I’ve seen a lot of cool things come out of NASA as they try to appeal to the next generation of scientists and engineers, but this is one of the best yet. I really appreciate the effort and talent that went into this video and hope that it encourages more kids to pursue careers in the sciences.
All posts tagged ‘Engineering’
- 8:00 AM
- 11:07 AM
If you are any kind of hardware hacker, you need to go read this long, exciting, and technically exhaustive piece over on Adafruit by one of the engineers working on the 2nd gen Sifteo cubes to make them an awesome, wirelessly-connectible gaming platform. It looks at the challenges faced by designers on a day-to-day basis, and ultimately demonstrates how creativity and innovation go hand-in-hand.
The original set included a 72 MHz ARM processor in each cube. It is roughly equivalent to the chip that powers the LeafLabs Maple board. This sounds paltry compared to the gigahertz processor in your phone, right? We’re so used to being surrounded by devices with chips powerful enough to run Linux, Android, or iOS. These chips aren’t even that expensive on their own. A top-of-the-line mobile phone CPU costs maybe $20. A more modest 375MHz ARM might be only $7 in quantity. Surely in a consumer product that costs upwards of $100, we could afford to ship three or four of these chips, right?
Not even close, unfortunately. In the bridge analogy, that’s only the cost for the pavement. You need support structures: power conversion, batteries, battery chargers, memory, programming infrastructure. These are significant costs, especially batteries and RAM. Now you multiply everything by a markup factor to account for the cost of assembly, running the factory, supporting the retailers. Every dollar you spend on the CPU turns into at least three dollars of cost to the end user.
Even that modest 72 MHz ARM was too heavy. We couldn’t afford a one-size-fits-all design. We needed to build a lightweight bridge from the ground up, using parts that would get the job done without overburdening the rest of the structure.
- 7:00 AM
My first introduction to the Technic brand of Lego bricks was with the Lego Mindstorms NXT robot kit back in 2006. The earlier version of Mindstorms, the Robotics Invention System (RIS), used the typical stud-based brick building. Building stud-based robots posed a real issue when it came to building structurally sound robots — one drop from even a foot or two and an entire RIS robot could easily shatter into pieces. The NXT robot kit improved on the robot building by switching to a mix of stud and studless form of building offered by the Technic brand of bricks. Technic not only let pieces be connected in a more sturdy, durable manner, but the pieces that Lego provided to Technic builders allowed for more complex assemblies and devices. Continue Reading “Boost Your Lego Technic Building Skills” »
- 5:30 AM
GoldieBlox is a fabulous book and project/kit set designed to get girls excited about engineering the solutions to problems. The idea is that girls tend to be more visual, and tend to love books more than construction sets early on. So developer Debbie Sterling created a set that ties a storybook with a strong female character who likes to invent things with a kit that lets them build a series of mechanical projects that help achieve goals for the friendly characters in the book. It’s the perfect way to help your future self-rescuing princess get started down the right path. Check it out and consider funding it. And check out all the other awesome projects on the GeekDad Kickstarter Page.
- 7:30 AM
At a company team building activity I suggested we sponsor a robotic competition team. I didn’t specify whether we would sponsor a group of kids or make our own team and compete. The overwhelming majority of my co-workers wanted to form a team and compete. I am currently the only person with any robotics experience, even though it is mostly small scale stuff. With that in mind I started looking for a good reference book on building battle robots. After some research I settled on three books to fill out my the robotics section of my library. The Robot Builders Bonanaza by Gordon McComb for general reference, Kickin’ Bot: An Illustrated Guide to Building Combat Robots by Grant Imahara, and finally Building Bots: Designing And Building Warrior Robots by William Gurstelle. This will be a review of the the Gurstelle book not because I think it is better than the other two but because The Robot Builders Bonanaza has already been reviewed by GeekDad James Floyd Kelly and the Imahara book will be the subject of a future review.
William Gurstelle is with out a doubt a master of the art of gonzo engineering. His ackyard Ballistics book is part of my library and is a great reference for things that go boom. He has published other books about catapults, pyrotechnics and general DIY mayhem. His work has been seen in Make Magazine and he has contributed to The GeekDad Blog on a few occasions.
At one point Gurstelle decided to enter the work of combat robotics and researching the available information on the internet. He wasn’t frustrated by the lack of information but trying to pull all this information together to create a cohesive body of information was difficult. As a service to all future combatants this book was created. Gurstelle made sure to aim the book at the beginner but include enough meat for the intermediate and experienced builders.
The book starts off with a proper discussion of safety. This includes some of the safety regulations that are common in competition, for instance requiring a master cutoff switch. The next chapter follows up with a discussion of the basic design process. Bill gets into the idea of trade offs. As we say in the IT business “good, fast, cheap” pick two. The same holds true for robot designs, there is always a trade off, especially when dealing with weight classes and the cost goes up every step of the way. Bill suggests starting with a lighter class robot to get your feet wet, which is the path I have decided to take. Lighter robots are less expensive and easier to build for an entry level. Sometimes all you need is a good RC car, some armor and duct tape and you’re ready to battle
Chapter 3 lays out the parts of the fighting robot. Even though each robot has been given a unique personality by it’s builder, they are all basically made of the same building blocks. They all require motors, batteries and radio controllers. Throw in the drive train, the wheels and of course the weapons. Gotta have weapons.
The next six chapters takes a closer look at the main components of the robot. The non-combat parts are all covered such as the battery, radio controller and the drive assembly. If you wanted to stop her and not add weapons you would still have enough of the building blocks to make a remote controlled Dalek something to chase the cat around the house. Of course why would you want to stop there?
The next section of the book starts talking about materials and their properties like tensile strength,elasticity and ductility are discussed. These properties are factored in when deciding what materials will be used for the different parts of the robot. The frame has different requirements than the weapon and therefore requires different properties. This chapter is followed by a discussion about how to work with these materials. This section covers some of the basic metal working tools and definitions. You will not be ready to fire up a welder after reading this chapter, or this book for that matter. This chapter is more of a pointer to things you will want to learn to build big steel robots of doom. Check your local hackerspace or trade schools for metal working classes. If you local High School has a shop class, which in this day and age is a rarity, they may also offer adult classes in the evening.
Chapter 12 covers the physics behind combat robotics. This sectionis not heavy on the physics, so don;t break out the calculus book to follow along. Bill gives clear explanations and formulas to calculate the force, torque and momentum of your bot and it’s weapons. You can then use these numbers to help with making the design decisions for your robot. While it may not be a required part of building the robot some people like to get intimate with the numbers, including me.
Chapter 13 gets the weaponry discussion started with
The final chapters deal with what to expect on the day of the competition, information on the business of battle robotics and the obligatory “where to find more information” chapter. The appendices has a good selection of parts suppliers as well as radio frequency tables and a typical set of competition rules. Throughout the book there are photo’s of battle bots as well as an eight page color section. There are also stories from past battles that give an entertaining look into the sport and the people who participate.
I highly recommend Building Bots: Designing and Building Warrior Robots to any one who is interested in getting involved in this exciting sport.
- 4:00 AM
Ken Ihara got started playing with robots during his time as an assistant in the Harvard Robotics Lab. Ken recently started a kickstarter for his latest creation The Cardboard Robotic Arm. With a reach just shy of six feet this is a work of cardboard engineering art. The arm comes in two flavors, The Cool Dad Kit which has a three finger gripper and The Cinematographer Kit which has a mounting for a smart phone to shoot time lapse and videos.
The choice of cardboard makes this arm light, inexpensive and easily modified. The motor controller is a custom 4-axis controller that can be used with other devices. The controller comes fully assembled so no soldering is necessary. The software that controls the arm is written in C# for Windows and OSX will be ready by the time the first kit ships. Ken will also be open-sourcing the software and the hardware to allow for more hacks, tweaks, and mods.
The Kickstarter Page has multiple options for backers to choose from. For $175 backers can choose between The Cool Dad Kit or The Cinematographer Kit. The kit includes pre-cut cardboard parts, four stepper motors and a motor controller. This option also includes shipping in the U.S., shipping outside the U.S. is extra. For every $3000 dollars raised, Ken will send a free kit to a high school in the U.S. There are instructions on the kick-starter page for teachers to request a kit. There is also an option to get two kits, one for you and one for the high school of your choice.
- 3:00 AM
Robots are cool. I know that’s a given but I just had to say it. There are plenty of easy kits out there that can get you started in robotics. The problem with many beginner robot kits is that they are limited in the amount of space you have to experiment and expand on the basic kit. The team over at Sparkfun Electronics has put together a kit that overcomes the limitations of some beginner robotics systems.
The Sparkfun Proto-Snap Minibot is an entry level robot that will grow along with you. The kit includes a circuit board, motor, gear box and wheels. The build is pretty straightforward and there is not a lot of soldering required, around 15 solder joints and none of them are that complicated. The assembly instructions are well illustrated and suited for beginners; older kids will not need much supervision especially if they know how to solder already.
Once you are done you will have a robot that will avoid objects using the included infrared sensors. The onboard microcontroller comes pre-loaded with all the code needed for this operation. The code is documented on the Sparkfun website for you to review. Now here is where a number of boards fall short: you build it and you’re done. The Sparkfun kit goes to “11″ because it includes an Arduino compatible controller on board. Using the same IDE that the Arduino uses you can program new behaviors into the robot. All the electronics needed for programming are included on the board so the only thing you need is a USB cable and the Arduino software.
The circuit board includes space for prototyping so you can add sensors, LEDs, or even extra motors for weapons. The board can also be disassembled into different functional blocks by snapping it along pre-cut sections. Check out the video below to see some of the possibilities. Then head over to Sparkfun and get your own ProtoSnap – MiniBot and start building your robot army to do your bidding, or just have a robot battle royal on your dining room table.
- 2:00 AM
You will not find any statistics or quotes from an expert in this post. I am simply sharing my experience, my observations and my conclusions.
Fourteen years ago, as a high school freshman, I had to choose between three options, which already way too early started shaping my life a little bit. In the French education system, I was given the choice between Scientific path, Literature path and Economics path. Already at that time, it was common knowledge that picking the scientific option was likely to give you more flexibility in choosing a college few years later. I suppose my parents and I did not question the common knowledge and I am now glad we did not.
Eventually, I did get very much interested in sciences, went on with undergraduate and graduate schools in engineering and landed a first job in a large corporate company and later on in a SME, both in fairly technical sectors, X-ray imaging and aerospace.
I never regretted those choices which, thanks to my parents, were always mine to make. Not because I knew what I wanted to do with my life from the start, and I did not, but because choosing a technical study path let me more easily adapt, change and postpone those life-changing decisions.
If as a high school student or later on as a college student, you cannot decide where your heart lies, in technical or non-technical studies, a good way to look at it is to ask yourself which one of the two would be the most difficult to later on come back to, should your first choice not be the best fit for you.
- 9:00 AM
Engineering Go For it is a resource for parents and teachers published by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). The ASEE’s goal is to promote Engineering awareness and education in grades K-12.
The Engineering Go For It website has information about the different types of engineering and tips for older kids on applying to engineering programs and choosing a discipline. For teachers and parents, the site offers lesson plans and class activities that teach engineering skills and concepts for students from kindergarten all the way to 12th grade. The lessons are separated by grade level and are detailed enough so that you don’t need an engineering degree to use them. The activities have some pretty cool projects, including a dance pad that can sound a buzzer when stepped on. I can see this one being integrated with an Arduino for some very cool applications.
I’ve taught the Cub Scouts engineering pin a few times. Most kids don’t really know what an engineer does, and a number of the parents are surprised to find out about the contributions of engineers. Resources like Engineering Go For It can go a long way to help promote a profession that has been doing cool things since … well, since the invention of the wheel.
- 6:00 AM
The world needs engineers. For many of us geeks, we have an engineer in our life (or are one ourselves) and have been exposed to the impact engineering has on society and industry in the United States. For many folks in the U.S., especially teens, the glorious and productive field of engineering is not something they have been exposed to, and it’s creating a gap between the jobs available and the amount of qualified engineers looking for them. The problem isn’t lack of interest, the problem is lack of exposure.
Intel Corporation, always on the cutting edge of educational initiatives in the United States, is once again working towards affecting the educational system through direct intervention. They don’t just sit back and conduct surveys, they create programs to involve and engage students and invest tons of money in their efforts. It all starts with a survey, as it always does. The latest survey was to find out how much teens knew about the field of engineering and what would inspire them to pursue it.
One of the most critical points to creating more engineers is nurturing that interest at an earlier stage than college or technical school. It’s important to rakethe brains of high school students across the coals of engineering. While some teens like myself (that is, when I was a teen) happened to be constantly exposed to engineering (my father, the mechanical and electrical engineer) many teens have no idea what the profession offers to society, and more importantly – to them. Teens need reasons to show interest in something, and while the field of engineering isn’t always glamorous, it is essential and it is interesting. Continue Reading “Intel Survey Proves If You Expose Teens to Engineering You Create More Engineers” »