Project Overview  Introduction  Clawbot Build  Design Modification  Design Development  Programming  Sensors  Advanced Sensors  Open design challenges  Project evaluation

LESSON 05

LESSON 5 STARTER Key words: Programmable, environment, design, manufacturing and application Learning objective: Learn about the nature of robotics programming. Develop an understanding of the fundamental building blocks of programming language. Modify a product so that conduct a task autonomously. The “Sack Attack” Challenge The VEX Robotics Competition for season was for VEX teams to pick up bean bags and score them in goals at different heights on the competition field. For 15 seconds, teams had a chance at the start of the game to programme their robot to run autonomously and score without human interaction. Task: Watch the following YouTube video about the VEX Sack Attack Game and note the format of the autonomous period of the game, and what can be scored in that 15 second time slot. The Sack Attack field

Programming The challenge From the video you will have picked up the following information: - to score, you need to either pick up sacks and place them in a high scoring goal, or bring them back to your starting position. - you can reload up to 4 sacks onto your robot to achieve a score. - the distance from the starting tile to the sacks, and subsequently the sacks to the tile or high scoring goals is set. Your tasks today are to program your robot to operate autonomously to: 1. pick up a sack and bring it back to your scoring tile 2. pre-load a sack and score it into a high scoring goal 3. operate for 15 seconds and score as high as possible against your class mates. The first two programming activities will all be completed as tutorials. The third will be down to you and your team. So don’t forget to make notes in your engineering notebook!

The Trough Data Notes The trough In order to design or the trough accurately, you are going to need to know some data about its design and dimensions. These are “critical dimensions” as they will directly affect the success of your robot outcome. You can build a similar trough as shown below very easily using Acrylic sheet and MDF structural parts. The data sheet can support your build of your own troughs…

Programming Fundamentals Watch the following 6 tutorial videos about programming tools (and don’t forget to make notes)

Programming tutorial 1 Pick up a sack and bring it back The task is simple, drive forward from a zone, pick up a bean bag, drive back to the starting zone. To begin with, you need to modify the basic Clawbot assembly to match the following assembly. In this Clawbot, the claw has been inverted to face down rather than up. To do this, undo the nylon locking nuts and the longer screws, flip the claw, and replace the nylon nuts and screws. Make sure your Clawbot motors are arranged as follows: Position 1 = Left Drive Motor Position 10 = Right Drive Motor Position 5 = Clawbot Arm Motor Position 6 = Claw Motor

Programming tutorial 1 How to program the Clawbot Expand the options tabs on the left hand side like so. You will only use the wait and the motor module components. Drag them into the work area to recreate this very simple programme. Once you have created this programme, you can upload this to your cortex and test the Clawbot. SEE EXAMPLE FILE 1

Programming tutorial 1 Test the Clawbot out 1. Set the Clawbot up first - set the claw arm up from the floor approximately 200mm off the floor. 2. Open the claw up to its maximum. 3. Set the beanbag directly in front of the Clawbot approximately 1 metre away. 4. Turn the cortex on to start the programme, and observe what the Clawbot does. 5. Adjust the layout of the task or adjust the programme timings/motor direction until you feel the robot will complete the task.

Programming tutorial 2 Pre-load a sack and score it in the high scoring goal For this task, you will need a scoring trough or goal to get your sack into. One easy option is a storage. Build the programme you see right and test it with a single sack loaded into the claw. The programme is designed to drive forward a short distance whilst lifting its arm. Once it has reached the top position, it should pause, open the claw, and dispense the sack, before reversing back to the starting position. SEE EXAMPLE FILE 2

Programming tutorial 2 Pre-load a sack and score it in the high scoring goal 1. Set the Clawbot up first - set the claw arm down on the floor with a sack in its jaws tight. 2. Set the trough directly in front of the Clawbot approximately half a metre away. 3. Turn the cortex on to start the programme, and observe what the Clawbot does. 4. Adjust the layout of the task or adjust the programme timings/motor direction until you feel the robot will complete the task.

Programming Challenge 3 Score as many points as possible in 15 seconds It is now over to you to programme your Clawbot to run autonomously for 15 seconds (no more) and score as many times as you can in those 15 seconds. Here are the points available: 1 point - for each green sack touching the surface of your starting tile 2 points - for each green sack placed in the high scoring goal 5 points - for each golden sack touching the surface of your starting tile 10 points - for each golden sack placed in the high scoring goal - for returning your Clawbot to its starting tile within the 15 seconds

LESSON 5 PLENARY As a class, let us consider the following questions? A. Why is autonomous robotic operation important for industrial applications of robotics? B. Why could autonomous robotic operation be difficult in a military application? C. Why is an autonomous vacuum cleaning robot a useful application of autonomous control? D. What other autonomous applications of robotics would be useful in the home?

Summary Today you have:  Learnt about the building blocks of autonomous programming language.  Rebuilt your robot to meet a design challenge  Developed a range of programmes to achieve different autonomous outcomes. Learning objective: Learn about the nature of robotics programming. Develop an understanding of the fundamental building blocks of programming language. Modify a product so that conduct a task autonomously.