:45:00 +0000

Have all of you student and teacher readers out there already registered for the FIRST Lego Robotics League? Well, what are you waiting for? Register for the First Lego League Here.

This awesome robotics contest registration opened May first (and will likely fill up by the end of the summer: 1,715 teams have already signed-up!) so get those applications in!

Here is the tentative schedule for the year:

May 1
Registration Opens
Mid-May
Registration Materials and Robot Sets Begin to Ship
August
Field Setup Kits Begin to Ship
September 5
International Challenge Release
Mid-to-late-September
Team Registration Closes/Last Day to Order Products
October 1-12
Tournament Applications Accepted (If FLL is handling applications)
November- January
Tournament Season
April 2008
World Festival

Registration costs $200 per team, but also be sure to order the Field set-up kit (which should start shipping around August first) when you register, or it will be difficult to practice.

Click on the following links to find:

And don’t forget the opportunities for the younger and older set with the JFLL [Junior First Lego League], and their community web site. Check out these budding scientists!

And, of course, there is the FIRST league proper for the older kids.

Hell, I want to sign-up. Why don’t they have a league for us grownups?! I guess I’ll have to live with being a mentor or something. It appears as if there are plenty of volunteer opportunities in support for frustrated teachers like myself.