Lesson 103: Robot Measurement | The Robot Doctor
Support Materials
An exploration of the different ways to measure distances, speeds, time, and other items important to robots.
Assignment: Lesson 103
1. How long will it take for a robot sensor to get a return pulse?
- Distance = 10 meters
- Speed of sound = 343 meters/second
2. How high is the table the end effector must reach to grab the object?
- Arm length = 50cm
- Arm angle = .5 radians
About
Explore the different ways to measure distances, speeds, time, and other items important to robots, in this 14-minute episode. The goal of this video series is to teach the basics of Robotics: the what, why, and how—with examples—and to provide take-home problems to solve.
How do robots measure? What kinds of things do they need to measure? In this lesson, we will discuss how robots use the metric system as their system of measurement and explore how they measure distances, angles, and time. We will walk through how to calculate the distance to objects if we know the time it took for light to leave the robot, bounce off the object and return to the robot. Finally, we will see how trigonometry can be used to determine how long a robot arm must be, or how high of a table can be reached by a robot with a simple arm.
Credits: WQED, RobotWits LLC, PA Rural Robotics, Dr. Jonathan Butzke, Carnegie Mellon University
Standards
- Quantitative relationships in motion (distance, time, speed) (STEELS.6-8.PS.2)
- Measurement standards & precision in engineered systems (STEELS.6-8.TE.6)
- Kinematics—vector quantities and angular measure (radians) (STEELS.9-12.PS.2)
- Quantitative analysis of sensor timing and manipulator reach (STEELS.9-12.TE.6)
- Unit conversions and ratios (CC.2.1.8.E.1)
- Applying Pythagorean theorem for reach calculations (CC.2.3.8.A.3)
- Trigonometric functions for arm movement (CC.2.3.HS.A.9)
- Scientific notation and error analysis (CC.2.1.HS.F.2)
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