The Red Planet Rover: Capturing the Excitement of Discovery

When you can capture the excitement of discovery in a difficult discipline such as science and give it a dash of imagination, you create a special allure for students of all ages. It takes the experiential learning concept of applying theory to practice to a level everyone can understand.

Those are the ingredients for the success of the Red Planet Rover Project, an independent project initiated by a group of BVU science students under the helpful guidance of Dr. Shawn Stone, assistant professor of physics, and Dr. Kenneth Schweller, dean of the School of Science and professor of computer science and psychology.

The Rover is based on NASA's Mars Pathfinder project. It's a four-wheel vehicle about 15 inches high, 16 inches wide, and 28 inches long that is controlled over the Internet via a wireless laptop computer. BVU students completed the design and construction of the basic Rover during 2000-01, planning to take it to area middle schools in the 2001-02 academic year.

Legos, along with a little duct tape, Plexiglas, and DC motors, served as the building blocks in the design and model stage of the Rover, which cost just $1,200 to construct, including the wireless laptop.

Experiential Learning: Biology | Chemistry | Computer Science | Mathematics | Physics