Got something that's just out or reach? Now you can make a grabber arm that can help you retrieve things!
Materials:
- 8 craft sticks
- 2 milkshake straws, cut into quarters
- 2 skewers
- Tape
Optional:
- Pipe cleaners
- Rubber bands
- 2 cups
Procedure:
1. Create the four beams by sticking a craft stick into the straw pieces are each end leaving a small gap in the straw between the two craft sticks.
2. Break off a small piece of skewer and tape it at the edge of each straw piece in order to help reinforce them.
3. Attach two of the beams together by sticking the pointed end of the skewer into the straw pieces in the beams. Do this for both pairs of beams.
4. Put more straw pieces on the end of the one side of the "X" created by the attached beams for both sets.
5. Line up the upper and lower parts of the beam so that the newly attached straws overlap and stick a skewer piece though the straw pieces. Use tape and skewer pieces to reinforce as necessary.
6. Design the grabber claw. This can be more pieces of crafts stick, bent pipe cleaners, rubber bands or anything else you can think of that will help you pick up an item.
7. Test your grabber by trying to pick up the cups.
Engineering involved: This grabber is a simple machine that serves to show the importance of design. While the basics remain the same, this grabber can be customized to pick up different types of objects with different types of claws. Just like any good machinery, it can be redesigned for the optimal effect, whether it needs to be able to hook into something or have a better grip using the rubber bands. And just like a real engineer, it's up to you to experiment and figure out the best way of completing a task. Good luck and happy testing!
For more pictures and information go to: http://www.instructables.com/id/Extending-Grabber/?ALLSTEPS
No comments:
Post a Comment