Passive Dynamic Walker#
Category |
Details |
|---|---|
👥 Appropriate Audience |
Grades 9-12 |
⏱️ Lesson Time |
1 hour |
👨🎓 Number of Students |
10-20 |
🛠️ Hands-on Exercises |
✅ |
📦 Physical Material |
✅ |
Lesson Overview#
Research suggests that humans have been walking on two legs for at least 3 million years. Before bicycles, cars, and airplanes, walking was humankind’s original mode of transport. But while walking is something that seems to come second nature to us, walking is actually a quite complicated motion. It requires coordination between the nervous (brain, spine, nerves) and muscular (muscles and bones to which they attach) systems to take each step while simultaneously balancing to prevent falling over.
In this lesson, we will explore the science of walking through a hands on lesson where students build their own Passive Dynamic Walkers and perform experiments with them. After the lesson, students should have a better understanding of how fundamental forces of nature enable us to walk, and a better appreciation for how human anatomy enables us to walk on two legs.
You might be asking: What are Passive Dynamic Walkers?
Passive: The walker does not need an actuator (e.g. a piston or electric motor) to move
Dynamic: The opposite of static. That is, it moves!
Walker: Something that … walks!
Lesson Structure#
Before session
3D print the Passive Dynamic Walker files
During session
Introduction to locomotion, walking, and their broader implications in robotics and medicine (5 - 10 minutes)
Build your walker (5 - 15 minutes)
Experiments (15 - 25 minutes)
Discussion and Wrap-Up (10 minutes)
Hands-on Materials (if applicable)#
Item |
Quantity |
Estimated Cost |
|---|---|---|
[Slotted Spring Pins, 2 mm Diameter, 30 mm Long. McMaster Part No. 97161A113] (https://www.mcmaster.com/97161A113/) |
2 |
$13.03 USD for 100 |
CAD Files#
If you need to print the CAD files, you can download them here. The .stl files and the Solidworks .SLDPRT file are in the .zip file. We typically print with PLA, but other types of plastics should be fine with the proper print settings.
Download CAD FilesFiles#
Lesson Slides#
Download slidesLesson Plan Worksheet#
Download worksheet