Engineering for Efficiency Part 1

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Career Clustor:

  Engineering & Technology Education

  CIP Number:

  0615030330

  Program:

  Applied Robotics

  Course Name and Title:

  Foundations of Robotics

  Course Type:

  Tech-Ed High School Technical Educational Programs

  CTE Benchmarks:

  CTE-TECED.912.9410110.7.1 Describe Newton's Laws of Motion (inertia, net force, reaction) and relate their applicability to robotics

  CTE-TECED.912.9410110.6.2 Describe the role of diagnostics and troubleshooting to the engineering design process.

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson is designed to be used with the case study, “It's an Uphill/Downhill Battle.” See CPALMS resource ID#219139. This is a two part lesson and is designed to be followed by the lesson "Engineering for Effieciency Part 2." See CPALMS resource ID#.

• Career Connection

  
  

  This lesson is designed to help students recognize that the laws of physics must be used while considering engineering designs and that troubleshooting using those laws is an important part of the engineering design process. Students will utilize the durable skills of communciation and critical thinking. Students will communicate verbally within their groups to convey their thoughts and ideas about diagnosing the problems the robots have in the case study and which laws of motion should be applied to fix them. Students will use their critical thinking skills by defining a problem, determining the cause of
  the problem, and evaluating alternatives for a solution.

• Learning Objectives

  
  
  • Describe Newton's laws of motion.
  • Interpret and apply Newton’s laws of motion to engineering designs.
  • Describe the importance of troubleshooting in engineering design.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  
  • Students need a basic understanding of Newton’s laws and terms related to forces and motion.
  • Students should have a basic understanding of the engineering design process.

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • Why are Newton's laws of motion important to engineering?
  • Why are diagnostics and troubleshooting important parts of the engineering design process?

• Procedure

  
  

  1. To begin the lesson, ask students what the engineering design process is and why it's important. Pass out the Laws of Motion and Robotics Vocabulary Review handout and allow students 5 minutes to fill out and define the steps to review their knowledge. Discuss the answers as a whole group afterward.

  • Allow students to share their answers to the review worksheet and discuss as a whole group.
  • Ask why the laws of motion are important to engineering. Allow students to respond and discuss as a class.
  • Ask students why diagnostics and troubleshooting are an important part of the engineering design process. Allow them time to respond and discuss as a whole class.

  2. Tell students they will be working in pairs and reading the case study "It's an Uphill/Downhill Battle" (See CPALMS Resource ID#219139) and answering the following guiding questions:

  1. What are the key issues the robots are experiencing?

  2. Which of Newton’s laws applies to each problem?

  3. What design changes might help improve these problems?

  • Pass out the It's an Uphill/Downhill Battle guiding worksheet and allow students time to work.

  3. Discuss the answers to the first and second guiding questions together as a whole group.

  • Emphasize that torque, load capacity, traction, center of gravity, inertia, the chassis, and the actuators are the main problems the robots are facing.
  • Discuss that the robots struggling to climb uphill are due to Newton's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd laws
  • Discuss that the robots accelerating too much downhill is due to Newton's 1st and 2nd laws.
  • Discuss that the food spillage caused by instability is due to Newton's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd laws.
  • Discuss that the wheels slipping is due to Newton's 1st and 3rd laws.
  • Discuss that the battery inefficiency is due to Newton's 2nd and 3rd laws.
  • Discuss that the tipping because of poor load placement is due to Newton's 2nd and 1st laws.

  4. Write all of the problems the robots are having on the board or on large post-it notes.

  • Allow student groups to write their possible solutions for each problem on a sticky note and place it under each category (Examples of solutions might be increasing motor torque, improving traction, optimizing weight distribution, utilizing regenerative braking, speed control, increased traction, lowering the center of gravity, widening the chassis, and adding stabilizing features).
  • Allow time for students to discuss the sticky-notes on each large post-it as a class.

  5. To bring the lesson to a close, ask students how the engineering design process helped them explore real-world applications and discuss.

  • Ask students which other careers require an understanding of Newton’s laws of motion. Have them elaborate and give examples.
  • Ask students why addressing customer feedback is important in many careers.
  • Ask students if troubleshooting is important in any other careers. Have them elaborate and give examples.
  • Tell students that next class they will work with their partner to further research solutions, robotic parts, and create and present a technical report.

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • This lesson is part 1 of a 2 part unit. Students should continue this lesson with Engineering for Efficiency Part 2 (See CPALMS Resource ID#).