Build Your Own Robot Arm
Part of the IEEE Teacher In-Service Program - www.ieee.org/organizations/eab/precollege
Lesson Focus
Develop a robot arm using common materials. Students will explore design, construction, teamwork, and materials selection and use.
Participating teams of three or four students are provided with a bag including the
materials listed below. Each team must use the materials to design and build a working robot arm. The robot arm must be at least 18 inches in length and be able to pick up an empty Styrofoam cup. Teams of students must agree on a design for the robot arm and identify what materials will be used. Students will draw a sketch of their agreed upon design prior to construction. Resulting robot arms are then tested and checked for range of motion and satisfaction of the given criteria.
Lesson Synopsis
Age Levels
10-18.
Objectives
As a result of this activity, students should develop an understanding of:
design concepts
teamwork needed in the design process impact of technology in manufacturing
Learn design concepts. Learn teamwork.
Learn problem solving techniques. Learn about simple machines.
Anticipated Learner Outcomes
Lesson Activities
Students design and build a working robotic arm from a set of everyday items with a goal of having the arm be able to pick up a Styrofoam cup. Working in teams of three or four students, the students explore effective teamwork skills while learning simple robot mechanics.
Alignment to Curriculum Frameworks
See attached curriculum alignment sheet.
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Resources/Materials
3\" wide and approx. 22\" long strips of cardboard-- 5 or so Binder clips (different sizes)-- 8 or more Brads-- @10 Clothespins-- 6
Craft sticks--10-15 Fishing line-- 3-4 feet Hangers-- 1 or 2
Paper clips (diff. Sizes)-- 10-15 Pencils-- 3-4
Rubber bands (different sizes)--15
Tape-- clear and masking (partial rolls should be fine) Twine-- 3-4 feet
Various size scraps of cardboard--10 assorted
Internet Connections
Design Your Own Robot (www.mos.org/exhibits/robot) FIRST Robotics Competition (www.usfirst.org) IEEE Teacher In-Service Program
(www.ieee.org/organizations/eab/precollege/tispt) IEEE Virtual Museum (www.ieee-virtual-museum.org) McREL Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks
(www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks) A compilation of content standards for K-12 curriculum in both searchable and browsable formats.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Principals and Standards for School
Mathematics (www.nctm.org/standards)
National Science Education Standards (www.nsta.org/standards) Robot Books (www.robotbooks.com)
Recommended Reading
Artificial Intelligence: Robotics and Machine Evolution by David Jefferis (ISBN:
0778700461)
Robotics, Mechatronics, and Artificial Intelligence: Experimental Circuit Blocks for
Designers by Newton C. Braga (ISBN: 0750673893)
Robot Builder's Sourcebook : Over 2,500 Sources for Robot Parts by Gordon
McComb (ISBN: 0071406859)
Robots (Fast Forward) by Mark Bergin (ISBN: 0531146162)
Optional Writing Activity
Write an essay (or paragraph depending on age) about how the invention of robots
and robotics has impacted manufacturing.
References
Ralph D. Painter and other volunteers - Florida West Coast USA Section of IEEE URL: http://ewh.ieee.org/r3/floridawc
Robot Arm Page 2 of 6
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Build Your Own Robot Arm
For Teachers:
Alignment to Curriculum Frameworks
Note: All Lesson Plans in this series are aligned to the National Science Education
Standards which were produced by the National Research Council and endorsed by the National Science Teachers Association, and if applicable, also to the International
Technology Education Association's Standards for Technological Literacy or the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Principals and Standards for School Mathematics.
National Science Education Standards Grades 5-8 (ages 10 - 14)
CONTENT STANDARD B: Physical Science
As a result of their activities, all students should develop an understanding of
Motions and forces Transfer of energy
National Science Education Standards Grades 9-12 (ages 14 - 18)
CONTENT STANDARD B: Physical Science
As a result of their activities, all students should develop understanding of
Motions and forces
Interactions of energy and matter
CONTENT STANDARD E: Science and Technology As a result of activities, all students should develop
Abilities of technological design
Understandings about science and technology
Standards for Technological Literacy - All Ages
The Nature of Technology
Standard 3: Students will develop an understanding of the relationships
among technologies and the connections between technology and other fields of study.
Technology and Society
Standard 7: Students will develop an understanding of the influence of
technology on history.
Design
Standard 9: Students will develop an understanding of engineering design. Standard 10: Students will develop an understanding of the role of
troubleshooting, research and development, invention and innovation, and experimentation in problem solving.
Abilities for a Technological World
Standard 11: Students will develop abilities to apply the design process. The Designed World
Standard 19: Students will develop an understanding of and be able to select
and use manufacturing technologies.
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Build Your Own Robot Arm
For Teachers:
Teacher Resources
Divide your class into teams of three or four students, and provide student handout (attached). Students are then instructed to examine the materials provided (see list below) and to work as a team to design and build a robot arm out of the materials. The robot arm must be at least 18 inches in length and be able to pick up an empty Styrofoam cup. Teams of students must agree on a design for the robot arm and identify what materials will be used. Students should draw a sketch of their agreed upon design prior to construction.
Explain that teamwork, trial, and error are part of the design process. There is no \"right\" answer to the problem - each team's creativity will likely generate an arm that is unique from the others designed in your class.
Resources/Materials
3\" wide and approx. 22\" long strips of cardboard-- 5 or so Binder clips (different sizes)-- 8 or more Brads-- @10 Clothespins-- 6
Craft sticks--10-15 Fishing line-- 3-4 feet Hangers-- 1 or 2
Paper clips (diff. Sizes)-- 10-15 Pencils-- 3-4
Rubber bands (different sizes)--15
Tape-- clear and masking (partial rolls should be fine) Twine-- 3-4 feet
Various size scraps of cardboard--10 assorted
Extension Ideas
\"Humans and Robots,\" a NASA educational brief which is
attached, describes the robotics features on the International Space Station. The brief's classroom activity is about making and using an ISS grapple fixture known as an end effector. The PDF file is also available at http://spacelink.nasa.gov.
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Build Your Own Robot Arm
Student Handout:
How To Build Your Own Robot Arm
You are a member of a team of three or four students, all working together to design and build a robot arm out of the following materials which are provided to you. The robot arm must be at least 18 inches in length and be able to pick up an empty Styrofoam cup. Your team must agree on a design for the robot arm and identify what materials will be used. Your team should draw a sketch of their agreed upon design prior to construction.
Part of the teamwork process is sharing ideas and determining which design your team will go with. Trial and error are part of the design process. There is no \"right\" answer to the problem - your team's creativity will likely generate an arm that is unique from the others designed in your class.
Resources/Materials
3\" wide and approx. 22\" long strips of cardboard-- 5 or so Binder clips (different sizes)-- 8 or more Brads-- @10 Clothespins-- 6
Craft sticks--10-15 Fishing line-- 3-4 feet Hangers-- 1 or 2
Paper clips (diff. Sizes)-- 10-15 Pencils-- 3-4
Rubber bands (different sizes)--15
Tape-- clear and masking (partial rolls should be fine) Twine-- 3-4 feet
Various size scraps of cardboard--10 assorted
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Build Your Own Robot Arm
Student Handout:
Robot Arm Exercise Questions
Did you use all the materials provided to you? Why, or why not?
Which item was most critical to your robot arm design?
How did working as a team of four help in the design process?
Were there any drawbacks to designing as a team?
What did you learn from the designs developed by other teams? Name three industries that make use of robots in manufacturing:
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Page 6 of 6
Educational Product
National Aeronautics andSpace Administration
EducatorsGrades 5-12EB-2001-04-004-JSC
Educational Brief
Humans and Robots
Following the remarkable successes of the ApolloMoon landings and the Skylab space station program,many space experts began reconsidering the role ofhumans in space exploration. In a healthy debate onexploration strategies, some experts concluded the goalsof the future would be best served by robotic spacecraft.Human space travelers require extensive life supportsystems. With current propulsive technologies, it wouldjust take too long to reach any destination beyond theMoon. Robots could survive long space voyages andaccomplish exploration goals just as well as humans.Other space experts disagreed. Humans have animportant place in space exploration, they contended.Robots and humans are not interchangeable. Humansare far more adaptable than robots and can react better tothe unexpected. When things go wrong, humans canmake repairs. This, they pointed out, was demonstratedconclusively during Skylab, when spacewalkers maderepairs that saved the mission.
Today, new exploration strategies are at work. Thegoal is no longer humans or robots. It is humans androbots working together. Each bring important
complimentary capabilities to the exploration of space.This has been demonstrated time and again with theSpace Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (RMS) robotarm. The arm, also called Canadarm because it wasdesigned and constructed by Canada, has been
instrumental to the success of numerous space missions.The 15-meter-long arm is mounted near the forward endof the port side of the orbiter’s payload bay. It has sevendegrees of freedom (DOF). In robot terms, this meansthat the arm can bend and rotate in seven different
directions to accomplish its tasks. Like a human arm, ithas a shoulder joint that can move in two directions (2DOF); an elbow joint (1 DOF); a wrist joint that can roll,pitch, and yaw (3 DOF); and a gripping device (1 DOF).The gripping device is called an end effector. Thatmeans it is located at the end of the arm and it has aneffect (such as grasping) on objects within its reach. The
RMS’s end effector is a snare device that closes aroundspecial posts, called grapple fixtures. The grapplefixtures are attached to the objects the RMS is trying tograsp.
On several occasions, the RMS was used to graspthe Hubble Space Telescope and bring the spacecraft intothe orbiter’s payload bay. After the spacecraft waslocked into position, the RMS helped spacewalkingastronauts repair the telescope and replace some of itsinstruments. During operations, the RMS is controlledby an astronaut inside the orbiter. The RMS actuallybecomes an extension of the operator’s own arm.Television cameras spaced along the RMS permit theoperator to see what the arm is doing and precisely targetits end effector. At times, during the Hubble servicing,one of the spacewalkers hitched a ride on the end
effector to gain access to parts of the telescope that weredifficult to reach. The arm became a space version ofthe terrestrial cherry picker.
International Space StationMobile Servicing System(MSS)Special PurposeDexterous Manipulator(SPDM)Space StationRemote ManipulatorSystem (SSRMS)Truss BeamMobile RemoteServicer BaseSystem (MSB)MobileTransporter (MT)Robots on the International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS), currentlyunder construction in Earth orbit, will have severalrobots to help astronauts complete their tasks in space.Five of the ISS international partner nations aredeveloping robotic systems for the station. Japan isdeveloping the JEM Remote Manipulator System. TheEuropean Space Agency and the Russian Space Agencyare developing the European Robotic Arm. Canada andthe United States are developing the Mobile ServicingSystem (MSS). Detailed information on each of thesesystems can be obtained at the website listed below.
ArmInterfaceLatch/UmbilicalMechanism (4)Mobile Servicing System
The most complex robotic system on the ISS is theMSS. It consists of the Space Station Remote
Manipulator System (SSRMS), the Mobile RemoteServicer Base System (MBS), the Special PurposeDexterous Manipulator (SPDM), and the MobileTransporter (MT). The MSS will be controlled by anastronaut working at one of two Robotics Work Stationsinside the ISS.
The primary functions of the MSS robotic system onthe ISS are to:
•assist in the assembly of the main elements of thestation (e.g. aligning newly delivered modules to thestructure)
•handle large payloads
•replace orbital replacement units (plug-in equipment
Elbow(pitch)Camera Light,Pan/Tilt UnitLatchingEndEffector\"A\"Electronic UnitsGrapple FixtureInterfaceLatching End Effectordesigned to be periodically replaced with newer units)•support astronauts during extravehicular activities•assist in station maintenance
•provide transportation around the station
The main component of the MSS is the 17-meter-long SSRMS robot arm. It is similar to the Shuttle RMSbut will ride from one end of the station to the other onthe mobile transporter, which will glide along the gianttruss beam. After arriving at a worksite, the arm willgrasp payloads, modules, or other structures with its wiresnare end effector. If a work location is too distant forthe arm to reach while still attached to the transporter,the arm can connect to an intermediate grapple fixture.Electrical power will be rerouted through that fixture.The SSRMS will then release its other end and“inchworm” itself through successive fixtures until itreaches the desired site. The SSRMS is also able to pickup and connect to the SPDM. This unit consists of a pairof 3.5-meter, 7-joint arms connected to a single jointbase. The SPDM can pick up small tools for repair orservicing activities or effect delicate manipulations ofsmaller objects than the SSRMS can handle.BackupDriveCamera Light,Pan/Tilt UnitArm ComputerUnitSpace Station RemoteManipulator SystemWristJoint(roll, pitch,yaw)B End IndicatorStripeJointElectronicsUnitCamera, Light AssemblyLatchingEndEffector\"B”Power and DataGrapple FixtureHumans and Robots2EB-2001-04-004-JSCORU/Tool ChangeOut MechanismForceMomentSensorWristJoints(3)(roll, pitch,yaw)Elbow Joint(pitch)Shoulder Joints(3)(roll, pitch,yaw)The Future
Advanced robotic systemsare under development for useon the ISS. The ISS providesan exceptional laboratoryfor testing newrobots such asRoboticWorkNASA’sStationRobonaut.
Robonaut will feature end
effectors based on the human hand andwill be capable of handling detailed and
complex tasks. It will interface with the MSS and serveas a spacewalker’s assistant or surrogate for tasks toodangerous for humans.
When astronauts return to Earth’s Moon and set footon Mars, they will not be alone. Robots will be there asassistants and partners in the exploration of space.
Robotic research and application on the ISS will lead theway for the advanced intelligent robotic systems of thefuture.
Power/DataGrappleFixtureJointElectronicsUnitArm ComputerUnit (2)Camera, Light andPan/Tilt Unit (2)BodyJointToolHolsters(4)LatchingEndEffectorBodyJointElectronicUnitSpecial PurposeDexterous ManipulatorResources: For more information about robots on the International Space Station,refer to the reference section of this web site. http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/stationClassroom Activity – Making and Using an ISS End Effector
Objectives:
• Students will learn how the end effectors for therobotic arms used on the Space Shuttle and theInternational Space Station work.
• Students will design and construct a grapple fixture thatwill enable the end effector to pick up an object.
easier to cut through the outer cupfirst and then the inner cup.Theimportant part about cuttingeoslthe two cups is that their
-Ccut-off ends lie flushwith each other whenthe cups are nested.
Use the knives as scrapersto smooth the cut edges.
Upon completing the endeffector, have your students design agrapple fixture. The idea here is to
design something that the end effector can grab ontowithout slipping off. After grapple fixtures are
completed, tell students to compare their fixture to thosecreated by two other students or groups. Ask them tocreate a table or a chart comparing the strong and weakpoints of the fixtures they evaluated. They shouldsummarize theirresults with a
Materials and Toolsstatement about
Styrofoam coffee cups (2 each)how they can
String - 12-cm pieces (3 each)improve the
Cellophane tapefixture they
Plastic picnic knives (serrated)designed.
3
National Standards:
Science Content
• Abilities of technological design
Technology Education Content
8.Students will develop an understanding of the
attributes of design
9.Students will develop an understanding of engineer-ing design
10.Students will develop an understanding of the role of
troubleshooting, research and development, inven-tion and innovation, and experimentation in problemsolving
11.Students will develop abilities to apply the design
process
Teaching Plan:
In this activity, students can worksingly or in small groups of two orthree. Have students use a sawingmotion to cut through the cups. It is
Humans and Robots
OpenEB-2001-04-004-JSC
Making the End Effector:
1. Nest the two cups together and cut through both cupswhere indicated in the diagram by the dashed line.Smooth the cut edges by scraping them with thepicnic knife edge.
5. While holding the rim of the inner cup, rotate theouter cup until the three strings cross each other. Thestrings will have some slack. Pull the end of thestrings on the outside until they are straight andintersect exactly in the middle of the opening. Pressthe tape on the outside to hold the strings.
Using the End Effector:
1. Use the end effector to pick up an object such as apencil. Have someone hold a pencil upright. Openyour end effector so that the strings are not crossingeach other. Slip the end effector over the pencil sothat the pencil extends down the center and notthrough any of the loops. Rotate the outer cup untilthe strings grasp the pencil. Pick up the pencil.
2. You may find that the pencil is too slippery to be heldsecurely. How might you modify the pencil so that itcan be held? Design a standard grapple fixture thatcan be mounted to other objects so that they can bepicked up.
3.Compare your grapple fixture to two other grapplefixtures designed by your classmates. Which oneworks the best? Why? Create a chart or a table thatevaluates the strong and weak points of each grapplefixture you compared. How can you improve yourdesign?
Saw throughboth cups2. Cut three pieces of string 12 centimeters long each.3. Tape the end of the first string to the inside of theinner coffee cup just below the cut edge. Tape theother end of the string to the outside of the cup but donot press this piece of tape tightly yet.Tape string loopfrom outside tothe insideAssessment:
Review the tables or charts created by your students.Pay special attention to the ideas students have forimproving their grapple fixtures.
4. Repeat step 3 twice more, but place the strings about1/3 of the way (120 degrees) around the cup from thefirst string.
Extensions:
Search robot sites on the Internet and review
different end effector designs. How does the design ofan end effector enable it to pick up and manipulatevarious objects?
Open PositionRotate Outer CupContinue Rotating toClose SnaresPlease take a moment to evaluate this product at
http://ehb2.gsfc.nasa.gov/edcats/educational_brief
Your evaluation and suggestions are vital to
continually improving NASA educational materials.
Thank you.
Humans and Robots
4
EB-2001-04-004-JSC
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