美國小姐妹復(fù)制火星探測器 創(chuàng)舉始于好奇心

Meet Camille and Genevieve Beatty, who at 13 and 11 are being hailed for building a functioning scale model of the Mars rover that is now a permanent fixture at the famed New York Hall of Science.

The Beatty rover is a near replica of the early version NASA sent to Mars in 2004 and was unveiled in early August with hoopla that's made the red-headed North Carolina siblings science rock stars.

"To have two young girls building our Mars rover is exactly the kind of thing we want to have happen here," said Margaret Honey, president and CEO of the science center that sits on the grounds of the 1964 Worlds Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the borough of Queens.

The girls' drive to build their rover was inspired by a documentary on the robotic exploration of the Red Planet.

But their love of science all started with a little "destructive curiosity," says their father, Robert Beatty, who guided their enthusiasm for engineering.

"Camille kept taking things apart. She would bring me a dismantled remote-control box or a dismantled clock, and she’d say, ‘Dad, what’s this little green thing in here.’”

He didn’t have all the answers, but he was intrigued by her curiosity and asked if she wanted to build something herself.

You bet they did.

From remote controls . . . to robots

Then life in the Beatty household started to get interesting. The sisters went from taking things apart to putting things together.

"We would just experiment," said Camille. "We started small, using off-the-shelf RadioShack parts. Then we decided let's go huge with it . . . and build a robot!"

Over the course of two years, the Beatty family built several robots — ones that could roll, crawl and even fly.

The family also built a website chronicling the girls' robot-making adventures. Initially meant to keep family and friends up to date on various projects, the Beatty Robotics site quickly gained a following.

From North Carolina . . . to the Big Apple

Even the folks at the New York Hall of Science were impressed. They were already planning to redo the Mars exhibit when they decided to commission the girls and their dad.

"We didn't set out to look for two girls to build our Mars rover. We were actually looking for companies that had robotics expertise," said Honey.

The Beatty girls' Mars rover isn't a toy or a model. It's a remarkable working version with more than 750 parts, many of them built by the family from scratch. It has rotating wheels and sensors that keep it from bumping into walls. It also has a high-tech suspension system that allows it to grapple with rough terrain.

"We studied the actual rover very closely," their father said. "The pictures, the drawings. ... We did everything we could to replicate it in every way."

A family that builds robots . . .

What's the secret to keeping children’s interest in longer-term projects? A former mechanical engineer, Robert Beatty believes in sparking the girls’ interest but letting them do all the work.

"They get the screwdriver or soldering iron. They are doing the work and so stay very engaged."

He says the experience has had a very positive role in the girls' lives outside the workshop, as well.

"One of my main goals in this was to give them a sense of self-empowerment. If they set up a goal, they can go and do it — whether it’s a job, climbing a mountain or building a robot."

The best part about building robots? Spending time with their dad. "It's made our bond amazingly close, between all of us," Camille said.

據(jù)美國媒體8月22日?qǐng)?bào)道，美國北卡羅萊納州的一對(duì)小姐妹自己動(dòng)手，制作出能夠?qū)嶋H運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)的火星探測器模型。如今，該模型已經(jīng)成為紐約科學(xué)館的永久藏品。

卡米爾 貝蒂和吉納維芙 貝蒂分別只有13歲和11歲，她們?cè)诟赣H的指導(dǎo)下耗時(shí)2年制成了自己的探測器。貝蒂探測器絕不僅僅是模型或者玩具，它能夠?qū)嶋H運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)，類似于2004年美國宇航局發(fā)射的早期版本的火星探測器。

探測器由750個(gè)零件組成，其中不少是自制的。探測器裝有輪子和感應(yīng)裝置，可以順利移動(dòng)，不會(huì)撞墻，還有高科技懸浮系統(tǒng)，能夠有效應(yīng)對(duì)崎嶇地形。紐約科學(xué)館8月初向公眾展示貝蒂探測器，引來一片贊揚(yáng)。

姐妹們的父親羅伯特 貝蒂是一名機(jī)械工程師，指導(dǎo)女兒制作探測器。羅伯特表示，姐妹們熱愛科學(xué)，并從一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)“破壞性的好奇心”開始。他說：“卡米爾不斷拆分東西。她曾經(jīng)拿給我一個(gè)拆開的遙控器或者鐘表，然后說‘爸爸，這個(gè)綠色的小玩意是什么?’”后來，姐妹們觀看了一部有關(guān)火星的紀(jì)錄片，深受感染。父親順?biāo)浦郏膭?lì)她們自己動(dòng)手建造探測器。從此，貝蒂家的生活越來越有趣。姐妹倆的興趣也從拆分轉(zhuǎn)向組裝。

卡米爾說：“我們當(dāng)初只是試試看，用廢棄的零件從小東西開始。后來我們決定做大……造一個(gè)機(jī)器人!”過去兩年，貝蒂家人制作了多個(gè)機(jī)器人——它們可以翻滾、爬行，甚至飛翔。他們還創(chuàng)建了網(wǎng)站，記錄小姐妹制造機(jī)器人的奇異經(jīng)歷。

紐約科學(xué)館工作人員注意到貝蒂的網(wǎng)站，并委托小姐妹及其父親制作探測器，當(dāng)時(shí)，科技館已經(jīng)計(jì)劃推出火星展覽。

紐約科學(xué)館主席兼首席執(zhí)行官瑪格麗特 哈尼說：“我們最初并沒打算找兩個(gè)女孩來制造我們的火星探測器。我們其實(shí)在尋找有機(jī)器人專業(yè)技術(shù)的公司。”哈尼同時(shí)稱贊貝蒂姐妹們說：“兩個(gè)女孩建造火星探測器恰恰是我們希望看到的事情。”

卡米爾表示，建造機(jī)器人最棒的地方在于能和父親在一起，她說，“它使我們所有人之間的關(guān)系奇妙地密切起來。”