Juniors
2/2013
people.global
27
Cut-out pattern
Geckos, blossoms and inspiration
Imitating nature
Make yourself a gripper that is
based on a fish’s tailfin!
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1
Cut along the gray line to
remove the entire pattern in
one piece.
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There is a lot to be discovered in nature. We can learn quite a bit from plants and
animals. That’s even true for a company such as Festo. Our junior reporters got to
know a little about bionics at Festo.
2
Glue the whole pattern to a
piece of construction paper.
3
Cut out the four individual
pieces.
4
Fold the ribs and the fin along
the dotted lines.
5
Apply adhesive to the gray
areas of the fin and position
the individual ribs as indicated to glue them in place.
I’m fascinated by geckos
because they can hang
on to everything.
Fin
Rib 3
26
Rib 2
Rib 1
I like horses because
they’re so beautiful
and fast.
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6
Join the bottom of the fin
together as shown.
I’m impressed by lotus
blossoms because they
clean themselves.
Rib 1
Rib 3
Rib 2
Left and right, up and down —
Jasmina moves the joystick to
control Robotino. She guides the
device to a little bottle that she
then tries to pick up using Robotino’s “claw”. On her first attempt
the bottle slips out of Robotino’s
grasp, but her second attempt
is a success. “Well done,” says
Johannes Stoll, who is explaining Robotino to the three junior
reporters Jasmina, Sandro and
Ellena.
Robotino is made up of a pneumatic drive and three gripping
fingers. What is special about
these gripping fingers is that
they move in just the same way
as the tail of a bony fish. If a per-
son pushes against a tailfin with
his or her finger, it doesn’t bend
away. On the contrary. It bends
towards the finger. In other words
the gripping fingers are very adaptable. “We call this the Fin Ray
Effect,” explains Johannes Stoll.
In this way, it is possible for the
gripper to pick up objects that
are very different in size.
The three junior reporters have
come to Festo to learn something
about bionics. Bionics is a made
up word. It is a combination of
the words biology and robotics.
Bionics studies ways to transfer
natural phenomena to technology. After all, over the course of
millennia nature has developed
techniques that humans can
learn from. Here it is important
to carefully observe plants and
animals.
For example, swim flippers were
modelled on a duck’s feet. Pliers,
which can be found in every modern household, were inspired by
stag beetles. And the model for
Robotino’s gripper was the tailfin of a bony fish. After the three
junior reporters have all had a
chance to operate Robotino and
picked up a few objects, they
build a gripper themselves out of
paper. (You can make one yourself using the pattern on the next
page.)
Rib 3
Ellena
Jasmina
Sandro
Our junior reporters are
Ellena, Sandro and Jasmina
Ellena is 13 years old. Her hobbies
are playing guitar and football.
Her team was recently runner up
in the league for the second time
in a row. Her brother Sandro is 12
and also plays football, but his instrument is the piano. Jasmina is 8
years old. She plays the flute and
does gymnastics. Her favourite
apparatus is the trampoline.
Rib 2
Rib 1
If this is not on cardstock, glue the whole pattern on construction paper.
Cut out the four individual pieces.
Fold the ribs and the fin along the dotted lines.
Apply glue to the gray areas of the fin.
Glue each matching rib in place. For example, “Rib 1” on both “Glue Rib 1” spots.
Join the bottom of the fin together as shown in the picture, right.
Put your thumb on the bottom to pinch the corner (below Rib 3.)
Give it a squeeze!
Festo Fin Gripper
Glue Rib 3
Fin
Glue Rib 1
Glue Rib 2
Glue Rib 3
Glue Rib 2
If this is not on cardstock, glue the whole pattern on construction paper.
Cut out the four individual pieces.
Fold the ribs and the fin along the dotted lines.
Apply glue to the gray areas of the fin.
Glue each matching rib in place. For example, “Rib 1” on both “Glue Rib 1” spots.
Join the bottom of the fin together as shown in the picture, right.
Put your thumb on the bottom to pinch the corner (below Rib 3.)
Give it a squeeze!
Glue Rib 1
Rib 3
Rib 2
Rib 1
Rib 3
Rib 2
Rib 1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Rib 1
Rib 2
Glue Rib 3
Glue Rib 1
Glue Rib 2
Rib 3
Rib 1
Rib 2
Rib 3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Fin
Glue Rib 1
Glue Rib 2
Glue Rib 3
Festo Fin Gripper