07-04-2011, 10:35 AM
Mobile Robots
Why do robots need to move?
What defines a robot?
• Sense – a robot has to take in information about its environment
• Plan – a robot has to use that information to make a decision
• Act – a robot needs moving parts to carry out commands
What ways do robots move?
• Rotate
• Convey
• Walk
• Swim
• Fly
• Reach
• Bend
• Poke
• Roll
Manipulative Movement
• Robots that use an arm, belt or other means to grab and maneuver objects
• Mobile Movement
• Robots that can move from place to place
Why go from place to place?
• Transport goods and materials
• Carry messages
• Get there faster
• Do a task while you’re getting there
or when you get there
• Collect information about what’s there
• Get away from something
• See if you can!
• Most robots get around by rolling
• Walking is hard – it requires balancing
• Swimming only works in water
• Flying requires a lot of speed and energy
• Wheels and treads make moving over ground easier
• They provide stability with multiple points that touch the ground
How do rolling robots work?
• Sensors
• Motors
• Wheels
Programming!
Main Components of Robotics
• Build – Mechanics, Mathematics, Physics
• Program – Building behaviors
• Test – Multiple trials
• Communicate – What did you work on or accomplish? What conclusions did you come to?
• Building
• Gears and axles
• Beams and connectors
• Motors and wheels
• Sensors and wires
• NXT programmable brick
Building
LEGO® Pieces
• Building LEGO® Motors and Sensors
• Building LEGO® NXT
• Programming Behaviors
• Giving the robot behaviors
• Complex behaviors are built from simple ones
• Programming
• Programming Screen Interface
• Programming Blocks and Functions
Testing Why do we test?
• Make sure it works!
• Understand what it can do
• Test everything multiple times to determine the repeatability
• Use the robot to test other phenomena
• Testing
• When we test, we take data (numbers)
• We write our numbers down in organized charts
• We write down everything we can about the experiment
• Look at our data after we’re finished
Communicate
Why is communicating your design so important?
• If no one knows what it is, how it works, or why it’s cool, why would they want to buy it?
• When it is well-documented, other people can build on what you have started and create even cooler technologies!
• Communicate
• Experiment worksheets and log books
• Presenting our work
• Sketching and describing ideas so teammates can understand too
What is Engineering?
• Problem solving
• Teamwork
• Time management
• Testing
• Doing it over if it doesn’t work correctly the first time!
• Engineering Process
Personal Assistant Robot
• We will be making a mobile robot to help out in the classroom
• We will run tests on the robot to determine its capabilities
• Before it can do complicated behaviors,we have to teach it simple ones
• But before we program anything, we need to build
