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The Crane Challenge
Design Brief:
You’re going to the Moon! But only if you and your design team build a fantastic and reliable crane. The whole point of the expedition is to bring back a lot of rocks. Your colleague Magdalena is leading a research study of volcanic craters on the Moon. So you’ll have to design a crane that can retrieve rocks from the inside of the Moon’s volcanic craters. This will be tricky because the crane will have to lift objects that are beneath the base of the crane (inside the craters). Make sure that crane is reliable because if it’s not, someone else will be going to the Moon in your place!
Design Features:
If you’re going to land a spot on that shuttle to the Moon, you have to be sure your crane design is excellent and makes Magdalena happy. That crane must:
- Move forward, backward and side-to-side
- Have a robotic arm that moves up, down, and side-to-side
- Have a hand that can grip and release objects
- Be steady enough to not tip over
- Move over the Moon’s terrain
- Go up hills
- Be controlled by the user
Getting Started on Design:
Go to the Conexiones Web site. Look at what other people have created. Soon you’ll get a sense of the great potential of Lego Robotics. But other people’s ideas aren’t going to match all of Magdalena’s requirements. So this is only a place to start.
http://conexiones.asu.edu/curriculum/roboticideas.html
Think About the Client:
Magdalena’s wants A LOT of rocks for her research. So make sure that crane doesn’t break down after lifing only a few rocks. Also, Magdalena wants you to give a presentation about your experiences when you get back. She thinks it would be really great if you showed some slides of the crane in action. So be sure to make it interesting—maybe it shouldn’t look like any other crane you’ve seen.
Brainstorming:
Look carefully at those design features (above) and start asking yourself some questions. For example, What is the terrain on the surface of the Moon? Are there any weather considerations to keep in mind? Make a list of questions and use the Internet to search for answers. But don’t get lost surfing the Web. Start with key words that relate to your questions. For example "moon terrain." Search the Web until all your questions are answered.
While you’re doing your Web searches, think ahead to the presentation you’ll be giving.
Sell the Idea:
Selling the idea is part of the design challenge. You won’t go to the Moon unless your crane is good. And you won’t convince Magdalena that it’s good unless you can make your ideas clear to a lot of people.
You’ll create a project Web site to get your ideas across. These are the things you must include on your project Web site:
- Describe the design challenge
- Describe your research (the questions you came up with while brainstorming a and the answers you found on the Internet).
- Describe how the mechanics of Magdalena’s crane satisfy those design challenges
- Include plenty of details about those mechanics.
How does a robotic arm function?
Why don’t cranes tip over?
What determines how much weight a crane can lift?
What makes the crane’s hand grab and release objects?
And be sure to include some interesting facts about the Moon
How far away is the Moon from Earth? From the Sun?
What planet is closest to the Moon?
What’s the weather like?
Describe the surface and the volcanic craters.
Is the temperature inside the craters the same as the temperature on the Moon’s surface?
What are the characteristics of the volcanic rocks?
What challenges did you come across while designing and programming the crane?
What research information helped you design and build the crane?
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