Students will learn how to create different mechanisms to use with the Hummingbird.

A mechanism enables you to transform the rotation of a motor into another type of motion. In this series of lessons, you will use LEGO® Technic parts to explore mechanisms involving cranks, gears, and cables. Paper templates are provided to guide you in cutting and folding cardboard boxes and accessories to make sturdy, modular mechanisms.

In each lesson, you will build a different mechanism and explore how you can use and modify it. Then you can customize each mechanism to create a Hummingbird robot! After you complete the lessons, try combining mechanisms to make even more unique robots!

A list of supplies is given in each lesson, but all require a hot glue gun, a craft knife, a cutting mat, masking tape, and cardboard.

Crank Mechanism

Crank with Piston Mechanism

Linkage Mechanism

Gear Trains Mechanism

Cable-Driven Robots

These lessons emphasize the creation of mathematical models to represent physical objects, aligning them with the emphasis on mathematical modeling found in the Common Core math standards at the high school level. Individual lessons also address algebra and geometry standards; these standards are noted in the relevant lessons. In addition, all lessons incorporate the seven science and engineering practices that underly the Next Generation Science Standards.