How Does a Robot Work?
How does a robot work?Copyright Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robot_asimo_cropped.jpg
This lesson introduces electricity, batteries and motors using a LEGO® MINDSTORMS robot. The associated activity guides students to build a simple LEGO set-up and see the practical implementation of the concepts discussed. Before studying the importance of electricity and how it is crucial for robot movement, students consider various electronic devices they use in their daily lives so that they have an understanding of how engineers use electricity to power such devices, including robots. The lesson starts with a brief introduction to electricity and the working of batteries. A simple electrical circuit demonstration highlights how three basic electrical devices (buzzer, LED and motor) are driven by electricity. An activity at the end further reinforces these concepts.
**Note: This lesson uses the retired LEGO NXT robot which is no longer available for purchase.
Students see how an electrical circuit can drive an electric device, including the concept of electrical energy in a battery being converted to light (LED), sound (buzzer), and mechanical energy (movement of motor). In the activity, students are asked to design a program to perform a particular task which utilizes programming skills and engineering design. Through this lesson and activity, students build a basic understanding of how robots work and would get an appreciation of how engineers in the real world build such devices.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Explain that a battery stores energy that can be used as electricity to make a motor turn.
- Explain that electrical circuits convert chemical energy stored in the batteries to other forms of energy such as light, sound and mechanical energy.
- Explain how electric motors are one way to make robot parts move.