Application of Math and

Science Principles

Creating a robot that moves a specified

distance straight ahead

and

Creating a robot that turns

a specified number of degrees.
NXT Smart Motors
 NXT Smart Motors
How do the motors keep track of the
distance traveled?

The interactive Servo Motors have

built-in Rotation Sensors that measure
how much the motor has rotated to the
nearest two degrees.
Moving Straight Program Details
Investigating Wheels and Distance
Determine the
relationship between
wheel size, motor
rotations and distance
traveled. The goal is
to find out how to
move your robot a
certain distance
predictably in
centimeters.
 Hypothesis
For every 360 degrees of wheel rotation
the robot travels one circumference of the
robots tires.

Distance traveled =
circumference X rotations
 Procedure Step 1
Measure the diameter of
the wheel.
Using the diameter
calculate the
circumference.
[C = * D]
Calculate the distance
your robot will travel for
= 3.14 three complete rotation
of the wheel.
[Distance = C * Rotations]
 Procedure Step 2
Run the robot and
measure how far it
actually goes with the
move straight program
you created.
Repeat the run and
measure 3 times. Take
the average of that
measurement and
compare it to the
calculations you made in
Step 1.
How close is the
calculated to the actual
robot movement?
 Turning the robot
Robots can perform two different types
of turns:
Point Turns
Point turns rotate both wheels in opposite
directions causing the robot to spin in place.
Swing Turns
Swing turns rotate one wheel and stop the other,
causing the robot to swing.
Point Turn Program Details
Point turns rotate both
wheels in opposite
directions causing the
robot to spin in place.
 Swing Turn Program
Swing turns rotate one wheel and stop
the other, causing the robot to swing
Swing Turn Motor Block 1 Details
Swing Turn Motor Block 2 Details
 Creating Measured Turns

A 90 turn should be of the distance

the wheel travels around the circle.
 Creating Measured Turns
Hypothesis:
As the robot makes a swing turn the
moving wheel traces out a portion of a
circle. The amount the robot turns is
proportional to the portion of the circle that
the wheel travels.
A 90 turn should be of the distance the
wheel travels around the circle.
Remember you want the robot
to turn 90

Not the wheel to turn 90.

Create a Pen Attachment
 Place the robot on a
Using the Swing large sheet of paper.
Make sure the tracer
Turn Program attachment will leave
a mark as the robot
moves.
Run the program.
When the robot has
traced at least one full
circle press the grey
button on the NXT to
stop the program.
Measure the path traced by the
robots wheel

Measure the diameter

of the traced circle.
Calculate the
circumference of the
traced circle.
[C = * D]
Calculating for a 90 turn

Fill in all Known Variables

Simplified

{C = * D}

Insert the Number you Calculated Here

Circumference of the Distance Traveled by

Traced Circle {C= * Wheel for a 90 turn
D}
 The distance the wheel travels is
equal to the number of times the
wheel turns, times the
circumference of the wheel.
Distance Traveled by
Wheel for a 90 turn

Number you just

Calculated for = 17.6 cm
Distance Traveled by
Wheel for a 90 turn X
 Fill in the variables using the
numbers you calculated previously
for your robot and simplify
Number you just
Calculated for
Distance Traveled by
Wheel
360 for a 90 turn =
X 17.6 cm

Final Calculation determines number of motor

degrees to be input into the rotation senors
dialog box to make the robot spin 90 to the right.
 Calculations for a 90 turn
Simplified formula for Calculation part one
Circumference of the Distance Traveled by
Traced Circle {C= * Wheel for a 90 turn
D}

Simplified formula for Calculation part two

Number you just

Calculated for
Distance Traveled by
Wheel
360 for a 90 turn =
X 17.6 cm
 Using the number of degrees you used to
make the robot turn 90 degrees with a swing
turn. Calculate how many motor degrees
the program would need to spin to turn the
robot:

180 degrees
?
270 degrees
?
360 degrees
?
450 degrees
?
Using the number of degrees you used to
make the robot turn 90 degrees with a swing
turn. Calculate how many motor degrees
the program would need to spin to turn the
robot:
180 degrees =
778
270 degrees =
1167
360 degrees =
1556
450 degrees =
1945