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Aug
6
MINDSTORMS NXT and yellow marshmallow treats in near space?

What happens when you send yellow marshmallow treats into near space? And what would happen when they land in the hot Nevada desert? That’s what some 4th grade students from Shady Hill School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA wished to investigate as part of the High Altitude LEGO Extravaganza (H.A.L.E.) project last week in Reno, Nevada.

Under the leadership of Shady Hill science teachers Barbara Bratzel and Jeanne McDermott as well as Chris Rogers and Susan Tse from Tufts University, the 4th grade students used the yellow marshmallows to measure temperature and pressure during the mission.

“We ran some tests on Earth with the students--putting the yellow marshmallow treats in a small vacuum chamber, a freezer, and a solar oven--to simulate the conditions they would be exposed to in space and after landing. The kids then made sketches and wrote predictions of what they thought the yellow marshmallow treats would look like when they returned,” says Bratzel.

The students’ payload carried an off the shelf pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, as well as a "marshmallow-o-meter" where a yellow marshmallow is anchored in a LEGO cage with a MINDSTORMS NXT Ultrasonic Sensor to measure its expansion. The "marshmallow-o-meter" was designed and built by high school student and Shady Hill School alumni Eric Mukherjee. A NXT brick was also used to record the data. The payload was contained in a styrofoam container for insulation and cushioning.

The yellow marshmallows traveled up to 99,570 feet last Tuesday before being recovered in the Nevada desert. The NXT and marshmallow payload is now on its way (via snail mail) back to the students at Shady Hill School. The fourth graders (who will now be fifth graders) will examine the temperature and pressure data and present their findings to their school.

The students are curious to see what happens to their treats. Some students think that the marshmallows will swell up when the pressure is low but shrink back to their original size upon returning to Earth. Some of the students think that they will become wrinkled or that some of the yellow sugar will fall off. Some students think (hope!) that the marshmallows will explode when the pressure is very low.

The students aren’t going to eat any of the yellow marshmallow treats that went into space when they are returned to them, but they enjoyed eating them during their experimentation before the H.A.L.E. launch!

You can learn more about all the H.A.L.E. missions by visiting: http://www.unr.edu/nevadasat/HALE/







Aug
4
Winners of the LEGO Club Magazine MINDSTORMS drawing contest


This year it is 10 years ago LEGO MINDSTORMS was first launched, so we want to celebrate the anniversary. As part of the celebration we have run a drawing competition in the March issue of LEGO Club Magazine: LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT “Visions of the Future”, where you should draw your MINDSTORMS robot of the future - how would LEGO robots look like in the future?

We have received well over 3000 fantastic drawings from users from age 6 to early 20's, so it has been very hard to choose the 10 winners! Thanks to all of you who entered a drawing for this contest.

Here are the lucky ones who will receive a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT set (#8527).

Congratulations, winners, and thank you for your drawings of future LEGO MINDSTORMS robots!!

The LEGO MINDSTORMS team

Note: all winners will be notified by regular US mail.







Aug
4
Winners of the LEGO Club Magazine MINDSTORMS drawing contest (#6 to #10)


Here are #6 to #10.

A big congratulations!

The LEGO MINDSTORMS team














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