Barclays Robot Challenge Learn how to Program Robots

Why are we here today? ● To have fun! ● To learn a bit about how computers control things (a robot) ● To see what we do here at Barclays Technology Centre Radbroke ● To get you to think about whether you might like to learn more about Technology ● There will be people here to help if you get stuck – There’s no such thing as a stupid question

Question…. How likely are you to choose a career in Technology? A.Definitely not B.Maybe C.Definitely D.Not sure

Computers ● What do you think of when you hear the word “computer”?

How about… ● Technically, a computer is “a programmable machine” ● So how about… The thing about computers is that they all need to be programmed to tell them what to do

What is a Robot

What do we do here at Radbroke ● Barclays Technology Centre, Radbroke is Barclays largest Technology site in the world ● Barclays depends on thousands of different computer systems to run the bank; from making payments, to online banking, to HR and information systems ● 3,500 people work here ● Designing, building and supporting all the bank’s computer systems

Todays Plan Session 1 (9:30/12:30) Robot Programming Session 2 (10:45/13:45) Break & Site Tour Session 3 (11:00/14:00) Continue Robot Programming Roundup and finish ( 11:55/14:55)

Programming a Computer You will be writing real computer programs – aka apps! They will be running on a small computer on the robot called an Arduino You write your app on the laptop then upload to the robot The robot then runs on its own… No Wires The robot has 3 different sensors: Ultrasonic – measures distance of object (returns distance) Infrared – detects objects (returns True or False) Line Follower – detects light (returns Black or White)

Getting Started Open your starter sketch if it’s not already open – its called BRC_Move Click File -> Open -> Sketchbook – BRC_Move Your Arduino development app should be open – ask if it’s not

Main Loop Each command will be executed on the robot in order When all commands are executed – it will start from the top of the loop again, and again, and… The loop is between { and } That’s it!

A function call Make the robot do something Tell the robot speed and time Must have a semicolon at the end forward(1000,150,150); Make the robot move forward for 1 second with left and right speed of 150 Then move to the next function The motors will keep moving until told to stop or some other action

Units Time All functions use milliseconds as a unit of time 1000 = 1 second 500 = ½ second 2000 = 2 seconds Speed All functions use a unit of speed between 0 and = stop 255 = fastest Motors tend not to work less than 150 Used to spin and turn Can help with Obstacle and Line Following

Simple Motion

IF… THEN… ELSE… with Obstacle Sensors Use IF Run your code between { and } LeftObstacleSensororRightObstacleSensor If (LeftObstacleSensor() == SENSORON ) { rightSpin(1000,255); } else { forward(1000,255, 255); }

With Infra Red Sensor

Today Challenges 1 - Obstacle avoid – drive the robot out of the maze (sketch = BRC_Avoid ) 2 - Line Follower – set the fastest lap of our race track (sketch = BRC_LineFollow) Start with basic movement – move and spin (sketch = BRC_Move) Make robot move around a square, triangle and circle Then choose your challenge There are template sketches that will give you a head start on the challenges Load the selected sketch onto the robot and see what it does Decide what you need to change to make it work or improve it