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Showing 1 - 5 of 9 Project Ideas
Grasping with Straws: Make a Robot Hand Using Drinking Straws
Grasping with Straws: Make a Robot Hand Using Drinking Straws
Difficulty
Time Required Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites None
Material Availability Readily available. See the Materials and Equipment list for details.
Cost Low ($20 - $50)
Safety Adult supervision is suggested for parts of this project. Use caution with sharp knives and glue.

Imagine how cool it would be to build a robot hand that could grasp a ball or pick up a toy. In this robotics engineering project, you will learn how to use drinking straws, sewing thread, and a little glue to make a remarkably lifelike and useful robot hand. What will you design your robot hand to do? Pick up a can? Move around a ping pong ball? It is up to you! With these starting instructions, you can design any type of hand. You will… Read more
Soda Straw Robot Simulator
Soda Straw Robot Simulator
Difficulty
Time Required Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites You need to work on a computer on which you are allowed to download a new program. Check with the owner of the computer before you proceed.
Material Availability Readily available
Cost Very Low (under $20)
Safety No issues

Robots come in many shapes and sizes. From the Mars Rovers to toy dinosaurs, robots are well-planned machines designed to suit their individual purposes. In this science project, you will test different robot designs with an online simulator made up of dots and lines, much like bendable soda straws. How will each robot design respond to changes in their conditions? Read more
That's Creepy! Exploring the Uncanny Valley
That's Creepy! Exploring the Uncanny Valley
Difficulty
Time Required Average (6-10 days)
Prerequisites None
Material Availability Readily available
Cost Very Low (under $20)
Safety No issues

What do you consider creepy? Clowns? Zombies? Video game characters with jerky movement? In 1970, a roboticist by the name of Masahiro Mori suggested that people are "creeped out" by robots that are almost, but not exactly, humanlike. He called this phenomena the uncanny valley. But researchers are still exploring and defining the uncanny valley. In this science project, you can do your own exploration—just try not to creep your… Read more
Climb Every Mountain with Your Own LEGO® Cable Car *
Climb Every Mountain with Your Own LEGO® Cable Car
Difficulty
Time Required Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites You should be familiar with programming for LEGO Mindstorms to do this project.
Material Availability This project requires a [# Link Name="Robotics_p008.1" Value="HtmlLink" #] and access to a computer with programming software compatible with LEGO Mindstorms, such as NXT-G, ROBOTC, or LabVIEW for LEGO Mindstorms.
Cost Very High (over $150)
Safety Make sure your cable car string is securely attached to a heavy object (like a table or large chair) at both ends. The NXT brick is heavy, and could fall and damage your LEGOs or other objects if the string is not securely attached.

If you ever rode in a cable car, ski lift, or gondola, you know they make moving over obstacles like lakes, valleys, rivers, or even up steep mountains seem easy. Though it would be pretty difficult to build a full-size cable car in your home, if you have a Mindstorms® kit, you can build a working-model cable car of your own. The engineering challenge is to build a LEGO® cable car that can travel across a string you have suspended… Read more
Robot Picasso: Building a Robot That Creates Art
Robot Picasso: Building a Robot That Creates Art
Difficulty
Time Required Average (6-10 days)
Prerequisites None
Material Availability This robotics engineering project requires you to purchase VEX® robotics materials. See the Materials and Equipment list for details. With a little problem-solving, you may be able to substitute another robotics platform.
Cost Very High (over $150)
Safety Use caution with tools when assembling the robot. Minor injury is possible.

Are you artistic? Do you enjoy creating art? Some may think that art is something only humans can make, but what about robots: can they be artistic? They can if you build them that way. In this robotics engineering project, you will build a robot that creates art. And who knows? Someday your robot art may be worth millions! Read more
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