About Accuracy and Approximation
A robot at work in the activity.Copyright 2010 Ronald Poveda, Polytechnic Institute of NYU
Students learn about the concepts of accuracy and approximation as they pertain to robotics, gain insight into experimental accuracy, and learn how and when to estimate values that they measure. Students also explore sources of error stemming from the robot setup and rounding numbers.
For engineers, proper comparison of data is important for accurate measurements and troubleshooting of robotic machines for quality assessment. Interpretation of data also gives important insight into the accuracy of an experimental setup, as well as approximations that may take place, which can negatively affect experimental data.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Work with decimals in measurement estimations.
- Compare data values and find percent error.
- Make connections between circumference and linear measurement.
- Identify possible physical sources of error in an experimental set-up.