Robots do surgery, build cars, and assist us with our complex modern lives. This project is all about these amazing machines and learning to build and program your own robots to solve issues you face.

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Exploring 4-H

Exploring 4-H Robotics

Spark Activity: Factoring in Friction

Friction can slow down or limit the movement of objects, but friction is also a useful tool when we need traction or gripping power. What we need to find is the right amount of friction for the current use. Do we need wheels and gears that can turn freely on their axes? Do we need wheels that can grip the road to move a robot forward or up a hill? Sometimes we need to both reduce and increase friction! Using simple household items like a small box, cardboard, paper clips, binder clips, clothespins, straws, different kinds of tape, and toy wheels, explore movement and friction by testing a small box on a number of surfaces, looking at static friction and sliding friction. Test rolling friction by adding wheels (cylinders) or rollers as a way to overcome the overall friction of an item. Plan and design a vehicle to maximize its ability to coast based on the effects of friction. You will also consider constraints of capacity, efficiency, complexity, and costs in the design. You will build or assemble a complex “clipmobile” considering and addressing effects of friction and design constraints. You’ll find the answers yourself!

Source - Junk Drawer Robotics: Robots on the Move

 

 

4-H Project Levels and Goals
Beginner
  • Explore many ways robots are used
  • Learn about movement and friction
  • Learn the elements of mechanics such as the role of levers and gears
  • Discover how sensors are used to create responses
  • Use the engineering design process to make your robot move forward, backward, and turn
  • Attend a robotics competition
Intermediate
  • Practice more advanced robot design and precision programming techniques
  • Create robotic arms that move and grip objects 
  • Explore circuits and electronic systems
  • Use the engineering design process to build a robot that uses sensors to complete a task 
  • Participate in a robotics competition
Advanced
  • Create an engineering design challenge and build a robot to meet the challenge
  • Explore number systems and programming logic
  • Explore careers in robotics and related fields
  • Job-shadow an engineer or programmer
  • Assistant coach a junior robotics team
Put Your Project Into Action

 

2024 Robotics 2 Fair Guidelines: Click to Download

Select TWO of the challenges below to demonstrate your knowledge and abilities using your programable robot. Both challenges should be run autonomously one after the other. Each challenge was modified from the 2024 AgBot Challenge. Your robot must start at least 12” from the first target. Each location (e.g. Composting Plant, Barn, etc.) must be labeled and should be no more than 8”x8”


1. Weed Wacker: Identifying and removing weeds is an important part of agriculture. Carbon Robotics has made a smart weed-wacker that uses high-resolution cameras and state-of-the-art computing to distinguish between weeds and crops in real-time called LazerWeeder. Start by labeling 4 blocks as weeds and 1 block as a crop. With the weeds being at least 5” apart, remove the 4 weeds and move them to a designated composting plant 24” away from the starting location. The crop should remain in its starting location.
1. The composting plant must be 24” away from any weeds.
2. The weeds must be at least 5” apart.


2. Hay in the Barn: Hay is at the center of most farms from feeding animals to being laid around plants to retain moisture. If it is stored properly it will last indefinitely. Have your AgBots stack 5 bales of hay in a 2D barn. Bales must start 6 inches from the barn.
1. Bales must be at least 1inch x 1 inch x 1 inch.
2. Bales must start 6 inches from the barn.


3. Repair Relay: Tractors have been in used on farms in the USA since the 1910s, and it can be devastating if the tractor that you rely on breaks down. In this challenge, you will bring 5 pieces of your broken tractor to a designated repair facility to be repaired. All 5 pieces should be brought to the facility for repair with 4 of them configured like a square on the table, all touching, and the 5th piece placed on top of the other 4. Each piece must be touching another piece.
1. Blocks must travel a minimum of 12 inches.

 

 

Show Your Skills

  • Demonstrate a robot performing a simple task
  • Showcase examples of robots in our daily lives
  • Create a poster or display showing a problem that could be solved using robots
  • Develop a display showing the steps and parts used in creating a robot

Service and Leadership

  • Build a robot to pick up trash
  • Create a video to teach your club about where robots are used in your community and state 
  • Learn how robots are changing industry and life in the U.S.
  • Design and build an underwater robot to collect water samples to test for water quality
  • Demonstrate your robots at a senior living facility, science club, school, or library event
  • Teach a robotics workshop
  • Become a junior leader or teen teacher

Entrepreneurship

  • Research the influence of robotic technology on society
  • Talk to local companies that use robots and discover ideas for real-life applications
  • Create a robot that can fill a need in your neighborhood, school, or community and take it to market
  • Consider how you can improve an existing item

Connecting with a Mentor

  • Elementary, high school, or college teachers or students with an interest or expertise in robotics
  • Library or museum staff
  • Engineers and retired engineers from local businesses

Events

  • 4-H local, regional, and state robotics competitions
  • Vex Robotics Competition
  • First® Robotics Competition
  • First® Tech Challenge

 

Project Manuals & Exhibit Requirements

Youth Enrolled in Robotics 1, 2, and 3 should use The Robotics 1 with EV3 and EV3NMore ONLY if they have access to an EV3 Robotics kit. For youth looking to use the new Lego Mindstorms Inventor Kits or the SPIKE kits, please refer to the online resources listed below for guidance. For youth competing in their respective county fair, and potentially the State Fair, youth will be required to document their experience in a Robotics Notebook, and select/demonstrate TWO of the selected tasks used in the State Robotics Challenge.   

Purchase the manuals above on the Shop Illinois 4-H Store

View exhibit requirements and scoresheets on the Illinois State Fair page.

Careers
2 girls with a robot they built
  • Robotics Engineer
  • Robotics Technician
  • Robotics Operator
  • Software Developer
  • Computer Aided Drafting
  • Mechanical Engineer
Start a Conversation
  • Do you like building things with your hands?
  • What problems or solutions could be aided by a robot?
  • How many different robots can you identify?
  • What type of a robot would you like to build and program? Why?
Credits

University of California 4-H project sheet

University of Wyoming 4-H project sheet

University of North Dakota 4-H project sheet

UF/IFAS Extension Florida 4-H project handout

Michigan State University Extension 4-H project sheet

University of Illinois 4-H Robotics 4-H Spark Sheets are a collaborative effort of 4-H staff, volunteers, alumni, and teens from across Illinois. A big thanks to the many contributors and reviewers!