A Change Making Initiative

Build a Robot

INTRODUCTION

1. What is Robotics, and what is a Robot?

Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, and application of robots. These technologies deal with automated machines that can take the place of humans in dangerous environments or manufacturing processes, or resemble humans in appearance, behavior, or cognition.

A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer— capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. Robots can be guided by an external control device or the control may be embedded within.

Watch the below two videos for a detailed understanding of Robotics, and the applications or Robots in different areas.

2. How are Robots used in the real world? What are their application areas?

Robotics has applications in a variety of areas including homes, warehouses, logistics, transportation, education, healthcare, fitness, smart cities, agriculture, manufacturing, military and many other areas. Robots have been especially helpful during the Covid19 pandemic situation as they are able to attend to the needs of Covid19 positive patients in hospitals, while doctors and nurses offer medical care to the patient from a safe distance. Watch the below videos for a quick look at some of the interesting applications of Robotics technology.

3. How can I build a Robot on my own?

To build a Robot, you will need the following hardware and software resource materials:

A robot chassis to accommodate two wheels and a castor wheel
A castor wheel (front wheel)
Two plastic robotic wheels
Two robotic motors
A NodeMCU, a micro-controller to issue commands that control the movement of the Robot
A motor-driver board to control the operation of Robotic motors
A few jumper wires to make the connections
MQTT Broker, a cloud-based software application that passes the commands from the mobile app to the robot
MQTT IoT Panel app - a mobile app (that can be downloaded from Google Playstore) to control the movement of the robot

All the above resources are available in your ATL. In case you wish to buy them for your personal use, you can do so from Amazon, an eCommerce portal.

example of a remote-controlled robot built by atl students

The below video shows a simple remote-controlled Robot built by two ATL students. The robot is called "Agro Rover" as it is meant to address the needs of farmers in agricultural fields. The robot can move forward, backward, turn left, right, or stop - in response to commands issued from a mobile app via the Internet. Watch the video to see how the Robot is built and operated.

Agro_Rover (Adobe Spark).mp4

A Robot Simulation Software

The iRobot Simulator software allows you to create a simulation of a Robotic floor cleaner in just a matter of minutes. You can program the robot to move in different directions, make a beep sound, turn on and off the lights, and more. Go to: https://code.irobot.com to learn more.

iRobot Robot Simulator.mp4

assignment

You have two options to build a Robot:

Option 1: Build a Physical Robot:

Build a Robot (using physical resource materials) that can be remotely controlled from a Mobile App via the Internet. The Robot should be able to move forward, backward, turn left, turn right or stop on command from the mobile app. Click the button below to view the detailed tutorial. It provides step-by-step instructions for you to build the Robot.

View Tutorial

Option 2: Program and simulate a Robot in Software:

The assignment is for you to build a Floor Cleaning Robot (Simulator) that will sweep the floor 100% without leaving any area uncleaned with the shortest possible moves and using the least amount of time.

Use the iRobot Simulator software to simulate a Robot in software. Click here to go to the iRobot Simulator tool: https://code.irobot.com

Just click "+" on the left side of the screen to create your Robot project and get going !
Switch to Level 2 in the bottom pane, drag-n-drop a few "Move" blocks to make the Robot move around. Learn as you go.
If you are familiar with Scratch programming, then, it will be a cakewalk for you. Even otherwise, you can learn how to move the Robot in 2 minutes! It's so simple that you don't need any step-by-step instructions.
Give it a try. Let's see who first posts their assignment of the Robotic Simulator that can clean the entire floor !

Want a few hints? Want to know how to program iRobot Simulator? Check out the screen-shot below that shows a partial program to make the iRobot Simulator move around. The program is built using block-programming constructs. You need to create something similar (and more) to make the robot vacuum cleaner clean the floor with the short possible moves and in the least amount of time. Want to know how an actual robotic vacuum cleaner cleans the floor? Check out video of a 'real' iRobot floor cleaning the below video:

This online self-learning resource has been designed and developed by Mr. Kiran Kumar H. S., Regional Mentor of Change – Karnataka, to support ATL Students, Teachers, and Mentors of Change across the country associated with the Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Government of India.

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