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Autonomous Rover Mission

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Grades 9-122-3 hoursSource: Creative Dad Company

Students build a small rover that has to navigate a simple obstacle course on its own, using sensors for guidance and a plan for what happens when it gets stuck. It's a compact, high-energy intro to real robotics engineering.

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Every level teaches the same core idea — pick the one that fits your time, budget, and energy today.

Prep: 10 minActivity: 30 min1 session~$2/groupOne table for the Autonomous Rover Mission evidence and prototypeBeginner-friendly

Setup

Print or handwrite the four Autonomous Rover Mission challenge steps and place common paper supplies on one table. Prepare one small sample, dataset, scenario, or recycled-material model drawn directly from the project description; no device, paid tool, room decoration, or purchased kit is required.

Activity

  1. Read the Autonomous Rover Mission challenge aloud, then sketch a simple obstacle course and predict which obstacle will be hardest for a small rover to sense and avoid.
  2. Use paper, index cards, recycled objects, or facilitator-provided sample data to build the rover using a basic motor and wheel base, wiring in a sensor for obstacle detection.
  3. Run one tabletop trial and run it through the course and discover it gets stuck or misreads an obstacle, then adjust the sensor placement or steering logic.
  4. Finish by demonstrate a full successful run to the group and explain what the recovery plan was for the moment it got stuck; record the evidence that supports the decision.

Done when: The group completes a defensible Autonomous Rover Mission solution, records at least one test result or comparison, changes one claim or design in response, and supports its final decision with that evidence.

Materials

small motor and wheel set, battery pack, cardboard, tape, ultrasonic sensor module

Shown for the Quick Start version — switch tabs above to see what changes.

Disclosure: Materials links below go to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

  • Small DC gear motor and wheel set

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  • Ultrasonic sensor module

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  • AA battery pack with switch

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Steps

  1. Sketch a simple obstacle course and predict which obstacle will be hardest for a small rover to sense and avoid.
  2. Build the rover using a basic motor and wheel base, wiring in a sensor for obstacle detection.
  3. Run it through the course and discover it gets stuck or misreads an obstacle, then adjust the sensor placement or steering logic.
  4. Demonstrate a full successful run to the group and explain what the recovery plan was for the moment it got stuck.