Students get the opportunity to use a simple machine in an engineering project inspired by modern robotics research. Specifically, hobby-motor and lego robot bodies are fitted with legs designed by students that move as levers attached to the body.
Grade Level: 7-8
Prep Time: >60 minutes
Lesson Time: 50-120 minutes
This lesson was sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Career Grant “Power Optimization in Autonomous Microsystems via Integrated Motion Control.”
As implemented in the Ypsilanti, MI school district, this unit followed an 8th-grade classroom’s yearly “Simple Machines” unit as well as a week-long unit on biomimicry. Following the introduction, additional experiments with lever mock-ups and spring scales (see photos below) were used to further explore lever behavior prior to robot construction.
Assessment
Post-test
Building Instructions
Hobby motor and robot chasses construction
Lego (TM) brick inventory list for robot bodies
Suggested brick inventory list for legs
Student Worksheets:
Introductory Reading
Design Worksheet
Lever test worksheet (needs refinement, used with lever models)
