Understanding Communication with a Robot
Students program a LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 robot to navigate a maze.Copyright https://makerzone.mathworks.com/resources/edge-following-and-obstacle-sensing-lego-mindstorms-ev3-robot/
Student pairs first act out the instructions a robot is given with one person providing instructions and the other person following the instructions. This activity helps students understand how robots are programmed and with what type of precision commands must be given. Then students program LEGO® MINDSTORMS® taskbots to navigate a simple maze. The goal is to teach students that robot computers simply follow directions exactly as they are given, thus one must be very clear and logical with programming instructions.
Engineers have used robots to create many technologies students see every day, a number of which are presented in the associated lesson's PowerPoint presentation. In the activity, students act as if they are engineers designing programs to solve problems. In the lesson closure, students are asked to think creatively about ways they could use robots to solve problems. Through this lesson and activity, students build a basic understanding of robotics through looking at how engineers use them.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Define what a robot is.
- Describe the main components of a robot.
- Explain how the LEGO EV3 robot can be programmed to move.
- Explain that troubleshooting is an important part of engineering something new.