Designing a robot system for an inspirational film

Markus Nemitz, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, co-designed and built a landmine-seeking robot featured in the upcoming movie "Rule Breakers." The film tells the true story of the Afghan Girls Robotics team, also known as the Afghan Dreamers, who traveled to the United States in 2017 to participate in the international FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition and won the awarded a silver medal for Courageous Achievement. Nemitz, who joined Tufts this past fall from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), collaborated with a student to engineer a robot that they envisioned could be created by a highly creative but resource-limited team. Their brainstorming combined low-cost components, including a windshield wiper to operate a metal detector and a grocery-store cart as a battery-holding chassis. The robot, fully remote-controlled, was designed to spray color on the ground to mark detected landmines. Nemitz and WPI student Jeremy Trilling traveled to the film set in Budapest where they operated the robot from behind the scenes. “It was meaningful work I'm very proud of,” said Nemitz. “It's the first time it'll be in the credits of a movie, probably the last time too, but it was fantastic experience.” Rule Breakers will be in theaters starting March 7; see the trailer here.  

Read on for Nemtiz's insights on the project. 
How did the project come about? 

It really was luck. The film director had found a YouTube video of a land mine robot that they really liked, but the faculty member who developed it was retired. He forwarded that to me. I told director what they wanted -- a $20,000 US Air Force robot – didn’t make sense. That robot would've been unbelievable for a team with very limited resources. What I thought they were looking for was a robot that can be built from everyday pieces. So, I suggested they send me the script. 

After I read the script, my very talented student, Jeremy Trilling, and I started brainstorming to come up with something that really would fit the story. He found all sorts of things at the scrap yard, and then we built the entire robot system within a week. We crated it up and we shipped it to Budapest, where the filming was taking place. 

How did you iterate the design of the land mine detecting robot?

Everything started with the metal detector. We knew it had to move back and forth. What is the cheapest metal detector? We thought about the metal detector that people use on the beach, but it had to be remotely controlled. That idea evolved to a windshield wiper as a super low-cost choice. And then you need a motor that operates that windshield wiper. We needed a big DC motor, and that can weigh up to 20 pounds. When we thought about what type of chassis would easily allow us to attach a DC motor, we thought of adapting a shopping cart. One thing evolved to the next. It was really a matter of sitting together and thinking out loud.

It must've been kind of exciting to get this film opportunity of the blue.

It was extremely exciting. It was meaningful work in the movie I'm very proud of. I think it's the first time I'll be in the credits of a movie, probably the last time too, but it was fantastic.

When I read the script and saw that girls were not allowed to learn about computers, but the boys were, that is such a grave injustice to me. I always had a very strong feeling for justice and standing strong for the people who cannot, to be the voice that they might not be able to use. I very passionately connect with that. The fact that this population of these Afghani women and girls cannot learn the things that men can is outrageous. I have a very strong passionate feeling about this. 

Now that you’re at Tufts, do you also see a potential for Tufts students to bring their own novel ideas to robotics? 

I am all about enabling others with new tools. This past fall I offered at Tufts my signature course on printable robotics. The entire idea is that I equip Tufts students with the ability to develop soft robots with their own 3D printer. They’re quite used to 3D printers, but not 3D printing entire robot systems. At the end, students will have learned a new skill and will know something about how to use a new tool. When they come across many different problems in their lifetime, if there is a problem that requires a hammer, they will find the right hammer for the nail they’re presented with.