Page 10 - Anatomy of a Robot

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PREFACE

Two years ago, I took my six-year-old son to a “robot race” up in the Rockies near
Boulder. It was held in the community center of a small mountain town. Nevertheless,
it was packed with about 100 enthusiastic people and many interesting exhibits. The
central event was to be a timed race along a prescribed course. Several school-aged kids
had entered plastic robots clearly built from parts from the same toy manufacturer. The
racecourse was a plastic mat approximately 15 feet on each side. The robots had to fol-
low a one-inch-wide, serpentine black line on the mat from beginning to end. The win-
ner would be the robot finishing with the fastest time.
I watched the kids tuning up their robots on the racecourse before the race. Each robot
had a sensor on each side that could detect the black line. If the robot moved forward
and started to cross the line, the electronics would correct the steering and move the
robot back on course.
It was clear the kids were all having trouble. None of the robots could follow the
course from beginning to end. They would invariably lurch too far over the black race-
course line and get lost, spinning in useless circles. Legions of adult advisors huddled
with the kids, making all sorts of changes, yet nobody was making progress. To me, the
answer was obvious and I wanted to help.

IX

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