GYRE A zerogravity robotics project What are robots

GYRE A zero-gravity robotics project

What are robots? • A robot is a self-controlled machine • Different robots can do a wide variety of jobs that are boring, difficult, or dangerous for humans • Robots come in a lot of different shapes, depending on their function

Movie Robots – R 2 D 2 and C 3 PO • Here a couple familiar robot • What jobs do these robots do? • How does their design make them better at their jobs?

Real World Robots • These robots weld metal plates on car assembly lines. • The robots are very different from the one in Star Wars. What are the robots shaped like? • Why is it better to use a robot than a human for this?

Real World Robots • This robot check underwater tanks for dangerous fuel leaks. • How is it different from the last robot?

GYRE • GYRE is a robot designed to move around in zero gravity. • GYRE is built by a team of students at the University of Washington and will be tested aboard NASA’s KC-135 plane

Frame • GYRE has a skeleton made of aluminum, which is both strong and light. • The skeleton keeps the robot intact and provides places to attach everything else • The skeleton will be covered with foam padding when the robot is tested.

Plumbing • GYRE moves using twelve thrusters that fire compressed air • There are two tanks of compressed air to power the thrusters, and pipes connecting the tanks to each thruster

Computing and Calculation • GYRE needs to be able to figure out where it is and what speed and direction it is moving at. • It has three cameras, one along each axis. By comparing pictures taken at different times and seeing what direction objects around it look like they’ve moved, it can guess how fast it’s moving • GYRE uses a laptop to connect to the webcams and to control the thrusters • It also has a wireless connection to another laptop so we can check on it