Lesson 12: Fundamentals of Robotics Programming

Understand the basic concepts of robotics programming: Introduce students to the components of a robot and its basic working principles, helping them understand how robots achieve automated operations through programs.
Learn basic robot commands and control: Through simple programming commands, students will experience how to control a robot’s actions and reactions.
Develop hands-on skills and logical thinking: Through practical activities, students will learn to write commands and plan tasks, stimulating their interest in robotics.

Introducing the Topic: Ask students: “What kinds of robots have you seen? How do you think robots move?” This will lead to a discussion about the applications of robots in daily life.
Preliminary Introduction: Briefly explain the basic components of a robot, such as sensors, control systems, and actuators, to help students understand how robots “perceive” and “act.”

Components and Working Principles of a Robot (10 minutes)
- Basic Components: Introduce the core components of a robot, including sensors, a control system, and actuators.
- Working Principles: Explain the control principles of a robot, showing that a robot receives commands through a program and adjusts its actions based on sensor feedback.
- Simple Demonstration: Show a basic robot (such as an educational robot) to give students a visual understanding of its components and their functions.
Basic Robot Commands and Control (10 minutes)
- The Role of Programming Commands: Introduce some simple programming commands, such as forward, backward, turn, and stop.
- Task Demonstration: Demonstrate how to control a robot to complete a simple task, such as walking in a straight line or turning.
- Student Practice: Have students use basic commands to control a robot, completing simple actions like moving a certain distance or avoiding an obstacle.
Robot Task Programming (5 minutes)
- Task Description: Have students try to write a program to complete a simple task, such as moving a robot from a starting point to a designated endpoint or patrolling a specific area.
- Discussion and Feedback: Students present the programs they have written, and the teacher provides feedback to help them understand how to optimize their control commands.

Team Task: Students work in groups to design and write a program to control a robot to complete a small task, such as “maze navigation” or “object detection.”
Task Demonstration: Each group presents their results, sharing the challenges of the task and the programming process, which helps cultivate teamwork and innovation.

Review of Key Points: Summarize the basic concepts and commands of robotics programming, emphasizing the role of robots in automated operations.
Q&A Session: Answer students’ questions and encourage them to think about the working principles of other automated devices in their daily lives after class.

Educational Robots: Such as basic educational robot kits (like LEGO Mindstorms or Makeblock) for students to operate.
Demonstration Videos: Show the application scenarios of different types of robots to help students understand the use of robots in various fields.

Hands-on Task: Have students observe how robots or other automated devices work at home and record the steps they take to complete a task.
Thinking Task: Encourage students to think about possible future applications for robots and share their ideas in the next class, such as “home cleaning robots” or “library book-borrowing robots.”