Grippers+Project

Cooperative STEAM Gripper Activity

Problem: Robots often need to hang on to things. There is a need for simple effectors with a design that resist damage. (Broken fingers)

Outline: 1 & 2 are art related tasks 3 through 12 are math and science related tasks. 13 & 14 are technology and engineering related tasks.

Here are 14 parts to an extremely unrefined activity to provoke conversation. The idea popped into my head, so I wrote it up. Is this activity STEAM? What CCSS and NGSS standards does it cover? Could it be used in more than an afterschool setting? What should be added or eliminated? Anyone have any examples of how to scaffold parts of a project like this to make it more likely to work?

DRAW AND LOOK FOR PATTERNS Alexander Somma || ||  ||
 * [[image:HandofMaryCreativeCommons.jpg]]

1. Make a contoured drawing of a hand. (Not a grade school turkey.) Student Drawing:

2. Look for a pattern in the bones of the hand.
 * [[image:HandBones.jpg width="390" height="260"]] || [[image:handbonesdiagram.jpg]] ||

Here is a pattern that shows an increasing number of bones. (Help turning patterns into functions)

DESCRIBE THE PATTERN OF BONES IN THE HAND

3. Use the pattern above to write a function for the pattern. Answer: Y = 4X + 8 4. For what range of X values will the function match the bones in the hand? Answer: Whole numbers 0 to 4 5. Make a pattern to represent the bones from the wrist to the thumb. Answer:

6. Use your pattern to write a function for the pattern of bones of wrist and down the thumb. Answer: Y = 1X + 8

7. These two functions represent the bones in two different hands. Y = 2X + 4 and Y = 3X + 4 Which function represents a hand that would be better for swimming? Answer: The three fingered hand. Y = 3X + 4 over a two fingered hand Y= 2X + 4

8. Graph your function for the wrist and fingers. 9. What is the slope of the line? 10. Graph your function for the wrist and thumb on the same graph. 11. What is the slope of the line? 12. What is the function of the skeletal system in the human body?

MAKE TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF GRIPPERS

13. Make a working model of a hand using a foam plate, string, five straws, and tape that could be used on a robot. Use the engineering design cycle to complete this task. Look at your own hand as a hint. One answer:

14. Make a fingerless gripper using two foam cups, string, and tape. (The advantage is that there are no fingers to be broken.) Use the engineering design cycle and the following pictures as a hint.
 * [[image:Robotic Arm Gripper open.jpg]] || [[image:Robotic Arm Gripper drawn.gif]] ||

Answer: http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/675573main_Technology%20Activity-SOS.pdf Hydraulic answer http://resources.yesican-science.ca/trek/sts-100/end_effector.html