20.4.08
8.4.08
Cold & Flu Lotion Bar
Materials:
1 part Beeswax
1 part Cocoa Butter
1 part Coconut Oil
1/2 tsp of Vicks Vapour Rub
Lotion Bar's are a soap like bar that is a compressed moisturising lotion, which is rubbed directly onto the skin without water.
If you can not obtain coconut oil, then substitute it with apricot or other massage base oils.
Start by melting the ingredients together using a double boiler method. Once all the ingredients are melted, add the vapour rub and stir through. Pour the mix into suitable molds.
Soap molds that are square and basic are great for these lotion bars as they are easy to hold on to.
*Coconut oil can be found at good health food stores.
1 part Beeswax
1 part Cocoa Butter
1 part Coconut Oil
1/2 tsp of Vicks Vapour Rub
Lotion Bar's are a soap like bar that is a compressed moisturising lotion, which is rubbed directly onto the skin without water.
If you can not obtain coconut oil, then substitute it with apricot or other massage base oils.
Start by melting the ingredients together using a double boiler method. Once all the ingredients are melted, add the vapour rub and stir through. Pour the mix into suitable molds.
Soap molds that are square and basic are great for these lotion bars as they are easy to hold on to.
*Coconut oil can be found at good health food stores.
Big Easy Red Bag
Materials
5 cones of nylon cord (I used "La Espiga" No. 18, 200 g/each)
Size H aluminum hook
Round 1: Using two strands held together, Chain 5. Slip to first chain to make a loop. 6 SC into loop. (DO NOT JOIN- YOU ARE WORKING IN CONTINUOUS ROUNDS for the entire piece.)
Round 2: SC twice in each of the next 6 SC.
Round 3: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next SC* around.
Round 4: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 2 SC* around.
Round 5: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 3 SC*
around.
Round 6: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 4 SC* around.
Round 7: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 5 SC* around.
Round 8: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 6 SC* around.
Round 9: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 7 SC* around.
Round 10: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 8 SC* around.
Round 11: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 9 SC* around.
Round 12: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 10 SC* around.
Round 13: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 11 SC* around.
Round 14: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 12 SC* around.
Round 15: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 13 SC* around.
Round 16: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 14 SC* around.
Round 17-54 SC in each stitch, NO INCREASES
Round 55: Chain 4, *Skip one stitch, DC in next stitch, Chain one* around. Slip stitch in the 3rd chain of beginning chain 4. Chain 1.
Round 56 -57: SC in each stitch around.
At the end of round slip stitch and fasten off.
CORD:Holding two strands together, make a chain long enough to go through round 55 and for a strap that is comfortable to you.(Mine is about 36" long)
HINT: Melt the end of your nylon cord so it doesn't fray. I also glued the ends of the double strands together (on the inside of the piece) because I was afraid that the knots wouldn't hold. Nylon cord can be rascally!
I also made a rectangle (using a single cord) a little larger than my cell phone and sewed it to the inside of the bag. It's turned out nice.
5 cones of nylon cord (I used "La Espiga" No. 18, 200 g/each)
Size H aluminum hook
Round 1: Using two strands held together, Chain 5. Slip to first chain to make a loop. 6 SC into loop. (DO NOT JOIN- YOU ARE WORKING IN CONTINUOUS ROUNDS for the entire piece.)
Round 2: SC twice in each of the next 6 SC.
Round 3: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next SC* around.
Round 4: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 2 SC* around.
Round 5: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 3 SC*
around.
Round 6: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 4 SC* around.
Round 7: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 5 SC* around.
Round 8: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 6 SC* around.
Round 9: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 7 SC* around.
Round 10: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 8 SC* around.
Round 11: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 9 SC* around.
Round 12: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 10 SC* around.
Round 13: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 11 SC* around.
Round 14: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 12 SC* around.
Round 15: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 13 SC* around.
Round 16: *SC twice in next SC, SC once in next 14 SC* around.
Round 17-54 SC in each stitch, NO INCREASES
Round 55: Chain 4, *Skip one stitch, DC in next stitch, Chain one* around. Slip stitch in the 3rd chain of beginning chain 4. Chain 1.
Round 56 -57: SC in each stitch around.
At the end of round slip stitch and fasten off.
CORD:Holding two strands together, make a chain long enough to go through round 55 and for a strap that is comfortable to you.(Mine is about 36" long)
HINT: Melt the end of your nylon cord so it doesn't fray. I also glued the ends of the double strands together (on the inside of the piece) because I was afraid that the knots wouldn't hold. Nylon cord can be rascally!
I also made a rectangle (using a single cord) a little larger than my cell phone and sewed it to the inside of the bag. It's turned out nice.
4.4.08
Crochet Hearts
MAterials:
Small amount worsted weight yarn (Red)
Small amount worsted weight yarn (Pink)
Crochet hook, size H Finishing
1/3 yard (1/4") wide ribbon (Red)
1/3 yard (1/4") wide ribbon (Pink)
Glue
Tapestry needle
First Heart:
(Using Pink or Red)
Ch 26; join with a slip st in first chain to form a ring being careful not to twist chain.
Rnd 1) Ch 2; dc decrease over next 2 chains, dc in next 2 chs, (3 dc in next ch, dc in next ch) twice, dc in next 5 chs, (3 dc,trc, 3 dc) in next ch, dc in next 5 chs, (dc in next ch, 3 dc in next ch) twice, dc in last 2 chs; join with a slip st in first decrease st. Fasten off, secure ends. Dc decrease: (Yo, insert hook in next ch, pull up a loop, yo, draw through 2 loops on hook) twice, yo, draw through all 3 loops on hook to complete the stitch.
Second Heart: (Using second color)
Ch 26; pull end of chain through first heart; join with a slip st in first chain to form a ring (interlocking ring), being careful not to twist chain.
Rnd 1) Repeat instructions for Rnd 1 for First Heart. Fasten off, leaving a 6" tail.
Finishing:
Arrange hearts side by side, then thread tapestry needle with 6" tail and secure hearts together. Weave in ends and clip short. With ribbon, tie bows and glue Pink ribbon to Red Heart and Red ribbon to Pink Heart as shown in photograph. Attach magnets to the back.
Insect Repellent
Materials:
4 ounces (120ml) of water in a water spray bottle
5 drops of Eucalyptus essential oil
3 drops of Lemongrass essential oil
3 drops of Citronella essential oil
Mix the oils into the water and shake well then spray into the air.
This won't kill anything only repell it.
Make sure you don't spray onto food areas or into your eyes.
4 ounces (120ml) of water in a water spray bottle
5 drops of Eucalyptus essential oil
3 drops of Lemongrass essential oil
3 drops of Citronella essential oil
Mix the oils into the water and shake well then spray into the air.
This won't kill anything only repell it.
Make sure you don't spray onto food areas or into your eyes.
Make Your Own Envelope
Materials::
Ordinary envelope. Cardstock or patter paper. Adhesive, scissors
Envelopes are a great embellishment to your layouts! You can add extra photos, journal block or other small things that you just want to include by don't want to cut,glue or alter. Here's how to make your own envelope.
1. Find any envelope you want to use for the size. Small, long, square, whatever. Even little package name tags
size are fun to work with and have on the page
2. Turn it over to the back. Look to see "how" it is constructed. Usually there is one large flap "glued" over the top of 2 side flaps
3. Starting at the top, gently start "tearing" or peeling the large front flap away from the smaller flaps on the sides. Tear slowly and gently but if it isn't perfectly torn or there are gaps, it won't matter - that is fixable. Just try as slowly and gently as possible to pull the flaps apart to make it easier on yourself!
4. Once apart open it up and now you have your pattern!
5. Open the envelope pattern you just created. flatten it out. Place it on the paper you want to make into an envelope. Sometimes a tiny bit of glue stick in the middle is a good thing to do so that it stays in place. Just make sure you put the glue where the glue residue WON'T show once the envelope is done. Trace around the pattern. Remove the pattern from the paper.
6. Now to make the fold lines: Using the "real" envelope for a guide, take your ruler and line up from side to side, where the folds should be. You will only have 4 fold lines, 2 vertically and 2 horizonaly. Draw a line for each fold. At this point you just make the fold on each line you have drawn.
7. Fold the 2 side flaps in and then fold the lower portion UP, then fold you top flap DOWN. Use your ruler or bone folder to flatten the creases. Now your envelope is created! Apply adhesive ( I use glue sticks) on the side flaps. Fold the bottom flap up and press for the glue to stick. The top flap just folds down.
Take the envy you just made and lay it on a contrasting piece of paper. Place it open side up so you can see where to end it. Make the contrasting paper go just below the bottom flap's edge, just to make sure there is no gap showing and when you open the envy all you see is the contrasting paper.
Trace the outline of the envy - basically just the top half of the envy is what you will be tracing. Cut this piece out, and do a bit of wigglying and a small trim of the edges that go inside the envy so that it matches the closing flap. Hard to explain, but as you do this, you will see what I am talking about. Then just glue it down!
Make sure you have glue where the fold line are, and make sure you flatten this very well - use your ruler or a bone folder to smooth it out. This makes sure that there is no "bubble" of the paper in that area.
And you are done!!
Ordinary envelope. Cardstock or patter paper. Adhesive, scissors
Envelopes are a great embellishment to your layouts! You can add extra photos, journal block or other small things that you just want to include by don't want to cut,glue or alter. Here's how to make your own envelope.
1. Find any envelope you want to use for the size. Small, long, square, whatever. Even little package name tags
size are fun to work with and have on the page
2. Turn it over to the back. Look to see "how" it is constructed. Usually there is one large flap "glued" over the top of 2 side flaps
3. Starting at the top, gently start "tearing" or peeling the large front flap away from the smaller flaps on the sides. Tear slowly and gently but if it isn't perfectly torn or there are gaps, it won't matter - that is fixable. Just try as slowly and gently as possible to pull the flaps apart to make it easier on yourself!
4. Once apart open it up and now you have your pattern!
5. Open the envelope pattern you just created. flatten it out. Place it on the paper you want to make into an envelope. Sometimes a tiny bit of glue stick in the middle is a good thing to do so that it stays in place. Just make sure you put the glue where the glue residue WON'T show once the envelope is done. Trace around the pattern. Remove the pattern from the paper.
6. Now to make the fold lines: Using the "real" envelope for a guide, take your ruler and line up from side to side, where the folds should be. You will only have 4 fold lines, 2 vertically and 2 horizonaly. Draw a line for each fold. At this point you just make the fold on each line you have drawn.
7. Fold the 2 side flaps in and then fold the lower portion UP, then fold you top flap DOWN. Use your ruler or bone folder to flatten the creases. Now your envelope is created! Apply adhesive ( I use glue sticks) on the side flaps. Fold the bottom flap up and press for the glue to stick. The top flap just folds down.
Take the envy you just made and lay it on a contrasting piece of paper. Place it open side up so you can see where to end it. Make the contrasting paper go just below the bottom flap's edge, just to make sure there is no gap showing and when you open the envy all you see is the contrasting paper.
Trace the outline of the envy - basically just the top half of the envy is what you will be tracing. Cut this piece out, and do a bit of wigglying and a small trim of the edges that go inside the envy so that it matches the closing flap. Hard to explain, but as you do this, you will see what I am talking about. Then just glue it down!
Make sure you have glue where the fold line are, and make sure you flatten this very well - use your ruler or a bone folder to smooth it out. This makes sure that there is no "bubble" of the paper in that area.
And you are done!!
2.4.08
Nanowires
In 1965, engineer Gordon Moore predicted that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit -- a precursor to the microprocessor -- would double approximately every two years. Today, we call this prediction Moore's Law, though it's not really a scientific law at all. Moore's Law is more of a self-fulfilling prophecy about the computer industry. Microprocessor manufacturers strive to meet the prediction, because if they don't, their competitors will To fit more transistors on a chip, engineers have to design smaller transistors. The first chip had about 2,200 transistors on it. Today, hundreds of millions of transistors can fit on a single microprocessor chip. Even so, companies are determined to create increasingly tiny transistors, cramming more into smaller chips. There are already computer chips that have nanoscale transistors (the nanoscale is between 1 and 100 nanometers -- a nanometer is one billionth of a meter). Future transistors will have to be even smaller.
Enter the nanowire, a structure that has an amazing length-to-width ratio. Nanowires can be incredibly thin -- it's possible to create a nanowire with the diameter of just one nanometer, though engineers and scientists tend to work with nanowires that are between 30 and 60 nanometers wide. Scientists hope that we will soon be able to use nanowires to create the smallest transistors yet, though there are some pretty tough obstacles in the way.
In this article, we'll look at the properties of nanowires. We'll learn how engineers build nanowires and the progress they've made toward creating electronic chips using nanowire transistors. In the last section, we'll look at some of the potential applications for nanowires, including some medical uses.
How Thin is Thin?
Human hair is usually between 60 and 120 micrometers wide. Let's assume you have found an exceptionally fine hair with a width of 60 micrometers. A micrometer is 1,000 nanometers, so you would have to cut that hair at least 60,000 times lengthwise to make a strand one nanometer thick.
Nanowire Properties
Depending on what it's made from, a nanowire can have the properties of an insulator, a semiconductor or a metal. Insulators won't carry an electric charge, while metals carry electric charges very well. Semiconductors fall between the two, carrying a charge under the right conditions. By arranging semiconductor wires in the proper configuration, engineers can create transistors, which either acts as a switch or an amplifier.
Some interesting -- and counterintuitive -- properties nanowires possess are due to the small scale. When you work with objects that are at the nanoscale or smaller, you begin to enter the realm of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics can be confusing even to experts in the field, and very often it defies classical physics (also known as Newtonian physics).
For example, normally an electron can't pass through an insulator. If the insulator is thin enough, though, the electron can pass from one side of the insulator to the other. It's called electron tunneling, but the name doesn't really give you an idea of how weird this process can be. The electron passes from one side of the insulator to the other without actually penetrating the insulator itself or occupying the space inside the insulator. You might say it teleports from one side to the other. You can prevent electron tunneling by using thicker layers of insulator since electrons can only travel across very small distances.
Another interesting property is that some nanowires are ballistic conductors. In normal conductors, electrons collide with the atoms in the conductor material. This slows down the electrons as they travel and creates heat as a byproduct. In ballistic conductors, the electrons can travel through the conductor without collisions. Nanowires could conduct electricity efficiently without the byproduct of intense heat.
At the nanoscale, elements can display very different properties than what we've come to expect. For example, in bulk, gold has a melting point of more than 1,000 degrees Celsius. By reducing bulk gold to the size of nanoparticles, you decrease its melting point, because when you reduce any particle to the nanoscale, there's a significant increase in the surface-to-volume ratio. Also, at the nanoscale, gold behaves like a semiconductor, but in bulk form it's a conductor.
Other elements behave strangely at the nanoscale as well. In bulk, aluminum isn't magnetic, but very small clusters of aluminum atoms are magnetic. The elemental properties we're familiar with in our everyday experience -- and the ways we expect them to behave -- may not apply when we reduce those elements down to the size of a nanometer.
We're still learning about the different properties of various elements at the nanoscale. Some elements, like silicon, don't change much at the nanoscale level. This makes them ideal for transistors and other applications. Others are still mysterious, and may display properties that we can't predict right now.
Carbon Nanotubes and Quantum Dots
Nanowires are just one exciting structure engineers and scientists are exploring at the nanoscale. Two other important nanoscale objects are carbon nanotubes and quantum dots. A carbon nanotube is a cylindrical structure that looks like a rolled up sheet of graphite. Its properties depend on how you roll the graphite into the cylinder -- by rolling the carbon atoms one way, you can create a semiconductor. But rolling them another way can make a material 100 times stronger than steel. Quantum dots are collections of atoms that together act like one giant atom -- though by giant we're still talking the nanoscale. Quantum dots are semiconductors.
Enter the nanowire, a structure that has an amazing length-to-width ratio. Nanowires can be incredibly thin -- it's possible to create a nanowire with the diameter of just one nanometer, though engineers and scientists tend to work with nanowires that are between 30 and 60 nanometers wide. Scientists hope that we will soon be able to use nanowires to create the smallest transistors yet, though there are some pretty tough obstacles in the way.
In this article, we'll look at the properties of nanowires. We'll learn how engineers build nanowires and the progress they've made toward creating electronic chips using nanowire transistors. In the last section, we'll look at some of the potential applications for nanowires, including some medical uses.
How Thin is Thin?
Human hair is usually between 60 and 120 micrometers wide. Let's assume you have found an exceptionally fine hair with a width of 60 micrometers. A micrometer is 1,000 nanometers, so you would have to cut that hair at least 60,000 times lengthwise to make a strand one nanometer thick.
Nanowire Properties
Depending on what it's made from, a nanowire can have the properties of an insulator, a semiconductor or a metal. Insulators won't carry an electric charge, while metals carry electric charges very well. Semiconductors fall between the two, carrying a charge under the right conditions. By arranging semiconductor wires in the proper configuration, engineers can create transistors, which either acts as a switch or an amplifier.
Some interesting -- and counterintuitive -- properties nanowires possess are due to the small scale. When you work with objects that are at the nanoscale or smaller, you begin to enter the realm of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics can be confusing even to experts in the field, and very often it defies classical physics (also known as Newtonian physics).
For example, normally an electron can't pass through an insulator. If the insulator is thin enough, though, the electron can pass from one side of the insulator to the other. It's called electron tunneling, but the name doesn't really give you an idea of how weird this process can be. The electron passes from one side of the insulator to the other without actually penetrating the insulator itself or occupying the space inside the insulator. You might say it teleports from one side to the other. You can prevent electron tunneling by using thicker layers of insulator since electrons can only travel across very small distances.
Another interesting property is that some nanowires are ballistic conductors. In normal conductors, electrons collide with the atoms in the conductor material. This slows down the electrons as they travel and creates heat as a byproduct. In ballistic conductors, the electrons can travel through the conductor without collisions. Nanowires could conduct electricity efficiently without the byproduct of intense heat.
At the nanoscale, elements can display very different properties than what we've come to expect. For example, in bulk, gold has a melting point of more than 1,000 degrees Celsius. By reducing bulk gold to the size of nanoparticles, you decrease its melting point, because when you reduce any particle to the nanoscale, there's a significant increase in the surface-to-volume ratio. Also, at the nanoscale, gold behaves like a semiconductor, but in bulk form it's a conductor.
Other elements behave strangely at the nanoscale as well. In bulk, aluminum isn't magnetic, but very small clusters of aluminum atoms are magnetic. The elemental properties we're familiar with in our everyday experience -- and the ways we expect them to behave -- may not apply when we reduce those elements down to the size of a nanometer.
We're still learning about the different properties of various elements at the nanoscale. Some elements, like silicon, don't change much at the nanoscale level. This makes them ideal for transistors and other applications. Others are still mysterious, and may display properties that we can't predict right now.
Carbon Nanotubes and Quantum Dots
Nanowires are just one exciting structure engineers and scientists are exploring at the nanoscale. Two other important nanoscale objects are carbon nanotubes and quantum dots. A carbon nanotube is a cylindrical structure that looks like a rolled up sheet of graphite. Its properties depend on how you roll the graphite into the cylinder -- by rolling the carbon atoms one way, you can create a semiconductor. But rolling them another way can make a material 100 times stronger than steel. Quantum dots are collections of atoms that together act like one giant atom -- though by giant we're still talking the nanoscale. Quantum dots are semiconductors.
How Robots Work
On the most basic level, human beings are made up of five major components:
A body structure
A muscle system to move the body structure
A sensory system that receives information about the body and the surrounding environment
A power source to activate the muscles and sensors
A brain system that processes sensory information and tells the muscles what to do
Of course, we also have some intangible attributes, such as intelligence and morality, but on the sheer physical level, the list above about covers it.
A robot is made up of the very same components. A typical robot has a movable physical structure, a motor of some sort, a sensor system, a power supply and a computer "brain" that controls all of these elements. Essentially, robots are man-made versions of animal life -- they are machines that replicate human and animal behavior.
In this article, we'll explore the basic concept of robotics and find out how robots do what they do.
Joseph Engelberger, a pioneer in industrial robotics, once remarked "I can't define a robot, but I know one when I see one." If you consider all the different machines people call robots, you can see that it's nearly impossible to come up with a comprehensive definition. Everybody has a different idea of what constitutes a robot.
You've probably heard of several of these famous robots:
R2D2 and C-3PO: The intelligent, speaking robots with loads of personality in the "Star Wars" movies
Sony's AIBO: A robotic dog that learns through human interaction
Honda's ASIMO: A robot that can walk on two legs like a person
Industrial robots: Automated machines that work on assembly lines
Data: The almost human android from "Star Trek"
BattleBots: The remote control fighters on Comedy Central
Bomb-defusing robots
NASA's Mars rovers
HAL: The ship's computer in Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey"
Robomower: The lawn-mowing robot from Friendly Robotics
The Robot in the television series "Lost in Space"
MindStorms: LEGO's popular robotics kit
HowStuffWorks has several articles on other types of robots:
How Robotic Surgery Will Work
How Robonauts Will Work
How Snakebots Will Work
How Rumble Robots Work
How Stinger Missiles Work
All of these things are considered robots, at least by some people. The broadest definition around defines a robot as anything that a lot of people recognize as a robot. Most roboticists (people who build robots) use a more precise definition. They specify that robots have a reprogrammable brain (a computer) that moves a body.
By this definition, robots are distinct from other movable machines, such as cars, because of their computer element. Many new cars do have an onboard computer, but it's only there to make small adjustments. You control most elements in the car directly by way of various mechanical devices. Robots are distinct from ordinary computers in their physical nature -- normal computers don't have a physical body attached to them.
Robot Basics
The vast majority of robots do have several qualities in common. First of all, almost all robots have a movable body. Some only have motorized wheels, and others have dozens of movable segments, typically made of metal or plastic. Like the bones in your body, the individual segments are connected together with joints.
Robots spin wheels and pivot jointed segments with some sort of actuator. Some robots use electric motors and solenoids as actuators; some use a hydraulic system; and some use a pneumatic system (a system driven by compressed gases). Robots may use all these actuator types.
A robot needs a power source to drive these actuators. Most robots either have a battery or they plug into the wall. Hydraulic robots also need a pump to pressurize the hydraulic fluid, and pneumatic robots need an air compressor or compressed air tanks.
The actuators are all wired to an electrical circuit. The circuit powers electrical motors and solenoids directly, and it activates the hydraulic system by manipulating electrical valves. The valves determine the pressurized fluid's path through the machine. To move a hydraulic leg, for example, the robot's controller would open the valve leading from the fluid pump to a piston cylinder attached to that leg. The pressurized fluid would extend the piston, swiveling the leg forward. Typically, in order to move their segments in two directions, robots use pistons that can push both ways.
The robot's computer controls everything attached to the circuit. To move the robot, the computer switches on all the necessary motors and valves. Most robots are reprogrammable -- to change the robot's behavior, you simply write a new program to its computer.
Not all robots have sensory systems, and few have the ability to see, hear, smell or taste. The most common robotic sense is the sense of movement -- the robot's ability to monitor its own motion. A standard design uses slotted wheels attached to the robot's joints. An LED on one side of the wheel shines a beam of light through the slots to a light sensor on the other side of the wheel. When the robot moves a particular joint, the slotted wheel turns. The slots break the light beam as the wheel spins. The light sensor reads the pattern of the flashing light and transmits the data to the computer. The computer can tell exactly how far the joint has swiveled based on this pattern. This is the same basic system used in computer mice.
These are the basic nuts and bolts of robotics. Roboticists can combine these elements in an infinite number of ways to create robots of unlimited complexity.
The Robotic Arm
The term robot comes from the Czech word robota, generally translated as "forced labor." This describes the majority of robots fairly well. Most robots in the world are designed for heavy, repetitive manufacturing work. They handle tasks that are difficult, dangerous or boring to human beings.
The most common manufacturing robot is the robotic arm. A typical robotic arm is made up of seven metal segments, joined by six joints. The computer controls the robot by rotating individual step motors connected to each joint (some larger arms use hydraulics or pneumatics). Unlike ordinary motors, step motors move in exact increments (check out Anaheim Automation to find out how). This allows the computer to move the arm very precisely, repeating exactly the same movement over and over again. The robot uses motion sensors to make sure it moves just the right amount.
An industrial robot with six joints closely resembles a human arm -- it has the equivalent of a shoulder, an elbow and a wrist. Typically, the shoulder is mounted to a stationary base structure rather than to a movable body. This type of robot has six degrees of freedom, meaning it can pivot in six different ways. A human arm, by comparison, has seven degrees of freedom
Your arm's job is to move your hand from place to place. Similarly, the robotic arm's job is to move an end effector from place to place. You can outfit robotic arms with all sorts of end effectors, which are suited to a particular application. One common end effector is a simplified version of the hand, which can grasp and carry different objects. Robotic hands often have built-in pressure sensors that tell the computer how hard the robot is gripping a particular object. This keeps the robot from dropping or breaking whatever it's carrying. Other end effectors include blowtorches, drills and spray painters.
Industrial robots are designed to do exactly the same thing, in a controlled environment, over and over again. For example, a robot might twist the caps onto peanut butter jars coming down an assembly line. To teach a robot how to do its job, the programmer guides the arm through the motions using a handheld controller. The robot stores the exact sequence of movements in its memory, and does it again and again every time a new unit comes down the assembly line.
Most industrial robots work in auto assembly lines, putting cars together. Robots can do a lot of this work more efficiently than human beings because they are so precise. They always drill in the exactly the same place, and they always tighten bolts with the same amount of force, no matter how many hours they've been working. Manufacturing robots are also very important in the computer industry. It takes an incredibly precise hand to put together a tiny microchip.
Robots and Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is arguably the most exciting field in robotics. It's certainly the most controversial: Everybody agrees that a robot can work in an assembly line, but there's no consensus on whether a robot can ever be intelligent.
AI in the Movies
2001: A Space Odyssey
AI
Bicentennial Man
Blade Runner
Demon Seed
The Matrix
Short Circuit
The Terminator
Westworld
Like the term "robot" itself, artificial intelligence is hard to define. Ultimate AI would be a recreation of the human thought process -- a man-made machine with our intellectual abilities. This would include the ability to learn just about anything, the ability to reason, the ability to use language and the ability to formulate original ideas. Roboticists are nowhere near achieving this level of artificial intelligence, but they have had made a lot of progress with more limited AI. Today's AI machines can replicate some specific elements of intellectual ability.
Computers can already solve problems in limited realms. The basic idea of AI problem-solving is very simple, though its execution is complicated. First, the AI robot or computer gathers facts about a situation through sensors or human input. The computer compares this information to stored data and decides what the information signifies. The computer runs through various possible actions and predicts which action will be most successful based on the collected information. Of course, the computer can only solve problems it's programmed to solve -- it doesn't have any generalized analytical ability. Chess computers are one example of this sort of machine.
Some modern robots also have the ability to learn in a limited capacity. Learning robots recognize if a certain action (moving its legs in a certain way, for instance) achieved a desired result (navigating an obstacle). The robot stores this information and attempts the successful action the next time it encounters the same situation. Again, modern computers can only do this in very limited situations. They can't absorb any sort of information like a human can. Some robots can learn by mimicking human actions. In Japan, roboticists have taught a robot to dance by demonstrating the moves themselves.
Some robots can interact socially. Kismet, a robot at M.I.T's Artificial Intelligence Lab, recognizes human body language and voice inflection and responds appropriately. Kismet's creators are interested in how humans and babies interact, based only on tone of speech and visual cue. This low-level interaction could be the foundation of a human-like learning system.
Kismet and other humanoid robots at the M.I.T. AI Lab operate using an unconventional control structure. Instead of directing every action using a central computer, the robots control lower-level actions with lower-level computers. The program's director, Rodney Brooks, believes this is a more accurate model of human intelligence. We do most things automatically; we don't decide to do them at the highest level of consciousness.
The real challenge of AI is to understand how natural intelligence works. Developing AI isn't like building an artificial heart -- scientists don't have a simple, concrete model to work from. We do know that the brain contains billions and billions of neurons, and that we think and learn by establishing electrical connections between different neurons. But we don't know exactly how all of these connections add up to higher reasoning, or even low-level operations. The complex circuitry seems incomprehensible.
Because of this, AI research is largely theoretical. Scientists hypothesize on how and why we learn and think, and they experiment with their ideas using robots. Brooks and his team focus on humanoid robots because they feel that being able to experience the world like a human is essential to developing human-like intelligence. It also makes it easier for people to interact with the robots, which potentially makes it easier for the robot to learn.
Just as physical robotic design is a handy tool for understanding animal and human anatomy, AI research is useful for understanding how natural intelligence works. For some roboticists, this insight is the ultimate goal of designing robots. Others envision a world where we live side by side with intelligent machines and use a variety of lesser robots for manual labor, health care and communication. A number of robotics experts predict that robotic evolution will ultimately turn us into cyborgs -- humans integrated with machines. Conceivably, people in the future could load their minds into a sturdy robot and live for thousands of years!
In any case, robots will certainly play a larger role in our daily lives in the future. In the coming decades, robots will gradually move out of the industrial and scientific worlds and into daily life, in the same way that computers spread to the home in the 1980s.
A body structure
A muscle system to move the body structure
A sensory system that receives information about the body and the surrounding environment
A power source to activate the muscles and sensors
A brain system that processes sensory information and tells the muscles what to do
Of course, we also have some intangible attributes, such as intelligence and morality, but on the sheer physical level, the list above about covers it.
A robot is made up of the very same components. A typical robot has a movable physical structure, a motor of some sort, a sensor system, a power supply and a computer "brain" that controls all of these elements. Essentially, robots are man-made versions of animal life -- they are machines that replicate human and animal behavior.
In this article, we'll explore the basic concept of robotics and find out how robots do what they do.
Joseph Engelberger, a pioneer in industrial robotics, once remarked "I can't define a robot, but I know one when I see one." If you consider all the different machines people call robots, you can see that it's nearly impossible to come up with a comprehensive definition. Everybody has a different idea of what constitutes a robot.
You've probably heard of several of these famous robots:
R2D2 and C-3PO: The intelligent, speaking robots with loads of personality in the "Star Wars" movies
Sony's AIBO: A robotic dog that learns through human interaction
Honda's ASIMO: A robot that can walk on two legs like a person
Industrial robots: Automated machines that work on assembly lines
Data: The almost human android from "Star Trek"
BattleBots: The remote control fighters on Comedy Central
Bomb-defusing robots
NASA's Mars rovers
HAL: The ship's computer in Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey"
Robomower: The lawn-mowing robot from Friendly Robotics
The Robot in the television series "Lost in Space"
MindStorms: LEGO's popular robotics kit
HowStuffWorks has several articles on other types of robots:
How Robotic Surgery Will Work
How Robonauts Will Work
How Snakebots Will Work
How Rumble Robots Work
How Stinger Missiles Work
All of these things are considered robots, at least by some people. The broadest definition around defines a robot as anything that a lot of people recognize as a robot. Most roboticists (people who build robots) use a more precise definition. They specify that robots have a reprogrammable brain (a computer) that moves a body.
By this definition, robots are distinct from other movable machines, such as cars, because of their computer element. Many new cars do have an onboard computer, but it's only there to make small adjustments. You control most elements in the car directly by way of various mechanical devices. Robots are distinct from ordinary computers in their physical nature -- normal computers don't have a physical body attached to them.
Robot Basics
The vast majority of robots do have several qualities in common. First of all, almost all robots have a movable body. Some only have motorized wheels, and others have dozens of movable segments, typically made of metal or plastic. Like the bones in your body, the individual segments are connected together with joints.
Robots spin wheels and pivot jointed segments with some sort of actuator. Some robots use electric motors and solenoids as actuators; some use a hydraulic system; and some use a pneumatic system (a system driven by compressed gases). Robots may use all these actuator types.
A robot needs a power source to drive these actuators. Most robots either have a battery or they plug into the wall. Hydraulic robots also need a pump to pressurize the hydraulic fluid, and pneumatic robots need an air compressor or compressed air tanks.
The actuators are all wired to an electrical circuit. The circuit powers electrical motors and solenoids directly, and it activates the hydraulic system by manipulating electrical valves. The valves determine the pressurized fluid's path through the machine. To move a hydraulic leg, for example, the robot's controller would open the valve leading from the fluid pump to a piston cylinder attached to that leg. The pressurized fluid would extend the piston, swiveling the leg forward. Typically, in order to move their segments in two directions, robots use pistons that can push both ways.
The robot's computer controls everything attached to the circuit. To move the robot, the computer switches on all the necessary motors and valves. Most robots are reprogrammable -- to change the robot's behavior, you simply write a new program to its computer.
Not all robots have sensory systems, and few have the ability to see, hear, smell or taste. The most common robotic sense is the sense of movement -- the robot's ability to monitor its own motion. A standard design uses slotted wheels attached to the robot's joints. An LED on one side of the wheel shines a beam of light through the slots to a light sensor on the other side of the wheel. When the robot moves a particular joint, the slotted wheel turns. The slots break the light beam as the wheel spins. The light sensor reads the pattern of the flashing light and transmits the data to the computer. The computer can tell exactly how far the joint has swiveled based on this pattern. This is the same basic system used in computer mice.
These are the basic nuts and bolts of robotics. Roboticists can combine these elements in an infinite number of ways to create robots of unlimited complexity.
The Robotic Arm
The term robot comes from the Czech word robota, generally translated as "forced labor." This describes the majority of robots fairly well. Most robots in the world are designed for heavy, repetitive manufacturing work. They handle tasks that are difficult, dangerous or boring to human beings.
The most common manufacturing robot is the robotic arm. A typical robotic arm is made up of seven metal segments, joined by six joints. The computer controls the robot by rotating individual step motors connected to each joint (some larger arms use hydraulics or pneumatics). Unlike ordinary motors, step motors move in exact increments (check out Anaheim Automation to find out how). This allows the computer to move the arm very precisely, repeating exactly the same movement over and over again. The robot uses motion sensors to make sure it moves just the right amount.
An industrial robot with six joints closely resembles a human arm -- it has the equivalent of a shoulder, an elbow and a wrist. Typically, the shoulder is mounted to a stationary base structure rather than to a movable body. This type of robot has six degrees of freedom, meaning it can pivot in six different ways. A human arm, by comparison, has seven degrees of freedom
Your arm's job is to move your hand from place to place. Similarly, the robotic arm's job is to move an end effector from place to place. You can outfit robotic arms with all sorts of end effectors, which are suited to a particular application. One common end effector is a simplified version of the hand, which can grasp and carry different objects. Robotic hands often have built-in pressure sensors that tell the computer how hard the robot is gripping a particular object. This keeps the robot from dropping or breaking whatever it's carrying. Other end effectors include blowtorches, drills and spray painters.
Industrial robots are designed to do exactly the same thing, in a controlled environment, over and over again. For example, a robot might twist the caps onto peanut butter jars coming down an assembly line. To teach a robot how to do its job, the programmer guides the arm through the motions using a handheld controller. The robot stores the exact sequence of movements in its memory, and does it again and again every time a new unit comes down the assembly line.
Most industrial robots work in auto assembly lines, putting cars together. Robots can do a lot of this work more efficiently than human beings because they are so precise. They always drill in the exactly the same place, and they always tighten bolts with the same amount of force, no matter how many hours they've been working. Manufacturing robots are also very important in the computer industry. It takes an incredibly precise hand to put together a tiny microchip.
Robots and Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is arguably the most exciting field in robotics. It's certainly the most controversial: Everybody agrees that a robot can work in an assembly line, but there's no consensus on whether a robot can ever be intelligent.
AI in the Movies
2001: A Space Odyssey
AI
Bicentennial Man
Blade Runner
Demon Seed
The Matrix
Short Circuit
The Terminator
Westworld
Like the term "robot" itself, artificial intelligence is hard to define. Ultimate AI would be a recreation of the human thought process -- a man-made machine with our intellectual abilities. This would include the ability to learn just about anything, the ability to reason, the ability to use language and the ability to formulate original ideas. Roboticists are nowhere near achieving this level of artificial intelligence, but they have had made a lot of progress with more limited AI. Today's AI machines can replicate some specific elements of intellectual ability.
Computers can already solve problems in limited realms. The basic idea of AI problem-solving is very simple, though its execution is complicated. First, the AI robot or computer gathers facts about a situation through sensors or human input. The computer compares this information to stored data and decides what the information signifies. The computer runs through various possible actions and predicts which action will be most successful based on the collected information. Of course, the computer can only solve problems it's programmed to solve -- it doesn't have any generalized analytical ability. Chess computers are one example of this sort of machine.
Some modern robots also have the ability to learn in a limited capacity. Learning robots recognize if a certain action (moving its legs in a certain way, for instance) achieved a desired result (navigating an obstacle). The robot stores this information and attempts the successful action the next time it encounters the same situation. Again, modern computers can only do this in very limited situations. They can't absorb any sort of information like a human can. Some robots can learn by mimicking human actions. In Japan, roboticists have taught a robot to dance by demonstrating the moves themselves.
Some robots can interact socially. Kismet, a robot at M.I.T's Artificial Intelligence Lab, recognizes human body language and voice inflection and responds appropriately. Kismet's creators are interested in how humans and babies interact, based only on tone of speech and visual cue. This low-level interaction could be the foundation of a human-like learning system.
Kismet and other humanoid robots at the M.I.T. AI Lab operate using an unconventional control structure. Instead of directing every action using a central computer, the robots control lower-level actions with lower-level computers. The program's director, Rodney Brooks, believes this is a more accurate model of human intelligence. We do most things automatically; we don't decide to do them at the highest level of consciousness.
The real challenge of AI is to understand how natural intelligence works. Developing AI isn't like building an artificial heart -- scientists don't have a simple, concrete model to work from. We do know that the brain contains billions and billions of neurons, and that we think and learn by establishing electrical connections between different neurons. But we don't know exactly how all of these connections add up to higher reasoning, or even low-level operations. The complex circuitry seems incomprehensible.
Because of this, AI research is largely theoretical. Scientists hypothesize on how and why we learn and think, and they experiment with their ideas using robots. Brooks and his team focus on humanoid robots because they feel that being able to experience the world like a human is essential to developing human-like intelligence. It also makes it easier for people to interact with the robots, which potentially makes it easier for the robot to learn.
Just as physical robotic design is a handy tool for understanding animal and human anatomy, AI research is useful for understanding how natural intelligence works. For some roboticists, this insight is the ultimate goal of designing robots. Others envision a world where we live side by side with intelligent machines and use a variety of lesser robots for manual labor, health care and communication. A number of robotics experts predict that robotic evolution will ultimately turn us into cyborgs -- humans integrated with machines. Conceivably, people in the future could load their minds into a sturdy robot and live for thousands of years!
In any case, robots will certainly play a larger role in our daily lives in the future. In the coming decades, robots will gradually move out of the industrial and scientific worlds and into daily life, in the same way that computers spread to the home in the 1980s.
Brazil
Brazil, officially Federative Republic of Brazil, the largest and most populous country in South America. It fronts on the Atlantic Ocean and borders all South American mainland countries except Chile and Ecuador. Making up Brazil are 26 states and a federal district, site of the capital, Brasília.
Brazil occupies nearly half of the area of South America. Only Russia, China, Canada, and the United States are larger. In population Brazil ranks fifth among the nations of the world, after China, India, the United States, and Indonesia.
Economically, Brazil is the most advanced and influential country in Latin America. By cultural heritage Brazil is largely Portuguese; the ethnic origins of its people, however, are extremely diverse. Among those who have contributed to Brazil's complex racial and cultural makeup are Portuguese, American Indians, blacks, Italians, Germans, and Japanese.
The name of the country derives from brazilwood, an important export after the settling of the country by Europeans in the 16th century.
Brazil in brief
General information
Capital: Brasília.
Official language: Portuguese.
Official name: Republica Federativo do Brasil (Federative Republic of Brasil).
Largest cities: (2000 census) Sao Paulo (10,434,252); Rio de Janeiro (5,857,904); Salvador (2,443,107); Belo Horizonte (2,238,526); Fortaleza (2,141,402); Brasília (2,051,146); Curitiba (1,587,315); Recife (1,422,905); Manaus (1,405,835); Porto Alegre (1,360,590).
Symbols of Brazil: The Brazilian flag is a green flag with a yellow diamond, and a blue circle in the center of the diamond. Across the circle, a green banner bears the motto Order and Progress. The green and golden-yellow colors symbolize forests and minerals. Blue and white are Portugal's historic colors. Brazil's coat of arms commemorates the birth of the republic on Nov. 15, 1889. Branches of coffee and tobacco, two important crops, surround the central emblem.
Land and climate
Land: Brazil is the largest country in South America. It extends over almost half the continent and borders 10 other countries. The world's largest rain forest spreads across most of northern Brazil, and the Amazon and other mighty rivers wind through this region. Majestic mountains rise north of the forests and border the Atlantic Ocean in the southeast. Dry plains stretch across parts of the northeast. The low plateaus of central and southern Brazil form a rich agricultural region. Broad white beaches line seashores on the nation's long Atlantic coast.
Area: 3,287,613 mi2 (8,514,877 km2). Greatest distances—north-south, 2,684 mi (4,319 km); east-west, 2,689 mi (4,328 km). Coastline—4,600 mi (7,400 km).
Elevation: Highest—Pico da Neblina, 9,888 ft (3,014 m) above sea level. Lowest—sea level.
Climate: Most of the country has a warm to hot climate the year around. The mountains, plateaus, and some coastal areas are cooler than the lowlands. For example, Menaus, in the central Amazon region, has an average annual temperature of 81 degrees F (27 degrees C). But Sao Paulo, on a plateau, has an average daily temperature of about 73 degrees F (23 degrees C) in July. Rain falls heavily in much of Brazil. The western Amazon region receives over 160 inches (400 centimeters) of rainfall a year.
Government
Form of government: Federal republic.
Head of state and head of government: President.
Legislature: Congress of two houses—the Chamber of Deputies (513 members) and the Senate (81 members).
Executive: President (elected by people to four-year term).
Judiciary: Highest court is the Supreme Federal Court.
Political subdivisions: 26 states, 1 federal district.
People
Population: Current estimate—193,540,000. 2000 census—169,799,170.
Population density: 59 per mi2 (23 per km2).
Distribution: 84 percent urban, 16 percent rural.
Major ethnic/national groups: About 55 percent of European descent, including Germans, Italians, Poles, Portuguese, and Spaniards. About 6 percent of African descent. About 38 percent of mixed African and European descent. About 1 percent American Indian and other.
Major religions: About 75 percent Roman Catholic and about 15 percent Protestant.
Economy
Chief products: Agriculture—bananas, cacao beans, cattle, coffee, corn, oranges, rice, soybeans, sugar cane. Manufacturing and processing—automobiles, cement, chemicals, electrical equipment, food products, machinery, paper, pharmaceuticals, steel, trucks. Mining—bauxite, coal, diamonds, gold, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, phosphates, quartz crystals, tin. Forest products—Brazil nuts, carnauba wax, rubber, timber.Fishing—characins, croakers, sardinellas, shrimp, swordfish.
Money: Basic unit—real. One hundred centavos equal one real.
International trade: Major exports—aluminum, coffee, iron ore, iron and steel, meat, oranges and orange juice, shoes, soybeans and soy meal, sugar, transportation vehicles and parts. Major imports—chemicals, machinery, medicines, petroleum, wheat.
Major trading partners—Argentina, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uruguay.
Brazil occupies nearly half of the area of South America. Only Russia, China, Canada, and the United States are larger. In population Brazil ranks fifth among the nations of the world, after China, India, the United States, and Indonesia.
Economically, Brazil is the most advanced and influential country in Latin America. By cultural heritage Brazil is largely Portuguese; the ethnic origins of its people, however, are extremely diverse. Among those who have contributed to Brazil's complex racial and cultural makeup are Portuguese, American Indians, blacks, Italians, Germans, and Japanese.
The name of the country derives from brazilwood, an important export after the settling of the country by Europeans in the 16th century.
Brazil in brief
General information
Capital: Brasília.
Official language: Portuguese.
Official name: Republica Federativo do Brasil (Federative Republic of Brasil).
Largest cities: (2000 census) Sao Paulo (10,434,252); Rio de Janeiro (5,857,904); Salvador (2,443,107); Belo Horizonte (2,238,526); Fortaleza (2,141,402); Brasília (2,051,146); Curitiba (1,587,315); Recife (1,422,905); Manaus (1,405,835); Porto Alegre (1,360,590).
Symbols of Brazil: The Brazilian flag is a green flag with a yellow diamond, and a blue circle in the center of the diamond. Across the circle, a green banner bears the motto Order and Progress. The green and golden-yellow colors symbolize forests and minerals. Blue and white are Portugal's historic colors. Brazil's coat of arms commemorates the birth of the republic on Nov. 15, 1889. Branches of coffee and tobacco, two important crops, surround the central emblem.
Land and climate
Land: Brazil is the largest country in South America. It extends over almost half the continent and borders 10 other countries. The world's largest rain forest spreads across most of northern Brazil, and the Amazon and other mighty rivers wind through this region. Majestic mountains rise north of the forests and border the Atlantic Ocean in the southeast. Dry plains stretch across parts of the northeast. The low plateaus of central and southern Brazil form a rich agricultural region. Broad white beaches line seashores on the nation's long Atlantic coast.
Area: 3,287,613 mi2 (8,514,877 km2). Greatest distances—north-south, 2,684 mi (4,319 km); east-west, 2,689 mi (4,328 km). Coastline—4,600 mi (7,400 km).
Elevation: Highest—Pico da Neblina, 9,888 ft (3,014 m) above sea level. Lowest—sea level.
Climate: Most of the country has a warm to hot climate the year around. The mountains, plateaus, and some coastal areas are cooler than the lowlands. For example, Menaus, in the central Amazon region, has an average annual temperature of 81 degrees F (27 degrees C). But Sao Paulo, on a plateau, has an average daily temperature of about 73 degrees F (23 degrees C) in July. Rain falls heavily in much of Brazil. The western Amazon region receives over 160 inches (400 centimeters) of rainfall a year.
Government
Form of government: Federal republic.
Head of state and head of government: President.
Legislature: Congress of two houses—the Chamber of Deputies (513 members) and the Senate (81 members).
Executive: President (elected by people to four-year term).
Judiciary: Highest court is the Supreme Federal Court.
Political subdivisions: 26 states, 1 federal district.
People
Population: Current estimate—193,540,000. 2000 census—169,799,170.
Population density: 59 per mi2 (23 per km2).
Distribution: 84 percent urban, 16 percent rural.
Major ethnic/national groups: About 55 percent of European descent, including Germans, Italians, Poles, Portuguese, and Spaniards. About 6 percent of African descent. About 38 percent of mixed African and European descent. About 1 percent American Indian and other.
Major religions: About 75 percent Roman Catholic and about 15 percent Protestant.
Economy
Chief products: Agriculture—bananas, cacao beans, cattle, coffee, corn, oranges, rice, soybeans, sugar cane. Manufacturing and processing—automobiles, cement, chemicals, electrical equipment, food products, machinery, paper, pharmaceuticals, steel, trucks. Mining—bauxite, coal, diamonds, gold, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, phosphates, quartz crystals, tin. Forest products—Brazil nuts, carnauba wax, rubber, timber.Fishing—characins, croakers, sardinellas, shrimp, swordfish.
Money: Basic unit—real. One hundred centavos equal one real.
International trade: Major exports—aluminum, coffee, iron ore, iron and steel, meat, oranges and orange juice, shoes, soybeans and soy meal, sugar, transportation vehicles and parts. Major imports—chemicals, machinery, medicines, petroleum, wheat.
Major trading partners—Argentina, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uruguay.
How To Make Flower Pots
Have you ever been in the garden center of a store and wondered how they make those terra cotta flower pots? Well, if you have, here are some easy steps on how to make your own. As long as you aren't afraid to get a little messy, and have a little fun, its an easy process.
There are 2 different ways that a flower pot can be made. Both processes will be explained below in detail, but first...
Required Tools:
Clay
Bowls
Fork
Knife
Quick Tips:
Always keep a bowl of water available!
Keep a close eye on your pot while it is drying!
Preliminary Steps before starting projects:
Obtaining the Clay- The first thing you must do is purchase the clay you will use for the flower pot. To do so, locate an art supplies store, craft store, or teacher's supply store in your area. Most of these places will not have the clay in stock, although if your luck is right, they might. Most often you will have to prepare a few weeks before you wish to create your pots, and have the store order the clay for you. You will have your choice of two kinds of clay, regular gray and terra cotta. While you can use regular gray for this project, terra cotta is the better choice. This is because the terra cotta clay is full of small granules that allows it to breath. This is a better choice for flower pots, so that your plants will grown bigger and healthier. The terra cotta clay might be a bit pricier than the gray, but that also may depend on your buyer.
Preparing the Clay- Prepping the clay is the first important step in creating your flower pot.
The first key is to knead your clay.
To begin kneading your clay, pull a sizable chunk of clay out of your bag. Keep in mind the size of flower pot you would like to make. Probably a chunk just bigger than will fit into your hand will be sufficient. Now take the clay in your hands and begin to roll it around in your hands and on the table, just like you would bread dough. The idea behind this is to get all of the air bubbles out of the clay to prevent any air pockets after your clay is dried and fired. Once you feel that your chunk of clay is air bubble free, you are ready to move onto the next step.
The next step is to make some slip. Reach into your bag once more and pull out a fistful of clay. Have a bowl ready about half full of water. You should also have a fork ready for mixing. Take the clay and place it into the bowl, then take the fork and squish and mix it until the clay and water make a little clay soup. When you have the clay soup, what you really have is slip. Slip is what you will use to adhere your clay coils or slabs together. Remember to keep your slip moist throughout the construction of your flower pot.
Now you are ready to start creating your flower pot!
The Clay Slab Flower Pot
The first step in making the slab flower pot is to start rolling out your first slab. Take any kind of rolling pin, wood works the best, and begin rolling and flattening your clay, turning it into a slab that is about a quarter inch thick, or thicker if that is your preference for your flower pot.
Once you have a substantial amount of clay rolled out, you can begin to cut out your slabs. To cut you can simply use a butter knife or anything similar (it doesn't need to be too sharp).
The first thing you want to cut is the bottom of the flower pot. Traditionally this will be round, although it can be square. Once you have cut and decided on a size for the bottom, you can begin to cut out the sides of the flower pot.
Now you are ready to cut out the sides. This can be done in one large slab, unless you are making a square, then each side will be separate. The bottom of the side should be just slightly longer than the circumference of the bottom.
Instead of the tall sides of the side slab going straight up like a square, they should angle outward slightly. It is completely a personal preference, but the angles should be between 35 degrees and 45 degrees, depending on the size you have chosen. This will allow your pot's side to expand out the further up the pot you go, in the classic flower pot style.
The last piece to cut out is merely optional. A lot of flower pots traditionally have a lip that extends out about a quarter of an inch and is about an inch tall. The size will depend, of course, on the size of your pot. The length of the lip should be just about an eighth of an inch to a quarter inch longer than the top of your flower pot side.
Start putting your clay together. For this process you will need a fork and the slip that you made in the previous step. In order to construct your flower pot, you will need to do what is called "score your clay." Here are the steps to scoring and constructing your flower pot.
First take the round bottom that you have cut out. Take your fork and begin to scratch lines all around the edge of the bottom. When you are finished there should be a border of scored lines all around the side edge of the bottom. After this you will take the side that you have cut, and lay it down with the inside portion face up. Begin scoring a half inch border around the bottom of the side as well. Once they are placed together you will then notice that the edges of the side overlap. This is why you must score a border of lines up and down the sides as well. Hold up the side and simulate what it will look like when rounded. You will need to score the inside of one edge and the outside of the other.
After you have scored your pieces, you will now need the slip that you previously made. Take your finger or the fork and begin to put the slip over the scored lines of the bottom of the pot. You will want to apply it about a quarter of an inch thick. If you apply it this thick, you should only have to apply it to the bottom and not the sides. After the slip is applied, take the side slab and place it around the bottom. When placed, press firmly with your fingers all around the borders that have been scored. The slip will enter into the scored lines, holding tight, and once you have pressed both pieces of clay tightly together the slip will act as a cement, solidly securing both pieces.
Now do the same thing with the side. Attach both edges of the sides using slip and pressure from your fingers. Once the bottom and the sides are secured with the scoring and slipping, you should have a solid flower pot structure.
Take your fingers, they are a valuable tool, and begin to smooth the slip that has pushed out through the edges of the slabs. It never hurts to have a small bowl of water available to keep your surfaces moist. Continue smoothing the edges until they look the way you want them. This portion is merely for aesthetics, so it is all your decision how precise you want it to look. By using water and your finger tips you should be able to get a smooth and crisp look out of the clay and slip. You may need to use a bit of water to keep your slip moist throughout this process. You may need to take a little extra time smoothing the sides since the overlapping will cause an uneven surface. You can also use a soft sponge to smooth out your surfaces.
Connect the lip on the flower pot. Once again this part is optional. It should be attached the same way you attached the other two pieces together. Remember to use plenty of slip to attach the lip. It can always be wiped and smoothed off after the construction is done.
The last small step to complete is quick and also optional. It is often customary to have a small round hole cut into the bottom of the pot. This is meant for the draining of water, when you water your plant or when rain water is gathered. Take your knife and cut the hole on the inside of the pot. Try to keep the hole a half inch around.
Allow your flower pot to dry for at least 48 hours. While the clay is drying, be sure to keep a close eye on it. Make sure that your clay does not begin to crack. Within the first 12 to 24 hours, if it begins to crack, your clay may still be wet enough for you to repair the cracks with water and slip. After that amount of time, you should not apply water or slip to the dried clay. It will not work for repairs and any cracks you may have missed will be there permanently. This is why it's really important to keep an eye on it initially.
The last step in making your flower pot is to fire your pot. You will need to fire your pot in something called a kiln. A kiln is basically a large oven, of sorts, where clay is fired. A kiln can be purchased through art specific stores, but they can be pricey. If you are not into purchasing a small, yet expensive, kiln there are other options. Almost everyone has access to a high school. Call around to area high schools. If one of them has a decent art program, they will have a kiln. Ask the school if you may use the kiln, and if they will assist you in doing so. This may also be an option if you live near a college or a university, or possibly a YMCA.
The Coil Flower Pot
To begin your coil flower pot, take a handful of clay. Then take a small bit and being rolling it in your hand. Roll it in your hands, or roll it on the table. Do this repeatedly and begin to create coils of clay about 6 inches long and a quarter inch to a half inch in circumference. It is best to make about 10 coils at a time and make sure that they stay moist. Since the coils were made with your hands, a lot of moisture was removed from them, so they will dry a lot faster than the rest of the clay. Do not make more coils than you can handle.
You are now ready to begin constructing your flower pot. Start with the bottom by taking a coil, your fork and some slip. Start scoring lines on the side of the coil and then begin to apply slip. Once the slip and lines are complete, begin to spiral the coil around, creating a round bottom. Continue scoring and slipping until the spiral coil bottom is the size you desire. Once this happens, continue the coils on top of the last coil you created. Keep building upward with your coils, scoring and slipping the whole time. With each coil that extends upward, try to slightly extend your coil outward, so that your flower pot will take the classic flower pot shape.
The lip that was achieved above can also be achieve in this process, just construct it with coils instead of a slab.
Once the flower pot is built with the coils and slip, you are not ready to smooth. In this step you have 2 options. You can take more slip and water and smooth the entire sides and bottom. This will give you the look of the slab flower pot, only constructed in a different way.
You can also choose to leave it with the coil look. In doing this, you can just take your fingers or a sponge and smooth out the excess slip in the cracks between the coils. For this a sponge may work a little better than a finger.
The coil pot will need to dry for the same amount of time as the slab flower pot. Then it can be fired in the same fashion.
You also have the option of painting your flower pot when finished. See the available websites for how to paint your flower pot.
All of these steps should allow you to build a great clay flower pot! Enjoy the process! It is messy and fun!
There are 2 different ways that a flower pot can be made. Both processes will be explained below in detail, but first...
Required Tools:
Clay
Bowls
Fork
Knife
Quick Tips:
Always keep a bowl of water available!
Keep a close eye on your pot while it is drying!
Preliminary Steps before starting projects:
Obtaining the Clay- The first thing you must do is purchase the clay you will use for the flower pot. To do so, locate an art supplies store, craft store, or teacher's supply store in your area. Most of these places will not have the clay in stock, although if your luck is right, they might. Most often you will have to prepare a few weeks before you wish to create your pots, and have the store order the clay for you. You will have your choice of two kinds of clay, regular gray and terra cotta. While you can use regular gray for this project, terra cotta is the better choice. This is because the terra cotta clay is full of small granules that allows it to breath. This is a better choice for flower pots, so that your plants will grown bigger and healthier. The terra cotta clay might be a bit pricier than the gray, but that also may depend on your buyer.
Preparing the Clay- Prepping the clay is the first important step in creating your flower pot.
The first key is to knead your clay.
To begin kneading your clay, pull a sizable chunk of clay out of your bag. Keep in mind the size of flower pot you would like to make. Probably a chunk just bigger than will fit into your hand will be sufficient. Now take the clay in your hands and begin to roll it around in your hands and on the table, just like you would bread dough. The idea behind this is to get all of the air bubbles out of the clay to prevent any air pockets after your clay is dried and fired. Once you feel that your chunk of clay is air bubble free, you are ready to move onto the next step.
The next step is to make some slip. Reach into your bag once more and pull out a fistful of clay. Have a bowl ready about half full of water. You should also have a fork ready for mixing. Take the clay and place it into the bowl, then take the fork and squish and mix it until the clay and water make a little clay soup. When you have the clay soup, what you really have is slip. Slip is what you will use to adhere your clay coils or slabs together. Remember to keep your slip moist throughout the construction of your flower pot.
Now you are ready to start creating your flower pot!
The Clay Slab Flower Pot
The first step in making the slab flower pot is to start rolling out your first slab. Take any kind of rolling pin, wood works the best, and begin rolling and flattening your clay, turning it into a slab that is about a quarter inch thick, or thicker if that is your preference for your flower pot.
Once you have a substantial amount of clay rolled out, you can begin to cut out your slabs. To cut you can simply use a butter knife or anything similar (it doesn't need to be too sharp).
The first thing you want to cut is the bottom of the flower pot. Traditionally this will be round, although it can be square. Once you have cut and decided on a size for the bottom, you can begin to cut out the sides of the flower pot.
Now you are ready to cut out the sides. This can be done in one large slab, unless you are making a square, then each side will be separate. The bottom of the side should be just slightly longer than the circumference of the bottom.
Instead of the tall sides of the side slab going straight up like a square, they should angle outward slightly. It is completely a personal preference, but the angles should be between 35 degrees and 45 degrees, depending on the size you have chosen. This will allow your pot's side to expand out the further up the pot you go, in the classic flower pot style.
The last piece to cut out is merely optional. A lot of flower pots traditionally have a lip that extends out about a quarter of an inch and is about an inch tall. The size will depend, of course, on the size of your pot. The length of the lip should be just about an eighth of an inch to a quarter inch longer than the top of your flower pot side.
Start putting your clay together. For this process you will need a fork and the slip that you made in the previous step. In order to construct your flower pot, you will need to do what is called "score your clay." Here are the steps to scoring and constructing your flower pot.
First take the round bottom that you have cut out. Take your fork and begin to scratch lines all around the edge of the bottom. When you are finished there should be a border of scored lines all around the side edge of the bottom. After this you will take the side that you have cut, and lay it down with the inside portion face up. Begin scoring a half inch border around the bottom of the side as well. Once they are placed together you will then notice that the edges of the side overlap. This is why you must score a border of lines up and down the sides as well. Hold up the side and simulate what it will look like when rounded. You will need to score the inside of one edge and the outside of the other.
After you have scored your pieces, you will now need the slip that you previously made. Take your finger or the fork and begin to put the slip over the scored lines of the bottom of the pot. You will want to apply it about a quarter of an inch thick. If you apply it this thick, you should only have to apply it to the bottom and not the sides. After the slip is applied, take the side slab and place it around the bottom. When placed, press firmly with your fingers all around the borders that have been scored. The slip will enter into the scored lines, holding tight, and once you have pressed both pieces of clay tightly together the slip will act as a cement, solidly securing both pieces.
Now do the same thing with the side. Attach both edges of the sides using slip and pressure from your fingers. Once the bottom and the sides are secured with the scoring and slipping, you should have a solid flower pot structure.
Take your fingers, they are a valuable tool, and begin to smooth the slip that has pushed out through the edges of the slabs. It never hurts to have a small bowl of water available to keep your surfaces moist. Continue smoothing the edges until they look the way you want them. This portion is merely for aesthetics, so it is all your decision how precise you want it to look. By using water and your finger tips you should be able to get a smooth and crisp look out of the clay and slip. You may need to use a bit of water to keep your slip moist throughout this process. You may need to take a little extra time smoothing the sides since the overlapping will cause an uneven surface. You can also use a soft sponge to smooth out your surfaces.
Connect the lip on the flower pot. Once again this part is optional. It should be attached the same way you attached the other two pieces together. Remember to use plenty of slip to attach the lip. It can always be wiped and smoothed off after the construction is done.
The last small step to complete is quick and also optional. It is often customary to have a small round hole cut into the bottom of the pot. This is meant for the draining of water, when you water your plant or when rain water is gathered. Take your knife and cut the hole on the inside of the pot. Try to keep the hole a half inch around.
Allow your flower pot to dry for at least 48 hours. While the clay is drying, be sure to keep a close eye on it. Make sure that your clay does not begin to crack. Within the first 12 to 24 hours, if it begins to crack, your clay may still be wet enough for you to repair the cracks with water and slip. After that amount of time, you should not apply water or slip to the dried clay. It will not work for repairs and any cracks you may have missed will be there permanently. This is why it's really important to keep an eye on it initially.
The last step in making your flower pot is to fire your pot. You will need to fire your pot in something called a kiln. A kiln is basically a large oven, of sorts, where clay is fired. A kiln can be purchased through art specific stores, but they can be pricey. If you are not into purchasing a small, yet expensive, kiln there are other options. Almost everyone has access to a high school. Call around to area high schools. If one of them has a decent art program, they will have a kiln. Ask the school if you may use the kiln, and if they will assist you in doing so. This may also be an option if you live near a college or a university, or possibly a YMCA.
The Coil Flower Pot
To begin your coil flower pot, take a handful of clay. Then take a small bit and being rolling it in your hand. Roll it in your hands, or roll it on the table. Do this repeatedly and begin to create coils of clay about 6 inches long and a quarter inch to a half inch in circumference. It is best to make about 10 coils at a time and make sure that they stay moist. Since the coils were made with your hands, a lot of moisture was removed from them, so they will dry a lot faster than the rest of the clay. Do not make more coils than you can handle.
You are now ready to begin constructing your flower pot. Start with the bottom by taking a coil, your fork and some slip. Start scoring lines on the side of the coil and then begin to apply slip. Once the slip and lines are complete, begin to spiral the coil around, creating a round bottom. Continue scoring and slipping until the spiral coil bottom is the size you desire. Once this happens, continue the coils on top of the last coil you created. Keep building upward with your coils, scoring and slipping the whole time. With each coil that extends upward, try to slightly extend your coil outward, so that your flower pot will take the classic flower pot shape.
The lip that was achieved above can also be achieve in this process, just construct it with coils instead of a slab.
Once the flower pot is built with the coils and slip, you are not ready to smooth. In this step you have 2 options. You can take more slip and water and smooth the entire sides and bottom. This will give you the look of the slab flower pot, only constructed in a different way.
You can also choose to leave it with the coil look. In doing this, you can just take your fingers or a sponge and smooth out the excess slip in the cracks between the coils. For this a sponge may work a little better than a finger.
The coil pot will need to dry for the same amount of time as the slab flower pot. Then it can be fired in the same fashion.
You also have the option of painting your flower pot when finished. See the available websites for how to paint your flower pot.
All of these steps should allow you to build a great clay flower pot! Enjoy the process! It is messy and fun!
How To Make a Kite
Kites may seem old fashioned, but they can still be a fun way for a family to spend time with one another. Flying a kite requires nothing more than a kite and some wind. Making a kite can be part of the fun, allowing your family to customize the kite by using the colors and materials that you choose.
Required Tools:
Nylon fabric
Wooden dowels and wood glue
Sturdy string
Fabric paint
Glue the dowels together.
You need 2 dowels of the same length - 2 feet is a good length. Using wood glue, glue them together in a cross shape. Clamp the dowels together while the glue is drying, and reinforce the intersection by wrapping string around it once the glue is dry.
Cut notches into the ends of the dowels.
Cut the notches with a knife, and run a long sturdy piece of string through each notch, pulling the string taut and tying the ends. The notches will keep the string in place, and the string itself now provides the diamond-shaped frame for the kite.
Spread out the nylon fabric.
Lay the fabric flat and place the kite frame on top of it. Using chalk, outline the diamond shape onto the nylon fabric.
Cut the fabric.
Cut the fabric about an inch outside the drawn diamond shape (it may help to draw another line before you cut the fabric). Cut one inch slits at each corner of the fabric so that each side can be folded down individually.
Iron the fabric.
Using an iron, press the extra inch of fabric around the diamond shape into a fold.
Sew the fabric.
Place the fabric onto the frame and fold the extra material over the string. Sew the fabric along the fold.
Paint the fabric.
Using fabric paint, paint whatever colorful designs you choose onto the kite!
Attach the kite string.
Make a small hole in the lower front of the kite fabric. Thread a 12 inch string from the base of the vertical dowel through the fabric and into the hole. Next, tie a 16 inch piece of string to the place where the two dowels intersect. Thread the string through the hole in the kite fabric. Knot the ends of the two strings with the string being used to fly the kite.
Fly your kite! Have fun!
To customize your kite, you can use different colors of nylon fabric, add streamers to the kite, or paint various shapes, figures, or change the size. Make it a family project and let each member of the family create their own kite!
Required Tools:
Nylon fabric
Wooden dowels and wood glue
Sturdy string
Fabric paint
Glue the dowels together.
You need 2 dowels of the same length - 2 feet is a good length. Using wood glue, glue them together in a cross shape. Clamp the dowels together while the glue is drying, and reinforce the intersection by wrapping string around it once the glue is dry.
Cut notches into the ends of the dowels.
Cut the notches with a knife, and run a long sturdy piece of string through each notch, pulling the string taut and tying the ends. The notches will keep the string in place, and the string itself now provides the diamond-shaped frame for the kite.
Spread out the nylon fabric.
Lay the fabric flat and place the kite frame on top of it. Using chalk, outline the diamond shape onto the nylon fabric.
Cut the fabric.
Cut the fabric about an inch outside the drawn diamond shape (it may help to draw another line before you cut the fabric). Cut one inch slits at each corner of the fabric so that each side can be folded down individually.
Iron the fabric.
Using an iron, press the extra inch of fabric around the diamond shape into a fold.
Sew the fabric.
Place the fabric onto the frame and fold the extra material over the string. Sew the fabric along the fold.
Paint the fabric.
Using fabric paint, paint whatever colorful designs you choose onto the kite!
Attach the kite string.
Make a small hole in the lower front of the kite fabric. Thread a 12 inch string from the base of the vertical dowel through the fabric and into the hole. Next, tie a 16 inch piece of string to the place where the two dowels intersect. Thread the string through the hole in the kite fabric. Knot the ends of the two strings with the string being used to fly the kite.
Fly your kite! Have fun!
To customize your kite, you can use different colors of nylon fabric, add streamers to the kite, or paint various shapes, figures, or change the size. Make it a family project and let each member of the family create their own kite!
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