TinkerLab: June 2011

Friday, June 24, 2011

P3 tuition - Classification of Leaves

Pupils were given an appendix showing different types of leaves, After a discussion about the different types of edges the leaves have, it was hands-on time! Yes! Making leaf models using clay!

After making the clay models, pupils continued to work on a short writeup to transform their leaf models into a mini science exhibit.

Touching up on the science exhibit display

DONE ! :)

More mini exhibits coming up in subsequent lessons!
Learning biology need not always be through rote learning :)

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Junior Robotics: Fun and Bot (Purple) - Prototype Crane

I spent about 45 minutes building the first prototype for this robotic crane.
This is the third prototype after I made two major changes one at a time.

The controls allow me to swivel the crane above the tower.
But for my first prototype, I've affixed the motor below the tower.
That prevented me from doing a 720-degree swivel (2 rotations) as the wire will get caught with the tower.

After I swopped the motor's position above the tower, the centre of gravity (CG) became higher.
I need a stronger base to support the torque from the motor so I built and enhanced the base as well as the position of my second motor.

I used a longer string to try out some crazy ideas.

The string gets caught in both my motor and the pulley at the front tip.
The string gets entangled at the axle of the motor.
It also slipped out of the front pulley.
These call for a modification for the pulley and the motor.
I need some sort of guard for both the motor and the pulley.

Fourth prototype completed but I've yet to post the picture.

Drop some comments in this post or the cBox if you want to see the guard for the motor and the pulley.

Stay tuned!

The crane design will be taught in the upcoming Robotics course for the juniors.

Designed by Mr Allan Wan