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Project
20
STEM 2 with Vernier and LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 20 - 1
Mine Sweeper
Figure 1: One example of a mine-seeking robot
Military service personnel use robots to do tasks that might be
dangerous to humans. Onecommon example is working with explosives
such as landmines. A robot is used to venture outinto a potential
minefield and locate a landmine, allowing the soldier to disarm or
detonate itfrom a safe distance. Landmine detection is becoming
increasingly important because, sadly, welive in a world where
there have been many wars and thousands of landmines have been
hidden.Many of these mines remain long after the war is over. In
this project, your challenge is to build asensor-controlled robot
to locate a hidden landmine as represented by a small magnet.
DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
In this project, you will design and build a mobile robot to
replicate the behavior of a militarydevice searching for landmines.
You will use small disc magnets hidden under a cloth or large
sheet of paper to represent the buried landmines. Your challenge
is to locate and pinpoint theexact location of these "mines." Your
robot should be capable of searching a wide area, in
theneighborhood of a 4" wide and 3' long strip, with a Vernier
Magnetic Field Sensor. Once thesensor detects a magnet, the robot
should stop with the tip of the sensor directly above the
hiddenmagnet (the white dot on the sensor should be facing
downward) and the robot should sound anauditory indicator. Your
robot is only required to find one magnet at a time, and you can
set theinitial starting position. You can manually restart and
reposition your robot to begin a search foradditional magnets.
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Project 20
20 - 2 STEM 2 with Vernier and LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT
You are strongly encouraged to use the Engineering Design Method
and your creativeimagination when tackling this challenge. The
Engineering Design Method will help you developa successful working
robot. A little planning will save you time and frustration,
especially whenworking on more complicated projects. To help you
get started, use theEngineering Designworksheet provided by your
teacher.
MATERIALScomputer Vernier Magnetic Field SensorLEGO MINDSTORMS
NXT Educational SetMINDSTORMS Edu NXT 2 softwareVernier NXT Sensor
Adapter
small disc magnetsclothEngineering Design worksheet
TIPS
Set the switch on the Vernier Magnetic Field Sensor to 6.4 mT
(low amplification). The rotating tip of the Magnetic Field Sensor
can be used in the straight position or bent at
a 90 angle.
Depending on how you write your program, it may or may not be
important how you orientthe magnets (north up or north down).
Do some preliminary tests, taking Magnetic Field data as the
robot moves the sensor near amagnet.
This challenge is complicated enough that you are strongly
encouraged to separate all theactions the robot and the program are
taking into small testable modules. This will makeyour debugging
and testing much easier.
In planning your MINDSTORMS NXT program for this project, you
may want to considerusing a Variable Block. A Variable Block can be
used to store a sensor reading so that youcan compare it to later
readings. For example, it can help you find the maximum
magneticfield reading.
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Vernier Lab Safety Instructions Disclaimer
THIS IS AN EVALUATION COPY OF THE VERNIER STUDENT LAB.
This copy does not include:
z Safety information
z Essential instructor background information
z Directions for preparing solutions
z Important tips for successfully doing these labs
The complete STEM 2 with Vernier and LEGO MINDSTORMS NXTlab
manual includes12 lab activities and eight projects as well as
essential teacher information. The full lab bookis available for
purchase at: http://www.vernier.com/cmat/stem2.html
Vernier Software & Technology13979 S.W. Millikan Way
Beaverton, OR 97005-2886
Toll Free (888) 837-6437 (503) 277-2299 FAX (503)
[email protected] www.vernier.com
