Adventures in Mechanical Computing

During the Fall session of Inventors Club we are exploring mechanical computing.

Most of the first mechanical computers were really mechanical counters so that is where we are starting. During the first two weeks of our Inventors Club, we are making a machine that can count marbles. We were inspired by our friends in the Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium who have been doing some very creative work with marble machines. We took that same basic setup and applied a layer of historical context to create mechanical computers (more on that soon).

The challenge was to input data (a marble) into the upper left corner of the machine and collect the marbles in the lower right corner of the machine. For our older students we gave them the added challenge of "doing something interesting" once three marbles were entered into the machine. Many of our younger students also incorporated circuits into their machines as well.

Each team was given a set of materials(molding, dowels, PVC) to create the track for the marbles.

 The older students had to build the pegboard structure from scratch before they could do anything else. We just gave them the materials and a blueprint.

It was good practice building from a sketch and also served as tool training.

Henry got creative and found other materials from the workshop to incorporate into the machine. At the end of the run the marble activates a motor, spinning a propeller.

Another team collected their marbles into a bucket. Once three marbles dropped into the bucket the bucket would sink and the other bucket would rise.



We were experimenting with a binary digital counter circuit.
We were quite pleased with how well it worked! It gave us some new ideas that we hope to play with soon.

Drill Bits - A beginner's Guide

They are called spade bits!

We have many drill bits in the workshop at The Bakken. Over the years we have gotten pretty good at knowing when to use which bit. But we are always on the look out for good resources that we can learn from. Steve Hoefer's A beginners' guide to drills and bits is just that, a good resource. For example I learned that the drill bits that are relatively flat and are good for boring out a hole are called spade bits (I have been calling the speedbors, but I always suspected that was not the appropriate name). 

Hoefer's write up on drill bits share on BoingBoing is great. He coves the appropriate use and pros and cons for the most common and useful drill bits. I can proudly attest that we have most of them handy in the workshop. 

If you make holes, especially in wood, I strongly encourage you to read this article.

A beginners' guide to drills and bits - Boing Boing

Summer Camp Midsummer Update

Working on a problem solving challenge

The air is hot and muggy, the lakes are flooded, and half the roads are under construction.  It must be summer!  But of course the best part about summer is that it means we have our science day camp here at the Bakken.  Summer Camp at the Bakken Museum is where kids from 2nd through 9th grade get to spend the day at the museum, Monday through Friday, learning useful science and engineering skills, and using our student workshop to make their very own creation to take home at the end of the week.  In addition to working on their big project, they also work in groups on creative problem solving challenges, play games, build skills with circuits and tools, and make daily magic tricks to bring home to impress friends and family.  With all that we even find some time to spend outside getting our daily dose of vitamin D.

Working on a project

This week is not only the Best Days of the Bakken (our free Aquatennial 5-day event), but it also marks the halfway point for this year's summer camp.  As usual, the array of projects we've seen the kids create is nothing short of outstanding.  From card readers and candy carrying cars, to foosball and crocodiles, and just about everything in between.

Next week we're jumping right back into it with our all girls week, then it's just a few more weeks until it's back to school time.  In September we'll be starting up our usual school year programs.  Lego Robotics, Inventors Club, and Thursday night Open Workshop times will all be after camp is finished, with registration for Legos and Inventors Club opening up on the website soon.

Working on fun!

So far it's been a fantastic summer, and we look forward to the rest being just as great!

LEGO Robotics: Spring Wrap Up

The Spring session of the LEGO Robotics workshop was a great success. Both the morning and afternoon classes produced some excellent robots.

A couple of our robots were playing a game of golf, but they were trying to only hit the red ball. The robot approaches the ball on the stand and if the ball was blue it would back away, if it was red it would hit the ball.

 
Programming robots is fun!


This robot is easily startled. When he rolls over the pressure pad, it completes a circuit setting off a buzzer. Whenever the robot hears a loud sound it swings into reverse.
 
This robot controls a red light and green light by driving over pressure pad switches!

 The afternoon workshop focused on the theme of Artbot or Arcadebot. The robots either created art in a visual or auditory form or the robots were designed to play some sort of game. A lot of the students found interesting robots on the internet and found ways to modify and improve on them.

A selection of  Arcadebots:

Remote Controller grabber

A customized robot controlled via bluetooth

A ball shooter


 The Artbots:

LEGO Robotics - Spring 2014: Mid Session Progress

We are over half way through our spring session of LEGO Robotics here at The Bakken Museum. We have two classes of students working hard on some interesting robotics projects. We wanted to share what we have been up to during these last few weeks and what we have coming up in the remaining time.

Introduction to LEGO Robotics - Morning Workshop

In our introductory class, we have learning the basics of robot design, construction, and programming. In the first week of class we began building the basic robot that we have come to love here at the museum. Each robot is assembled by a team of two students. One student assembles as the other collects pieces and then they switch roles until the have a fully functional robot. The students have done a great job helping each other out when they get stuck or need some help. By the end of the first day, pretty much everyone had a working robot.

On the second day we focused our attention on how to make our basic robot move around. We were utilizing the on-robot programming. This allows us to give the robot five instructions to respond to. We rotated through six challenge stations to help us practice computational thinking. Some of these stations included driving in a square, going exactly six feet and stopping, and going over a ramp. The second half of the day was spent investigating and experimenting with sensors. The NXT robots we use has four different sensors, each can be used to gather more information about the surroundings. We used those sensor to make the robots interact with the sounds, lights, and objects in our environment.

We learned that there are some limitations to what we can do with the programming style we practiced last week, so this week we learned to use the computer as a programming tool. This gives us a more power and flexibility to control the robot. To start off we focused on making the robot move along a specific path, a maze. The goal was to give the robot instructions to move through the maze from the starting line to the finish line with no human interaction. It was a tricky maze with many turns. Few students finished the whole things, but everyone made a good effort and made good progress during our workshop. It was a good reminder that just because it’s simple doesn't mean it easy.

Our fourth week started out with some circuit exploration. We used batteries, bulbs, and wires to make some interesting circuits. There was a wide range of skills in our group. It was great to see students sharing knowledge with their fellow students. Next, we brainstormed how we could make our robots interact with circuits. The rest of the day was spent working on special challenges designed by the students to be revealed at our Big Show on Saturday May 17th at 11:30. These challenges will be what we focus on for the rest of the session. I hope you will join us to see what these creative robot engineers are working on so diligently.

Inventors Club Spring 2014 - Week 4 plus Meet the Makers

The last session of Inventors Club for the 2013-2014 school year is in full swing now.  As usual, we spent the first two weeks doing introductory group activities, and learning all about the tools and materials of the student workshop.  Now that we just had the third of 6 Saturdays, we’ve begun working on everyone’s individual project which they’ll take home after the big show at the end.  This last Saturday was also a unique day because in between the morning and afternoon groups we had a special Meet the Makers program, where former students presented some of their work to the current students.

On the first day of the session, in the morning group we played some getting-to-know-you games so we could all get a little more familiar with each other.  Then we did an activity to help with using drawings to communicate our thoughts to others.  In that activity, all the students managed to tell their partner how to reconstruct a simple collection of miscellaneous small wood and plastic pieces by drawing their creations from the top, side, and front.  Then, after being safety trained for using the workshop, they paired up and built their own simple alarm systems which we then tried to disarm in an attempt to steal the precious treasure inside.

In the afternoon, we spent the first two weeks making art machines which we submitted for Science Friday’s Art Machine Science Club.  Two of the results can be seen on Youtube:

We also had a Meet the Makers session in between the two groups this last Saturday.  We’ve done this before a couple times, but always had a mentor or professional maker come in to discuss.  This time we brought back two former students to show off things they made in our programs.  The two students are also a part of our Green Energy Art Garden team, which is pairing 5 students with a local artist to create an artwork which utilizes some form of green energy, and will be displayed on our green roof this summer.  You can follow their progress and learn about them here.

Now it’s time to work on everyone’s individualized personal project, and in 3 more weeks they’ll show them off, and take them home.  We’re all looking forward to seeing the results!

Inventors Club Winter 2014 - Week 6

Another session of Inventors Club has come to a close.  As usual, we finished with the Big Show, where our student inventors displayed and described their inventions for friends and family.  Because the last step in the invention process here at the Bakken is "show it," it's very important for our program participants to explain what they've made with their time here.  Scientists and engineers need to be able to communicate their work to others, so we like to have the kids talk about their projects, and we even encourage the families and friends to visit with the students and ask them even more questions about their work to really get them thinking.

Every session brings projects we've never seen before.  This time around it felt like we saw everything from an egg cracking machine, to a ball toss game, a couple amplifiers, a few shockers (including one cleverly disguised as a normal telephone handset), a chalk drawing robot, and a submarine.  We even saw a diorama of a kitchen that was able to take food from the fridge to the table all on its own.

The schedule this year has us going almost directly from the winter session into the spring session, so this Saturday we'll be starting up the next round of Inventors Club and LEGO Robotics.  Of course, any information about our youth programs can be found on our website at thebakken.org/youth-programs.

Inventors Club Winter 2014 - Week 3

Well, with this heat wave of freezing temperatures, we’re halfway through winter Inventors Club.  Now that the group work is done, all the students have started work on their personal projects.  They’ve drawn their ideas and gathered some supplies together, and now we get to spend the next three weeks bringing all their ideas to life. 

This is the part of the program where the kids really get to flex their creativity.  Now that they have ideas, they have to figure out how to make the supplies that are available meet their needs, and of course they have to solve any of the problems that inevitably arise when making.  Luckily we have a wonderful group of volunteer mentors to help with all that.

Whether they're bringing their expertise on a subject, learning something new alongside one of the students, or even just providing an extra set of hands or eyes, we couldn’t do what we do without them.

So, with both the morning and the afternoon groups off to a great start, we're excited to see their ideas in action.  It's going to be a fun 3 weeks!

More information about all of our youth programs can be found on our website here: http://thebakken.org/youth-programs

Inventors Club Winter 2014 - Week 1

And the winter session of Inventors Club is off to a running start!  This session is all about chain reactions, plus more Arduino practice for the older group.

Last Saturday we started work on Rube Goldberg balloon popping devices in the morning group.  Lots of different ideas being tried out, and this weekend we get to see what the final results will look like.  Some of our big nails seem to be popular choices for making the big kaboom, but will they be able to puncture the balloons, or will some have to be switched out for something sharper?  You might say we're waiting on pins and needles here.

In the afternoon we started work on an experimental Arduino servo chain reaction.  Can we create our own homemade switches so that our servos can activate each other one after another?  Can we get them to run in a looping circle?  This weekend we'll finish the switches, add some programming, and find out!  The homemade switches are looking awfully impressive and creative.  It's going to be fun to see them in action.

Of course, after all this group work, the students will spend the rest of the 6 week program working on making their own project idea.  With the help of our equipment, materials, and mentors they'll be bringing their ideas to life.  We're all looking forward to seeing what amazing new creations will come out of the workshop this time around.

Lego Robotics - Winter 2014

We are now over half way through this session of LEGO Robotics. Both the morning and afternoon classes are make impressive progress. In our remaining two weeks each group is working on specific challenges.

Our Introduction to LEGO Robotics class in the morning works in teams, two students for each robot.

 Each team has built their robot, practiced basic programming, and have experienced using the computer to try more advanced programming techniques and concepts. The first week we did thought provoking investigation to see how wheel size affected our robots motion. This week we started with some circuit exploration, figuring out how basic circuits work and how to control them with a switch. Now we are building and program robots for specific student designed challenges. Some groups are working on making their robot interact with a custom made pressure pad. Other groups are preparing their robots for battle. Join us at the Big Show on Saturday March 1st to see these robots in action.

In the afternoon our Robot Challenges students have also been busy. In this group each student has their own robot to work with so they can really customize their robot and tinker with its design and programming.

The first week was spent constructing the a basic robot. The second week was spent investigate sensors and basic programming. In the third we constructed a basic maze for our robots and then programmed the robots to successfully travel through the maze.

In our fourth week the big challenge was introduced. The challenge for the afternoon group involves building a snow plowing robot. For our scenario the snow will be represented by balls of different sizes and shapes. So far we have been experimenting with different plow designs and trying to utilize the skills we practiced to get our robots through the maze to help us through the new course. We have run into some challenges as well such as trying to find the right balance of making a plow that is big enough to capture most of the "snow" but not so big that is catches on the curb and knocks the robot off course. Challenges we will going to work on and refine over the next two weeks.