Our project

Our project is going as planned.  We wrote the intro script already, and all we have to do is memorize it and be prepared for any questions the judges have for us!

Turning to something else, we have found the definition of bionics!  (I know it's the week before the tournament, but bionics seems easy to define.)  Here is what dictionary.com has to say about bionics:


bionics
–noun ( used with a singular verb )
the study of how humans and animals perform certain tasks and solve certain problems, and of the application of the findings to the design of electronic devices and mechanical parts.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bionics)

It can also refer to these electronic devices and mechanical parts.

Turning to our robot, we are trying to tweak some things to increase each program's success rate.  We have relatively high success rate for all of them, but we are NOT PERFECT.  We can't be, though.  Well, I guess we could, but the chances are, in effect, zero.  (What are the chances of picking a random number out of all that exist {real, imaginary, positive, negative, rational, irrational, complex, etc.} and getting 3.1415926535897932384626..., which is pi, for those of you who haven't memorized it?  The chances are zero, but it's still possible.)

This is a post from Alpha Rex.

The wires on the NXT are like telephone jacks, with one difference: the snap-connector on top is to the side to prevent kids from plugging their NXTs into the telephone service.

Briiiiiiiinnnnnnnng!  Briiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnng.

Person: Hello?
NXT: Hello.
Person: Who is this?
NXT: Alpha Rex.
Person:AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!  ALIEN ROBOTS ARE INVADING!!!!!!!!!!!!
NXT: Resistance is futile.

Competition, Here We Come!

Teamwork isn't as bad as it sounds; we are working on it. Plus, we have made big progress with our programs. So now we are double-checking, tweaking, and timing like crazy to make sure that everything is shipshape.  We are readying for the big competition this week---only 6 days! We're practicing teamwork  exercises  so we will be prepared for the major assignment the judge will give us to see how well we work together. All in all, very exciting! Competition, here we come!!


--- Cell & Anna

teamwork

So far our teamwork is going as usual. By usual I mean not great but not bad. But nobody is perfect. Sometimes it could get SOOOOO off hand we had to do something else because nobody was behaving like we kept poking each other on the back of the neck. So that's something we have to work on. Another thing is believing in your self. Were doing a good job programing. Were almost at the stent. Another thing that were close to is the pressure sensor. We might skip the tissue's. The movie looks great. But still if you listen closely you could hear me ( Cell ) make energy sound like ienergy. And at the very beginning, Adam sounds like thank, not think. Accents! Other than that it sounds good. 








      ---Cell

State of the Union (at least, about robotics)

We are working by busy little bees to get ready for our competition, which is on December 11. That may seem like a long time, but for us that is really a blink of an eye. We have 7 working programs and 6 arms that we are trying to amalgamate (a fancy word for combine) into one "super arm" as quoted by Matt. This super arm could feasibly work for a grand total of four programs. At the moment, there is an annoyingly loud human clock in the room. Be QUIET!
Anyways, this is a looong process, as you might guess---it's like trying on pair after pair of shoes, and they don't fit! (Yes, this is a girl speaking.) I mean that literally -- we are trying on arms only for them not to work...likewise with the programs. It's very trial and error. These are Anna's thoughts.
There was an issue with this one year with robots --- We had two very well made robots both with their pros and cons and my [Matt's] robot was very stable and couldn't perform well. The other one was could perform but wasn't very stable so we took the latter and stabilized it so we could use it for competition. Those are Matt's thoughts. Just so you know, Matt said the part about the human clock. That was Anna.

By Matt & Anna

Crunch time

Christmas is coming (kind of) near, but it's not a time of celebration for us yet!  (Don't forget that Halloween and Thanksgiving are also near, in a different direction in the case of Halloween.)  We have only a couple of weeks until our big tournament, and we have only four working programs and tons of arms... *GASPS* That's right, tons of arms!  Switching them takes time...  Uh-oh!  We can't lose time!  Our movie isn't finished, and technical difficulties have caused us to have to re-record some of our audio.  Will we get 1st place again this year?  There's no way to know for sure, but we hope so!

This is a post from Alpha Rex.

The wires on the NXT are like telephone jacks, with one difference: the snap-connector on top is to the side to prevent kids from plugging their NXTs into the telephone service.

Briiiiiiiinnnnnnnng!  Briiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnng.

Person: Hello?
NXT: Hello.
Person: Who is this?
NXT: Alpha Rex.
Person:AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!  ALIEN ROBOTS ARE INVADING!!!!!!!!!!!!
NXT: Resistance is futile.

Controlling the bionics

Controlling the bionic legs/arms seems so simple that we haven't talked about it.
How it works would be simple, Take the nerves of the arm/leg put it in a computer and translate the signals from the brain and change it to where the servos would understand it. (Showed here)

What We Are Doing

So we are trying to think of stuff to help artificial body parts. Some of the ideas are body heat, a boot that help army men be faster, glucose body cells and many more. The one we just came up with is brain cell energy. We will soon research it to see if it would help.

ATP

One of our viewers wanted to know what ATP was, so I'll explain it:

ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) is a molecule made of an adenosine group bonded to three phosphates, found in the mitochondria contained in the cell.  Here's what it would look like:  A-P-P-P, where A represents adenosine and P represents phosphate.  Under the right conditions, the last phosphate will break away, releasing energy in the process.  This energy is used to power cells in the body.  This process changes the ATP into ADP (Adenosine Diphosphate) and a phosphate.  But it takes energy to re-bond the ADP to the phosphate.  This is taken care of by an enzyme called ATP synthase, which essentially takes the energy from food to recombine the ADP and phosphate.  In this way, it acts like a rechargeable battery.


This is a post from Alpha Rex.

The wires on the NXT are like telephone jacks, with one difference: the snap-connector on top is to the side to prevent kids from plugging their NXTs into the telephone service.

Briiiiiiiinnnnnnnng!  Briiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnng!

Person: Hello?
NXT: Hello.
Person: Who is this?
NXT: Alpha Rex.
Person:AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!  ALIEN ROBOTS ARE INVADING!!!!!!!!!!!!
NXT: Resistance is futile.

Pros and Cons to powering systems

Here I am, here to talk about pros and cons to different powering systems.

Body heat:

First off, you must understand that there must be a warmer end and a colder end for a thermoelectric generator (what's used to make electricity from body heat) to work.  The heat in the warmer end excites electrons, which have no atoms to bond to, so they start flowing.  By the second law of thermodynamics, heat will flow from a warmer object to a colder one.  The electrons will follow this law and flow to the colder end.  Electricity is just the flow of electrons.  This works as long as there is sufficient difference in the user's body temperature and the temperature outside.  The amount of power you'd get is a bit unpredictable, and it might not work as well on hot days or patients prone to hypothermia, though.

ATP:

Works well as a rechargeable battery.  It could be used to store the excess energy from other systems.  Not so great on its own, though, because you would need something to "recharge" it.  In the body, an enzyme called ATP synthase recharges it.  ATP synthase is located in the mitochondrial membrane.

Glucose fuel cells:

Works pretty well, but what about diabetics?  If they already have low blood sugar, think about what could happen if you lower it even more.

For vital things like a heart, you might want to have backups in case the regular power system loses its power source.  For instance, if you had a solar-powered pacemaker and you don't currently have access to sun, you are in trouble.  If it was programmed to revert to glucose if there's no sun, you would be safer.


This is a post from Alpha Rex.

The wires on the NXT are like telephone jacks, with one difference: the snap-connector on top is to the side to prevent kids from plugging their NXTs into the telephone service.

Briiiiiiiinnnnnnnng!  Briiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnng!

Person: Hello?
NXT: Hello.
Person: Who is this?
NXT: Alpha Rex.
Person:AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!  ALIEN ROBOTS ARE INVADING!!!!!!!!!!!!
NXT: Resistance is futile.

Powering bionics

Okay, so, I'm here to further talk about what Matt just said.  We also are thinking about different ways to power bionics.  Here are our ideas:

Body Heat

ATP

Glucose Fuel cell

We didn't include anything like batteries (rechargeable or regular) or fuel cells because if you are not near a power source to recharge it or more batteries/fuel cells, then the device could run out of power.  And if that device is a pacemaker or artificial heart or lung or such, then you would be in trouble.

Click on any of those to go to a webpage talking about how the system could work.

This is a post from Alpha Rex.

The wires on the NXT are like telephone jacks, with one difference: the snap-connector on top is to the side to prevent kids from plugging their NXTs into the telephone service.

Briiiiiiiinnnnnnnng!  Briiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnng.

Person: Hello?
NXT: Hello.
Person: Who is this?
NXT: Alpha Rex.
Person:AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!  ALIEN ROBOTS ARE INVADING!!!!!!!!!!!!
NXT: Resistance is futile.

Intro

This years season is: Body Forward. So our project is about bionics(Implants/fake arms/legs) some of our ideas are bionic ears and legs.

For the legs we're thinking of a system that the army came up with, Its a back pack with hydraulics  that move metal joints from the back pack to your shoes to take weight off your legs.

The issue with this system is that the pack is too large and heavy to be any use.

A second system we found is Rex Bionics (Page) It gives more mobility and its  smaller system. but the main issue is the price tag, it cost 150,000 to make and they are getting people willing to pay 250,000.

New Season

Hello, everyone!  Welcome to the start of our new season!  This year's challenge is Body Forward.  Our project is to find a problem with the body and make a solution for it.  As I type this, most of my fellow teammates are working on the robot.  There's not much more to say.

This is a post from Alpha Rex.

The wires on the NXT are like telephone jacks, with one difference: the snap-connector on top is to the side to prevent kids from plugging their NXTs into the telephone service.

Briiiiiiiinnnnnnnng!  Briiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnng.


Person: Hello?
NXT: Hello.
Person: Who is this?
NXT: Alpha Rex.
Person:AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!  ALIEN ROBOTS ARE INVADING!!!!!!!!!!!!
NXT: Resistance is futile.

Our Script

Hi! We are the Mindstorm Maniacs!

We are: Bat, Jared, Brice, Matt, and Maya

 We researched while trying to get a transportation problem.  A lot of our research is on what would help kids.  For example, we researched heely and bike safety.  We researched cars because they could crash into kids, and also because kids ride in cars.  This gave us our problem: The high number of fatal car crashes.  We got a solution that increases car safety.

After thinking of some possible solutions, we came up with one that uses ultrasonic sensors, which use sound but the levels can’t be heard.  We chose these sensors because they can measure distance, so you can also measure speed of another object relative to the sensor, and also, because it seemed like a simple solution.

Volvo has some cars that have a system to stop low-velocity crashes.  We visited a dealership (Demontrond Volvo) for a demonstration.  Apparently, Volvo’s City Safety Crash Avoidance System can stop about 50% of all rear-ending crashes and uses cameras and radar. This is similar to our solution, except radar uses microwaves rather than sound. 

We contacted an expert on robotics, Dr. Sandor Szabo from NIST.  We asked him some questions on sensors.  He said that some other crash avoidance systems use ultrasonic sensors for backing up.  Avoiding collisions generally reduces the number of all crashes, so it probably reduces the number of fatal car crashes per year.  Technology can be used to help avoid crashes.

To tell people about what we learned, we have a blog, mindstormmaniacs.blogspot.com.  Our project, a video, is on Youtube and our blog.  We also have links to all of our research on our blog.  Our blog has been visited more than a thousand times. 

Competition

The big day is coming up, and we are freaking out! The Comp. is on Saturday. We have only two more practices until the Comp. We think that everything is coming together now. Recently we visited the Demontrond Volvo dealership to learn more about the City Safety System. We got to take a test drive in the City Safe Cars, and one of the men there, Mr. Trentini, kindly ran it into a few barriers for us, with us in it! It didn't even touch them, and Mr. Trentini didn't even touch the steering wheel. We also learned of more technology built into the new cars, like a camera in the back for reversing. The image form the camera is showed on a screen in the car, and it shows yellow lines on the road, showing where your tires will go. This helps to keep the guesswork out of reversing. Also some models have cameras on the rearview mirrors to eliminate blind spots.

This is a post from Your Mom! (like my signature?)
See Spot. See Spot run.
C4. C4 RUN!!!

Bike Safety

When riding a bike, always wear a helmet. Make sure that you are always paying attention to cars and other things around you, because even if you are a good rider,  there are still other people around you that may not be as attentive as you. Make sure that you do not ride too fast near cars, parked or moving, because a parked car's door may open if someone is getting out and you don't want to run into them, or the car door! Never allow yourself to be "towed" behind a car, or any other motorized vehicle. Also, never ride into a street or path without looking first. Lastly, stay away from obstacles. Bike+Tree+Speed, you do the math!

See Spot. See Spot run.
C4. C4 RUN!!!!

Hello, Adventurer!

Our Tournament is coming soon!  It will be hard, but it is the only one that does not offer invitations to nationals.  We should be able to get... what?  The date is February 27, 2 days until april fools day... I mean March fool's day.

This is a post from Alpha Rex.

The NXT wires are like telephone jacks, except for one difference: the snap connecter on top is to one side, not in the middle, to keep kids from plugging their robots into the telephone line.

Brrrriiiiiiiiinnnnnngggg!Brrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggg!

Person: Hello?

NXT:Hello.

Person: Who is this?

NXT:Alpha Rex.

Person: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALIEN ROBOTS ARE INVADING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NXT: Resistance is Futile.

Talking to an Expert

Our team recently talked to a robotics scientist about new cars using sensors. We asked him a few questions:

Q. What sensors do the use?
A. They use Radar for forward collision and vision for lane departure.

Q. Do they use ultrasonic sensors specifically?
A. Ultrasonic sensors are used for backup incase the Radar fails.

Q. What is the hardest problem in designing them?
A. Each sensor has different problems, Radar has problems when determining wether an object is in-path or out-of-path (you don't want to warn the driver that he's passing by mailbox on the road side). Vision has problems locating poorly marked lane stripes.

Q. What weather conditions can cause problems? (For example, it could think that you are about to crash into a group of snowflakes, so it would stop.)
A. Radar works pretty well in bad weather. Vision systems have problems with direct sunlight, oncoming headlights, reflective road surfaces, and other things of that nature.

Q. What is the range for ultrasonic sensors?
A. He is not exactly sure, he would guess ultrasonic sensors for backup would typically be 0-3m.

Q. What are the limitations for ultrasonic sensors?
A. One limitation is that an object can appear invisible if it's surface angle with respect to the sensor direction gets large. The acceptance angle of the detector is called it's field of view (FOV). If the object's surface exceeds half the FOV then there may not be enough energy captured.

For more information on sensors click HERE.