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- #1283
- 17 May 2019
Variables are little boxes within the computer, that store some important for us information. Imagine the following situation: you own a bar which offers the best lemonade in town. The lemonade is stored in a small non-transparent barrel, so one can not see how much lemonade there is inside. It is important that you always have fresh lemonade - if the lemonade finish before the next delivery, you will not have lemonade and your customers will be unsatisfied, if you order too early you risk that the lemonade would not be fresh and the customers will not be satisfied again. So the solution is to take a white piece of paper, which will be your variable, and put down to amount of lemonade you have. When a customer order a lemonade, you subtract his order and put down the new amount of lemonade. You repeat that process until you are left with lets say 10 liters of lemonade, when you order a new barrel.
As mentioned in the above situation, the white piece of paper is a variable. It stores a valuable for us information i.e... the amount of lemonade inside the barrel. If we need to program this operation we will have to read the number written on the paper (or in the variable) subtract the amount we have sold and write down on the paper (or in the variable) the new amount. We do not know those values before hand, but they does not matter. We will repeat the same action until the variable has value less or equal to 10.
Courses and lessons with this Tutorial
This Tutorial is used in the following courses and lessons
Robotics with LEGO - Level 3.5 - Measuring tools
The sixth level of the Robotics with LEGO curriculum for students in sixth or seventh grade.
In this level, we introduce student-created myBlocks. Any functionality that is used in several places in a program is grouped into myBlock thus shortening the program's length. Students create blocks that return the result of calculations as an output parameter. Input parameters can change the calculations in the myBlocks. The robot constructions measure physical properties like linear or rotational speed, the fuel level in a tank, or length, area and volume.
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Instructors Remote Training
If you are working with students and you want to introduce Robotics to your class or you want to mentor a FLL team, but you are insecure about your technical knowledge in the Robotics field, then this is the right place for you. Having in mind teachers' busy schedule, we have design two different schedules and added an option to design one just for you. FLLCasts's Mindstorms EV3 Robotics Online Training is the perfect match for any teacher.
After the completion of each task the participant has to upload his solution for verification.
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The seventh level of the Robotics with LEGO curriculum for students in sixth or seventh grade.
In this level, student develop a memory training game. The player must remember series of actions like press a button, shake a pole, pull a lever, show one of many colors. In order to program the game, students use many variables and modify their states. Students create their own custom sounds and images, in order to reflect their own personality in the game. In the end of the level, the game stores top scores even after a full shut down with the help of text files.
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Python with LEGO Mindstorms EV3 - Level 1
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Lesson 4 - Strange Bot
Introduction
Today we will encounter a significant problem our engineers have had to face ever since a man has had to step on the Moon, namely sending robots to the Moon. When we add something to a rocket that has to reach the Moon, you can imagine how many things need to be carefully calculated.
From the position of the rocket to the center of mass, to the momentum of the rocket and many other things. This is why when scientists wish to send a robot to the moon, they have to make a lot of compromises with its construction.
After the deployment of Moon Rover 2 to the Moon, scientists began working on a robot to deploy with the next Moon Rover. For this purpose, the robot needs to fit into the remaining space on the rover. This space is not in a standard shape, so the robot will have to have an irregular shape as well.
The plan is for it to be mounted on to the Moon Rover and when the vehicle is deployed from the rocket, the robot will disengage and will maneuver away before the astronauts proceed to drive it.
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