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| UNH student Jaron Peters (right) helps Eko Cronin- Deausealt, 5, drive a lunar robot at the Children's Museum of New Hampshire in Dover, Monday, Feb. 20 [EJ Hersom/Fosters Daily Democrat]. |
Andrea Bulfinch
Fosters Daily Democrat
Dover, New Hampshire: Children were treated to an out-of-this-world engineering experience by members of the University of New Hampshire lunar robotics team, LunaCats, who demonstrated one of their creations at the Dover Childrens Museum.
The LunaCats design and build robotic excavators intended to mine lunar soil for a NASA competition. This year's team is comprised of seniors in the mechanical engineering, computer sciences, and computer engineering majors. As part of the competition, NASA mandates each team create an outreach program, benefiting the local community and the demonstration at the children's museum was part of that.
"I think the best part is that it's hands-on," Camille Poulin, student, said as she stood Monday afternoon surrounded by parents, children and her peers all watching as youngsters took turns operating the machine, the end result of a yearlong project.
The first half of the school year consists of designing and analyzing the excavator. The second half is dedicated to building and testing the machine.
Students brought last year's model to the museum on Monday and said they are completely redesigning the bot for 2012.
The seven students fund raise to both create the excavator and enter the competition, coordinating everything from funding, to the initial design, to travel to compete. They'll also complete a systems engineering paper and a presentation before NASA officials. The winning team will be awarded a $5,000 scholarship.
Sixty teams from around the world compete on May 21 through 26 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Last year, the 2010-2011 UNH LunaCats team was the first team from UNH to compete in the NASA Lunabotics Mining Competition. The team was unable to finish the competition due to an unforeseen mechanical failure involving the drive train, which caused limited mobility.
Fosters Daily Democrat
Dover, New Hampshire: Children were treated to an out-of-this-world engineering experience by members of the University of New Hampshire lunar robotics team, LunaCats, who demonstrated one of their creations at the Dover Childrens Museum.
The LunaCats design and build robotic excavators intended to mine lunar soil for a NASA competition. This year's team is comprised of seniors in the mechanical engineering, computer sciences, and computer engineering majors. As part of the competition, NASA mandates each team create an outreach program, benefiting the local community and the demonstration at the children's museum was part of that.
"I think the best part is that it's hands-on," Camille Poulin, student, said as she stood Monday afternoon surrounded by parents, children and her peers all watching as youngsters took turns operating the machine, the end result of a yearlong project.
The first half of the school year consists of designing and analyzing the excavator. The second half is dedicated to building and testing the machine.
Students brought last year's model to the museum on Monday and said they are completely redesigning the bot for 2012.
The seven students fund raise to both create the excavator and enter the competition, coordinating everything from funding, to the initial design, to travel to compete. They'll also complete a systems engineering paper and a presentation before NASA officials. The winning team will be awarded a $5,000 scholarship.
Sixty teams from around the world compete on May 21 through 26 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Last year, the 2010-2011 UNH LunaCats team was the first team from UNH to compete in the NASA Lunabotics Mining Competition. The team was unable to finish the competition due to an unforeseen mechanical failure involving the drive train, which caused limited mobility.
The LunaCats design and build robotic excavators intended to mine lunar soil for a NASA competition. This year's team is comprised of seniors in the mechanical engineering, computer sciences, and computer engineering majors. As part of the competition, NASA mandates each team create an outreach program, benefiting the local community and the demonstration at the children's museum was part of that.
Read the full article HERE.
There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries.
ReplyDeleteOn such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures.