(intriguing techno music) [Mister C] What time is it?

[All] It's "Science Time!"

♪ Oh, it's science, science, science time ♪ ♪ Let's all stop and just unwind ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, here we go ♪ ♪ Learn so much your brain explodes ♪ ♪ Lessons so cool, so fresh ♪ ♪ Feats so big, you'll lose your breath ♪ ♪ Learning facts and real cool stuff ♪ ♪ Scream for more, can't get enough ♪ ♪ It's, it's science time ♪ ♪ It's fun, you best believe ♪ ♪ Explore and learn new things ♪ ♪ Come and join me, please ♪ I'm Mister C, and this super smart group is my science crew.

Working together with my crew makes learning so much fun!

Actually, you should join us!

Let's give science a try with a simple DIY.

Today, we're talking about unmanned vehicles.

What time is it?

[All] It's "Science Time!"

Welcome back to "DIY Science Time."

My name's Mister C, and I'm so excited that you're here to be part of our crew today.

(whip whooshing and snapping) Today, we're talking about unmanned vehicles and some of the sensors they use to complete work and gather information.

See, humans can do a lot of things, but we have things like drones that can fly all over the place and collect footage and data about landscapes or maybe agriculture.

We have things like vacuum cleaners that roam around your house and pick up the dirt, and even can mop now.

They use sensors to map out your entire house so they know exactly where they can and can't go.

We also have things like doggy robots -(dog barking) -that sense dog motion in your house, and they can follow dogs or look at, like, me when I'm on TV.

(hand whooshing) -(audience applauding) -Hey, everybody!

See, unmanned vehicles are all around us, and they do a lot of work and gather lots of information.

Today, we're going to build our own UGV.

We'll get to what that is here in a moment, but, first, gather these materials so you can follow along.

-Three, two, one.

-Three, two, one!

Scientists, start your engines!

(engine revving) For our main DIY activity, we're building an unmanned car with a few simple household materials.

You'll need to gather bottle caps, wire, tape, small motor, skewer sticks, craft sticks, nine-volt battery with electrical hookup, scissors, straws, hot glue gun, a plastic 20 ounce bottle, and don't forget your super speedy Science Notebook.

[Linky] A Science Notebook is a tool that every scientist should have because it gives us a place to record all of our learning.

Taking notes and being organized allows us to be better scientists.

A Science Notebook allows us to go back and review all of the data and information we've gathered during our experiments.

Plus, it allows us to share results with other scientists who might be interested in learning more about what we've discovered.

Whenever you see the notebook pop up on the screen, -like this, -(notebook rattling) it's a reminder that this is a good place for us to jot down new information during the show.

I've already added a title and a list of materials for today's activity, but our crew is still going to have lots of information to collect and organize as we go through our experiments.

Most importantly, the more you use a Science Notebook, the better you'll get at taking notes and recording data.

If you don't have a Science Notebook already, download a copy of Mister C's Science Notebook from the website.

-In three, two, one.

-Three, two, one!

(toy vehicle clacking) -(audience cheering) -(Mister C chuckles) Right off the table.

But we're not going to build a rubber band-powered vehicle, we're going to build a vehicle that uses -a motor.

-(audience exclaiming) And this way, we can have it actually propel the vehicle forward for a longer duration.

Unmanned vehicles have jobs, and the job for this little car is going to be to move forward, and if we get it to work, we can add payload or extra mass to it so that it can do more work for us.

Let's get started.

So the first part is to build a frame for our car.

We're going to use this to be able to connect the axles and the wheel, so that it can hopefully roll smoothly.

(intriguing techno upbeat music) The key is going to make sure that your axles are aligned so that the car rolls forward.

(intriguing techno upbeat music continues) Now, for our wheels, we're going to be connecting it to these soda bottle lids.

And I'm going to use soldering iron to just create a little perfect hole right in the center.

If you don't have a soldering iron to get a perfect circle, you can also use a nail or a push pin and then use a pair of scissors to widen it.

See if it actually fits into the axle.

And then we're going to add our second one on the other side.

(bright intriguing techno upbeat music) So you can see it's spinning, it's not spinning perfectly, I think the straw might not be straight, which is restricting the axle from spinning, but I think we're gonna be okay.

The next part is we're going to actually connect it to this bottle.

So I'm going to snip into this.

And now to make a fan, I'm just going to cut here.

And now I'm going to flare this open.

(bright intriguing techno upbeat music continues) So we have our fan, and when the motor spins, it's going to spin it like this.

So we need this to be sitting high enough so that it doesn't touch the ground.

So we need to build our motor shelf so that it can sit up here.

(bright intriguing techno upbeat music continues) Oh, that looks so good.

The last piece of the puzzle is connecting our motor right in the center.

And then we're going to take our battery pack, put it like right in the center.

Just gonna put a little dab of hot glue right there, and there.

My goal is to be able to access the power button easily.

We're gonna take another cap.

All right, that feels like it's on there pretty good.

And if you want, you can put a little dab of hot glue right in the center.

Glue around that so it can hold it in place, just a little bit of extra support.

The last piece of the puzzle is connecting our soda bottle.

(bright intriguing techno upbeat music continues) -Er!

-(audience gasping) So the threads on this water bottle don't match the threads on the soda bottle.

So what we're gonna have to do is be creative and just take the hot glue and just glue a little bit there to hold it in place, it won't take a lot.

The moment of truth, let's see if it spins.

(plastic clacking) -(motor whirring) -Ah!

It moves, it instantly moves.

Okay, that's so cool, that is so cool.

All right, let's see what we have.

The goal is to have a functioning moving car, well, an unmanned ground vehicle.

First, we need to get it to move, and if we can get it to move, that means we can add more weight to it, increase the payload.

Here we go.

-Three, two, one.

-Three, two, one!

(motor whirring) It works.

I am super excited that it works.

I'm gonna make some modifications to this, but you too can also build an unmanned vehicle.

Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, UGV!

Whoop, whoop, whoop, for you and me!

Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, UGV!

♪ Unmanned ground vehicle ♪ (Mister C imitates vehicle whooshing) Unmanned vehicles are commonly called drones, and are often classified by their operating environment.

The main categories include UAVs, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, UGVs, Unmanned Ground Vehicles, and UUVs, Unmanned Underwater Vehicles.

UAVs, or drones, are used in the air and allow for data and information to be gathered from the sky.

They can even be used to deliver goods to remote areas.

UGVs are used on land to deliver goods, to mow grass, and can be found exploring Mars and gathering information.

UUVs are used in water to complete missions like mapping the ocean floor, or the inspection of a sunken ship.

Each of these vehicles can range from simple remote control devices to autonomous or self-guided systems.

These vehicles are often powered by electricity, fuel, or solar power, and are used for surveillance and the delivery of goods.

Each of these vehicles are able to help humans work more efficiently and complete tasks that would otherwise be dangerous.

This fact is really out of this world, because space exploration is an exciting use for unmanned vehicles.

So while humans have made it to the Moon, we haven't been able to safely travel much farther.

Mars 2020 was a recent NASA mission that successfully took two unmanned vehicles all the way to Mars to gather data.

Perseverance, a rover, and Ingenuity, a helicopter, both arrived to the Red Planet in July of 2020 by way of rocket Atlas V. Ingenuity was originally designed to complete five test flights, but was able to complete 72 successful flights in just under three years.

Perseverance carries seven primary scientific instruments, 19 cameras, and two microphones.

And even though it traveled almost 300 million miles, this little rover is still going strong over five years later.

Go, go, go, little bot!

You got this!

Career Connections!

My name is Brendon Moss, I'm the Coordinator of Data Analytics for Sinclair's National UAS Training and Certification Center at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio.

So UAS stands for Unmanned Aerial Systems.

My role as a coordinator of data analytics is to basically take all the data that we capture when we're out doing flight ops, gathering data, and take that, compile it, so creating like orthomosaic maps, three-dimensional models, and then turning them into usable visual data or something that the client can actually be able to discern all the necessary data from.

So actually the most common type of sensor that we'll use it's probably the most common that everybody else uses, is electro-optical sensor or a camera sensor.

And we use these on many different types of aircraft.

We also use LiDAR sensors that we'll use, we've also got like hyper-spectral and multi-spectral cameras with many different types of cameras that focus in on very specific bands so that we can capture data just as we need it.

We can do like crop health, you know, surveys and things like that just by using a single integrated sensor that uses five different cameras and things like that.

So it really depends on what type of data you're trying to gather, and that's really the key thing when it comes to UAS platforms because they're all there to gather data.

There's many different types of data that you'll wanna gather, and that's why there's different specializations of aircraft and sensor types, but it's all just to collect data.

So, yeah, my favorite aircraft that we utilize is the Elios 3 by Flyability.

So it's our caged drone that we can use to go in and do detailed inspections of like pipelines, sewers, and things like that.

And the cool thing about it is not only is it caged so you don't have to worry about it, you know, bumping into the sides of, you know, tunnels and things like that, but it actually has a very robust LiDAR system on the back.

It allows you to scan everything real-time in high detail as you're going through and just flying through the space.

So you're able to see the entire space unfold in front of you as you're flying through in high detail.

And especially being a data, you know, analytics person, more data I can get, the better.

(chuckles) UAS, we operate in the airspace with manned aircraft.

So they have to teach you about safely operating in the airspace.

So they actually teach you kind of the same things that you would learn in manned aviation.

Yeah, I fly drones and a lot of people, you know, connotate that with like toy drones and things like that, but really, we are in aviation, so we operate in the airspace, we conduct operations just like manned aviation.

And that's kind of the cool thing about this, the curriculum here is they teach you that, that you are in aviation, and that you do have to hold yourself to the same standard that, you know, manned pilots do.

So that was a really cool thing to, you know, start out with.

Oh, oh, oh, oh!

I've got an idea.

I wanna make a sensor with you.

This is gonna allow us to keep track of what's going on in our space, and make sure we don't have any intruders stepping into our studio or our room when we don't want them to be there.

What do we need?

This balloon, a push pin, and some tape.

Come here, I'm gonna explain to you what's gonna happen.

What we're gonna do is we're gonna take this push pin and we're gonna put it right here on the door.

That push pin is going to pop the balloon that we're going to attach right here on the wall.

And now our sensor is set.

We're going to know and sense if anyone comes into our space.

Let me show you how it works.

(Mister C humming) Someone comes in.

Oh, I had no idea how.... -(balloon popping) -Whoa!

-(Mister C chuckling) -(audience exclaiming) And that's how you get 'em every single time.

Build one for your room, make sure that people don't enter your room without you sensing.

Right now, a courageous little robot submarine named Redwing has taken off on a remarkable adventure.

Redwing is making its way across the globe through our oceans all alone, without any humans on board.

Redwing is mostly powered by following the ocean's currents.

Its mission is to complete a five-year, 45,000 mile journey, that will go all the way around the world.

Redwing will collect data for researchers and will glide at depths below 3,000 feet.

This courageous little data collector will gather so much information.

Go, little Redwing, go!

Drones are used for serious work, delivering important packages, or mapping terrain, but they also can be a lot of fun.

Look up at the night sky at a big event, and you might be surprised to see drones filling the sky instead of fireworks.

Like a marching band performing a football halftime show, each drone is programmed to be at precise marks in the sky in time to the music.

Together, hundreds or even thousands of drones zip to their pre-programmed coordinates in the air to create moving images.

So pretty!

I'm sensing there's something I really need to show you.

We're gonna build a water detecting sensor with this circuit.

Let's build it and then we'll talk.

(intriguing techno upbeat music) (sensor siren wailing) All right, so my circuit is set up, and this circuit is designed to allow us to detect water.

Now, if you listen closely... (sensor siren wailing) When my leads connect, we hear the siren going off, that's the alarm.

And what we set up here is a circuit that detects water.

We're going to put the two leads right here into our Petri dish, I'm going to pour water into the Petri dish to mimic a broken pipe or a broken water heater in your house.

So the water comes pouring out, and these leads are set up strategically in a location where the water would spew over into.

So the water (imitates water gushing) breaks, (sensor siren wailing) and the sensor goes off.

I hear that in my house, and I know something is wrong.

I run downstairs, "Ah, broken pipe!

Thank you, sensor, you saved the day!"

For now, we can just turn that off.

But sensors to the rescue!

Sensors are everywhere, and sensors are awesome!

-Sense... -(alarm beeping) -(glass clacking) -Whoa!

(alarm beeping) Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh!

That's our front door sensor.

I built a sensor that goes under the doormat, so anytime the mailman or delivery person brings us mail, they step on the floor mat, the Welcome mat, and it goes off!

I'm gonna have to go check out what that is.

-(air whooshing) -(timer dinging) (whimsical orchestral music) -(alarm beeping) -Wowzers!

What is this thing?

You made a mat here that buzzes when people step on it?

It sensed that I was here.

(alarm beeping) Oh, that's super-duper cool.

Anywho, we can talk sensors later.

Um, I got a package at my home, and I wanted to drop it off.

The delivery man brought it to the wrong house.

Yeah, anywho, it says "Blimpy," I'm not sure what that means, but I'll set it here -on the porch, -(alarm beeping) I'll see you later at the gym.

Remember, we have to go to the gym to get pumped up together.

Later, Mister C, au revoir, auf wiedersehen!

(whimsical orchestral music) -(air whooshing) -(timer dings) Oh, that's a great idea.

What if I show you how I built that sensor, and then you can also put one under your doormat so you can detect when people come to your house?

(audience exclaiming) Let me clean this up, and let's give it a try.

-(air whooshing) -(timer dings) So how does it work?

It's all about a simple circuit.

So here we have a speaker, and we have a little battery button.

And I've wired it already just to test it, but when I touch these together... (alarm beeping) That allows us to hear that someone has stepped on the mat.

-(alarm beeping) -Wowzers!

(tape rewinding) -(alarm beeping) -Wowzers!

We have to build a circuit so that when someone steps on the mat, it closes.

We don't want it just to be running all the time, we want it to sense the pressure of someone's foot, and that is going to tell us we have mail!

Pretty cool, right?

So we're going to build a circuit, and we're gonna put right here in the center is where the sensor is going to actually be triggered.

We're gonna use aluminum foil, which is a good conductor.

(intriguing techno upbeat music) (intriguing techno upbeat music continues) So this is where the circuit's gonna meet, right here in the center.

So we're gonna tape this down.

And then when the pad hits it, it'll close it.

We're going to also now fold this up here, like this.

Tape that down, so we're gonna tape this down.

(intriguing techno upbeat music continues) And what I'm doing here is, I am basically creating a small strip for this to contact so there's less contact space so that the pressure actually has to trigger it.

(intriguing techno upbeat music continues) So, right now, if I push down here... (alarm beeping) It triggers.

But if I put the mat on this, (alarm beeping) it's super sensitive.

My front doormat is obviously much heavier than this little piece of styrofoam, which means it'll probably trigger our circuit constantly.

We're going to take some of the red styrofoam and we're going to build pillars so that it keeps the aluminum foil away from the other piece until it's stepped on.

(intriguing techno upbeat music continues) (alarm beeping) It works.

Fold it back.

We're gonna give it a little bit of slack here.

We're gonna tape it onto the foam up top.

(intriguing techno upbeat music continues) And now we need to test to see if when it's over on top of it... (alarm beeping) And it works.

We can trim off some of these edges.

(alarm beeping) It works really well.

(chuckles) (alarm beeping) All right.

And I'm going to tape this on here as well so it doesn't flop around, so when it's under the doormat, it's protected.

And now... (alarm beeping) It works so well, it triggers so easily, and anytime it senses any pressure or weight, (alarm beeping) it automatically sounds the alarm.

Now I know someone's at my house, on the front porch.

And if you build one, you can also put it on the front porch, or even better, put it in front of your door at your house.

So if your siblings are trying to sneak in and get all your cool science stuff, you'll know that they're there before they know they've been caught.

Give it a try and have some fun.

Who's that at the door?

It's our delivery!

Have you ever had a package delivered by a robot?

Unmanned robot delivery vehicles can now be seen flying through the air or driving on the ground to bring packages directly to your home.

Some robots roll like tiny robot cars delivering food, and some can be seen zooming like superheroes in the sky to deliver food, medicine, and supplies faster and safer than traditional methods.

These smart delivery drones use maps, sensors, and GPS to navigate their way.

I've got an idea.

Linky, would you kindly bring me a snack?

[Linky] Oh, Lyla, I'll bring that snack right over after I finish taking all of these amazing notes in our Science Notebook.

I'm sensing it's been a busy day, but it's also been so much fun.

The doormat sensor is my favorite because I don't need any other robots sneaking in here; I've got everything all taken care of.

What kind of sensor would you build to protect your lab?

(robot whirring) Oh, goody, it's my delivery.

I've been waiting all day.

My bag of bolts are here.

They're gonna be delicious.

Lyla, our snacks are gonna be ready in just a minute.

I hope she loves bolts as much as I do, mm-mm-mm!

Remember when my sensor was going off out front?

(alarm beeping) It was my UAV.

-I got a blimp.

-(audience gasping) Check this out!

This is so cool.

This here is the motor.

-Oh my goodness!

-(audience chattering) -Wow.

-Wow.

And this is going to be what causes my blimp to fly, and here is the blimp.

It's like a hot air balloon, but instead of hot air, we're going to use helium.

So let's get this filled up, and let's give it a try.

This should be awesome.

(intriguing bright techno upbeat music) Whoa.

(chuckles) All right, so... So I should have probably read the directions, but we're gonna try to figure this out.

So this has helium in it, it's just gonna float away.

I'm gonna put a small piece of tape onto the centerpiece right here.

Cut this.

This is going to hold our motor.

So, it's not quite neutral, but I'm glad it's not floating away, it looks balanced, so I don't have to put any counterweights on.

Now it comes with an app.

-(device beeping) -(motor whirring) Make it go backwards.

(motor whirring) Ah.

(motor whirring) (chuckles) Whoa!

Oh, man, I'm going to have to learn how to make that thing fly properly.

Unmanned vehicles, how cool, UAVs, you name it, so much fun.

We built a car, we had the blimp, we talked about drones.

What an amazing day learning together.

Plus, we talked about sensors that you can build at home so that you can keep track of things that could deliver to your home.

(alarm beeping) -(vehicle whooshing) -And we have our car.

Check it out.

(motor whirring) (audience cheering and applauding) It's definitely rolling better with a bigger axle up front.

See, I made that change, which means I need to bust out and put all that information into my DIY Science Time Notebook.

You can get one of these online too so you can keep track of all the experiments that you're doing.

Keep learning, keep exploring, keep having fun, and remember, science is wherever you are.

Take care, everybody, bye!

(hands whooshing) -♪ It's science time ♪ -Unmanned vehicles allow us to travel and do all sorts... (Mister C imitates mumbling) To do work we can or don't wanna do, like vacuuming.

(chuckles) Ding-dong.

(chuckles) What?

-Whoa, it's going backwards.

-(motor whirring) (scissors clacking) I think it works.

I think I can chop that up, right?

-Yeah.

-(hands smacking) So now we're gonna design a little thing.

-(glass clacking) -♪ It's Science Time ♪ ♪ Yes, you best believe ♪ -Whoa!

-♪ Explore and learn new thing ♪