LittleClickers » Robots

Drone Rules

buckleit — Tue, 15 May 2018 14:13:10 +0000

Teachers and librarians — download this topic as a one page PDF (all hyperlinks are spelled out, so it works on paper). Use this link.

Drones are a mixture of the powerful technologies, many of which didn’t exist a few years ago.

Today you can purchase a drone for about the price of a bicycle that can fly for 20 minutes while taking clear, stable videos. Your new eyes in the sky requires new responsibilities, so let’s take a crash course in flying a drone.

1. How high can I fly? 400 feet; or a 40 story building. At the https://faadronezone.faa.gov you’ll find as set of rules that include:

Only fly for fun. You must register with the FAA if you are hired for a job, such as to take photos of a roof. If the police spot you flying an unregistered drone or if someone complains, you could get fined.
Fly during the daytime, when you can see your drone.
Your drone can’t be too big. But this shouldn’t be a problem, because the FAA says it must weight less than 55 lbs (a heavy suitcase).
You must always keep your drone in view when flying.
Stay away from other aircraft or emergency response efforts.
Never fly over active roads, moving traffic or people.
Be aware of controlled airspace, such as around military bases or around airports.

2. Can anyone fly a drone? There are more and more rules about drones. If you’re serious you should register your drone with the FAA (Federal Aviation Association). It only costs $5, and takes a few minutes. Visit https://www.faa.gov/uas/ to learn more.

3. What does UAS stand for? Unmanned Aircraft Systems. That’s what a drone is. Check out this college degree in UAS, at Embry-Riddle University http://bitly.com/2rrOu4r

4. I’m really serious about drones, and I don’t want a toy. What should I get? You have a lot of choices. One of our testers uses a the DJI Spark for about $550. It can fly for about 20 minutes and works with your smart phone. It comes with crash guards and spare parts.

APPLICATION: MAKE A DRONE OBSTACLE COURSE
Sharpen your drone flying skills! Check out this drone store, full of ideas for making a drone obstacle course http://bitly.com/2KAVAMw. Or you can make one inside your house. Here’s a plan we found http://thomasrenck.com/share/Microdrone_Course_Project.pdf

Drones Rules on YouTube Want more? Here’s a video playlist that go along with this column. Use this link.

———————————————————————————————————————————————— LittleClickers.com (this page and the associated web site) is sponsored by Computer Explorers. Neither Children’s Technology Review (publisher of LittleClickers) or Computer Explorers has any vested interest in any of the sites listed on this page. Librarians and teachers are permitted to copy this page for non-profit use. To report a bad link, use this form, or contact us. Copyright 2018, Children's Technology Review.

Inventing the Future

buckleit — Tue, 02 May 2017 20:33:55 +0000

Download this column as a one page PDF.

Computer scientist Alan Kay once said the best way to predict the future is to invent it. If this is true, what are inventors currently working on? Fasten your seat belts, because we’ve found some amazing examples, like flying cars and electric jets — powered by solar roads. There’s even a group working on a Mars colony. Here are some sites and videos worth exploring.

1. We’ll live on another planet. Mars makes three things hard — breathing, eating and not freezing. Engineers at Mars One have a solution. Visit http://www.mars-one.com to see what it might look like to live on Mars someday.

2. We’ll “fly” a car. This New York Times article http://nyti.ms/2p48kQR describes a company that has created flying car/boat vehicle, and the people who are investing in the idea. Currently they can only fly over water, but soon you might take one to school.

3. We’ll ride in an electric powered airplane. Electric cars are an old idea. But airplanes? Learn about the E-Fan from Airbus at bitly.com/2prxMlU that has already been able to fly across the English channel.

4. We’ll swallow a robot. We found a pill-sized robot that you swallow. It then unfolds inside your stomach and fixes things. After it finishes, it simply dissolves. Learn more at bitly.com/2p1Mzjv

5. We’ll see the beauty of math. Computers are helping mathematical artists like John Edmark create hypnotic patterns using geometry and something called the “golden angle.” See some examples, at bitly.com/2prUrhO

APPLICATION: DESIGN YOUR OWN TESLA

How far can you drive an electric car before the battery dies? How long does it take to charge? The answers depend on many things, like if you are using the air conditioner or if you are going up hills. Visit Tesla’s site where you can design a car and or try out different simulators. In case you were wondering, most Teslas can go 265 miles on an overnight charge, and it costs about $10 to “fill up the tank.” That’s about 4 cents per mile. Learn more at https://www.tesla.com/models

Try this month’s YouTube playlist! You’ll find a set of hand-picked videos that show these ideas in action. Here’s the link.

Quadcopters

buckleit — Sat, 01 Apr 2017 16:53:15 +0000

Teachers and librarians — Download this is column as a one page, easy to print PDF to send home.

WARNING — once you’ve flown a quadcopter (aka a drone) you won’t want to stop. Today’s “toy” drones are affordable and very easy to fly, thanks to some quickly evolving technologies like motion sensors, gyros and tiny batteries. The technology behind this marvelous toy didn’t happen by accident. Let’s learn more.

1. Who, When and Where was the Quadcopter invented?
In 1907, in France by two brothers, according to http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Breguet-Richet_Gyroplane. The Breguet Bros. worked with a professor (Richet) to make a working quadcopter that could lift a person off the ground, but was impossible to steer. The design was so clunky and dangerous that it was abandoned.

2. T/F All four rotors spin in the same direction.
Answer: False. The two front rotors spin in opposite directions, as do the two back rotors. To illustrate the point, watch the air around the rotors in this Wired magazine video, at bitly.com/2nQU0gE. Next, visit the Discovery Channel’s page dedicated to drones at bitly.com/2nFOoVX.

3. Can a quadcopter pick up a person? Almost. The Breguet Brothers dream is coming true in the form of the Hoverbike. This could make getting to school a lot more fun. Have a look at http://www.hover-bike.com.

4. How long can a drone fly? Most professional drones can fly about 25 minutes, according to Drones Globe bitly.com/2nEMsLG

5. What are some tricks you can do with a drone?
Popular Mechanics has a list of the common tricks, at bitly.com/2nEWv3D

Application: Set up a drone flying station in your school or library

STEP 1: First get at least two cheap, easy to fly toy drones, like the Holy Stone or the Sky Viper. [Reminder, we do not use affiliate links, so we're not making any money if you choose to buy one of these drones].

They’ll cost about $40 each, and come with everything you’ll need. Let one charge, while the other one is being flown.

STEP 2: Create well marked take-off and landing spots, and find an open area.

STEP 3: Teach up and down. The most important skill is to learn how to kill the power (usually left thumb down).

STEP 4: Fly around! After they can hover and land, let them steer. This can be tricky and takes a lot of practice… but it’s very rewarding.

Select Videos About Quadcopters

Here’s a set of hand-picked videos that go along with this column http://bit.ly/lcdrones

Curious About Mars?

buckleit — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 21:26:12 +0000

Is Mars really red? (Not really). Is it larger or smaller than the Earth? (Smaller). Is it warmer or colder than the Earth? (Much colder). How many moons does Mars have? (Two). How long does it take a radio signal to get from the Earth to the Curiosity rover? (Between 5 to 20 minutes). Could you breathe Martian air? (No way). Still curious about Mars? Here are some links and videos to help you follow what we are learning about this amazing planet.

Download, print and share this column as a one page PDF.

1. Is Mars really red?
According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Insitute of Technology, the red color associated with Mars comes from iron oxide (or rust). On the surface, however, Mars has more of a butter scotch color.

2. Is the climate on Mars more like a hot summer or a cold winter? The New York Times reports the Curiosity Rover has measured swings in temperature from minus 103 to 28 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s a very very cold winter. Brrr!

3. If you were to step onto Mars without a space suit, would you survive? According to Science Clarified.com, you’d be dead in 15 seconds. First the low pressure would make your body fluids boil. Next, you’d freeze, even on the warmest day which won’t get above freezing (see quest.NASA.gov). If you were still alive, you’d suffocate because there is no oxygen. If you could survive that, you’d eventually starve, because there would be no way to grow food.

4. How long does it take a radio signal to get to Mars? The distance between Earth and Gale Crater can be as far as 150 million miles. That’s 32 years for a 747 jet, or about 20 minutes for a radio wave,. That’s why you can’t“drive” the rover in real time. Say you saw a cliff ahead. You’d hit the brakes, but that braking radio signal could take 20 minutes to activate the brakes. You’d already be over the cliff. See www.distance-calculator.co.uk.


5. T/F After two years, the Curiosity rover will be dead. TRUE. Unlike previous rovers, this one has it’s own generator. It is powered by a chunk of very hot, poisen radioactive metal called plutonium. The heat is used to warm the instruments and generate electricity for 10 instruments, plus motors, lasers and cameras… for about 2 years. After that, it will stop working. Learn more about Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html.



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6. If the Earth is a basketball, how big is Mars? The Lunar and Planetary Institute says that if Earth were a basketball, Mars would be a softball.
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STUFF TO TRY (APPLICATION)

Make a true scale model solar system.

Want to really know how big the solar system is? Visit http://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html for instructions on making a 1000 yard solar system to scale. The sun will be a bowling ball, and the earth is a peppercorn, 26 paces away. Go another 14 paces to get to Mars, which is the size of a pinhead.

See NASA’s movies. To see NASA’s movies, visit http://1.usa.gov/Njjyw4

Where is Mars, right now? We found this real-time solar system calculator at SolarSystemScope.com that tells you.

Play some games. Visit the NASA Kids’s Club, where you can practice driving a rover. You’ll need a regular browser that can run Flash-based games.

20 Select Videos on Mars, from YouTube

———————————————————————————————————————————————— LittleClickers.com (this page and the associated web site) is sponsored by Computer Explorers. Neither Children’s Technology Review (publisher of LittleClickers) or Computer Explorers has any vested interest in any of the sites listed on this page. Librarians and teachers are permitted to copy this page for non-profit use. To report a bad link, use this form, or contact us. Copyright 2018, Children's Technology Review.

Robots

buckleit — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 17:44:48 +0000

Even before there was electricity, there were robots.
Want proof? On Wikipedia.org, you can learn about a famous robot made by Leonardo da Vinci.
Here are some more links and videos about these amazing inventions.

1. Does the army use robots? If so, how?

It sure does! Take for example the Warrior, a tiny tank-like robot used in Japan during the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster. About the size of a large dog, the small tank could go inside areas that could kill a person. See iRobot.com.

2. T/F Could a robot weed your garden?

At a company called Yanko Design, they think so. They imagine, and try to design robots for everyday jobs. For example, the Botan could pull weeds, trim the grass, and vacuum up your leaves. If they only could make one to do your homework!

3. Explain: What do robots have in common with lizards?

A lot, at least at University of California/Berkeley, where they watch reptiles jump in slow motion to figure how robots can move.

4. Can a Robot Play Basketball?

You bet. At the year’s First Robotics Competition (www.http://www.usfirst.org/) teams will compete to see who can build a robot that can make the most baskets. Watch the YouTube video below to learn the rules of competition.

5. What comic book character inspired the Honda Asimo robot?

At Honda Worldwide you can learn the story of Masato Hirose, Executive Chief Engineer at Honda Research & Development, who was given the job of his dreams — to design a robot based on Astro Boy. Did he succeed? Perhaps. You can find out by taking the controls of an Asimo. Click on the picture at right.

6. APPLICATION: Make a pretend robot.

You want a robot, but can’t afford one. Why not make a cool robot creation made from old electrical parts? If you have an old computer laying around, turn the keyboard into a mouth, like they did at River Net Computers in Frenchtown NJ (right). Mix in some nuts and bolts and some parts from your hardware store, and you have a life-like robot. It is easy to find ideas. See, for example MachinesLikeUs.com. For extra credit, leave some room in your robot’s head for a walkie talkie, cell phone or baby monitor, so you can supply the voice from a distance.

7. Want to see more?

Visit Children’s Technology Review’s playlist (below), to view select YouTube videos based on topics in this month’s column.

LittleClickers.com (this page and the associated web site) is sponsored by Computer Explorers. Neither Children’s Technology Review (publisher of LittleClickers) or Computer Explorers has any vested interest in any of the sites listed on this page. Librarians and teachers are permitted to copy this page for non-profit use. To report a bad link, please contact us, or call 908-284-0404 (9 – 3 PM, EST). These links were selected by Warren Buckleitner.