Lesson plan

Mars rover lesson plan

Drive by counting wheel slots, see hazards, do the science, then send your rover on a full mission.

2 chapters, 4 lessons, about 4 hours, on the Arduino Uno R3. Every lesson runs in the browser, with nothing to install.

Start a class from this course

The unit

Objectives and materials

By the end, students can

Know how far you have gone, and stop before the rock.
Measure the ground, log it, and drive the whole route alone.

Materials for the whole unit

Arduino Uno R3
Full-size breadboard
Hobby servo
Motor driver module, L298N
OLED display, 128x64
Photoresistor sensor module
Pushbutton
Robot car chassis, 2WD
Soil moisture sensor, capacitive
VL53L0X time-of-flight sensor

Every part is already on the simulator’s bench, so there is nothing to buy or hand out. The counts are the most any one lesson uses, if you build it on real breadboards too.

Chapter 1. About 1 h 50 min

Mobility

Know how far you have gone, and stop before the rock.

Lesson	Time	What students do
Drive by countingTurn wheel-encoder slots into millimeters: drive half a meter without looking, then make a quarter turn from the difference between the wheels.	50 min	Meet your rover Roll Count your way there A quarter turn
See the hazardRange with a VL53L0X time-of-flight sensor, stop before a rock, turn the mast to look both ways and choose the clearer side.	60 min	Wake the rangefinder Read the range Stop before the rock Look both ways Pick a side

Materials

Arduino Uno R3
Full-size breadboard
Hobby servo
Motor driver module, L298N
OLED display, 128x64
Photoresistor sensor module
Pushbutton
Robot car chassis, 2WD
Soil moisture sensor, capacitive
VL53L0X time-of-flight sensor

Check for understanding

Each student finishes "See the hazard" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 5 of its 5 steps as they go.

Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Pick a side".

Chapter 2. About 2 h 10 min

Science and the mission

Measure the ground, log it, and drive the whole route alone.

Lesson	Time	What students do
Do some scienceCalibrate a soil probe and a light sensor the right way up, show them on an OLED, and log numbered samples like a real instrument.	60 min	Light up the log Read the soil Find wet ground Into the shade Log a sample
The missionPut it all together: dead reckoning to three waypoints, hazard avoidance on the way, a sample at each stop, and a report home.	70 min	Power up Start the mission First waypoint A rock in the way Take a sample Report home

Materials

Arduino Uno R3
Full-size breadboard
Hobby servo
Motor driver module, L298N
OLED display, 128x64
Photoresistor sensor module
Pushbutton
Robot car chassis, 2WD
Soil moisture sensor, capacitive
VL53L0X time-of-flight sensor

Check for understanding

Each student finishes "The mission" on their own, without opening the hints. The simulator checks 6 of its 6 steps as they go.

Then ask each one to explain, in a sentence or two, the last thing it asked of them: "Report home".

Your class

Teach this unit as a class

Start a class from this course and its 4 lessons are assigned in one go, in order. Students join with a six-character code or printed login cards, and each one’s work comes back to you.

The class tools are free for 30 days for one class of up to 20 students, with no card. The lessons themselves are free either way.

Start a class from this course See the demo class

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