A collection of projects from the 1996 and
1997 courses
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The A-maze-ing Mouse, built by Tara Feinberg and Elena Konstantinova used reflectance sensors (to detect the walls) and a clever algorithm to navigate through a maze of arbitrary shape and find its way to a chocolate chip cookie. |
The Catapulting Carpool , designed by Selena Burns, Janet Costello, and Alta Lee, is a crowd-pleasing favorite. It visits a series of LEGO castles, using reflectance sensors to follow black paths up to the castle walls. When its front bumper detects the wall, it plays a farewell song, dispenses a knight onto the catapult, and hurls the knight over the wall! |
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Coolosaurus Rex, a dinosaur robot built by Christina Chen and Kyung Yi is a mechanical wonder. It features a high-stepping rhythmic gait that propels along. |
Leo the Artist, designed by Jill Foley, used a robotic arm to grab colored markers and draw wonderful pictures of flowers and trees as it moved over the canvas. |
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In Robot Tag, by Caitlin Hall, Becky Lippmann, and Claudia Wagner two robots play tag. Each has light sensors that can detect the white light bulb on top of the other. The "hunter" (the robot that is "it", designated by a red light) chases the other robot, which tries to run away. If the two robots touch, they switch roles. If a robot hits a wall, it backs up, turns, and continues forward. |
Inspired by her interest in competitive rowing, Becky Lippmann built Row-Bot , whose realistic rowing motion enabled it to paddle around a turtle shaped pond. The Row-Bot started moving whenever it heard a "clap". (It used a "clap sensor" that was designed and built by Laura Wollstadt.) The Row-Bot was powered and controlled by a "Cricket", a tiny computer not much bigger than a LEGO brick, which was developed in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab.
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In Xylophone Player, Becky Lippmann built an ingenious LEGO robot that could play a toy xylophone. The robot moved back and forth along a track, using a reflectance sensor to keep track of which key it was over. A spring-loaded arm held a mallet which could strike the keys with just the right touch. People could get the robot to play by moving along a huge paper keyboard taped to the floor. An ultrasonic position sensor detected the person's position, then relayed the information to the robot via an infra-red signal. Knowing where the person was standing, the robot then played the corresponding note! |
Jennifer Gilchrist built Bumphries the Bombastic Bridge Layer, a robot that spans a gap between two tables by laying down a bridge and then crossing over it! |
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The Egg-Eating Praying Mantis, created by Connie Chang, Marie Hwang, and Masako Yamada, zig-zags forward until it detects (using reflectance sensors) a metallic egg in front of its mouth. Closing its arms, the Mantis pushes the egg into its mouth and "swallows" it, then celebrates its meal by dancing to the tune of the Mexican Hat Dance.
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Laura Diao's Follower uses reflectance sensors to follow your hand as you move it back and forth. It was designed for permanent use in one of the Science Center's display cases.
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Gigi in the Box is a roving jack-in-the-box, that "pops" when it bumps into something. |
In the Handroid project, Elena used two Handy Boards to control a six-motor LEGO hand that could type anything you want. The Handroid moved back and forth along a gear rack, and light sensors at the tips of each of its fingers counted keys as it moved. |
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Tiina's The Chimera was an incredible display of artistry and mechanical ingenuity. Not only did the Chimera flap its wings, with a wonderfully life-like motion, but it also walked on eight paws, responded to your patting its head (purring) or pulling its tail (meowing). |
Jennifer's sBOTina robot pet has a variety of behaviors, including walking, turning its tail, bobbing its nose, and opening and closing its mouth. sBOTina had a magnetic tongue, which would pick up steel "doggie biscuits".
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Laura Wollstadt's Katy the Cockroach was built as a part of a project for the Physics's Department's Art of Electronics course (Physics 219). Like any self-respecting cockroach, Katy walked on 6 legs, tried to stay away from bright lights, and was startled by loud noises. (She had a "clap sensor" on board, designed by Laura.) |
 Ruth Chuang '96 helped in the early development of the
Robotic Design Studio course. She is shown here with her
Venus Fly Trap
robot. For her senior independent work, Ruth was
involved with a project called 9 Techno Girls City .
She worked with a group of 5th grade girls from the Hennigan
School in Boston to build a "city of the future" out of
LEGOs and
Programmable
Bricks. |
