Building Robots at The Leonardo

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

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Robots!

Now that I have your attention, let me tell you about the FIRST Robotics Competition. FIRST challenges teams of students grades K-12 to design and build a working robot. The robots then compete in a sport, with regional and national competitions determining the ultimate winner.

FIRST started in 1992 in a high-school gym, and now has over 250,000 participants worldwide. Its mission is "To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders."

That mission is certainly in line with our own mission here at The Leonardo, which is why we've been home to a team of robot-builders for the past six weeks. Prototype-X is a team made up of 4H students from along the Wasatch Front. They've been competing in FIRST since 2010, and this year they are using The Leonardo's sub-basement as a headquarters to build their robot.

The deadline to finish the robot is Tuesday, Feb. 21st at Midnight, so the team and their volunteer mentors have been working around the clock as of late.

The team came together without any previous robot experience, and each member has their own reasons for joining.

"I wanted to be an engineer, and this has helped motivate that," said high school senior Brennan Beecher. "Now I want to do this for the rest of my life."

Jim Cook, volunteer mentor said "I'm retired, so I get to play now."

This year's game is called Robot Rumble. Based on the human game of basketball, but with four hoops at different levels. The robot will be mostly remote-controlled, but with some autonomous (pre-programmed) movements. The goal is simple: make your robot put the ball through a hoop more times than the other team's robot.


How complicated is this 'bot? Brennan explains: "There are three different elements to the robot, mechanical, electrical, and the program that runs it."

The robot is built from scratch, with parts machines right here at The Leonardo using the same equipment that helped create the museum.

"We're glad to have the large space here at The Leonardo." Brennan said. "The last two years we had a very small space, now we have our own machine shop, and we're very glad for it."

Prototype-X will be going up against 43 other teams in the regional tournament, held March 15, 16, and 17 at the Maverick Center in West Valley City, Utah. Admission is free to the public.

All of us here at The Leonardo wish you the best of luck, Prototype-X!

Posted by The Leonardo at 2/21/2012 05:44:00 PM 1 comments

? Air Week at The Leonardo

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

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If you live in the Salt Lake Valley chances are you know about the INVERSION! You know, those days in the Winter when the air smells bad and you can see a blanket of unpleasantness hovering in the sky and obscuring our beautiful mountains? Utah Valley and Cache Valley can suffer inversions of their own, which leads Salt Lake County, Utah County, and Cache County to be ranked among the worst counties in the country for air pollution (read more). I think I speak for everyone when I say, "That's not good!"

Why does the inversion happen? Well, keep in mind that it's a completely natural occurrence. Normally, the air closest to the ground is the warmest. In the wintertime the sun doesn't heat up the ground as much, and warm air can rise above the cold air. Long nights, clear skies, and no wind mean that the differently-temperatured layers of air can't mix, and the warm air acts as a "lid," trapping cold air below. This is a problem in valleys like this one because the mountains aide in this trapping of air.

Here's where it gets really serious. When we sit in our idling cars eating french fries, or pile wood into the stove, the pollutants that are released can't dissipate. They have nowhere to go but into our lungs!

At The Leonardo, we like to open up discussion on the big issues, sometimes in surprising ways. Wednesday, Feb. 15 - Sunday, Feb. 19, we have a series of events and activities we're calling "? Air."
There will be a series of ongoing activities and programing throughout the week. Details on our calendar page!

Friday, Feb. 17 at 7pm we will have a free screening of the documentary, Wind Uprising. 

The film chronicles the journey to bring wind-energy to Utah. After the screening there will be a panel discussion with several experts in the field of wind energy and clean air.

Lots of cool stuff on Saturday, Feb. 18!

Repertory Dance Theatre will be in our Holotype exhibit, inviting you to participate in short Movement Explorations that will focus on the impacts of air pollution, how the environment affects your health and the importance of making wise choices to help decrease pollution. Fun 20 minute sessions will be held at 11:30am 12:00pm 12:30pm & 1:30pm, followed by a performance at 2:00pm



Then at 3:30pm Dr. David Bradshaw of the University of Utah Pain Research Center will be teaching simple Yoga breathing techniques. Learn how changing your breathing patterns can help you relax, reduce stress, and live a healthier life.

All day long Utah Moms for Clean Air will be in our Map Lab discussing clean air and helping you understand what YOU can do to make an impact on our quality.

We're excited to see you this week, and we're excited to hear what ideas YOU have for promoting clean air in Utah!

Posted by The Leonardo at 2/14/2012 04:12:00 PM 0 comments

Love at The Leo! Valentine's Day activities for the first half of February

Friday, February 3, 2012

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Here's a view of The Leonardo from Amore Pizza+Gelato across the street.


In an unusual twist it's not pizza that I have on the brain this time, but love! That's because here at The Leonardo we have a packed schedule of cool Valentine's Day activities suitable for all sorts. Bring your sweetie, bring a first date, make something for your crush or bring the kids and tell them how mommy and daddy fell in love.

Lab @ Leo is the place where you can learn and create and let your imagination run wild with arts and crafts materials that we provide. Through Sunday, Feb. 12 we have a local female artists coming in to one or two day residences, helping you make a one-of-a-kind Valentine's Day Card. On Feb. 1st and 3rd we had Jody Plant. Jody is known for making mixed-media art pieces out of found materials, and she brought that sensibility to the Lab, where visitors made some lovely cards using old dictionary pages, sheet music, even tree branches!



Jann Haworth will be in the Lab on Feb. 11 helping you make her signature "donuts," but with a love-themed twist of course.


On Saturday, Feb. 4th make "robots" with Jennica Sheets, and Sunday, Feb. 5th our own Meggie Troili will help you assemble a 3-D Valentine collage for a photograph, which you can later download from Flickr.

For a full schedule of these artists, check The Leonardo Event Calendar. 

We'll also have an ongoing activity in our first floor exhibit, There, There. "Love Connections" is a personal map-making project for you. Map the roads that connected you to the love of your life. Map out a special place you visited and fell in love with. Map the anatomy of your heart or the feelings of love that travel through your body.

Valentine's Week, Feb. 8-12, created an animated love story in Render to share with your loved ones. Then on Friday, Feb. 10th bring a date to the Leo (we're open until 10pm!) and watch as a duo of actors recreate famous love scenes throughout the museum.

There's a lot of fun to be had at The Leo in February. All of these events are free with museum admission. We'd love to see you here!

Posted by The Leonardo at 2/03/2012 05:42:00 PM 1 comments