Weston Middle School
Technology/EngineeringCourse Materials
Build and program a simple sociable robot you can interact with.
It should have two arms that move and wave around, connected to ports B and C.
It should have several kinds of sensors- the more information it can take in from you, the better. Sensors are connected to ports 1,2,3, and 4
It does not need legs or wheels.
It will express its thoughts and emotions using text and images on the screen- smiles, frowns, hearts,etc.
It can also talk using the pre-programmed sounds- "Good Job!", "Ouch!", etc.
Once the physical robot is built, you can begin to program it. Build up its sophistication in stages, testing each section as you go.
Start by having the robot display text, telling you what to do- push a button, speak,etc., with a WAIT FOR SENSOR, then have it respond using a Sound.
After it responds, it could wave its arms back and forth:
Here we have configured the loop as a Count loop it make the back-and-forth motion go three times:
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Here is a simple example of a Switch loop: A switch, which does one of two things depending upon a condition, is generally used inside a loop.
If the button is pushed, the robot says "Ouch!" using the sound icon. If not pushed, it says nothing.
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Here is a more sophisticated example, in which a Color sensor is used to recognize different 'flavors' of food( colored blocks). If the color falls within a range, the Sound block speaks the color:
This type of program can become more sophisticated.
If 'good' food(green) is recognized, it could smile. If 'bad' food(red) is seen, it can frown:
It could also wave its arms:
Experiment with these software tools to make your robot more interactive and 'alive'.
Links
Cynthia Breazeal talking about sociable robots.
Simon- Georgia Tech Sociable Robot
Nexi, a sociable robot at MIT programmed by Cynthia
Breazeal