Wednesday, September 29, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
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:
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.
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.
This is a post from Alpha Rex.
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.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)