The Robot Grasshopper
Greetings and Happy New Year to all!
Our new year began as you may expect of a middle-aged couple with an active three-year old. We put Xavier to bed at his normal time, then watched TV until midnight.
Of course, we fell asleep before midnight. We woke about a quarter after the New Year, kissed, then went to bed.
Rebecca had her reserve weekend this past weekend. She needed to go up early this month: two days early. So, Xavier and Dad lived like bachelors for four days!
One of the toys Dad got in his stocking was a little solar powered robotic grasshopper. Some assembly was required.
This made a great father-son project after church and after lunch. We built the robot, which excited Xavier. He is into robots. He got two robots in his stocking. He has two pair of underpants with robot prints which he favors more than his others. He often talks like a stereotypical robot at times.
Xavier was highly involved (and helpful) in building the grasshopper. Of course, we needed to take in on a test drive after building it. Fortunately, today had a lot of sunlight, which the robot requires.
The best angle for the day and time was the driveway. Once we corrected the robot's actuator (we installed it too tightly), the grasshopper wriggled down the driveway.
Xavier jumped and grinned ecstatically! Then he learned that blocking the sun with a shadow across the robot stopped its movement. That led to an hour of fun in the sun and on the driveway. Robot on; robot off; repeat.