Keeshan Williams, Ph.D. (2nd. year) Chemical and Biological Engineering
Summary: Using the Lego Mindstorms kit, students will construct an experiment where the time to travel a specified distance by a free falling body is measured. Students will use the touch sensor, rotational sensor, and the NXT brick, to measure the time of flight for the falling object, at different release heights. After the object is released from its holder and travels a specified distance, a touch sensor is triggered and time of object's descent from release to impact at touch sensor is recorded and displayed on the screen of the NXT. Students will calculate the velocity of the falling object at each point of release, and construct a graph of velocity versus time. A best fit line will then be applied to this graph, of which the slope will be obtained and compared to the standard value of g.
Complete Activity (pdf) | Worksheet (pdf) | Pre Evaluation (pdf) | Post Evaluation (pdf) | Sample Graded Paper (pdf) | LEGO Digital Designer | LEGO Mindstorms NXT Program | Video
Ryan Caeti, M.S. (2nd. year) Mechanical Engineering
Summary: This activity will introduce students to the concepts of flow rate and its dependency on pipe diameter. By attaching pipe fitting of various orifice diameters to a simple flow system, students discover what effects the differences in diameter have on the flow rate of the system. While the effects are readily seen by mere observation, students will learn to quantitatively measure the flow rate via the use of LEGO sensors to determine the time it takes to fill a container between two discrete points.
Complete Activity (pdf) | Pre Evaluation (pdf) | Post Evaluation (pdf) | Sample Graded Paper (pdf) | LEGO Digital Designer | LEGO Mindstorms NXT Program | Video
Irina Igel, M.S./Ph.D. (2nd. year) Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Summary: During this activity students will collect the data of the spring deflection using LEGO equipment. They will use their measurements to calculate the mean, median, mode, range, percent difference and learn how to represent their data in excel.
Teachengineering.org | Complete Activity (pdf) | Worksheet (pdf) | Pre Evaluation (pdf) | Post Evaluation (pdf) | Sample Graded Paper (pdf) | LEGO Digital Designer | LEGO Mindstorms NXT Program | Video
Ronald Poveda, Ph.D. (2nd. year) Mechanical Engineering
Sample Graded Paper (pdf) | LEGO Digital Designer | LEGO Mindstorms NXT Program | Video
Carole Chen, M.S. (1st year) Chemical and Biological Engineering
Summary: Working as a team, students discover that the value of pi (3.1415926...) is a constant and applies to all different sized circles. The team builds a basic Lego robot and programs it to travel in a circular motion. The robot is required to have a marker/highlighter attached to the chassis so that while the robot travels the programmed circular path, a circle can be traced on ground. Using students' measurement skills, they measure the circumference and diameter of the circle and calculate pi via the pi and circumference relationship; circumference of a circle divided by the diameter is the value of pi.
Teachengineering.org | Complete Activity (pdf) | Worksheet (pdf) | Pre Evaluation (pdf) | Post Evaluation (pdf) | Sample Graded Paper (pdf) | LEGO Digital Designer | LEGO Mindstorms NXT Program | Video
Carlo Yuvienco, Ph.D. (2nd year) Biomedical Engineering
Summary: Students learn about the mechanical advantage that is offered by gears in an interactive and game-like manner. By virtue of the activity’s mechatronic presentation, the students learn to study a mechanical system not as a static image, but rather as a dynamic system that is under their control. The system that is presented is that of two motorized racing cars, which is built using the LEGO Mindstorms robotics platform. The variable that is altered between the two systems is their gear trains; one is geared up for speed and the other is geared down for torque. Students are charged with practicing data collection and data analysis to reinforce particular aspects/effects of mechanical advantage.
Teachengineering.org | Complete Activity (pdf) | Pre Evaluation (pdf) | Post Evaluation (pdf) | Sample Graded Paper (pdf) | LEGO Digital Designer | LEGO Mindstorms NXT Program | Video