Introduction
Have you ever been on a Ferris wheel? How high was it?
The largest Ferris wheel in the world is currently the "High Roller," standing at 550 feet tall in Las Vegas. Other notable Ferris wheels include the famous London Eye and the Wiener Riesenrad. The name "Ferris wheel" comes from its inventor, George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., who designed and constructed one for the 1893 Chicago World Fair.
The history of the Ferris wheel dates back even further, to 17th-century Ottoman Bulgaria, where similar contraptions were used for amusement by children and adults alike. In many parts of the world, the Ferris wheel is called a "Vienna wheel" after the Wiener Riesenrad, which was built in 1897 for the Golden Jubilee of Emperor Franz Joseph I. This is the oldest Ferris wheel still in use, continuing to operate over a century later!
Construction and Theory
In today's robot, you are the operator of a Ferris wheel! An interesting mechanism of a Ferris wheel is that most of them use gravity to keep the carts upright. However, larger Ferris wheels often have a motor on each cart to keep them upright, as the carts are much heavier.
Kolelo - LEGO SPIKE Prime ferris wheel robot
In Bulgarian, "kolelo" means "wheel."
This robot moves like a real Ferris wheel. A motor at its base rotates the entire wheel, while the seats are kept upright by gravity, allowing you to add LEGO passengers to them! A force sensor is used to start and stop the wheel's rotation.
After building the robot, close the box to keep the desk clear.
- Gather all the parts from the desk and put them back in the box.
- Close the box and move it aside so it's out of your way.
Programming and Theory
In this lesson, we will learn another way to program the force sensor! The Ferris wheel operator wants to always control the wheel for maximum safety. Therefore, we will program it to run whenever the force sensor is pressed and to stop when it isn't. This will be done using a new block called if/then! But first, let's see if we can make it move.
Program the robot so that if the force sensor is pressed, the Ferris wheel starts.
You need a forever loop with an if/then block inside it!
When do we want the Ferris wheel to stop turning?
We want the Ferris wheel to stop turning whenever the force sensor is not pressed. Here is a new block that will help us with that!
How to use the if/else block in LEGO SPIKE Prime Word Blocks software
Have you ever wondered if your robot can make decisions? Here's how we can make that happen!
The if/else block is the fifth block in the orange Control section.
It is used in combination with a Logic block, that you can put inside the if/else block. The Logic block determines if the blocks in the if/then section of the block will be run or the blocks in the else section will be run!
Logic blocks can primarily be found in the Sensors and Operators sections.
Logic blocks can either be True or False. If the block is True, the first set of blocks will run; if it's False, the second set of blocks will run. For example, if we use the force sensor logic block as shown in the picture above, it will be False if the sensor isn't pressed and True if the sensor is pressed. So, if the force sensor is pressed, then the blocks inside the if/then section will run; else, the blocks in the else section will run!
Bonus Tasks
These tasks are optional and can only be solved by students who have completed all the main tasks and received confirmation from their teacher.
Tasks to finish a class
- Take pictures and make videos of your robots.
- Disassemble and arrange the robot .
- Arrange your workplace :
- It is important to arrange the electronics of the robots on the cover of the box.
- Wind up the programming cable so that it is assembled.
- Wind up the mouse cable around the mouse.
- Wind up the cable of the laptop charger in a way that your teacher will show you.
- When you turn off the computer, leave it next to the robot box.
- Turn off all programs on your computer.
- Exit FLLCasts.
- Shut down your computer.
- Put your chair under the desk.