Can You Program a Human Robot?
Learners create simple commands to help guide a human "robot" to retrieve an item in the room.
What You Need
- A partner
- Small object (ex. stuffed animal)
- Blindfold or a scarf (optional)
- Writing tool
- Can You Program a Human Robot? - Programming Sheet
Guide:
Safety Notes
- Ensure you are familiar with Let's Talk Science's precautions with respect to safe delivery of outreach to youth.
- Be careful if using blindfolds—move slowly, no jumping, running, etc.
What To Do
Part A
- Ask the lead educator to create teams of two (’partner one’ and ‘partner two’).
- Separate the partners (ideally the teams can be split into two rooms/spaces for this part so they cannot see what their partner is doing).
- The partner remaining in the room, partner one, selects an item and places it somewhere on the ground.
- On the Programming Sheet, partner one writes down a list of commands using directional language. Here is an example list of commands:
- One step forward
- Turn right 90 degrees (or ¼ turn right)
- Turn left 90 degrees (or ¼ turn left)
- Pick up object
- Partner one selects a starting point and then writes down the list of instructions on the Programming Sheet, one step at a time, to get to the object and pick it up.
- Once all teams have written their instructions, bring the teams back together.
Part B
- Instruct partner two to stand at their starting points—they are now the ’robots.’
- If it is safe to do so, the ‘robots’ can either close their eyes or wear a blind fold.
- Remind all teams that robots don’t “think”, they only do as they are told—by following instructions exactly as they are given.
- Partner one reads the list of instructions, word-for-word, to partner two, to see if partner two can retrieve the object.
- If the list of instructions does not work the way partner one expected, the ‘robot’ should return to the starting point and partner one 1 should fix the errors they found (debugging).
- The activity should then be repeated, allowing the partners to switch roles.
Discovery
An algorithm is a series of ordered and logical instructions needed to complete a task. By giving the “robot” a list of instructions, learners are creating an algorithm. During the activity, teams may encounter instructions that do not work the way they expected. These errors are called ‘bugs’ in the computer coding world. Debugging happens when errors are found and corrected. When teams changed instructions to correct the errors, they were debugging. Bugs in a computer program could be due to syntax errors (e.g., spelling mistakes) or logic errors (e.g., steps out of order).
As technology advances, it is more important than ever that people are prepared to contribute to the digital world. Building computational thinking skills, such as algorithmic thinking and debugging, and strengthening understanding of computational thinking concepts, such as sequences and repetition, will help learners prepare for the future.
The steps in the algorithms created by learners followed a sequence. A sequence can have repeated tasks or tasks that only happen in particular situations. Flowcharts can be used to help understand sequences. The ‘robots’ may have had to repeat certain instructions several times. This kind of repetition happens a lot in computer programming. Instead of writing out that step multiple times, it can be set up so that it automatically repeats (loops) a certain number of times.
- Once teams have been successful with the basic command lists, try adding additional commands, such as ‘go under’ or ‘jump over’ to make the path to the object more challenging (don’t use a blindfold for these algorithms for safety reasons!).
- If instructions required ‘robots’ to repeat some directions, instead of saying the same directions again and again, introduce a repeat (or loop command).
- For more information on this topic check out this Let’s Talk Science resource: The Solutioners Week 6: Just Keep Coding. Learn about how Python coding can be used to make a robot move.
What's Happening?
An algorithm is a series of ordered and logical instructions needed to complete a task. By giving the “robot” a list of instructions, learners are creating an algorithm. During the activity, teams may encounter instructions that do not work the way they expected. These errors are called ‘bugs’ in the computer coding world. Debugging happens when errors are found and corrected. When teams changed instructions to correct the errors, they were debugging. Bugs in a computer program could be due to syntax errors (e.g., spelling mistakes) or logic errors (e.g., steps out of order).
Why Does It Matter?
As technology advances, it is more important than ever that people are prepared to contribute to the digital world. Building computational thinking skills, such as algorithmic thinking and debugging, and strengthening understanding of computational thinking concepts, such as sequences and repetition, will help learners prepare for the future.
The steps in the algorithms created by learners followed a sequence. A sequence can have repeated tasks or tasks that only happen in particular situations. Flowcharts can be used to help understand sequences. The ‘robots’ may have had to repeat certain instructions several times. This kind of repetition happens a lot in computer programming. Instead of writing out that step multiple times, it can be set up so that it automatically repeats (loops) a certain number of times.
Investigate Further
- Once teams have been successful with the basic command lists, try adding additional commands, such as ‘go under’ or ‘jump over’ to make the path to the object more challenging (don’t use a blindfold for these algorithms for safety reasons!).
- If instructions required ‘robots’ to repeat some directions, instead of saying the same directions again and again, introduce a repeat (or loop command).
- For more information on this topic check out this Let’s Talk Science resource: The Solutioners Week 6: Just Keep Coding. Learn about how Python coding can be used to make a robot move.