Robots – slaves at home and at work
Preliminary notes for teachers
My broad aim is to change young people’s thinking about robots. Currently their thinking is strongly influenced by science fiction-based films that portray robots as anthropomorphic men (have you ever seen a female robot?) or animals. I will begin by introducing the view that robotic devices that are made by people to take over a job that is boring, repetitive or dangerous. With this definition we can explore the development of robotic devices from Neolithic times when a bear pit or snare was a device that went on ‘working’ in the absence of the maker – and made it safer to dispatch the captured animal.
I will move on to windmills which show the development of increasingly sophisticated robotic systems, then go on to consider the robots we use today.
The initial learning tasks:
- Something analogous to a nature walk in which the aim is to reveal aspects of the natural environment by classifying different plants, animals and insects. This version will be a ‘robot’ hunt in the classroom, the home and the local environment to identify some of the robotic systems that make our lives easier, quicker or safer. For example your loo is a robotic advice that flushes and re-fills itself to the right level ready for use again; your washing machine and dishwasher are robotic devices that you use regularly. We’ll aim to classify these different devices and analyse the underlying principles on which they operate.
- Design a simple robotic device (meaning it operates on its own) to tell you when someone has been in your bedroom. For example, a book on the door, which falls when someone opens the door, is such a robot.
- Speculate about what robots you think will be devised in the future. What do you think people will want done for them? How do you think such things might be done? What about the people such robots put out of a job?
The learning activities to follow up will be:
- Making simple robotic devices from readily available materials - such as rules (what you probably call rulers!), blu-tack and rubber bands - and using existing skills. For example can we design and make a secret robotic device that will tell us if some one has been in our bedroom without permission? We’ll also make some devices that move – for these you will need to provide access some low-voltage electric motors, cotton reels and battery holders (shopping list and sources listed below).
Mathematical activities:
- We’ll check out the robotic device that controls the temperature in your classroom. How well does it control the temperature? You will need a thermometer to take readings at intervals to plot a graph. You will also need to take sets of readings at different places to see how the graphs compare. How could the system be improved to provide a more uniform temperature?
- We’ll use simple calculations to make decisions about an automated (robotic) level crossing system in which a train traveling along the line triggers a signal (an input) that ‘tells’ the barrier across the road to close. The first decision is how much of a safety margin do you want/need? If the barrier comes down for a long period before the train arrives, drivers will be frustrated and might be tempted to drive around the barriers. Too short a period and cars might still be travelling across the train line. So if the train is travelling at a velocity of 50 kilometres per hour, how far down the line would you need to place the sensor that closed the barrier? And what if a faster or slower train comes along? You also need to place a sensor that will ‘tell’ the barrier to open after the train has passed: where should this be placed?
- We’ll also be gathering data from the simple robots that we build – how fast do they go and how much energy are they producing?
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