Jennifer Goodall, Nick Webb,
Katy DeCorah
http://www.albany.edu/robotics
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Machine
 Built to do job(s)
 Programmed
 Maybe autonomous
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If we want robots to do things for us,
we have to program them
How do we program a robot?
What does the robot need to KNOW
to do useful things?
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What do they need to do to perform tasks?
Imagine picking up some trash from the
floor and taking it to the nearest garbage
bin
 Need to get an understanding of what’s around
them, like where the trash is (SENSE)
 Need to work out what they are going to do, and
how they are going to do it (PLAN)
 Then they need to actually do it (ACT)
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Designing new robots
 New sensors
 New ways of combining sensor
information
 New effectors
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Making robots think
 How to get them to talk
 How to make their eyes work
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All of this involves writing programs
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Computer programming
 Create the behavior you want the robot
or computer to do
 Think ‘algorithmically’
 Write down that algorithm in a way that a
machine understands
 Test it, improve it
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How do we do things?
 We move around
 We pick things up
 We drop things
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Robots need to use the same
Called ACTING
Speech
Motor
Wheels
Gripper
Display
Tracks
Legs
Face
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Move forward 3 seconds, then
backward 3 seconds
Move forward 3 seconds, and turn left
or right (try to get close to a 90o turn)
Try to get robot to drive around a
square
Is there a better way to do this?
Let’s create a new program
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Use the loop structure to make your
robot drive around in a rough square
Can you make it so that the robot
drives EXACTLY once around the
square, and then stops?
Can you make it drive once around a
square, and then rotate roughly 360
degrees on the spot?
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What do we use to find out about the
world around us?
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Eyes
Ears
Touch
Taste
Smell
Robots need to use the same
Called SENSING
Camera
Color
Infra Red
Ultra Sonic
Sound
Touch
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Create a new program (called
avoidObjects):
 Drive forward
 IF there’s an object ‘close’ to the robot
 THEN turn 90 degrees left or right (your
choice)
 Do this forever
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Try a new program with the color sensor
 Make the robot drive around
 IF it detects something RED
 THEN stop
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You’ve been programming your robot
Giving the PLANS or INSTRUCTIONS to
do tasks
Using SENSORS to help make decisions
Using EFFECTORS to carry out those
plans
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How do we decide what to do?
 Make decisions of what to do…
 …and when
 Put things together in sequence
 Make a plan (for the day, or week, or…)
 Have to be able to deal with things that
occur as we do our stuff
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Robots need to use the same
Called PLANNING
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Think of IF-THEN rules
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IF <see garbage> THEN <pick-up>
IF <holding garbage> AND <at trash
can> THEN <drop garbage>
IF <10PM> OR <battery low> THEN
<sleep>
IF NOT <holding garbage> THEN
<search room>
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Social robots will interact with us in our
world
Need to cooperate, communicate
and collaborate with humans
Have to understand our goals, our
actions, and our behaviors
What do robots need to achieve this?
BANG!!!
OUCH!!!!
Ooops.
Sorry!
BANG!!!
And then I said
What the
to her, you
heck…hang
ROOMBA:
And SHENOT
said
know….
on…
NOW!!!
that
I was, and I
said…
VRRROOOMMM
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Thinking about the AVOID program
from earlier
What would a POLITE robot do?
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Create a POLITE robot and show it off