Programming

Robot software refers to the coded commands that tell a mechanical device, such as a robot, what tasks to perform. Programming is not extremely hard once you learn how to do it because there are many softwares designed specifically to make programming easier and faster. Robot software can be extremely simple or extremely complicated. Some robots, like the ones we built, are programmed to just pick things up and move around. However, there are some robots that are programmed to act exactly like humans and speak like them. Most robots are programmed to do repetitive jobs or dangerous jobs that humans do not want to do. Most of these jobs are in factories and include building cars, candy bars, and electronics. Some robots are even programmed to explore underwater or even other planets!

Data flow programming is used by most robot manufacturers. It is based on the concept that when the value of a variable changes, the values of other variables affected should also change. The programming language that includes data flow is called data flow language. Data flow languages include functional concepts as well as numeric processing. Data flow language is modeled as a sequence of functions unlike other programming languages that use imperative programming.

Run-time is an important concept in programming robots. Run-time is when a program is running or executing. It is also used as a short form when referring to a run-time library. A run time library is a library of code instructions used by a computer language to manage a program in that language. Run-time is also used by some people to specify when problems in a program occur. A run time error is an error that happens in the program while it is executing, or running. For example, if the arm of your robot turned left instead of right, this would be a run time error.

When using a robot, you have to know how to program it. Otherwise, the robot will be able to do nothing and it will be useless. You can program robots do anything from hardly anything at all to making cars and roaming around on different planets that we cannot set foot on.

My Robot

My Robot

I built two different robots with my lab partners Richard Wolfe and Juliette Jacobson. The first robot was just a basic robot that was able to pick things up and move. It was composed of many different sensors that were able to detect changes in the environment such as something blocking its way. The second robot we built was the gyro boy. The gyro boy was made to be able to move around the room and do different activities. Just like the first robot, it had many different sensors so that it could sense the environment around it. 

We overcame many obstacles when creating this first robot. Sometimes, the instructions were quite hard to read and the details were not included. However, we were able to use common sense and figure out where some pieces went. Also, we had to figure out how to program our robot. This was not exactly easy because none of us had ever programmed a robot before. However, with the instructions, we were able to program it to do many different things. We were then able to play around a bit with the programming to find out all that the robot could do. We had a lot of difficulty with the arm on our robot because we were not able to make it go up and down and pick things up. We tried all the different programmings and it still would not work. I think we might have placed the arm wrong on the robot. Despite all of these difficulties, we were able to build our robot and make it work. 

The second robot we built was called the gyro boy. We chose this robot because we thought it was going to be a fun robot to build, and it looked quite challenging. There were many challenges with this robot. First of all, the instructions were complicated and very hard to read. Therefore, we had to rely on our brains to do most of the building. Also, there were many wires that needed to be attached in different places. These wires were really hard to work with and were very confusing. We never finished this robot because we did not have enough time. However, we built enough of it so that it looked a little like the picture on the instructions.

Building these robots was a lot of fun and I learned a lot about programming. It was challenging but we were able to overcome many obstacles and build a robot.

Robotics

Robotics

Robotics is a branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation and application of robots. It also deals with the computer systems that control and program these robots.

The design of a robotic system involves the principles of mechanical engineering, electronic engineering, computer science, and artificial intelligence.

The concept of creating machines that can operate dates back to the classical times. However, research on the potential uses of robots did not grow until the 20th century.

There are different parts of a robot.

1. Sensors
• Sensors allow a robot to gather information about the environment around it
• This information is used to guide the robot and its behavior
• Cameras are sometimes used as sensors 
• They allow the robot to construct a visual image of the environment around them
• It allows the robot to see things it wouldn't see with a regular sensor like the shape, size, color and distance of things
• Microphones allow robots to detect sounds
• Buttons inside of bumpers on a robot allow them to see when they have bumped into walls or other things
• Advanced robots have thermometers and barometers that allow robots to sense temperature and pressure

1. Effectors
• These are parts of a robot that do the actual work of the robot
• They can be anything mounted on the robot that is controlled by a computer
• Almost always, effectors are specific to what you want your robot to do. 
• End-Effectors
• These are tools at end of a robot's arms.
• They interact directly with with objects in the world.
• Grippers, spikes, lights, hammers, screw-drivers
• Motors
• They are used for many of the moving parts of a robot.
• Pneumatics and Hydraulics are another way of moving parts on a robot. However, they are used when a robot needs a lot of strength for a task. 
• Speakers
• They allow robots to talk and interact with humans. 
• They are able to produce many different sounds.

1. Control Systems (the brains) 
• It is the part of a robot that determines what it will do and what actions it will do.
• Pre-Programmed Robots
• These robots repeat the same actions over and over again.
• They can only detect very little information from their environment. 
• Autonomous Robots
• These are able to respond more appropriately to their complicated environments. 
• They will have many sensors in order to detect these changes.
• They will also have a range of behaviors that will allow them to respond to these changes.

Mouse Trap

A mousetrap is a type of animal trap designed to catch mice. 

Spring-loaded bar mousetrap

The first spring-loaded mouse trap was invented by William C. Hooker. It is a simple device with a heavily spring-loaded bar and a trip to release it. You can put many different foods on the trip depending on what mice you want to catch. The bar swings down extremely rapidly and with great force when anything touches the trip. It could take your own finger off!! The design is made to break the mouse's neck or spinal cord or crush its ribs or skull. Some of these mouse traps have an extended trigger that looks exactly like a piece of cheese. This extended trigger has many advantages such as increasing the leverage and increasing the probability of even the most cunning of rodents to set off the trap. 

Mouth mousetrap

This is a lightweight mouse trap that consists of a set of jaws operated by a coiled spring and triggering mechanism inside the jaws. The bait is held in between these jaws. The trigger snaps the jaws shuts which kills the rodent. However, it is not as powerful as other mouse traps. On the other hand, they are safer than other mouse traps because they can be armed by foot which eliminates the chances of cutting your finger off. 

Electric mousetrap

The electric mouse trap is a more recent mouse trap. It delivers a lethal dose of electricity when the rodent completes the circuit by connecting to electrodes located either at the entrance or between the entrance and the bait. They are safe for humans because the electrodes are inside a plastic box. 

These traps are just some of the few mousetraps that have been invented. Most of them use the same kind of mechanisms such as devices that snap the rodents bones. 

What is challenging in Honors Physics

Honors Physics is an extremely challenging course. It is challenging because we go through the chapters pretty fast and have to learn a lot of new things very fast. If you don't get what we are learning about, you do not have that much time to learn it all before the next text. Also, the textbook is a little confusing and is hard to understand at times because the words used are pretty challenging. There are also many equations that we have to apply to word problems in order to solve them. Luckily, there is a cheat sheet. However, you have to be able to apply those equations otherwise they are meaningless. This course is going to be extremely challenging in many ways and hopefully I'll do well.