Robotics Lesson Objectives

Robots are basically machines, but they have fascinated people even before it was possible to build one in real life. The reason for this, of course, is that they appear to have 'human' qualities rather than being a lifeless machine.

http://www.arrickrobotics.com/robots.html#movies

Project objectives:Robots are an increasing part of the modern world, most of the items we now use have been designed or made by them. This is not something we can ignore .

Many of the tasks previously carried out in the workplace by humans are now done by robots . This is a trend which will continue, you may be part of it?

But how do they work?

The Human Body

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/print/2434/dawn-robots?page=0%2C2

Before you start your project there are a few things you may want to learn about Robots.

What is a RobotRobots contain electronic circuits. The movements can be controlled by signals from a computer or from software installed into the robot

Can robots feel? Robots cannot feel emotions. However there is work going on at the moment which is developing robots that can 'read' expressions on a human's face and respond according to whether they 'think' the human is happy or sad.

What is RoboticsWhat is an Android?An android is a robot which is made to resemble a human both in the way it looks and the way it behaves. Examples are Honda's Asimo, the Star Wars droids or perhaps more famously, Data from Star Trek.

What is a RobotWill robots be able to think for themselves?Many science fiction films show robots being able to think for themselves. At the moment, this is not reality. Robots can assess a lot of information and make decisions based on what has been programmed into them. They can even learn a bit - if they make a mistake, they can learn not to repeat it.

Task 1 Using outputsUsing the Flowol interface write a series of commands to control an output. This could be to make the mouth of the robots open up in a simple series when it is happy or talking.

Task 2 Using outputs now make your robot talkUsing the Flowol interface write a series of commands to control the mouth output. This could be to make the robots say hello. When it is finished talking their should be an output to show it has stopped.

Task 3 Help your robot make decisions.Using the Flowol interface write a series of commands to help your robot make decisions about what they do. This could be to make the robots talk when you click on one of the shapes as input.

Task 4Think about your robot make decisions AI.Using the Flowol interface write a series of commands to control more than one output. This could be to make the antenna to go up when the robot is talking and then antenna go down once it has spoken. You could make it sleep once it has talked. How do you judge when the Robot is talking?