Page 53 - Concise Encyclopedia of Robotics

fifth time the choice must be made, the robot controller chooses gold
hubcaps. Otherwise, it chooses silver ones. This sequence is programmed
into the controller. The logical process proceeds something like the flow-
chart in the accompanying figure.
Identify car
number
(1,2,3,...) Branching
No Divisible Yes
by 5?

Install SS Install GG

Add 1 to
car number

Branching

Suppose a glitch occurs, in which the robot controller or hardware
omits or overlooks a single hubcap. This will throw off the robot’s per-
ception of the sequence of cars, so it thinks a new car has arrived with
each set of rear wheels. Shortly, the front wheel of a car will get a silver
hubcap and the rear wheel of the same car will get a gold one. The next
car will get a gold hubcap on the front wheel and a silver one on the rear
wheel. The repercussions will be repeated down the line over and over,

