Designing cams to animate automatons! My students are in a high school class called Intro to Engineering. They are innovative, creative students ready to take on all the challenges I throw at them during class. After completing a project they eagerly ask, what's next??? Their enthusiasm is infectious and will hopefully continue to be nurtured. The upcoming challenge will be to first understand what cams are and how they work then they apply that knowledge to design, print, and create an automaton using these cams.
My Project
Students will learn what cams are, design these cams, and coordinate the movement of these cams to creative an automaton. Without strong material to print the cams, the effectiveness of the automaton is lost and works sketchy, at best. Funding provided by Donors Choose would allow for the purchase of a package of model material, a package of support material, and the tablets used to dissolve the support material once printing is completed.
The students will first create a mock up of an automaton just to get the idea of how cams work using plastic cups, straws, and wooden dowels.
They will then modify their mock up until they are satisfied then move to Inventor to model the cams they want to use. Earlier, in a manufacturing unit, students built wooden boxes in assembly style and determined how well the process work. They now use these boxes to house the cam and followers.
The coordination of two different units of study, manufacturing and gears, allows for depth and understanding of many principles plus provides a tangible, discernible, learning event for the students.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Syltie and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.