Monday, December 17, 2018

Barbie Jeep Robotics - Part Four

We finished up the Ninja Jeep.  Having both classes working  on one machine did enable me to get ahead with respect to having needed parts on hand for each session.

We were fortunate in that the front wheels came off easily.  The space to work with for mounting wheels with gearboxes was very tight....originally these were free spinning wheels without gearboxes.

The method used to lock the front steering was crude but effective....swaddled up with duct tape and cable ties.



And here is the final result.  It runs well and the cool LED underlighting can be toggled on and off.  The horn never worked quite right and anyway it was annoying.



A lot of work hours went into this project which I have to say was not a complete success.  Middle school aged kids are OK when working alone, and can also run around in packs for things like soccer.  But they do not function at all in smaller working groups.  I spent way too much time keeping mischief from happening elsewhere in the classroom and it hamstrung the work on the Jeeps.

Oh well, they seem to have had fun and I suppose a few of them learned a bit....

Running around in a pack.



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