Technical school students design and develop robotic gear-based constructions for the transmission of motion

Abstract

This paper describes how students of a Technical and Vocational School in Greece (age 16-20) learnt important mathematical and scientific ideas through their own design and programming activities using the Technological Inventions LEGO Mindstorms Package. Most of those students have been of poor performance in traditional maths and science activities but they have strong design and mechanical skills. They were invited to design, develop and program a robotic construction using gears, sensors and Lego bricks in order to explore the relationship between the technical characteristics of the gears, the frequency and the properties of rotation as well as the transmission of motion.