WALKING WITH ROBOTS

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The workshop starts by discussing how robots are used in industry and how robots have been used to explore our solar system. Students are then asked to assemble a scissors-like walking robot with motors attached to the ends of its two legs. Using switches, they then learn to make the robot walk under manual control, During this they will encounter some basic instability problems and will have to find solutions. The idea of replacing  manual control by a sequence of instructions is discussed. After the operation of the IQ controller board is explained, students connect the controller to their robots and try to find the best programme for producing a smooth walking robot. Finally walking races are organised to show how well their robots perform. The results are reviewed and ways of improving performance is discussed. Depending on the time available examples will be given of some other programming techniques and controllers that could be used in this type of application.