Students, Faculty & Staff Develop Captivating Robotic
Arm Exhibit for Terre Haute's Children's Museum
|Allowing Youths To Explore Robotics: The
new Lunar Arm robotics exhibit, developed by Rose-Hulman Institute
of Technology and Rose-Hulman Ventures, is a popular new exhibit of
the Terre Haute Children's Museum in downtown Terre
The young minds of tomorrow's engineers and
scientists are being developed through an exciting new robotic arm
exhibit at the Terre Haute Children's Museum developed by
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology students, faculty and staff.
The Lunar Arm has been captivating children and adults since being
unveiled last month.
"Robots and robotics have been around for many
years, but the fascination and technology is advancing in leaps and
bounds. That's why this exhibit is a perfect tool to help us
accomplish our mission of enriching our children's lives through
the exploration of science and technology," Lynn Hughes, executive
director of the Terre Haute Children's Museum, recently told The
Terre Haute Tribune-Star. "The new robotic arm exhibit will help
children appreciate science and math while having fun and learning
at the same time."
The arm was designed and built during the 2009-10 school year by
Rose-Hulman students as a multidisciplinary robotics senior design
project. It is 24-inches tall, has a 42-inch arm length, a sweep
length of 120 degrees and a payload of five pounds.
"I am impressed with both the students' design
and implementation of the lunar arm," Matt Boutell, Rose-Hulman's
assistant professor of computer science and software engineering,
told the newspaper. He was one of the project's faculty advisors.
"Like any other robotic system, creating it required knowledge of
mechanics, electronics, controls and software. The students took
the requirement that the arm be robust very seriously; it's built
like a tank! I also appreciate the recent efforts of many at
Rose-Hulman Ventures to carry this project across the finish
Rose-Hulman Ventures helped develop several important elements,
including the display case, which features a large plexiglass
frame, and a control area that allows youths to manipulate the
robotic arm to pick up and move objects. The project was sponsored
by Time Warner Cable and supported by Ivy Tech Community
|Contributing To Community: The contributions of Rose-Hulman
Institute of Technology students, faculty and staff members is
noted in a new robotics exhibit at the Terre Haute Children's
Museum. The project was part of a multidisciplinary robotics senior
design project during the 2009-10 school year, and further
developed at Rose-Hulman Ventures.
Faculty members joining Boutell on the project were Stephen
Chenoweth and J.P. Mellor of the Department of Computer Science and
Software Engineering and JianJian Song of the Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering. Rose-Hulman Ventures staff
members assisting were James Baker, Barry Davignon, Rob Davignon,
Jonathan Labayo and Jay Sotak. Students playing a big role in the
project were seniors Sean Donohue, Matthew Dunn and Adam Wesley;
juniors Evan Cornell and Han Yang; and sophomore Guanqun Wang.
Recent graduates assisting were Shane Fisher, Nobu Hiro, Peter
Leigh, Brandon Ridner, Mike Rollings and Colin Shipley.
The Children's Museum plans to use the exhibit as a tool in an
after school program being launched this spring for third through
fifth grade students. The program will focus on robots and manned
space flight. Students will learn that robots are tools for
astronauts and scientists to safely gather information about the
planets and moons. They will also learn about recent robotic
investigations on Mars, build a robotic-like arm and compare
robotic functions to human body functions. This educational project
is part of the Virtual Space Community, a partnership led by Space
Center Houston, in coordination with NASA and partner science
centers across the United States. As a partner, the museum receives
specific space-themed curriculum to help fulfill the Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) National Education
Standards and the individual Indiana education standards.
Shannon Mullen, regional vice president of operation for Time
Warner Cable, told The Tribune-Star that the museum's exhibit
contributes to the company's new Connect A Million Minds program.
It is designed to inspire young people to build the skills they
need in science, technology, engineering and math.
"Eighty percent of jobs in the next decade will require STEM
skills, so we must build excitement in these areas to help the
students of today succeed in the future," Mullen told the
The new Terre Haute Children's Museum is located at the corner
of Wabash Avenue and Eighth Street in downtown Terre Haute. More
information about the museum can be found at www.terrehautechildrensmuseum.com.