Virtual Sojourner
Student Activity #1: Driving Blind

Team Description
Engineering

Responsibility: convert the R/C car or truck for the rover activity and calibrating its movements. Your data will be used by the Navigation team.

Specialty: mechanical and measurement skills.

Limitations: your team my not visit the site where the rover will perform its mission. Do your work in the classroom using a "test bed" similar to the one the rover will traverse and mapped by the Mapping team.

Procedure:

• Learn the responsibilities of the other teams.
  
• Consult with the Navigation team to schedule use of the rover.
  
• Modify a R/C car or truck for the rover mission. Consult with the Science team to make sure the experiment will fit on the rover.
  
• Mount the experiment onto the rover and ensure all systems will operate.
  
• Work with the Navigation team to calibrate rover movements to determine: how far forward the rover will move per second, how many degrees per second the rover will turn, and how variations in terrain affect its movement.
  
• Submit a (short) status report to the Publications team during the project.
  
• Work with the Navigation team, Mapping team, and Mission Operations during the mission to ensure consistent rover commands.
  
• Report your observations to the Publications team at the conclusion of the mission. Outline the procedure you used to prepare the rover, how you calibrated the rover, whether you think the mission was successful, how you contributed to the mission, and how your work related to the science experiment. Tell what you thought the experiment was, whether it was deployed properly, if you think the data is reliable, and if you think the Science team's conclusion is justified.
  
• Prepare a poster of your report to discuss and present to your classmates.

Hints:

• Keep it simple--question the necessity of each piece added to the rover.
  
• Make structures light and strong.
  
• Brace all structures to they contain triangles.