Thames & Kosmos DLX, Experiment Manual, Page: 106 / 132

Penalty shoot-out in
the soccer game
YOU WILL NEED
› The assembled soccer game
› IR remote control
› 5 AA batteries or 5 AA rechargeable batteries
› Ping-pong ball (table tennis ball)
HERE’S HOW
1. Familiarize yourself with the soccer game controls.
2. Set up the goal in the frame.
3. Place the table tennis ball about 50 centimeters away
from the goal
4. Approach the ball with the robot to try to kick the ball
into the goal. The ball will have to be positioned
directly in front of the robot’s rotating “foot.”
5. Experiment with other distances between the ball and
the goal.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
When your robot strikes the ball,
momentum is transferred from
the movement of the foot’s
rotation to the direction in which
the ball rolls or flies. Momentum is a physical
quantity also known as kinetic momentum or
quantity of motion. Any moving object can either
fully or partly transfer its momentum to another
object or have the other object’s momentum
transferred to itself, such as when one of them
strikes the other. Another example of
momentum is the impact of the force of a
boxer’s fist transferred to a boxing bag.
DID YOU KNOW?
Robots are sometimes used to play soccer in actual leagues or competitions.
This was the idea behind the RoboCup (see “Check it out” on page 107).
And just for students up to 20 years of age, there is also the RoboCup Junior
league, which helps inspire kids and teens to take an interest in the fields of
robotics and information technology.
In addition to soccer, RoboCup Junior includes Dance and Rescue sub-
leagues, each divided into under-15 and older age groups.
You can read more about the Dance and Rescue leagues in Experiment 17.
Experiment 18 has more information on the Soccer league.
EXPERIMENT 16
104