Core Concepts/Content

A goal of a good teacher is to be sure that students learn core concepts … those practical concepts that will be important in the lives of all students. It is important for teachers planning lessons using technology not to forget that technology can be used to enhance content learning and make it more practical for everyday life.

Below is a list of basic objectives and content for this project.

Content:

Students involved in the robotic cat project develop team work and problem solving skills, develop engineering design abilities, learn to program a microprocessor, and use it in a working prototype of a bionic cat in such a way that the microprocessor is able to control the walking movements of the cat. Students learn advanced physics concepts of motion, energy conservation, and science and technology in the process. These concepts were embedded in an atmosphere of open inquiry, where students were encouraged to explore the unknown, seek out answers to questions of emerging relevance, and work collaboratively and independently to accomplish an authentic task.

Technology Skills:

Creating Digital Images: Students will collect digital images of their “bionic” cat at various points throughout its development. This will help to “track” their progress.

Digital Video: Students will videotape the “walking” of real cats, humans, and their “bionic” cat. This will aid them in comparison of the movement of the legs.

Electronic Communications: Students will send documents, including images, word processing, data, etc. from school to home computers and to each other to aid in the communication process.

Online Electronic Resources: Various resources can be accessed to aid in the process of creating bionic “creatures.” Some of these are listed below, but a web search can be conducted for a full, “up-to-date” listing.

This entire technology module was inspired by Boing Boing the Bionic Cat, the first book by ceramics engineer Dr. Larry Hensch. The book and the web site are important resources for the module. Hear Boing-Boing purr and roar, learn about his bionic features, and about Boing Boing’s participation in press conferences and story time events at libraries in Ohio and England.

Another fur-covered cat robot is gaining its share of the press coverage: Read about the Omron cat robot with artificial intelligence, available now in Japan.

The Omron Corporation maintains a section of their web site to tout the characteristics of the robot cat, and describes in more detail the sensors and technology that was used to create the feline robot.

(The cat does not walk.)

For comparison purposes, the Sony Aibo dog does walk, has been commercially available (at a hefty price) in the United States, and comes in three different models.

The Bandai cat-type robot is loaded with sensors, and moves with a combination of hind wheels and forelegs.

Robotics curriculum used at the University of Pennsylvania with middle and high school students; includes teacher and student pages and step by step instructions for creating a variety of autonomous robots using Lego Mindstorm.

Presentation Tools: Students will share their group’s final project through a Powerpoint or MultiMedia presentation, including pictures, diagrams, video, and charts as appropriate.