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08 August 2003
E-Bulletin Backscatter
Some comments on Peters comments:
I would describe someone like David H. Levy as a successful amateur. As an amateur scientists I would follow the same path given the opportunity. I don't see any reason that professional scientists should not give presentations at the citizen science conference. After all one of the goals should be to increase cooperation between amateur and professional scientists. That said it would have been nice if there were a few more presentations similar to the Joseph DiVerdi magnetometer.
Jim Hannon
Advice for a Science Fair Project
Note: the following is an edited version of correspondence between SAS member Roger Gilbertson and someone inquiring about a science project idea. -SG
Dear Roger,
I am required to do a science fair project, and I am wondering if you have any information on robots that work as a team to accomplish tasks. My last robot took me to the state science fair, but it flopped due to lack of interest. Thank You again.
Callen
Hello Callen
Firstly, I am forwarding this note to several science, space, and robot contacts, including some who attended the citizen science conference (mentioned below), in hopes that they may have more and better input and suggestions for your science fair explorations.
Several things come to mind:
1) Yes - "cooperative robotics" is a great topic. I know of a project from MIT a few years ago with two robots (called Ernie and Bert) that spoke to each other and helped each other out in some way . I'm sure that there is a lot more to explore in that field.
I have been using a word, "cooperatition" - a competitive event that requires more cooperation by the participants, and would like to see more science, engineering, and robotics projects that think in terms of cooperation more than competition, because a group of humans (or robots) should be able to do much more, and in less time, by properly working together than by working against each other, each working alone, or working together but not well.
2) You're right to work on something that gets other people's interest, but be sure the topic REALLY inspires you too, because if you don't have The Passion for the topic, it will be hard or impossible to get over the rough spots.
3) I just was at a Citizen Science conference a few weeks ago, and one of the big recurring topics was students, science fairs and how to make them all better. The organizers of the conference have done a lot in that area, including a web site for this kind of thing .
One of the speakers at the conference was Lisa Glukhovsky from New Milford High School, first place winner of this year's Intel Science Competition. Her topic was astrometry - and using "amateur" telescopes for measuring distances to near earth asteroids - much faster and cheaper than NASA currently does it! I found her talk and the amazing results of her work very compelling, as did many others at the conference.
4) I've never done a science fair competition myself, so I'm a bit in the dark - but I am eager to help, and especially because you're interested in robotics.
I would suggest starting by thinking a while and making a list of what you feel are the biggest and most important issues facing humans on this planet, then think about what you might do, here and now with your own brains and hands, that demonstrates one possible way or direction that could make the future better. For example, Lisa G's project did not save the world from an asteroid collision, but it showed, with very little time or cost, an amazing new way that could someday help detect an asteroid heading our way, if her method were more widely used.
5) As for cooperative robot projects, NASA is sending two rovers to Mars right now, but they will not be traveling or working together. But what if they were? How could one help the other out of trouble? (Say, get unstuck from between two boulders, or one help the other to drive out of a canyon that it can't see the top of, etc.
6) In China, high school students are getting into robotics now - there are 125 million high school students (that is about half the whole US population!) and later this year China will be sending their first humans into space, with plans to send robots and then in 10 years or so humans to the moon. If the USA is not totally asleep, this should be a major "wake up call" for us and our human and robotic space programs.
So what kinds of robots could help humans to explore the Moon or Mars? Sort of a robot Lassie (if you know that old TV show and movies - about a dog that always came to the rescue of people in need), or a robot "mule" of some sort that could carry things around for humans.
There is the Mars Society, which operates simulated Mars bases on a remote Canadian island, and in the desert of Utah. Perhaps you can work with someone there and show how a robot can be controlled by remote over the Internet and cell phones... Perhaps you turn it around, and the Mars astronauts might operate your robot from their location (Devon Island or Utah), as if the robot were somewhere else on Mars and they had to use it to inspect an unmanned landing craft, or remotely explore a site that looks promising for water, minerals or evidence of life.
I hope this provides some inspiration or ideas for you. Good luck and contact me with any further questions you may have.
Sincerely,
Roger G Gilbertson
