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Showing 6 - 10 of 15 Project Ideas
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
Stair Master: Build an All-Terrain Robot
Stair Master: Build an All-Terrain Robot
Difficulty
Time Required Average (6-10 days)
Prerequisites Experience building with LEGO® and programming for LEGO® Mindstorms® is required for this project.
Material Availability This project requires a LEGO® Mindstorms® NXT kit and compatible programming software. See the Materials and Equipment list for details.
Cost Very High (over $150)
Safety No issues

Have you ever tried to ride your bike up a flight of stairs? Vehicles with wheels are great at traveling on paved roads or flat ground, but when it comes to stairs or uneven ground in the woods, wheels are not always such a great option. Inspired by real-life all-terrain robots, in this engineering project you will design and build a LEGO® robot that can travel over bumpy ground, through your yard, or even up a stack of textbooks — … Read more
Take a Hike: Train Your Robot Dog to Walk with a Virtual Leash
Take a Hike: Train Your Robot Dog to Walk with a Virtual Leash
Difficulty
Time Required Average (6-10 days)
Prerequisites Experience building with LEGO pieces and programming with LEGO Mindstorms is required for this project.
Material Availability This project requires a [# Link Name="Robotics_p009.8" Value="HtmlAnchor" HtmlText="LEGO Mindstorms kit" #] and compatible programming software. See the Materials and Equipment list for details.
Cost Very High (over $150)
Safety No issues.

Have you ever walked a dog on a leash? Depending on how well-behaved the dog is, it can be very easy or very difficult. It would be great if you could tell your dog exactly how to behave, right? With that in mind, in this project you will build a robotic dog using a LEGO® Mindstorms® kit that you can teach to "walk" using the beam from a flashlight as a virtual leash. But your robot dog will not know how to walk on a leash on its own… Read more
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