Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v4 - SHS 1
Robot Control Principles
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Robot Control Principles
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Subject: Robotics
Class: SHS 1
Term: 1st Term
Week: 7
Grade code: 1.1.2.LI.2
Strand code: 1
Sub-strand code: 2
Content standard code: 1.1.2.CS.1
Indicator code: 1.1.2.LI.2
Theme: Principles of Robotic Systems
Subtheme: Robot Control Principles
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Welcome, learners! Look around you. From the traffic lights that manage cars in Accra, to the air conditioner that cools a room, to the automatic gate at a house, we are surrounded by systems that make decisions without human help. These are called control systems, and they are the "brains" behind every robot. Today, we will learn the language of these brains. We will learn how to draw special maps, called logic and loop diagrams, that help us design, build, and understand how robots think and act.
A. What is a Control System?
A control system is a system that manages, commands, directs, or regulates the behaviour of other devices or systems to achieve a desired result. Think of it as the manager of a process. In robotics, the control system is what takes information from sensors and decides how the robot should move or act.
There are two main types of control systems: Open-Loop Control System This is the simplest type of control. It follows a pre-set list of instructions and does not use any feedback to check if the result was correct. How it works: Input -> Controller -> Actuator -> Output Characteristics: Simple and cheap. Not very accurate. Cannot correct itself if something goes wrong. Ghanaian Example: A simple charcoal stove. You light the charcoal (input), and it produces heat (output). The stove does not measure the temperature of the food and adjust the fire. It just keeps burning until the charcoal is finished. Another example is a simple wall clock; it moves its hands based on its internal mechanism, regardless of whether it's showing the correct time. Closed-Loop (Feedback) Control System This is a smarter type of control. It uses a sensor to measure the output and then "feeds back" that information to the controller. The controller compares the actual output with the desired output (the setpoint) and makes adjustments. This creates a "loop". How it works: Input (Setpoint) -> Controller -> Actuator -> Process -> Output -> Sensor -> (Feedback to Controller) Characteristics: More complex and expensive. Highly accurate and reliable. Can adapt to changes and correct errors. Ghanaian Example: An automatic water pump system for a "polytank". You want the tank to be full (the setpoint). A water level sensor (sensor) checks the water level. If it's low, it tells the controller (controller) to switch on the pump (actuator). The pump fills the tank (process). When the sensor detects the tank is full, it tells the controller to switch off the pump. This is a continuous loop of checking and acting.
B. Logic Diagrams (Flowcharts)