EXP.ROB.01 Explore · Robotics Lab
From idea to subsystems: sense, think, act
You should be able to: sketch any robot as three parts — sensors, controller, actuators — and pick a Ghana problem it could help with.
After GES: B7.4.3.1.1 lists where robots are used. B8.4.3.1.1 names controller, mechanical parts, and sensors. This lesson makes you design one.
1. Learn
Every useful robot, from a factory arm to a classroom mBot, repeats three jobs:
- Sense — read the world (light, distance, line on the floor, bump, camera, temperature).
- Think — a program on a controller decides what to do (Arduino, micro:bit, mBot board, or even a phone).
- Act — motors, wheels, pumps, lights, a gripper, a speaker.
If one of the three is missing, it is usually not a robot. A ceiling fan acts but does not sense and decide. A weather app thinks with data but has no motor in your house.
Design habit: write the problem first, then the three boxes. Example: “Carry lab samples along a corridor in Tamale Teaching Hospital without mixing bottles.” Sense: line or walls. Think: follow line, stop at mark. Act: wheels + a tray.
You do not need metal today. Cardboard, labelled boxes, and a flowchart are a valid first robot.
2. See
Watch any short clip of a line-follower or packing arm. Pause and shout: sensor? controller? motor? If you have no video, draw three boxes and arrows: Sense → Think → Act → (back to Sense).
3. Practice
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Fill sense / think / act for a robot that waters garden beds only when the soil is dry.
Show a sample
Sense: moisture sensor. Think: if dry for 10 minutes, water 20 seconds. Act: pump or valve.
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Why is a blender a weak example of a robot?
Show answer
It acts when you press a button. It does not sense the mixture and change its own program.
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Name one Ghana problem (school, farm, clinic, market, e-waste) and one sensor that would help.
Show a sample
Market stall security: a cheap motion or light sensor that rings a buzzer at night. Farm: soil moisture. School: line sensor for a corridor delivery cart.
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What is the “think” part made of in a typical school kit?
Show answer
A small computer board (Arduino, micro:bit, mBot) running a program you wrote or loaded.
4. Project
On one page: (1) the problem in one sentence, (2) a labelled sketch with Sense / Think / Act, (3) two challenges (power, cost, rain, theft, no spare parts). Optional: build a cardboard model.
Stretch: try a free browser simulator later in EXP.ROB.06 (Wokwi) if you have data.
5. Check
- Emerging — draws a robot shape with no parts named
- Developing — names motors only
- Approaching proficient — all three subsystems on a Ghana problem
- Proficient — sketch + two honest challenges
- Highly proficient — classmate can build from the sketch without extra talk
SURF-CLOUD Explore track · beyond GES Computing. Next: EXP.ROB.02.