For the top spinner project, the smallest gear was connected with the largest to achieve a faster gear spin. This led to a 36:12, or 3:1 ratio from the motor to the top which increased its speed. A circular hole held the top to get it to spin while not releasing. Finally, for the spinner, A plus connector was the tip as it had the least surface area for friction.
For the Spirograph project, the small motor was used to control the motion of the pen while the large motor was used to spin the platform. Only using 2 motor allowed to reduce the randomness of the drawing, thus creating more symmetry between the circle.
Test of motor syncronization by driving in specified motions
Design car motion that a marker could be attached to draw a square
The project was a robotic hand that extended out from inside the bucket when someone reached for free candy. The robot utilized the distance sensor to indicate when to run and used two motors and a scissor extension arm to move the hand forward and backward. To lure people, we used candy and a sign claiming we didn’t finish our project.
When distance sensor reached a specific distance, the scissor extension arm activated
When user reaches down, the skeleton hand extends out
The project was a rock-paper-scissors robot that would reenact the chosen option. After interviewing several middle schoolers, a simple game was chosen to be replicated in LEGO bricks to ensure the players knew the rules. After several iterations, the final design of having a single robot with 3 functions was chosen for ease of replicability, as 2 robots were needed. Each function was design to end at the center of the paper shown. This allowed for the robot to physically act out each interaction between the choices. The rock would "smash" down on the scissors, the scissors would "cut" the paper, and the paper would "encase" the rock before resetting.
Motion for scissor portion of robot
Motion for paper portion of robot