Creative Inventions and Robotics build-it-yourself

1. Bouncers, Gargoyles, Avatars Butlers and other Door Greeters Creative Inventions and Robotics www.build-it-yourself.com

2. Discovery The Problem One thousand years ago, superstition and the sword ruled. It was a time of darkness. It was a world of fear. It was the age of gargoyles, avatars and mighty statues who protected the locals from evil spirits and nat-brain no-gooders. www.build-it-yourself.com

3. Discovery Your Mission Evil spirits and powerful dumbos have returned! Your mission is to build a smart, robot critter to greet visitors who come to your room and set them straight. www.build-it-yourself.com

4. Discovery The History of Door Greeters Gargoyles: Gargoyles are a race of very powerful winged beings who were the defenders of castles. By day, they are immobilized in stone as statues on the castle parapets. When the sun sets, the stone turns to flesh and they take to their task of defending their home. www.build-it-yourself.com

5. Discovery The History of Door Greeters Buddha: The Awakened One is a being who has become fully enlightened, has permanently overcome anger, greed, and ignorance, and has achieved complete liberation from suffering, better known as Nirvana. The Buddha at the North Temple Pagoda in Suzhou does not have a big stomach because of his appetite, but because he's swallowing all the evil of the world (or so they say). www.build-it-yourself.com

6. Discovery The History of Door Greeters Avatar: Ganesh, the Hindu God The chubby, gentle, wise, elephant-headed Ganesh is one of Hinduisms most popular deities. He is the patron of letters and of learning. Ganesh is honored at the start of a journey or business venture. www.build-it-yourself.com

7. Discovery The History of Door Greeters The Sphinx: The body of a lion with the head of a king or god, the sphinx symbolizes strength and wisdom. A great sphinx sits outside the Egyptian pyramids and says, “Don’t mess with me!” www.build-it-yourself.com

8. Discovery The History of Door Greeters Butler: Nehemiah was the butler (or cup-bearer) to King Artaxerxes in 446BC. Butler is a position of great responsibility and honor in royal households. www.build-it-yourself.com

9. Discovery The History of Door Greeters Bouncer: A big palooka who keeps the riff raff out. www.build-it-yourself.com

10. Design Specifications Detectors, Mechanisms and CPU • Detect when the door opens. • Detect when a visitor is friend or foe. • Welcome friends. • Dance • ??? • Scare unfriendlies. • - Throw water at them www.build-it-yourself.com

11. Design Materials Needed The Door Greeter Critter • Premium Quality Junk • Scissors and glue gun • Colored pencils • Business cards • Colored paper, cloth or sheets of foamies Detectors, Mechanisms, Control This depends on your budget and what you want your critter to do. www.build-it-yourself.com

12. Design Modular Construction An important Build-It-Yourself trick … Build the parts of your solution first. If you glue them all together as you go along, your model will be rigid. It will be difficult to make it move in interesting ways and it will be difficult to modify or fix. www.build-it-yourself.com

13. Development Eyes and Face Start by drawing some BIG eyes. The eyes are very important! They can tell a lot about the soul of your critter. Many artists will often exaggerate the size of eyes. One measure of the quality of a photograph is how well the photographer has focused on the eyes. www.build-it-yourself.com

14. Development Eyes and Face If you think you’re a hot shot and you want to take it to the next level, you could try making some soulful eyes from your premium quality junk. These eyes are made from: guitar picks bottle caps wire fishing floats plastic spoons www.build-it-yourself.com

15. Development Hands and Feet 2.5” 2.5” 2.5” 2.5” x2 x2 www.build-it-yourself.com

16. Development Hands and Feet x2 x2 You’ll need two hands and two feet. www.build-it-yourself.com

17. Development Hands and Feet 12” pipe cleaner www.build-it-yourself.com

18. Development Hands and Feet 12” pipe cleaner Glue the pipe cleaners between the hands/feet and small elliptical pieces, or use tape. 12” pipe cleaner www.build-it-yourself.com

19. Development The Structure It is very important to build a strong structure. Think about keeping the heavy parts as low to the ground as possible so your model won’t tip over. www.build-it-yourself.com

20. Development Mechanisms Most Build-It-Yourself models are driven by a sidewinder gear train. This gear train enables you to control the speed and strength required to make your model move. www.build-it-yourself.com

21. Start Wait for door to open Yes No Friend ? Welcome Go away Development Control Logic Diagram www.build-it-yourself.com

22. Deployment Presenting Your Solution • Clear • Concise • Convincing www.build-it-yourself.com

23. Plan for 1st Workshop • Present the problem and the mission • Start a Lab Book: • Cover • Law of the Lab • Specifications: • Dance • Throw water • New building tricks: • 3 ways to build and present ideas • To Build: • Critter parts www.build-it-yourself.com

24. Plan for 2nd Workshop • Review work done last week: • The Problem and our mission • 3 ways to build or present ideas • Show and tell • Specifications: • Dance • Throw water • New building tricks: • Problem solving tricks • Tool rules • To Build: • Critter parts • Structure • Gear train www.build-it-yourself.com

25. Useful Building Tricks • What are 4 phases of building a successful solution? • Why are the eyes of your characters important? • Why is modular construction useful? • What are qualities of a good structure? • What are 3 measures of success when presenting your project? www.build-it-yourself.com