Robots for a Better Tomorrow!

In this project, students will spend the week working with analog circuit components (resistors, diodes, transistors, etc.), prototyping breadboards and a motorized toy vehicle to construct, troubleshoot and modify robots.  The students learn about different components by incorporating them into their robot designs and observing how the behavior of the robot changes as a result (speed, turning rate, sensitivity to light/noise). 

Topics covered include:

1. What is a Robot?
2. Introduction to electronic components
3. First Robot – BRUSHBOT!
4. Brushbot Olympics
5. Running motors from the battery – reversing connections
6. Resistors and LEDs
7. Energy storage with capacitors
8. Light sensors
9. Series and Parallel resistance
10. Relays
11. Invertor (integrated circuit) operation
12. LED control with photoresistor
13. Robot motion based on light sensors
14. Robot motion based on temperature sensor
15. Avoiding obstacles
16. Line Following
17. Controlling LEDs with sound
18. Controlling Robot with sound
19. Logic circuits
20. Infrared remote control

Students will leave the project with a qualitative understanding of how circuit elements function and interact with various inputs to produce a desired output.  Students will not be doing calculations of current or voltage.