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What
you need:
Three
large styrofoam meat trays (at least 9 x 11
inches)
Important!
If the meat trays have been used, be sure to wash them
very thoroughly with hot, soapy water first. It's also
a good idea to use bleach to kill any remaining
bacteria (ask an adult to do this).
Ruler
Four
flexible plastic drinking straws
Three
small (10-inch) bamboo skewers (for making
shish-ka-bobs)
Seven
pea-sized blobs of clay or Play-doh©,
or seven small gum drops
One
large wire paper clip
One
small (7-inch) party balloon
One
small rubber band
Transparent
tape (not the removable kind)
Printed
pattern,
and also the wheel
treads
(print them out on paper)
Ball
point pen (for tracing around pattern)
Scissors
(for cutting paper pattern pieces and
styrofoam)
Small
knife (for scoring styrofoam on fold
lines)
Lots
of patience and--maybe--a grown-up (or teen)
assistant!
What
to do:
- Print
out pattern sheet, plus sheet with top and camera decals
and wheel treads. Cut out pattern pieces, top decal,
camera decal, and wheel tread strips.
- Place
pattern pieces on styrofoam trays (avoid curved areas on
edges) and trace around them with the pen. Be sure you
have traced the correct number of pieces: 2 body pieces,
8 wheels, 4 wheel struts, and 2 shoulders.
- Carefully
cut out the styrofoam pieces. Make the wheels as
perfectly round as you can and all exactly the same
size.
- Mark
the exact centers of wheels by poking the tip of a bamboo
skewer through the mark on the pattern and into the
styrofoam. Also, mark the holes on the body pieces, wheel
struts, and shoulders the same way. Mark the fold lines
just on the very edges of the body pieces.
- On
the body pieces, use the ruler and the small knife to
score (cut just part-way through) the pieces on the fold
lines.
- Now,
fold the sides (the flaps) down on the score lines to
make each piece into half of a box.
- Tape
the sides together on the inside to make corners stay
put.
Hint:
For most taping jobs (except on the wheels), you will
find that long pieces (about 2 inches) of tape work
best.
- Put
the two halves of the nanorover body together to make a
box and tape corners and edges on outside.
- Using
the sharp end of a skewer, poke holes in the exact center
(as marked on the pattern) of two opposite sides of the
body.
- Now,
poke the sharp end of a bamboo skewer through the mark on
one of the shoulder pieces, then through the smaller mark
on each of two strut pieces.
- Now,
insert the skewer into one of the holes you made in the
side of the nanorover body. Looking through the little
hole in the opposite side of the nanorover to help you
line up the skewer, poke the skewer the rest of the way
through the body.
- Finally,
thread the other two struts and the other shoulder piece
onto the skewer.
Leaving
about 1/2 inch of the skewer sticking out on both sides,
carefully cut or break off the excess length of skewer.
Put a blob of clay or Play-doh, or a gum drop, on the
ends of the skewer.
- Now
decide which is the bottom of your nanorover body. Line
up the free end of each strut with a bottom corner of the
nanorover body and use the ballpoint pen to poke
good-sized holes in the smaller ends (will be near the
larger hole marks on the pattern). You want to position
these holes so that when the drinking straw "wheel axle"
is threaded through them, the straw will fit right
against the bottom front and back corners.
- Thread
a straw through the holes in the front struts and another
straw through the holes in the back struts. Tape the
straws to the bottom edges of the nanorover body. Trim
the straws so they stick out about 1/4 inch beyond the
struts on both sides.
- Look
at the picture below as you follow these directions for
assembling the wheels:
 - Put
two styrofoam wheels together to make a form and wrap
one of the paper "tread" strips around it, taping the
end.
- Take
the styrofoam wheels out of the tread strip, which we
will now call a tread circle. Set the tread circle
flat on the table and drop one of the styrofoam wheels
into it. The styrofoam wheel should lie flat on the
table with the tread circle surrounding it. Tape the
wheel to the tread circle from the inside. This makes
the outside of one wheel.
- Poke
the sharp end of a bamboo skewer through the exact
center of this styrofoam wheel. Cut a small piece
(about 3/4 inch) from one of the straws. Slide this
piece onto the skewer and into the inside of the wheel
you are making. Now slide another styrofoam
wheel-through its exact center-onto the skewer and
right against the tread circle and drinking straw
spacer (to make the inside surface of the wheel). If
the spacer is too long and prevents the inside wheel
from resting against the tread circle, slide the piece
of the straw off the skewer and trim it a bit.
- Tape
this second styrofoam wheel onto the tread circle
using four small pieces of tape.
- Slide
the skewer with its wheel through one of the straw
axles already attached to the body of the
nanorover.
- Make
the second wheel as you did the first one, sliding it
onto the skewer after taping the first styrofoam wheel
onto the tread circle, then adding the straw spacer,
and the second styrofoam wheel.
- Put
a blob of clay (or Play-doh or a gum drop) onto the
blunt end of the skewer.
- Adjust
the spacing of the wheels and straw on the skewer so
that there is about 1/4 inch between the ends of the
straw and the wheels. Be sure the wheels do not touch
the straw, or they will not turn easily. Carefully
break or cut off the excess length of skewer on the
sharp end, and put another blob of clay or a gum drop
on that end.
- Repeat
for the second set of wheels.
- Blow
up the small balloon once or twice to stretch it out a
bit.
- Bend
the last straw at its flexible neck. Use the rubber band
to attach the balloon securely to the end nearest the
bend in the straw.
- Tape
the long part of the straw to the bottom of the
nanorover, crosswise to the wheel axles. Tape the short
end with the balloon against the front (or back--it makes
no difference) of the nanorover.
- Color
the top "decal" to look like solar cells (dark blue) or
any color you like. Tape the decal to the top. You can
make "double-sticky" tape loops for this job so the tape
doesn't show on the decal.
- Tape
the camera lens decal to the back or front of the rover.
(On the real rover, it is on the front; on your rover,
you might imagine the balloon, which is on the front,
might get in the way of the camera!). Use a small
double-sticky tape loop for this job too.
- Straighten
out half the large paper clip. Poke it through a blob of
clay or a gum drop, then through the circle on the top to
make an antenna.
- Blow
up the balloon through the straw, put your finger over
the end of the straw, set the nanorover on the floor or a
clear table and let it go. You may find that the
nanorover goes better on a smooth, hard surface, than on
carpeting.
Your
nanorover won't go very fast, but it still goes faster
than the real one!
About
the real nanorover
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