After learning how gears work and completing several lab activities highlighting the advantages of “gearing up” or “gearing down,” Ms. Kelsey Norberg challenged students in her Robotics and Motion Control class with a competition in December.
The students had to design, build and program a robotic vehicle that would tow, or pull, another robot over a center line. In essence a “Robotic Truck Pull.” The students had to decide whether to “gear up” for more speed, “gear down” for more torque, or do a combination of both.
“What makes it even more difficult is that the students not only have to build the robot they have to program it,” said Ms. Norberg. “The vehicles has to be programmed to start on their own at the sound of a loud clap, then shut down on their own after a minute; there was to be no human interaction with the robots once they had been set up.”
