GORILLA

The Gorilla is a four-legged gorilla robot. It uses a crank mechanism to move its arms. The robot is equipped with a tilt sensor which has been placed at the end of a branch with some bananas. Moving the branch starts the motor and the gorilla! While creating this robot it is worth talking about the issue of protection of the natural environment and the hazards wild animals face nowadays. Gorillas’ unique features and their biology can be discussed as well.

SCORPION

This model depicts a scorpion ready to attack. It is armed with a poisonous sting on a long, strong tail. With the motion sensor equipped, the scorpion is very aggressive and will attack anything in his sight. When movement is detected, the motor powers up the tail that launches towards the prey. The scorpion has got a pair of pincers which can be bent in four places. Building the scorpion can be a good start to a discussion on various defence techniques and toxins used by animals, and clever means which predators use to hunt their prey.

VENUS FLYTRAP

This unique model is based on a famous carnivorous plant. With its leaves, flytrap lures the unsuspecting insect inside the trap, which rapidly shuts close to victims demise. Motion sensor, used in this model, decides when should the trap close. Its movement must be fast enough to swiftly catch the fly that passes over a sensor. This robot model is a perfect chance to talk with the children about where do animals and plants get their energy from and different types of food. At this point other carnivorous plants can be mentioned.e fossil fuels conservation and utilization. Other energy sources are also discussed, including increasingly popular clean energy sources.

DRAGONFLY

The Dragonfly robot perfectly reflects the real looks of this insect: the long abdomen, strong wings and huge eyes that are the distinctive features of all dragonflies. The construction uses a complicated geared transmission to drive the dragonfly and an arm on which it has been placed. Initiating the program first starts the dragonfly rotary movement and then the movement of the arm. The effect is that the dragonfly turns towards the direction of flight. During the class the we can tell the children about the appearance and colours of different species of dragonfliles. It is worth mentioning that dragonflies have survived millions of years of evolution unchanged and explaining what evolution means. From there we discuss the adaptation of various species for flying.

BULL

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FROGS

The Frogs robot shows – guess what – the frog! Or rather two jumping frogs . The tilt sensor, detecting changes in its position, decides which frog will jump. A geared transmission connected to the motor moves cams which make the frogs move! The construction is a perfect starting point for a conversation on different types of communication between animals. It’s also worth touching on the subject of mating rituals in the animal kingdom and the development of frogs.

NEST

The nest is composed of three elements: the base, the pillar and, atop of it, the nest itself. Two nestlings are being sheltered there, and they move by means of long rods pushed by rotating cams. Readouts from the motion sensor in the nest are used to determine when our squealers will jump and demand food, and when will they stay waiting still. During this exercise we talk about different species of birds that build nests and what are the main differences between them.

GIRAFFE

Model of a giraffe that presents the real proportions of the animal body. Like the real thing, this robot has a long neck, long legs, horns (ossicones to be exact) and a short mane. Gearing connected with a motor moves the neck forward and backwards, making the animal reach green leaves on the upper branches. During the construction we talk about how giraffes evolved to have such distinguishable features. We also talk about different african animals and what ecological niche they fill.

HORSE

This model is attached to a stand which is moved by a piston which in turn is moved by an engine. All the elements are attached to the stable stand. This model shows how a piston works, and how it turns rotary movement into linear movement. The horse’s legs are loosely hooked on smooth pins. When the horse moves, the legs swing and patter. This exercise is an opportunity to talk about domestication of animals and the differences between different breeds of the same species.

TURTLE

This model of a turtle is equipped with a motion sensor. When movement is detected, the turtle hides his head inside his tough shell. The head moves back and forth with a transmission made of a motor, rack and pinion. While building the turtle we often talk about different lizards, modern and ancient, as well as their most important characteristics.

PELICAN

This robot mimics how the real birds fly. Its wings are powered by a complex gear/belt transmission. Model is placed on a movable pedestal – when moved backwards, the pelican will flap it wings and when we move it forward, it will stop. During this exercise we talk about diversity of seabirds, their characteristics and exchange trivia about them.

PARROTS

This robot is composed of two small parrot figures and a large launcher that makes them fly. The launching mechanism relies on a pair of elastic rubber bands. Loading mechanism uses a rack and pinion to move cart with parrots. During this exercise we often talk about how different animals fly.