Introduction to Robotics
Subject Area:
    Engineering and Technology
 
Age or Grade:
    9th through 12th grade
 
Estimated:
    1-2 class periods
 
Prerequisite knowledge/skills:     
  1. •Simple machines
  2. •some notion of what a robot is, is not, should be, would be cool, etc
 
Description of New Content:
    Students will begin to understand what a robot is in reality, how they are useful in everyday life, and the difficulties of robotics
 
Students will learn:
  1. •that robots do not only come in humanoid form and take all shapes and forms
  2. •that a robot is simply a machine
  3. •that a robot can either be programmed or controlled to perform a simple or complex set of physical tasks
  4. •that it is difficult to program a robot to do many task that are simple for a human
  5. •Robots are useful for performing tasks that are dangerous to humans or a human could not possibly do
 
Materials Needed:     
  1. •peanut butter
  2. •jelly
  3. •knife
  4. •bread
 
Procedure
    
Opener:
    Begin a class discussion about real life robots that students know about. On the board, write down the class examples. The list is inexhaustible.
 
    Students may have a hard time with this at first, but tell them that not all robots are as complicated as R2D2 or C-3PO in Star Wars. Give students a few examples of robots, such as an elevator, vending machine, ATM or even a toaster. In this discussion they should begin to realize that robots are actually all around them.
 
Development:
    Pretend to be a robot yourself whose task is to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Since you do not "think," the students have to command or "program" your body to do so. Tell students that you only understand specific "motion  commands" and cannot interpret what they want you to do. Even so, students will have a tendency to tell you to do things such as "open lid"  or "spread with knife" while you only understand commands such as "raise left arm 12 inches, open fingers, close fingers, rotate wrist 45 degrees clockwise, etc...". Take what they say quite literally. For example, If students tell you to  "move arm to the left," keep moving it to the left because students never said how far or when to stop. This should be a fun exercise that gets students to understand the complexity of programming motion control (especially without sensing abilities) and how difficult it can be for a robot to do a simple human task.
 
    As a class formalize a definition of "robot" by determining what all the examples discussed have in common. The definition should be something similar to a mechanical device that can be programmed or controlled to perform physical tasks. Or, instead of a definition, the elements of a robot can be used to supplements the definition such as machine, electrical, computer, programmed, controlled, etc.
 
    Ask students to differentiate between a robot and an android (C-3P0 or Data in Star Trek). Although robot is a classification that includes android, a common misconception is that a robot is only an android.
 
    As a class discuss the practical uses of robots. Use probing questions such as "If it is not practical for a robot to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, where is a robot practical?" Students have probably seen robots on television used for simple manufacturing tasks in assembly lines, or environments too dangerous for a human such as deep sea diving, bomb detonation or space walks.
 
Closure:
    Explain to students that they are going to be making their own robots for the next few weeks. Pass out the robotics contract and select students to read passages in the contract. Tell students that they may not participate in the robotics unit until the contracts are signed and retuned.
 
    With remaining class time and as homework, have students write a short "program" that would program you to do a specific part for making the sandwich such as "spreading the peanut butter" or "opening and closing a lid."
 
Evaluation:
    Students submit their peanut butter and jelly program. Read through the programs to see if students understand the difference between directions that a human being can understand through interpretation and directions that a robot can understand with a typical program.