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Diagram illustrating a range of robot behaviors from simple (to the right) to complex (to the left). From simplest to most complex the behaviors read 'spin motor', to move robot arm, open/close robot claw, move robot wheels, to grab object, move forward for 5 seconds, turn robot 90 degrees, to travel to location and pick up object, to deliver medicine throughout hospital and operate self driving vehicle as the most complex.

A flowchart illustrating the progression from simple to complex tasks in robotics. The chart begins on the left with a blue oval labeled Spin motor, which branches into four paths leading to blue rectangles: Move robot arm, Open/Close robot claw, Move robot wheels, and Wait a period of time. These blue rectangles represent simple tasks. The flow continues to the right, showing more complex actions in purple rectangles, such as Grab object, Move forward for 5 seconds, Turn robot 90 degrees, and Travel to location and pick up object. These actions further connect to the most complex tasks in red rectangles on the far right, labeled Deliver medicine throughout hospital and Operate self-driving vehicle. The entire flowchart is underlined by a gradient arrow, with Simple on the left in blue and Complex on the right in red, indicating the increasing complexity of tasks as you move across the diagram

Programming Complexity

Robots can be designed to perform a wide range of tasks. Some of these tasks are very simple, like opening an automatic door. Others can be far more complex, like an autonomous car navigating an urban environment. No matter how complex the task is, it can be broken down into simpler tasks. These tasks are known as behaviors and are the building blocks of robotics programming.

A behavior is a way that a robot acts, and can range in complexity depending on how the robot is built or programmed. A simple mobile robot like the VEX V5 Speedbot only has two motors, while the Clawbot has four motors, including two additional motors for the Arm and Claw. Behaviors for both robots will involve turning those motors to accomplish set goals. With more design and programming, you can start from this simple behavior and do more complex behaviors.

Below is a list of robot behaviors increasing from simple to complex for both the Speedbot and the Clawbot. In parentheses, you can see the simpler behaviors that compose each one.

  • Rotate a motor assigned to a certain port
  • Drive forward (rotate both the left and right motors using the Drivetrain)
  • Travel 5 meters (drive forward, then stop)
  • Grab a distant object (travel 2 meters, rotate the claw motor to grab it)
  • Retrieve an object and put it on a high shelf (grab a distant object, turn around, travel 2 meters, use the arm and claw motors to raise and release the object)

You can see how you can deconstruct any of the more complex behaviors into simpler behaviors. These become the building blocks of any complex task.