Programming

While building our group's Lego robot, the robot had to be programmed in order for it to know how to do certain tasks. The programming was relatively simple, as most of the tasks were already pre-programmed in the 'intelligent brick.' The user simply had to tell the software the order in which to do these tasks. Depending on the purpose of the robot, the brick could be programmed to follow certain instructions, either put in manually on the brick, or inputted on the computer and then downloaded onto the brick. The tasks could be changed depending on time variations, visual/UV sensor choice, and motion variations.

Programming Software on a computer

'Intelligent Brick' and its various buttons and functions

Lego Robotics

A robot is a mechanical or visual mechanism guided by computer software or electronic circuitry. Lego robotics is a way of building a basic robot (out of Legos, obviously) and being able to program it using their easy to use programming software, named an 'intelligent brick.' The robots run on battery that is charged using an outlet on the wall. Lego robots are fully functional, and instructions are included for many robots including the Puppy, Color Sorter, and Gyro Boy. In the world of science, robots are used for many things. They are used in factories, to build cars and electronics. They can also be used for the military, in schools, and in space. Robots are often used for jobs that are either harmful, unrealistic, or unattractive for humans, such as diffusing a bomb, fixing a part on a remote space station, or even picking up trash. Modern robots can be used for functional uses, and many depend on them for every day uses.

The Color Sorter

My group, consisting of myself, Luke and Amechi, built a color sorter for our group's final robot. The color sorter used visual technology to sense which color was being shown and temporarily saved it into the software. When the color block is placed in the slide, the robot remembers the order in which the colors were placed and moves along the tracks in order to place the colors in their own respective cups. The color sorter takes advantage of the visual sensor in order to sort colors with no regard to which order they are placed in.

Parts of the Robot:
-Tracks: Moves robotic slide across tracks
-Slide: Place where the colored blocks are placed after placing them above the visual sensor
-Robot: Place where programming happens and visual sensor is placed