Robotics Lesson Objectives Robots are basically machines, but they have fascinated people even before it was possible to build one in real life. The reason for this, of course, is that they appear to have 'human' qualities rather than being a lifeless machine.

Project objectives: But how do they work? Robots are an increasing part of the modern world, most of the items we now use have been designed or made by them. This is not something we can ignored . Many of the tasks previously carried out in the workplace by humans are now done by robots . This is a trend which will continue, you may be part of it? But how do they work?

The Human Body Before you start your project there are a few things you may want to learn about Robots .

What is Robotics? Robots contain electronic circuits. The movements can be controlled by signals from a computer or from software installed into the robot Can robots feel? Robots cannot feel emotions. However there is work going on at the moment which is developing robots that can 'read' expressions on a human's face and respond according to whether they 'think' the human is happy or sad.

What is Robotics? What is an Android? An android is a robot which is made to resemble a human both in the way it looks and the way it behaves. Examples are Honda's Asimo, the Star Wars droids or perhaps more famously, Data from Star Trek.

What is a Robotics Will robots be able to think for themselves? Many science fiction films show robots being able to think for themselves. At the moment, this is not reality. Robots can assess a lot of information and make decisions based on what has been programmed into them. They can even learn a bit - if they make a mistake, they can learn not to repeat it.

Task 1 Using outputs Using the Flowol interface, write a series of commands to control more than one output. This could be to make the light on the front of the robots light up in a simple series when it is happy.

Task 2 Using outputs now make you robot talk Using the Flowol interface write a series of commands to control the mouth output. This could be to make the robots say hello. When it is finished talking their should be an output to show it has stopped.

Task 3 Help your robot make decisions. Using the Flowol interface write a series of commands to help your robot make decisions about what they do. This could be to make the robots show a certain light for speaking .

Task 4 Think about your robot make decisions AI. Using the Flowol interface write a series of commands to control more than one output. This could be to make the light on the front of the robots light up in a simple series when it is happy. How do you judge when the Robot is happy?