ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION
Using mBot robot, the students will discover simple physics laws (friction and inclined plane) playing with the robot.
First, students study the physics of friction and the inclined plane. Using mBot, they experience the effect of friction and the inclined plane by adjusting the power of the mBot motors. The software is simply the command of the engines only.
Static frictions:
In principle, the speed of mBot depends in a linear manner on the power set on the motors. It is observe that the engine remains stationary at low power. This can be discussed with students and associated with static frictions.
Dynamic friction:
Increasing the power speed increases but depends on the material on which flows the mbot. With the same power the speed changes depending on whether mBot runs on the bench or on a scarf. This allows you to resume rolling frictions.
Inclined plane:
If mBot is placed on an inclined plane, the speed slows down as the force needed to overcome the friction is reduced by the longitudinal component of the gravity force. This allows you to face interesting discussions with the students on the components of the forces and on the law of dynamics.
