Basic Robot Design
3 Steps
Design
Drawing and thinking
of ideas
Build
Using your design
to make a robot
Program
Telling your robot
what to do
Design Ideas
• K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple, Silly
– Don’t try to make a huge contraption
– Simple robots work more efficiently
– You only have 3 days to make your robot
– It’s not rocket science!
Design Ideas
• Have a strong robot
– Have a strong base that you can attach
other parts to
– Try to have at least 2 points of connection
for each part of your robot
• Your robot won’t be able to do
anything if it falls apart!
Design Ideas
• Think about the end
– Think about the challenge while designing
your robot
• Will it be able to move to the goal?
• Will it be able to pick up the pieces?
– Think of all the things your robot will need
to do
Design Ideas
• Draw, Draw, Draw!
– It’s easier to remember ideas, and show
them to your team if you draw them out
– You have notebooks, use them!
What Does Your Robot
Need to Do?
• Think of everything, even something as basic
as moving
• Task:
– Step 1:
– Step 2:
– Step 3:
– Step 4:
What do you have?
• NXT Brick – The brain of the robot
• Motors – The limbs of the robot
• Various sensors
– Light Sensor
– Touch Sensor
– Ultrasonic Sensor
• Wires – How everything communicates
NXT Brick
• The brain of the robot
• Receives input from the sensors and
tells the motors what to do based on
this
Ultrasonic Sensor
• The eyes of the robot
• Uses signals it sends out to find out how
far away objects are
Light Sensor
• Used to tell if the robot is on a line
• Can help guide the robot
• Uses the same mechanics as the
ultrasonic sensor
Touch Sensor
• Tells the robot when it hits something
• Used to trigger movements to pick
something up or move away from the
object that it hit
Sound Sensor
• The robot’s ears
• Tells the robot when it “hears”
something
• Not very practical for this challenge
– Easily fooled
– Not always reliable
Motors
• Move forward and backward
• Instead of sending out information, they
receive it
– This information tells them what to do
How does this all work?